Need advice regarding co workerI need some advice regarding my co-worker. Here is the situation. She is a single mom in her early thirties, & she has 2 children. One is 13, & the other is 5. She told me earlier this summer that she wants to enroll her 5 year old in school this year. I work from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., & she relieves me at 3 p.m. & works until 6 p.m. She has another job working from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. with the same company, but at a different location. We work for a parking company at one of their clients. When she first told me of her plans to enroll her 5 year old in school this year, she said that if she was not able to find someone to care for him after school, she would quit her job from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. She told me she had not informed our supervisor or the client supervisor. She told me she would try to give our supervisor enough notice. A couple of weeks went by, & I asked her if she was able to find someone to care for her child once he started school. She told me she was still looking. I continued to ask her after several weeks, & she continued to say that she was still looking. She enrolled her youngest child in school the beginning of this week, & a couple of days later, she told me that she had not found someone to care for him after school. She told me that he goes to school from 7:45 a.m. to 2:45 a.m. Monday through Friday. She mentioned that if she was not able to find childcare for him, she would still quit. I informed my supervisor last year that I would like to return to school to complete my education after a 14 year hiatus from college. He & the client supervisor both told me I study at work as long as I wait on our customers. There is downtime at work. After registering for school in June, I informed him when my classes begin. I also informed the client as well as my co-worker. I feel frustrated at what my co-worker is doing, & I need some advice as to how to handle the situation. Frustrated with your co-worker for doing what, being a mother with kids? What does any of this have to do with you?
You can't influence her decision. Co-workers can feel or be forced to quit due to various factors, you can't control that. Her job is her primary means for survival and care for her children of course is priority. She confided in you also, she didn't have to do that. It might frustrate your study plans, but this is something between her and the employer and you and the employer, separately. Good luck. Your co-worker's business is none of your business. She has a dilemma, childcare. Every one of us has the right to have children. The cost of child care is astronomical. Sure, it would be nice if our companies would provide childcare for their employees but if the company does not have a lot of workers with the same childcare issue, does it seem logical to subsidize childcare for only a few handful of employees? This worker's child should be her highest concern. She has to think about the welfare of that child. This is issue is a management issue and employees should not become embittered because of that they believe is unfair treatment. What is it that you feel your co-worker is doing? She's trying to organize child care and not to have to quit her job. If she pulls that off, good for her. If not, she may have to leave. None of that has anything to do with you.
Tess Curiosity makes me ask this: Why do you think that her quitting is going to affect you or your educational endeavors? You get to study while you are at work as long as it does not affect your ability to do your job. Your job ends at 3:00. After 3:00, you go off and study elsewhere. If you are concerned that you will be asked to work after 3:00, then you just tell your supervisor that you cannot because of your classes. Do you have classes every evening? Or just a few evenings a week? Until a replacement is found for the 3:00 - 6:00 shift, you could perhaps work those hours on evenings you do not go to school. If you cannot because you have a family obligation, then you should understand how she feels regarding her own family. She has stated, as well, that she is going to give a proper notice. It is quite possible (maybe even probable) that a replacement will be found before she officially leaves. Bottom line is: you knew her leaving this job was a possiblity, so your frustration at the actuality of it is not reasonable. I worked full time and went to school full time too. Here's how I did it. I worked Monday through Friday 7:00am to about 3:30pm. Attended college classes from 4:30pm to 10:00pm. Attended all day weekend college on Satuday twice a month for four straight months (Accelerated Courses). I gave up my vacations because college courses ran through most of my vacations so I spent more time on my college projects and term papers during my vacation. On Tuesdays, I came home from work and studied until bed time. Thursdays was my lab day so after lab class I studied from 6:30pm to about 8:30pm. Sundays I spent the mornings studying and the afternoon time was mine to relax. | |
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