Mama Bear anger.....ggggrrrrrr

 

My DD was scheduled to work the 4th at Sonic (they're a chain of drive-in hotdog/fast food restaurants, at least in the South).  Although no one was allowed to have the 4th off if they were scheduled (the absentee owner was out of town so no one was allowed to ask any time off this weeK) she asked her manager if she could please have that day off to go to my parent's house as my brother, her only uncle, is moving out of state to get his doctorate degree (we have a miniscule-sized family).    He gave her the ok and released her from having to work yesterday. 

 

She goes in to work today and the owner, despite her manager having told her (the owner) that he GAVE my DD the day off, writes on the schedule that she no longer has a job.   

My DD works hard & has not had the first complaint from Sonic about either job performance or absenteeism.

 

Does that sound fair to you??? 

 

mcate:

Although no one was allowed to have the 4th off if they were scheduled (the absentee owner was out of town so no one was allowed to ask any time off this weeK)

 twice you say no one allowed to have that day off but you dd takes if off anyway, she has to suffer.

let me be the frist to welcome you dd to the real world, this is not burger king, you cant have it you way.  the company has rule for a reason, and she chose to ask and break the rule. So sorry, get another ojb

However, the manager gave her the day of, she didn't just take it -- a difference does exist, and this is a franchise where the owner largely makes her own rules -- when she bothers to get up off her lazy butt and come in.  As she has been an excellent employee and has probably been one of the few who doesn't "call in sick" if they want to get out of working, I think this was not handled well and she was punished for something that wasn't her fault.  She had been prepared to work had the manager said no, but......he didn't.   And, the manager informed the owner that he had given her the day off.  So, that doesn't sound fair to me. 

 

And, you don't need to the the first to welcome my daughter to the real world, thanks.  She does have an inkling of that, even if it spells boredom until it's time for her to go off to college in about 5 weeks. 

Was she actually on the schedule to work?  If not, then she has cause to argue.   When I was a teenager something similar happened to me.  I asked for a day off and was told we were shorthanded so it wouldn't be a good idea.  When the supervisor made out the schedule, she asked me if I was coming in.  I told her I really would like the day off.  She did not pencil in any hours for me that day.  When I came back on Monday, the manager told me I was fired.  The claim was I "refused to work as scheduled".  Well, I wasn't actually scheduled now was I?  Went to the Employment Office, fought it, and won.  

I agree with your perception of things, but unfortunately life isn't fair.  I learned that lesson way too late in my life.  Sorry for it happening to your daughter, but look on the light side. She learned an important lesson and will be heading off to college soon and it will all be history soon.

Janet

4boysmom, she had been, but in her favor, she was released from working that day by the manager, which IMO was fair.  Getting off the schedule when it's authorized by the manager ought to be ok.  It's certainly not the first time she has experienced things that are unfair or that just plain bite, but she really wanted to make some more money before school started up.  LOL, on the lighter side, busines & tips there have been soggy lately!

Maybe try to turn this into a life lesson --- get an education so you don't have to depend on these type of jobs forever. People like the owner of that Sonic commonly do what has happened. They don't care about fair and reasonable when it comes to the lower paid help. They don't care because they can go hire another warm body (not saying your daughter was only a warm body but that owners often just see the owners as warm bodies).

 

My ex worked at Mcdonalds for a while and told similiar stories of the owner.

 

Sorry this happened. Maybe she can pick up another job for the next month.

 

My DD & I wonder -- since people apparently "call in" all the time there -- wonder if her manager did indeed tell the owner that he had given her the day off.  He was very casual about telling her "sorry," whereas before, he was always so very nice & helpful to her (she's worked at Sonic for about 8 months total, last summer & this).  If it was his job that was on the line, he could possibly have been not exactly truthful with the owner.  If this is/was the case, we aren't going to pursue it.  He has a wife & children to support, I have a DD who's going off to college in a few weeks.   She'll be doing the word study program too, she'll be able to make a little money.

 Yuck, I know the fast-food places, maybe any place that hires a lot of teenagers, can be like that, assuming all teenagers are slack-off workers & very expendable.

She needs to get her tonsils out, too!

You could be right, Mcate, about the manager afraid of losing his job. I pity him having to work for that owner.  He might be stuck there. a shame. You DD will be  doing better for herself.

 

Good Luck to her in College!! DD has maybe 2 more years.  Time has flown, though, doesn't seem like this will be her 6th year. Man!

mcate:

She needs to get her tonsils out, too!

 

First of all, weird!  I, too, have a daughter off to college in the fall, and we go tomorrow to get her tonsils out! 

Second, if your daughter asked for the day off & was given it with no problem, then I would bet the guy didn't own up to the fact that he gave her permission.  Wrong, yes, but it sounds like he was covering his own butt!  Just tell her to be glad she's getting an education so she won't be the one working at Sonic backstabbing someone else to keep her job when she's grown with a family!

 Being told by the owner that no one can ask for the day off means exactly that. If the manager wasn't disciplined than I also suspect that he didn't own up to his part in the whole thing. If I was the owner, I would be ticked off at both of them.

 

Sonic's, being a fast food joint, is a place where good employees are hard to come by.  If she really was a good worker, they will regret doing this, because now they will have to hire and train someone new, who may not even work out for them.  They should have looked at the cost of what this will be for them.  They should have gotten the story straight.  It's too bad she didn't go to work, then if it was slow, ask to leave early.  That might have worked better, but nothing she can do about it now.

The owner is weird, moody, and difficult even on a good day -- it's rare she even bothers to show up at all.  At times she would forget to schedule DD all week, then put her on for 6 days the following week.  Because she was out of town, no one, even if they had previous plans or appointments, could ask off even if they needed to (they would just call in sick).  There are always circumstances to come up in "don't even ask" situations in most businesses/places I know, including my school system on days you're not, in general, supposed to ask off as holidays (such as teacher work days or the last day preceeding a holiday) but usually they're handled on a personal basis as to whether the person can get around them or not.

 

Yah, she didn't start having much trouble with her tonsils until this past school year and she's had one sore throat after another.  Plus, her tonsils are really big!  One ENT we went to said he only does the traditional method of tonsillectomies because he thinks the laser aftermath is more painful.  Huh?  You don't get any more painful than the old-fashioned way and people we've known (including a fellow teacher) had very little down time when a laser was used.  So, we're making an appointment with another ENT next week.  Guess she won't have to ask off for work to get the surgery!!!!

 Too bad for Sonic -- my daughter is quick, works hard, and was always polite, attentive, and patient with customers -- including the rude ones.  You don't always get that with teenagers.  I would get lots of compliments from people who had my daughter as their carhop/waitress -- she wouldn't know them but they knew me. 

 

I don't know if anything else will come up for the few weeks she has before school but I'm sure she'll find things to keep her busy.  She's only been in the pool maybe twice -- now she can go swimming!!!

 

If nothing else, your DD will learn two lessons here.  The manager practices the fine art of CYA, and crap rolls downhill.