posted
So my cow-orker asked me at 1:30 today if I would mind working an extra hr and a half today to cover the last part of her shift so she could go to an appointment.
Without hesitating I said "sure" like I always do. (she does this a lot.)
Am I being a push over? I never ask her to come in an hour and a half early.
In fairness she always tells me to go home early the next day and she'll cover me..
But I don't even get any warning usually.. She asks me the same day she wants to take off early. Heck, I woulda been happy if she'd asked me BEFORE lunch today so I wouldn't be starving now...
posted
Hmmm. Do you think she'd show up early if you ever needed it on short notice? There's two possibilities - she's taking advantage, or she is the type who is willing to do stuf for others and feels no compunction about asking for those things herself.
I seldom ask for favors, and I sometimes see myself as being put upon when someone asks me for one. But usually, these are the type who will do favors if I just ask them.
Hard to know what type she is. If she's volunteering to make up the hours immediately, she's not a leech. That's something.
Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
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posted
If she covers the same amount of time for you the next day I don't think you're being taken advantage of. You may want to just tell her that you'd appreciate more of an advance warning when possible. If it's really for an appointment then she should know ahead of time without any trouble.
posted
well, the hours she makes up for me are ones she would be here anyway. We just have one IT person instead of 2 for that time.
I have never asked her for a favor of this type. I don't know what kind of person she is. But I would feel guilty asking it anyway as she has an infant little girl.
Anyway, it seems I'm not being a push over so I feel better about it.
posted
You're supposed to work extra hours to cover her appointments but when she covers you is when she's there anyway? Yeah, sounds to me like you're being taken advantage of, at least with the little information we have here. And if she's not your boss, what gives her the right to change your work schedule?
If it were me, I'd be telling her no you can't cover, you have plans yourself (and you do have plans, even if they're just to go home and veg out in front of the computer reading Hatrack). I wouldn't say this part to her, but she needs to be more responsible in (1) scheduling her personal appointments on HER time, not on company time and (2) if it's absolutely impossible to avoid affecting the office, giving as much advance notice as possible. Two hours isn't enough.
I do have one pair of appointments that I schedule for the end of the day on a Friday, once every three months. The first one has to be by 4:00 pm and they have no weekend appointments at all. When I use my lunch break, I'm sitting in the waiting room for 45 minutes, and away from my desk for a bit less than 1:15 total. When I schedule it for 3:45, I'm in and out in 10 or less. And since it's so late in the day and on Friday, I coordinate that with my blood donations, making those at 4:30 on the same day. I don't take a lunch break at all that day, and I make sure everyone affected knows at least a week in advance with a reminder that morning. And frankly, I feel kind of bad doing this on office time as it is, even with the alterations that I make to accomodate.
Posts: 4515 | Registered: Jul 2004
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posted
I don't mind doing favors of that sort for a co-worker. Sometimes I'll half-jokingly say "OK, but now you'll owe me a favor." And when I need some favor from someone, the one who owes me is the one I'm going to.
If my co-worker is not willing to reciprocate, then I'd be reluctant to keep accommodating her. Unless I was moved to mercy by a difficult situation. Then, I'd probably do anything.
Posts: 10397 | Registered: Jun 2005
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