What Should I do??

Monroe485-281

Monroe485-281

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I was hired in late december at a private ambulance company i never really got along with my supervisor hes an arrogant cocky field medic/supervisor....well around the end of january begining of february my 3y/o brother started having severe seizures that would last for several minutes usually 4-7 mins. He was rushed to the hospital several times and transfered to a pediatric hospital just about everytime....he was in the hospital for weeks the whole time i never took a day off....i did however switch my weekends with another basic a few times so i could work the week day so i could watch my 5 brothers and sisters on the weekend while my single mother was in the hospital with my brother.....the switches were made in advance and neither me nor the basic i switched with got overtime or 'plus' time for the switch. well they discovered that he had a rare disease Rasmussens Syndrome (http://www.epilepsy.com/epilepsy/epilepsy_rasmussens)

he had to have a hemispherectomy well i did have to call off to go to the hospital for the surgery....i couldnt work while my little brother was having half of his brain removed....well i havent been scheduled since and when i call to find out why my supervisor is never in and never returns my calls....i am still and employee and have not been fired or laid off....what am i suppose to do.....
 
Monroe485-281 said:
I was hired in late december at a private ambulance company i never really got along with my supervisor hes an arrogant cocky field medic/supervisor....well around the end of january begining of february my 3y/o brother started having severe seizures that would last for several minutes usually 4-7 mins. He was rushed to the hospital several times and transfered to a pediatric hospital just about everytime....he was in the hospital for weeks the whole time i never took a day off....i did however switch my weekends with another basic a few times so i could work the week day so i could watch my 5 brothers and sisters on the weekend while my single mother was in the hospital with my brother.....the switches were made in advance and neither me nor the basic i switched with got overtime or 'plus' time for the switch. well they discovered that he had a rare disease Rasmussens Syndrome (http://www.epilepsy.com/epilepsy/epilepsy_rasmussens)

he had to have a hemispherectomy well i did have to call off to go to the hospital for the surgery....i couldnt work while my little brother was having half of his brain removed....well i havent been scheduled since and when i call to find out why my supervisor is never in and never returns my calls....i am still and employee and have not been fired or laid off....what am i suppose to do.....
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Catch him at the building and confront him face to face, while looking for another agency. Or show up at his house.
 
I guess my first question would be, why would you want to work for someone for whom you have so little respect? I would take this as an opportunity to seek other employment.

In the short term, if the agency has an HR department or other supervisor who is involved with scheduling, I would call them. Were you guaranteed a certain number of hours? If you were hired as a full time employee and have paperwork to prove it, you qualify for unemployment when your hours are reduced.

How is your schedule usually posted? Do you get a phone call? Is it posted on site? I would check it out, but you may have to deal with the possiblity that your contempt for your supervisor (whether justified or not) was apparent to him and is coming around to bite your nether regions.
 
Monroe485-281 said:
he had to have a hemispherectomy well i did have to call off to go to the hospital for the surgery....i couldnt work while my little brother was having half of his brain removed....well i havent been scheduled since and when i call to find out why my supervisor is never in and never returns my calls....i am still and employee and have not been fired or laid off....what am i suppose to do.....
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Was the surgery a scheduled or emergency surgery? If it was scheduled, did you request time off? There's two scenarios that I can see involving your case and I'm trying to flesh out which one would apply to you.
 
CFRBryan347768 said:
Catch him at the building and confront him face to face, while looking for another agency. Or show up at his house.
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First.. 'confronting' is going to do no good at all except to escalate the hostilities... and going to his house????? That's called stalking and its illegal in my state.

Both your suggestions involve a one on one which is not going to resolve the issues. Especially if there are problems with a particular supervisor, you want either a shop steward (in a union shop) or at least an impartial co-worker to be present with any meetings. Otherwise, either side can embellish what was said to their own ends.
 
Depending on your disciplinary record... if this is a one-time happening, you are probalby going to have a better arguement than if you are late every other week.

given the facts as you present them, you really need to go around him or over his head... If it is union, talk with the shop steward FIRST. If it isn't union... talk with HR first, if there is a separate HR department. If not, talk to HIS boss and explain your situation. Explain that you are VERY SORRY that you had to call out at the last minute, but given the circumstances, you wouldn't have been in mental/emotional shape to work that day and it might have caused greater problems, because your mind wouldn't have been on the job at hand. Explain that you enjoy working there, and want to keep working there, but for some reason you aren't being scheduled, and your supervisor isn't returning your calls to explain what is going on.

If that doesn't work... start working on a backup plan... probably means that you get to figure out who else is hiring and get a new job.

HOWEVER... REMEMBER that you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar... so be apologetic about the missed time.


I was in a not so dissimilar place a while back, schedule wise. I had given my boss availability a month out, and then had to change it a week out... I was told that if I couldn't work X day, I'd have to quit... I explained that my schedule had changed and I couldn't do it. Sure enough, my boss called me and told me to come down to return my uniforms... I came in with all my uniforms and a letter addressed to the HR rep that apologized for my schedule change, and analyzed the problems on both sides. I said that I'd be more careful in submitting availability in the future, and that I still wanted to work there. I talked with the HR rep for 2 minutes, she told me to keep the uniforms, and that she'd talk to my boss. It all worked out happily ever after, and 2 years later I still work for the company per diem.
 
Family and the job.....

