VENT about my DH's job (long)

[mom2kazkids]

OK yes I know that I should be thankful that DH is employed with all of those that are laid off, but I cannot stand his work.

I am a nurse and went from working a mix of 8 and 12 hour days to having to work all 12 hours, but 5 days out of 2 weeks. DH works at a paper mill, and rotated with a week of days and a week of pms, but others in the plant would rotate in a three week cycle (nights, pms, and days) During the school year we have found a college girl that would watch the kids one night during the week that DH was on pms and I worked til 7pm. I worked really well, the first week of my two week schedule DH is on days, and the second week of the schedule he was on pms. I planned to change from the every third weekend that we work to every other so that in a two week period I would work Sun/Mon/Fri on the first week and Wed/Sat on the second week so that we only needed the babysitter every other Wed. My boss has been really pretty great with me picking the days that I work due to DH shift work.

Our schedule is out until the 5th of Sept, DH schedule of the machine and shift that he is on only comes out about 2 weeks ahead of time, like today they posted for the week of the 17th of August. Now his plant just received a pretty big new account, and many of the machines has gone to working three shifts, DH is not really assigned to a machine because this last spring they took out his machine and another machine and replaced those two with just one machine, so he has been filling in wherever based on his two week rotation of days and pms, with the exception of this last week, he was put on days instead of pms and had 3 weeks of days in a row. Now like I said before they put out the schedule for the week of Aug 17 and he is on NIGHTS!!!!! Hello, this is totally a shock, and nothing was said to him. If they put him on a 3 shift rotation over 3 weeks, things are totally messed up. The week of the 24th I actually have 3 12 hour shifts that fall Mon -Fri and we have no babysitter and on this rotation he would be on 2nd shift. Our college girl is not back in town yet, and also when she is back in school she is really only available Wed nights so that is why I was working Wed the second week of my schedule.

I told DH that he needs to go to the person that is doing his schedule to find out if this is a permanent change, because then I will not change from every third weekend, to every other as the week after he is finishing 2nd shift is my weekend, and then I could keep a rotation of when I worked only 2 days in the week (one weekend day and Wed) straight. His comment is that in the past when he has quesitoned what is happening with his rotation due to losing the machine he was on and so many of the other machines returning to running on all three shifts, the person that does his schedule tells him he can't tell him for sure as he just needs to make sure that the plant is running and will put him on what every rotation(either between 2 shifts in 2 weeks, or 3 shifts over 3 weeks) he needs to run the plant. HELLO my boss has an ICU to staff and needs to know if I am on every third or every other weekend, and what week is to be my 3 day week vs my 2 day week. We also have the kids to care for and need to know when I am working for getting childcare.

This is such a pain in the you know what. I would so love to give his boss that does the schedule a call and give him a piece of my mind and also to see if he was planning on babysitting when DH was on 2nd shift and I am on more than one 12 hour shift Mon thru Fri.

 

[minkydog]

I hate this kind of stuff. My DH had a (female) boss like that. She thought nothing of changing his schedule mid-week. It didn't matter to her that we had no childcare--we planned is so that we always had one parent or the other at home. Well, she took care of that. And her answer, when DH complained? "You need to get a nanny." Well, hells bells... Like you, I was in the NICU and PICU. I couldn't just go in and say,"Oh by the way, I need to be off tonight and Thursday morning. And I can't work the weekend either." I thought I was going to have to throttle his boss. Thankfully, she eventually got pregnant-- in spades. Twins at age 42. Served her right. Everthing changed once SHE had to be inconvenienced.

 

[mom2kazkids]

I would be totally OK if he was put on the 3 shift rotation over 3 weeks as long as it stayed that way. Then I would not have to change to every other weekend, it would stop him from the mandatory over time Mon to Fri, and we would be home together with the kids 2 out of 3 weeks. Currently when he was on a two shift rotation and on a 2 shift machine he would work anywhere from 6am to 2,6a-3p or 6a-4pm depending if he had to work 8, 9 to 10 hours. PMs would be either 2p-10p, 3p to midnight,or 4p to 2a. It really stinks because our daughter is a competitive gymnast and I made all the weekend trades that I needed off of weekends for this coming season. Now that is all up in the air.

 

[minkydog]

I would be totally OK if he was put on the 3 shift rotation over 3 weeks as long as it stayed that way. Then I would not have to change to every other weekend, it would stop him from the mandatory over time Mon to Fri, and we would be home together with the kids 2 out of 3 weeks. Currently when he was on a two shift rotation and on a 2 shift machine he would work anywhere from 6am to 2,6a-3p or 6a-4pm depending if he had to work 8, 9 to 10 hours. PMs would be either 2p-10p, 3p to midnight,or 4p to 2a. It really stinks because our daughter is a competitive gymnast and I made all the weekend trades that I needed off of weekends for this coming season. Now that is all up in the air.

