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advice/perspective on jobs, work and management
## My employee freaked out over his schedule
> *I’m an assistant manager at a coffee shop (NOT you-know-who). I do the ordering, most of the hiring, and a bunch of other stuff too. I also write the schedule, which is by far my biggest headache. It doesn’t actually take much time, but geez – the drama! For instance, the other day one of my employees came to me all freaked out because he thought I’d cut his shifts for no reason. He was so angry he was practically shaking! Eventually I got him to calm down – and yes, I’d messed up. But it was an honest mistake (a few people had asked off that week, so I did some juggling to make things work; he sort of got lost in the shuffle). Anyway, I assured him he’d be back to his usual schedule for the following week. But I also told him he can’t come to me all worked up like that. It’s inappropriate and unprofessional. I don’t think that’s too much to ask… – Name withheld*
C’mon. You screwed up this guy’s schedule?
Of course he was livid.
Let me remind you that when hourly wage earners lose hours, they lose $. You didn’t just “mess up”, in other words. *You cut his pay*. How would you like it if one day *your* compensation was reduced for no apparent reason? I doubt there’s much wiggle room in your barista’s budget either, given what that job typically pays. And if he depends on your organization for benefits (like healthcare), he may need to clock a certain number of hours to qualify. Your little oversight may have jeopardized those as well.
I don’t mean to read you the riot act here, but nor would your employee have any way of knowing if this was to be the new normal, would he? Perhaps he thought you were trying to send him a message by cutting his shifts? As a former hourly service worker myself, I can assure you employees are constantly trying to read the tea leaves in situations like this. Regular performance appraisals aren’t typical in industries like yours, so employees often have no way of knowing if they’re still in their manager’s good graces. When something like this happens, they’re apt to assume the worst.
Finally (then I promise to get off your case), you may have compounded your error by admitting he “got lost in the shuffle.” I certainly hope you didn’t say this to his face. *You’re so unimportant to the organization that I basically forgot about you*, you might as well have confessed.
So you’ve got some making up to do, I’m afraid.
For starters, offer him an additional shift or shifts to make up for the ones he lost. Don’t do this without clearing it with him first, though. That would be to make *another* mistake. His regular schedule may be precious to him; any variations could really mess things up if he has other commitments (which might also explain why he was so upset in the first place). Show him the consideration you failed to the first time around and ask what works best for him.
Finally, it’s really, really important that you apologize for screwing up so royally. Sincerely. If you have already, great.
Do. It. Again.
And then promise—again, *sincerely*—that, in the future, you won’t make any changes to his schedule without checking with him first.
That, to my mind, would be the appropriate—and most professional—way to handle your error.
**NOTES:**
 According to Indeed.com, the average hourly wage for a barista in the US is $14.85, or about $29,700 annually (not including tips). < Retrieved 10-9-23.
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## [ 2 Comments ]
1. !
   Derek Steel
   on October 20, 2023 at 4:22 pm
   Agree 100% with everything the inSubordinate has written here. Shift workers are a truly financially vulnerable population. Most of the time they’re not making all that much money, so one shift less per week can really put their fragile financial situation on the skids and cause undue stress and anxiety.
   I do have a slight bit of sympathy for the scheduler here, though, because scheduling people for shift work is one of the most time-consuming and difficult aspects of management in the hospitality industry, be it a restaurant or coffee shop or catering operation. It’s a task rife with this kind of dilemma, a giant juggling act involving people’s needs, preferences, personal schedules, work skills (or lack of them!), interpersonal dynamics (ya can’t schedule Suzy with Roger–they hate each other!), and a plethora of other factors. The more complex or irregular the operation, the worse it is and the more house-of-cardsy it all gets.
   All this to say, a well prepared schedule is extremely important–to the needs of the business and the employees alike–so the scheduler really needs to take it extremely seriously and spend the time to get it or make it right.
3. !
   Bill
   on October 21, 2023 at 10:38 pm
   This was very interesting. The feedback seems spot-on and in general gave me a much better appreciation of the challenges associated with scheduling. My thing would most likely be freaking out if I got scheduled for a shift I hadn’t asked for – particularly if I had made other plans, or worse, appointments that would be hard to reschedule. But of course, everyone’s needs and perspective is different. Which is, I guess, why the nuts and bolts of scheduling can potentially be filled with opportunities to tick off your employees, especially if you aren’t already consulting with, or ideally being so plugged in you have a good sense of people’s preferences and financial / other needs.
