What should I do?

[Sandybestdog]

I was wondering if you guys could give me some advice. On Sunday I was at work. Everything was fine, but then my manager broke a minor protocol to try to make his numbers look better. Him doing that initially made me a little confused (which is why he’s not supposed to do it) and after figuring out what I needed to do, I very casually asked him if we could not do that as it confuses everything. Everybody there will say the same thing. What he did is so annoying and screws things up.

He then started yelling at me like a little 5 year old throwing a temper tantrum. He kept saying he’s the boss and I can go home if I don’t like it. I said it was no big deal and I didn’t want to go home and proceeded to try to go back to doing my job. He kept up with his fit and told me to go home. I told him that this was rediculous and that I would call the district manager so that he could settle the situation. The DM told me that manager shouldn’t have done what he did and that he would call him. I told my manager that the DM would call him and then started to leave. When I was leaving he then told me that I was suspended for a week and scratched my name off the schedule.

The next day I called the DM and asked if he had spoken to the manager. He said that he did and everything is fine. I told him it wasn’t because he suspended me. He then said there was nothing he could do and then abrubtly said he was at a meeting and couldn’t talk and hung up on me. I don’t see how he’s going to help me at all.

Today I called my lawyer (prepaid legal). She kept asking me about any manuals they have. I told her they probably have some, but they were never made available to me. She then said that in Maryland, an employer is allowed to suspend or fire you for any reason and at anytime. Even if my manager was breaking the rules and I was following them, he is still allowed to suspend me for whatever reason. She just said that I should try to get along with the manager when I go back, because he can still try to fire me. I haven’t decided whether I’ll go back. I really need the money and don’t have any other immediate job prospects. If I do leave, should I file for unemployment insurance and/or try to sue them for lost wages? It just seems more and more like good people always lose and bad people win. I’m already struggling and now this sure isn’t helping. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[hughb]

Until you get fired, you probably aren't elibible for unemployment benefits anyway.

If you do go back to work there, don't make such a big deal of whatever screw up the manager is doing. Take it upon yourself to get the job done by working around whatever obstacle he is putting up.

Don't go over your manager's head. Not only does your manager dislike it, the district manager isn't going to like it either, and he will more than likely back up the manager in whatever dispute you have. Going over your bosse's head is almost always a bad idea.

If you need to go get another job, so be it! You're a hard working guy, right? You'll get another job no problem.

Don't forget to smile. This manager won't be the last doofus you work for. Doofuses are funny, they are there to keep you creative in finding ways to get the job done.

 

[Louis Cyphre]

Based on your previous posts, you never seem to take any responsibility for your actions. It is always some one else's fault. Credit card companies, greedy CEOs, bad tippers, etcetera. Now you can't even manage to keep a pizza delivery job. Face it, you are a fucking loser. Until you take some personal responsibility for your actions, you always will be a loser.

BTW, if you quit your job, you usually cannot collect unemployment. Keep that in mind before you walk with no future job prospects. Here's a crazy idea: get another job BEFORE you quit your current job.

 

[Sandybestdog]

Quote from hughb:
Until you get fired, you probably aren't elibible for unemployment benefits anyway.

If you do go back to work there, don't make such a big deal of whatever screw up the manager is doing. Take it upon yourself to get the job done by working around whatever obstacle he is putting up.

Don't go over your manager's head. Not only does your manager dislike it, the district manager isn't going to like it either, and he will more than likely back up the manager in whatever dispute you have. Going over your bosse's head is almost always a bad idea.

If you need to go get another job, so be it! You're a hard working guy, right? You'll get another job no problem.

Don't forget to smile. This manager won't be the last doofus you work for. Doofuses are funny, they are there to keep you creative in finding ways to get the job done.

OK thanks for the advice. I will probably just need to suck it up. That’s really what I’ve already been doing. I am not making very much money now, but I put on a good face and go to work and then try to look for other jobs during the day. I do my job very well and everybody knows that. I usually get along with my manager great, but he just went off on me. He’s gotten mad before, but quickly recovered and never really meant it.

