Inhumane schedule

It’s been a while since I posted, unfortunately it’s not because I got a job where I’m properly employed. I’ve had a few managerial changes because manager #1 was stealing from the company, manager #2 was such a ball of chaos I had to leave. That brings me to manager #3, who has obviously never heard about the study that found routine and ritual enrich people’s lives.

Manager #3 likes to have a routine. He works in the mornings so he can spend afternoons on his boat. He doesn’t work weekends so he can spend time on his boat. That’s nice.

The problem is we’ve been down one person for a while and now we’re down two people. That means while the manager is taking 3- and 4-day weekends, I’ve had this bizarre work 8 days straight, have a day off, work a day, have a day off, work 5 days straight, day off, work, day off, work, day off, work. I had one week where I worked two days, had a day off, worked three days and had a day off, which is a schedule I like because I’m not exhausted when I hit my day off and I can be creative and productive.

Today is Labor Day and I am working the fourth of 8 straight days. No, I don’t know what happens after Saturday because the next week’s schedule hasn’t been completed. Today I worked from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., it was remarkable because for the first time in three days I actually got a lunch break.

So, I ask of people celebrating Labor Day and the beautiful weather to remember something when you go into a store or restaurant: That person didn’t get a weekend in the sun. Please, oh please, don’t tell them to enjoy their Labor Day because to them it was just another day of labor.

The worst thing …

I had a pretty awful schedule this week. On one day, I began replenishment at 5 a.m. and worked until 11 a.m., then had to work as a cashier from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. The next day, I started at 5 a.m. and worked until 9:30 a.m., then worked from 2 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. If I don’t count breaks, that means I worked 12 hours each day making $93 one day and $91.50 the next.

But what makes this the worst part about working part-time jobs is that 4-hour or 4.5-hour gap between the two jobs. In four hours, you might have time to get home and take a quick nap and grab a snack. But the problem is you can’t really rest because you know you have to watch the clock so you get to the second job on time.

And, if you’ll notice, I worked until 9 p.m. the first night and had to be at work at 5 a.m. the next morning. It’s recommended that we get 8 hours of sleep each night, but it’s not about to happen on this stretched schedule because you get home still alert from work and most people need an hour to an hour and a half to wind down. Plus you have to get up, shower and eat breakfast in the morning. So you’re lucky to get 6 to 6.5 hours of sleep in between work.

I talked to two people about this with one agreeing it was the worst part while another said that it’s like the clock is hanging over your head because you’re afraid that you’ll be late to work. So you constantly check to see what time it is.

A 12-hour work day is awful, but if you work straight through and only stop for lunch, then you get mental rest at the end of your day. Let’s say you started working at 5 a.m. and finished at 5 p.m., you could have dinner and watch some TV before going to bed AND still get a solid 8-hour sleep. Not so when the clock hangs over your head.

As someone who once worked full-time where we reported for work at 3 p.m. and worked until midnight, I have to say there is another “worst” part about this when you work part-time in retail. Your schedule changes every week so your body (and mind) does not adapt to the later shift. If any given day can mean working as little as 3 hours at one job to 12 hours at two jobs, you never get into a routine and that can be exhausting.