Argh. My hubby's boss did that kind of stuff, sometimes switching him around 2-3 times in a week. I finally had to quit my job!

 

[AshleyW]

Yikes, that's pretty crummy. My fiance's dad works at a paper mill here, but he's a supervisor so he doesn't have to worry about scheduling. For the machine guys, they put out their schedule for 4 months in advance, I think. Hopefully you're able to make the schedule work w/your job and your daughter's gymnastics!

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

OP that sucks.

However, if I run a business I need to cover the work and CANNOT take into account childcare needs for every employee.

If someone cannot work the hours I need them for - well there is the door.

Employees need to be flexible to a certain extent.

 

[Mom2Nick]

This is such a pain in the you know what. I would so love to give his boss that does the schedule a call and give him a piece of my mind and also to see if he was planning on babysitting when DH was on 2nd shift and I am on more than one 12 hour shift Mon thru Fri.

I know you are frustrated but why are you mad at DH's boss? It's not his responsibility to make sure the ICU is staffed, it's not his responsibility to make sure you have babysitting and it's not his responsibiity to check with your schedule prior to issuing your DH's schedule. It is not his fault that you are in this pickle. It's his job to keep the plant running - he does not and should not have to take into consideration the personal obstacles the employees have. That is your burden to bear.

 

[Allison]

I know you are frustrated but why are you mad at DH's boss? It's not his responsibility to make sure the ICU is staffed, it's not his responsibility to make sure you have babysitting and it's not his responsibiity to check with your schedule prior to issuing your DH's schedule. It is not his fault that you are in this pickle. It's his job to keep the plant running - he does not and should not have to take into consideration the personal obstacles the employees have. That is your burden to bear.

I agree.

 

[wdwfan16]

OK yes I know that I should be thankful that DH is employed with all of those that are laid off, but I cannot stand his work.

I am a nurse and went from working a mix of 8 and 12 hour days to having to work all 12 hours, but 5 days out of 2 weeks. DH works at a paper mill, and rotated with a week of days and a week of pms, but others in the plant would rotate in a three week cycle (nights, pms, and days) During the school year we have found a college girl that would watch the kids one night during the week that DH was on pms and I worked til 7pm. I worked really well, the first week of my two week schedule DH is on days, and the second week of the schedule he was on pms. I planned to change from the every third weekend that we work to every other so that in a two week period I would work Sun/Mon/Fri on the first week and Wed/Sat on the second week so that we only needed the babysitter every other Wed. My boss has been really pretty great with me picking the days that I work due to DH shift work.

Our schedule is out until the 5th of Sept, DH schedule of the machine and shift that he is on only comes out about 2 weeks ahead of time, like today they posted for the week of the 17th of August. Now his plant just received a pretty big new account, and many of the machines has gone to working three shifts, DH is not really assigned to a machine because this last spring they took out his machine and another machine and replaced those two with just one machine, so he has been filling in wherever based on his two week rotation of days and pms, with the exception of this last week, he was put on days instead of pms and had 3 weeks of days in a row. Now like I said before they put out the schedule for the week of Aug 17 and he is on NIGHTS!!!!! Hello, this is totally a shock, and nothing was said to him. If they put him on a 3 shift rotation over 3 weeks, things are totally messed up. The week of the 24th I actually have 3 12 hour shifts that fall Mon -Fri and we have no babysitter and on this rotation he would be on 2nd shift. Our college girl is not back in town yet, and also when she is back in school she is really only available Wed nights so that is why I was working Wed the second week of my schedule.

I told DH that he needs to go to the person that is doing his schedule to find out if this is a permanent change, because then I will not change from every third weekend, to every other as the week after he is finishing 2nd shift is my weekend, and then I could keep a rotation of when I worked only 2 days in the week (one weekend day and Wed) straight. His comment is that in the past when he has quesitoned what is happening with his rotation due to losing the machine he was on and so many of the other machines returning to running on all three shifts, the person that does his schedule tells him he can't tell him for sure as he just needs to make sure that the plant is running and will put him on what every rotation(either between 2 shifts in 2 weeks, or 3 shifts over 3 weeks) he needs to run the plant. HELLO my boss has an ICU to staff and needs to know if I am on every third or every other weekend, and what week is to be my 3 day week vs my 2 day week. We also have the kids to care for and need to know when I am working for getting childcare.

This is such a pain in the you know what. I would so love to give his boss that does the schedule a call and give him a piece of my mind and also to see if he was planning on babysitting when DH was on 2nd shift and I am on more than one 12 hour shift Mon thru Fri.

The bold is what concerns me. Your DH went from a needed employee to an expendable employee. I would not cause waves. Take the work he can get and the family will have to adjust.

I know you are frustrated but why are you mad at DH's boss? It's not his responsibility to make sure the ICU is staffed, it's not his responsibility to make sure you have babysitting and it's not his responsibiity to check with your schedule prior to issuing your DH's schedule. It is not his fault that you are in this pickle. It's his job to keep the plant running - he does not and should not have to take into consideration the personal obstacles the employees have. That is your burden to bear.

