How common is it to be hired for a part time job described as a certain number of hours but then scheduled for considerably more?
I recently started a new job where I was told it was 20–24 hours per week, which is exactly what I was looking for as I have another obligation that takes up a lot of my time. Plus, I was told that the schedule is very flexible, I can pretty much choose my own hours and days. Sounds great. When I was asked for my availability, I said that my schedule is quite open but that I can only work up to 24 hours per week. My second real week on the job they had me work 6 days (once I was called in on my day off, not scheduled) and 3 of those days in a row were 10.5 hour shifts.
I messaged the person who does the schedule saying that I was concerned there may have been a miscommunication about my availability, very politely, and I said that while I can only work 24 hours, I can work virtually any shift or day. She did not return my message or ever get back to me in any way (this was almost a week ago now), though she did apparently passive aggressively say something to another employee about it.
Today I went online to check my schedule for next week and they have me scheduled for 6 days again, my only day off is one that I needed off for a medical appointment that was scheduled before I even got the job.
Is this normal? This seems insane to me. If they wanted to hire someone for full time hours like this or a schedule like this, why would they tell me they only wanted someone 20 hours a week? Am I being naive?
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7 Answers
I’m not sure how common it is, but it happened to one of my daughters, too. It may be a seasonal issue that will ease after the new year, but I’d definitely talk to the boss about it!
They breached the contract. You can just walk away
If you work “full time” at a part time job, you get all full time benefits (in most states) !
Remind them of that !
It sounds like they’re trying to use you for as much as they can.
What was the passive aggressive comment the HR person made?
This type of behavior has become very common!!!
They hire you to work part time so they don’t have to give you any benefits. Then they push your hours to the brink of what is considered part time so they still don’t have to pay you benefits. Then they use you more than the full time people who are getting benefits & still you aren’t given benefits because you were hired as part time!!! IF you report them to the workers group in your county or state, they will fight it saying that you are part time & aren’t subject to receive benefits. During the time they are being investigated, your hours will be dropped back down to 20 hours per week. Then your complaint will be filed as unfounded because you are part time staff & not eligible for benefits. Then, once your case is closed, they will bump your hours back up to 6 days a week 10 hours a day until you report them again.
IF you complain too much, they will hire another part time person who is willing to work the hours required & then they will cut your hours back to less than 5 hours a week in hopes that you’ll get pissed & quit.
IF you want to keep control of your hours, I suggest that you look for another part time job & quit this one. This one will only continue to abuse you until you wise up & quit!!!
Another thing you might consider is starting your own work from home business so YOU have control over how many hours you actually work. There are a lot of home businesses who are willing to hire others who work from home to do work that they can’t afford to actually hire full time. Many years back I did dispatching only on Friday night, Saturday & Sunday for a local trucking company. The pay wasn’t great but I did it in my home where I could do my housework, laundry or whatever when the phones weren’t busy. I could also go shopping when I needed to as long as I took my cell with me. I took the dispatch info, call the available drivers until I got the job covered & then I could do as I pleased until the next call came in. Most nights after my bed time the phones didn’t ring at all. The ONLY time I went into the office was to pick up my pay check & that was totally for MY convenience!!! I did’t want to hear that the check was in the mail & the physical office was only 1 mile from my house. I found it easier to drive by one day a week to pick up my check than to wait for the post office to get it to me!!!
My local grocery store has a bulletin board where people put up notices of work they need done along with their contact info. As long as the job is completed on time, they don’t care when you get it done. IF you’re a night owl, you can use that time to catch up to what you didn’t get done while at the doctor’s office or while out visiting friends. You get paid by the project & not by the hour so your time is up to you!!! There are some websites that post these types of jobs too & you’re considered an independent contractor & receive a 1099 at the end of the year. I haven’t tried the online ones yet; so, I cant vouch for how honest the employers are…so meant to be as another option!!!
Unfortunately, yes. It is a way to get around paying the full time rate and providing health insurance and other full time benefits. Typical Fuck the Workers move.
I would say it definitely has something to do with the benefits, because when I told them I can’t work 6+ days a week, they cut my hours just below the cutoff to receive benefits. So, apparently if I’m not available 6 days a week, they don’t need me for the hours that I can work.
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