Stressed about work tomorrow

angeldelight

I'm absolutely dreading work tomorrow and am wondering if anyone has any advice about how to approach this situation...

I've got my pharmacy degree and am doing my pre-reg year, the final year before doing my licence exam and qualifying as a pharmacist. This year has to be carried out under the close supervision of a pharmacist who has trained as a tutor. My tutor is great so he's not the problem... it's the store manager of where I'm working.

Weeks ago I booked next Weds, Thurs and Fri as holidays, and at the time said to her "and will I be back on my tutor's weekends as then I'll have that Saturday off too" to which she said "If I make a mistake on the rota just tell me" - now she spoke over what I was saying to say that so I can't be sure she heard me about the saturday thing. Anyway I'm meant to work every second sat, the same as my tutor and we're working tomorrow so I should have next Saturday off.

Another girl who works on the healthcare counter at weekends has also booked that Saturday off.

So my problem is I had a peek at next week's rota (on manager's desk - not up on the wall yet despite the fact they're meant to be up two weeks in advance so we know what's going on). Not only has she not put in my hols (which I don't mind saying to her) but she has me in on the following saturday too. I know she's going to react badly to me saying it to her - I once told her she'd forgotten to take me off the rota as I had staff training and she responded by screeching "for ****s sake" and thumping her diary off her desk so I'm dreading it

I've worked 4 of the last 5 Saturdays and not complained and also my wages aren't paid out of the store budget, they're paid directly by the company headquarters as the pre-reg (me) are meant to be surplus to staff so we can be learning not stuck on the till. And we're not supposed to be needed to cover holidays etc, there's only one pre-reg per store so I'm not equal to the sales assistant that has that Sat off. I'm dreading it - I don't like confrontation. Only that I've booked flights to Liverpool I'd just come in even though if I did I'd only have had 1 weekend off in 7

Oh and her temper all the time is terrible, she can be perfectly pleasant and then wham suddenly out of nowhere she turns into the devil incarnate

Salome

Perhaps it might be an idea to pre-empt the problem (before the rota goes up on the board ) and very airily say to her, "hey don't forget about my Saturday off and my hols - I'm sooo looking forward to my trip to Liverpool" - she did say to tell her if there were any mistakes?

I know what you mean - I hate confrontation either but sometimes, a gentle reminder might do the trick - a pre-emptive strike!

Lollipops23

would you be able to talk to your tutor about her?even just drop it into conversation that you love your placement but are having a hard time with the manager?bear in mind that she probably can't do much about it if she doesn't like your attitude;surely it's your tutor's opinion that counts?just tell her you booked the time off ages ago.

cantdecide

What I will say from personal experience is that you must understand that she has to deal with lots of chopping and changing. She isn't the Ford corporation- just cos you told her once in good doesn't mean it's been remembered.

I'd agree with the above but I would use the phrase 'you haven't forgotten about me next weekend, have you?' or something.

If she blows her stack, you're covered. You've possibly worried over nothing...

angeldelight

I certainly hope I'm worrying about nothing and that she doesn't freak out tomorrow lol. I suppose I'm more annoyed that I told her, she wrote it down and also every second saturday shouldn't be that difficult to remember, if I'm on this week's saturday rota I shouldn't be on the following weeks! Anyway cheers everyone, shall see how it goes tomorrow

Alicat

I'm sure it's nothing personal in regards to how she acted the last time. Sounds a bit like my manager; she flips out any time anyone asks for time off and gets all grumpy but the next day she's as pleasant as pie with everyone(:rolleyes:). But I know it's nothing against me or the other staff. I'd say it's more to do with the hassle of trying to organise everyone and making sure there are enough people in for the day, she probably just gets a bit stressed.

She did say to you to tell her if the rota was wrong, so you're not over-stepping the mark or anything. She may sigh and grumble and make a big deal out of it at the time but you're not asking for anything unreasonable. After all, you did tell her about it already.

Do as the other posters have said by mentioning it as a passing comment and see what happens but stay strong. If she starts turning it into a big deal, don't be all apologetic and going into unneccessary details (waffle) about it cause in my experience that'll only frazzle her mind even more! Just tell her straight out that the holiday is booked and that you did tell her already. Then let her sort it out.

I know my manager is not your manager but I've seen so many of my colleagues mess it all up when asking for holidays or mentioning the rota. My manager is a busy woman and she does get the rota/holidays mixed up from time to time, but last thing she needs to hear (on top of the fact that she messed up) is my colleagues bleating on about how they "have to have this day and this day off cause the flight is leaving at (time) and the taxi's coming at (time) but they have to pick their mum up first and make sure the nieghbour is gonna water the plants/feed the cat etc etc etc". Just makes her more stressed!

And the longer you leave it to tell her, the harder it's gonna be for her to fix the problem. So next chance you get, cool and calm, slip it into the conversation and see what happens.