Family comes first..... I do know you do not want to burn your bridges, as BossyCow said do not go in being hostile, and also would you want to work for a company that is that uncaring? I think you are a good person to help your mom with your siblings, and that you love your family so much. I hope that things will work out for you. My thoughts and prayers are with you this day and night.....-_-
 
You should see what Federal and State Family Leave Laws apply to your situation if not now but for future situations. Many companies back down very quickly if they know they have not advised you appropriately upon your employment of all the benefits that you actually are entitled to in the event of a family emergency.

http://www.dol.gov/esa/whd/fmla/index.htm
 
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I believe that the FMLA is only applicable as it applies to your regular leave. If you have leave time, you may use it for the care of sick family members. If your company has a policy regarding how that time is scheduled, you have to follow that policy.

For example, if policy states that you must call in at least 45 minutes prior to the beginning of your shift if you are not going to be in to work that day, or that you need to fill out a sick leave request in writing or produce a doctor's excuse, all of those must be followed for the FMLA.

I think a lot of employees get into trouble by not bothering to read the fine print of their employee policy. If you know your supervisor has a tendency to wear his a$$ as a hat, then you should probably make sure that your request for time off for medical leave is in writing and submitted to HR instead of just spoken to the hat-wearer over morning coffee in the break room.

If your schedule is altered drastically without any information about the why or wherefore of it, then you need to find out why. If the hat-wearer won't return your calls, then you need to talk to his boss. Otherwise it looks like you are not coming to work or hat-wearer can make up whatever stories he wants to about why you aren't working that day.

A job carries with it obligations and responsibilities. You have to be proactive, mature and forthright. Avoiding resolution because it might become a confrontation, is just as immature as forcing a confrontation instead of pursuing a resolution.
 
The Social Services at a children's hospital can be very helpful and well versed in your state's leave laws and what can be protected rights to ensure your job security if the proper paper trail is done. Since many children do have accidents or life altering events unexpectedly, they are accustomed to helping families deal with their employers also.

As BossyCow said, too many do not take the time to read their P&P manuals, especially the "boring stuff" such as leave and grievance policies.

Trading shifts can be a logistical nightmare for supervisors depending on the size of the company. While your record may be clean, the person you trade with may have had issues with abusing company policy. Although you had a very good reason to switch your schedule, others may just want to do change because they can. If the schedule change is not authorized with the supervisors knowledge or the request is in writing obligating the other person, a shift may go uncovered and the person originally scheduled will be blamed. Supervisors may also pair certain people together for a reason. Many times only the supervisors and that person may know about that. The supervisor may also have another option that could benefit the your situation if they are consulted in earnest.

As with any healthcare profession, maintaining adequate staffing is stressful and the frontline supervisors feel the brunt of that responsibility.


The best advice for any situation:
BossyCow said:
A job carries with it obligations and responsibilities. You have to be proactive, mature and forthright. Avoiding resolution because it might become a confrontation, is just as immature as forcing a confrontation instead of pursuing a resolution.
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You are probably still under probation. Was these "transfer" dates scheduled and approved by the supervisor? Sorry, for your unfortunate event. Now, as a field supervisor I can be empathetic, but my primary role is to the patient and then the company, then to the employees. Truthfully, it would not matter about single mom, type of surgery, etc. Everyone has events that they would feel would justify absence. Personally, too much drama and potential absences can harm the career of a new employee.

Unexcused absences is just that. Again, many place new employees on probationary period and there does NOT have to be any justifiable reasons. In fact, that is the way I usually discharge those that have an unexcused absence, or unable to have a specific reason, they are no longer scheduled.. not really fired, just not placed on the schedule. This prevents unemployment, and finally hopefully they will quit.

Confront me and you will not like my answer or what will occur. Talk to administration or HR as others has suggested to see your current status... if they still ignore your phone calls, you might get the hint.

Not to be rude, but EMT's are a dime a dozen and we can get those that will not be absent.

I do hope your brother gets well and wish you the best of luck!

R/r 911
 
If it was me I would look for a new job you don't sound happy there that will show in the work you do and how you carry yourself. As stated above we are a dime a dozen a work force full of brown nosers and boot lickers which I have no use for on my shift so kissing the boss' *** only makes you look weak. If you really want to work at this place be honest and report for work ready to go or pack your bags. Good Luck Bro!
 
R/R sorry for saying this, you always do tend to take the agressive side on things.
I think that doing that to an employee, is not only wrong, but could be illegal.
If you dont want someone working for you, Tell them that.
I personally dont think i have the time to beat around the bush on alot of things, (possibly why i have problems with my home life) I tend to be "Bruatally honest"
If i have a problem with someone, i flat out tell them. It keeps the stress off of me for having to pretend to be ok with something, and it lets them start dealing with the problem.

as for advice, go talk to HR. Be in Uniform. Be polite. Plead your case. LISTEN to what is said by them. MAKE a choice on if this company is worth it. Or, you could sit and sulk, bottling it up.
I see it as if you dont do anything they won't either.

$0.02
 
TgerFoxMark said:
I personally dont think i have the time to beat around the bush on alot of things, (possibly why i have problems with my home life) I tend to be "Bruatally honest"
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Wow... ya know, honesty doesn't have to be brutal. They are not inextricably linked. And if you can't "take the time" to be more consciliatory in your home and with those you love, what are you saving the time for?
 
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