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## I didn’t get Columbus Day off
> *A lot of people seemed to get this past Monday (Columbus Day) off from work, I noticed. Not me though – what’s up with that? I work hard! If I have to go into the office, I think bankers, postal workers, and whoever else should be working too. It only seems fair… – Name withheld*
Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples’ Day is indeed a federal holiday in the US.
Government offices are closed, so most federal employees enjoyed a paid day off from work. Many banks weren’t open for business either. But who else may have had Monday off very much depends on the state or locality in which you live. Oregon and Washington have dispensed with the holiday altogether, for example, while in DC schools were closed for the day.
Nevertheless, you’re right of course.
It doesn’t seem fair that some people (like you) had to work, while others were at home lounging around in their pajamas or whatever. But instead of wishing that everyone else suffer along with you, you should be indignant that you didn’t get a day away from work as well.
In many ways, our sense of fairness is one of our more redeeming qualities as human beings. Any progress that our species has made over the past several millennia can probably be traced to a desire to make things “more equal.” This compulsion seems to be innate too. Split a cookie between two toddlers—making sure to give one a noticeably larger piece—and then watch their reaction. You’ll quickly see what I mean.
Unfortunately, this wonderful quality can also be used against us if we’re not careful. Wanting everyone else to have it as bad as you is a far cry from hoping to be treated as well as they. If we listened to frustrated voices like yours, in other words, we’d all end up worse off, not better.
I noticed that one of the UAW’s demands in their recent strike against the Big Three automakers is the reinstatement of 1960s-style pensions. Most employers don’t offer this benefit any more, though they used to be quite common – including at the very same companies that now find themselves being picketed. I don’t know if the union will be successful in their bid, but to my mind they’re on the right track.
They’re trying to raise the bar back to where it should, and used to be – not settling for the fact it’s been lowered for everyone else.
 The first Columbus Day celebrations in the US took place in 1792. However, it did not become a federally recognized holiday until 1971, when it was signed into law by the Johnson administration. Beginning in 1992, some states began marking the day (typically the second Monday in October) by honoring the heritage and culture of indigenous American peoples. Today, 20 states and territories celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day instead of or in addition to Columbus Day (Wikipedia).
 I heard a variation of this argument during the pandemic, perversely enough. As part of an attempt to coax teachers back into the classroom before the vaccines became available, it was argued that since restaurant workers, delivery truck drivers, and a lot of other “non-essential” workers had returned to their jobs, teachers should get back to work too. No – anyone who could, should have stayed home *longer*. In that way, the potential loss of life could have been minimized.
 “The UAW is asking to bring back pensions…” From NPR’s *All Things Considered*. Aired Sept. 15, 2023. Kai McNamee, Justine Kenin, Mary Louise Kelly, contributors. < Retrieved Oct. 12, 2023.
## [ 3 Comments ]
   Tim Eiler
   on October 13, 2023 at 1:20 pm
   I love that the UAW wants pensions back. The whole 401(k) thing seems to be a lot of risk for not much payback, overall. On the other hand, does the UAW really want to go back to the 1980’s and 1990’s when there was a huge rash of unfunded and underfunded pensions?
   Oh, and don’t forget that some celebrate, albeit it’s not a federal holiday, Leif Erickson day instead of Columbus Day (though most of the celebrators probably also recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day at the same time)!
   Overall, I love the reminder that dragging people down isn’t the same as moving people forward. It seems there’s a whole political party in the US that is currently boiling in a cesspool of dragging people down, so it’s good to see the opposite sentiment getting an airing again!
   * !
     the subordinate
     on October 16, 2023 at 11:15 pm
     It’s fair question: Why would the UAW insist on reinstating old-school pensions as part of their negotiations given their spotty history? Well, perhaps this too is more about the optics (I’m thinking of UAW president Shaw Fain’s “Eat the Rich” T-shirt). It turns out that GM CEO Mary Barra is expected to be compensated to the tune of $29M this year – or about what it would take the median family in this country over 300 years to earn. Given she’s in effect receiving a “full pension” from the company–albeit in one lump sum–the union probably thinks it’s not unreasonable to ask that its members be set up for life too…
   Joel P
   on October 16, 2023 at 12:19 pm
   Thanks for the positive message re: a healthier attitude toward unfair labor practices (versus simmering with resentment) with which I wholeheartedly agree.
   The recent resurgence in labor unions asserting themselves is a welcome change – and Not just in terms of more confident in advocacy by the unions, but also (hopefully) greater public approval / acceptance of labor unions, generally and in support of specific strikes.