I agree too.

 

[npmommie]

OK yes I know that I should be thankful that DH is employed with all of those that are laid off, but I cannot stand his work.

I am a nurse and went from working a mix of 8 and 12 hour days to having to work all 12 hours, but 5 days out of 2 weeks. DH works at a paper mill, and rotated with a week of days and a week of pms, but others in the plant would rotate in a three week cycle (nights, pms, and days) During the school year we have found a college girl that would watch the kids one night during the week that DH was on pms and I worked til 7pm. I worked really well, the first week of my two week schedule DH is on days, and the second week of the schedule he was on pms. I planned to change from the every third weekend that we work to every other so that in a two week period I would work Sun/Mon/Fri on the first week and Wed/Sat on the second week so that we only needed the babysitter every other Wed. My boss has been really pretty great with me picking the days that I work due to DH shift work.

Our schedule is out until the 5th of Sept, DH schedule of the machine and shift that he is on only comes out about 2 weeks ahead of time, like today they posted for the week of the 17th of August. Now his plant just received a pretty big new account, and many of the machines has gone to working three shifts, DH is not really assigned to a machine because this last spring they took out his machine and another machine and replaced those two with just one machine, so he has been filling in wherever based on his two week rotation of days and pms, with the exception of this last week, he was put on days instead of pms and had 3 weeks of days in a row. Now like I said before they put out the schedule for the week of Aug 17 and he is on NIGHTS!!!!! Hello, this is totally a shock, and nothing was said to him. If they put him on a 3 shift rotation over 3 weeks, things are totally messed up. The week of the 24th I actually have 3 12 hour shifts that fall Mon -Fri and we have no babysitter and on this rotation he would be on 2nd shift. Our college girl is not back in town yet, and also when she is back in school she is really only available Wed nights so that is why I was working Wed the second week of my schedule.

I told DH that he needs to go to the person that is doing his schedule to find out if this is a permanent change, because then I will not change from every third weekend, to every other as the week after he is finishing 2nd shift is my weekend, and then I could keep a rotation of when I worked only 2 days in the week (one weekend day and Wed) straight. His comment is that in the past when he has quesitoned what is happening with his rotation due to losing the machine he was on and so many of the other machines returning to running on all three shifts, the person that does his schedule tells him he can't tell him for sure as he just needs to make sure that the plant is running and will put him on what every rotation(either between 2 shifts in 2 weeks, or 3 shifts over 3 weeks) he needs to run the plant. HELLO my boss has an ICU to staff and needs to know if I am on every third or every other weekend, and what week is to be my 3 day week vs my 2 day week. We also have the kids to care for and need to know when I am working for getting childcare.

This is such a pain in the you know what. I would so love to give his boss that does the schedule a call and give him a piece of my mind and also to see if he was planning on babysitting when DH was on 2nd shift and I am on more than one 12 hour shift Mon thru Fri.

oh that does stink . Is your hubby's job union? if it is.....is there anything they can do to help? I would really stink having schedules changed like that.

Do you carry the benefits thru your job? have you ever thought of going per diem? or do you need the guaranteed hours?
per diem in nursing works great if you could do it. the pay is good and you can work when you are available. only prob is there is no guarantee of hours.

I hope you get it all worked out

 

[ajk912]

The bold is what concerns me. Your DH went from a needed employee to an expendable employee. I would not cause waves. Take the work he can get and the family will have to adjust.




I agree too.

That line struck out at me, as well. It may not seem as much of a strong point IRL as it does to us, though. To me, it seems like his job stability just went right out the window. So I would not encourage him to make a big deal out of this. There HAS to be someone who can fill in for you guys. Keep looking..ask your neighbors..ask them if they know anyone. Good luck!!

Also..from what I have read, it seems that nursing is a great career to have if you would like flexibility in scheduling. Not all jobs are like that. Many jobs nowadays want you to be 100% available for when they need you. It sucks..but if you complain, they can find someone else.

 

[dzneelvr]

Facts are you both have jobs and with the economy being the way it is, flexibility is key to companies in order to survive. The management doesn't have options either and the addition of new business into DHs plant is so encouraging!!You are to be congratulated that you have a current support system--now it needs to be tweaked to allow you both to continue to work. Colleges (students getting degrees in childcare), churches, and high school counselors are good places to get some resources of individuals who would be looking to pick up some cash for watching kids. Please don't begin the "blame game"--it uses up time and emotion that is not productive to solving the problem. DH and I have both worked for over 30 years and some of the patches were rough (me flying around the country missing weeks of family time and him working 12-14 hour days) but we stayed positive, built up our support system in those rough times, and came though it. Believe me, once you have some leads on babysitters, you'll feel 100% better