I think the main mistake here is to not have anticipated that it would be a problem and, as such, should have been presented to the boss with care and, ideally, with a solution (you should have looked for someone who would have been ok to switch schedule with you or something).
I agree. It's not something I could really anticipate, however. The girlfriend's job offer was something we were both completely not expecting. I approached my manager with this initially, letting her know well in advance that my girlfriend was accepting the offer and putting in her 2 weeks, so I'd be able to work weekends for the next 2 weeks and still have completely open availability during the week after that.
Initially, when I was hired, they said they could only guarantee me 20 hours a week, more depending on business needs. When I approached her with this, right away I could tell that she was completely pissed off. Her response was, "I'm not going to be able to give you
anyhours!", in a very snarky way. Fine, it's understandable that she'd be upset that this came so suddenly. I even said, "No, I understand. I apologize that this is so sudden and out of left field. It wasn't an opportunity we were expecting to come through, but it's really great for her. I'll still have open availability during the week and do my best to find child care on the weekends asap". She then launched into, "Well...can you do 5 hours of availability on each day?", to which I responded, "I'm not entirely sure, let me talk with her and we'll see what we can do..". After that, she said, "It'd be better for you if you did..", in another really snarky tone. At this point, I knew that this was her "threat" to me potentially losing my job.
So, the next day I came in and let her know that we had discussed it and we just couldn't really make the times work. She was a shitload nicer this time, saying, "Well, I'm glad you guys discussed it. I'll see if maybe I can drop you down to a part-time 12 and maybe do a few nights a week". To which I responded, "Yeah, that's fine. Whatever hours you're able to give me during the week will be fine..". I figured that they'd drop me down to 12 hours a week, during coverage lapses and such, which would have been completely ok with me, while I looked for child care. Then I got hit with the scenario above, about a week or so later. Friday was my last day, I talked with her and apologized again for everything being so sudden. She said, "Oh, don't worry hun! We loved having you! If your availability ever changes, please reapply because you're a great worker and I'd take you back in a heartbeat!".
Like I said, I understand how retail works. I totally get that they want full availability, because it makes their jobs easier. They can also usually get it, because their potential employee pool is so large. It just rustled my jimmes, because it was the first job that I had ever been "let go" from. It also made little sense to me, since there is a
hugelack of coverage. Especially on the weekdays, during early morning-late afternoon. I was the only associate on the floor during Memorial Day, to give you an idea of how badly they lack coverage during the weekdays. Weekends didn't seem to have nearly the same coverage issue, except for maybe Sunday and the morning hours.