I had a situation with unemployment insurance awhile ago. Looking back I suppose I should have tried to work things out a little more with the company I was at. That was ultimately why I was denied, because unemployment said I should have kept going to upper management until I resolved the problems with my manager. So this time I wasn’t going to screw this up and I called the DM immediately. I don’t know who’s above him, so I don’t know what else I should do. I used that excuse you said, about the manager not liking me going above him and that creating tension between us in the future. Unemployment didn’t buy that at all. They said I should have gone all the way up to the board of directors before quitting.

This is just rediculous that he can do this to me when he is breaking protocol and I am following it. How are people supposed to plan their future when your employer, more specifically just one manager, can suspend or fire you for any reason and at any time?

 

[Sandybestdog]

Quote from Louis Cyphre:
Based on your previous posts, you never seem to take any responsibility for your actions. It is always some one else's fault. Credit card companies, greedy CEOs, bad tippers, etcetera. Now you can't even manage to keep a pizza delivery job. Face it, you are a fucking loser. Until you take some personal responsibility for your actions, you always will be a loser.

BTW, if you quit your job, you usually cannot collect unemployment. Keep that in mind before you walk with no future job prospects. Here's a crazy idea: get another job BEFORE you quit your current job.

How am I not taking responsibility? I am at work doing my job and casually asked him if he could not do what he did because it confuses everything. All of the other drivers will say the same thing, what he did messes things up. After he got all mad, I realized I wasn’t going to get anywhere with him and tried to forget about it and was trying to go back to work. But I guess he had a point to prove that he was the boss and anybody that questions him is going home.

People like you are really annoying. You never focus on issues, you just assume the affected person is a loser who deserves whatever he gets. Lets take your points one by one. The credit card companies changed my interest rate from 8-24%, even though I had perfect credit. Now they just sent me another letter saying they are raising the rate another 4 points. I called them and they said there was nothing they could do and tried to justify it by telling me that it wasn’t just me, but everybody rate was going up. So in a environment of low interest rates, are CC companies passing those savings onto the customer like they are supposed to? No, in fact they are doing just the opposite to make up for all of their losses in the housing crisis. Despite this, I have maintained perfect payment history even though almost my whole payment goes to interest. You don’t think I’m being screwed by the system? Most people would have just stopped paying. I haven’t, at least not yet. This month I have no money to pay them. I bet after a few months of not paying them, they’ll lower my rate.

In 1965 the average ceo to worker pay was 65:1. In 2004 it was 431:1. I think that pretty much blows your argument. Over the past 30 years the little guy has continually gotten screwed while executive pay has risen steadily. I guess that’s the free market. But just in the past 5 years we have seen this. So how is the little guy ever supposed to get ahead if he’s always swimming uphill?

Third bad tippers are part of the game. I know that in any night a certain amount of people are going ot stiff you. But when its happening 5 and 8 times a night, that’s my food they are stealing. I deserve to get paid for a job, just like you. But you don’t care about this. Your kind just says work harder, deal with it. It’s never deal with the issues, it’s always work harder for the same thing. Then when we do, inevitably we get screwed some more. Then we're told to work even harder, this time for less. It’s an endless cycle.

Lastly I’m not trying to quit my job. Yea I don’t like it, but it’s all I have now. I’m talking about the fact that my manager suspended me for no reason. I tried to work things out, but he’s crying and throwing a temper tantrum. Of course I’m going to find a new job before I quit, but how could I have prevented this from happening to me?

I know you’re not going to going to care what I say and will dismiss all of it, but while you’re going back to listen to Sean Hannity, keep this in mind. The fact that hard working people are finding it harder than ever to get ahead, is just more reason why they will vote for Obama in 2012. Don’t tell me you weren’t warned.