tanjin said:
I've been working since the end of year 9. It was fine until the end of year 11. Basically, I used to go to school for 5 days and then work 9-6 every weekend. It was shit, so I told my supervisor that I'm only available on Sunday and it worked out. I took one and a half months off just before and during the HSC exams and then I went back to working random shifts, once the exams were over.
I've done/will be doing a similar thing this year. I used to work about 14 hours a week over 3 days, and found that in Year 11 this pushed me so hard. Therefore, I've told my supervisors that I'll do all day Saturdays (we're not open on Sunday - otherwise I'd do Sundays), and that occassionally, if someone needed a Thurs nite covered, then I'd help out with that. So this week, I did 4.30-9.30 thurs, and 9.30-6.30 sat (was 9.30 til 2.30 but got changed).
However, next weeks roster saw me rostered on for 4-6.30 on both tues and wed. So I left a quite nasty note last night, stating what my availabilities were, and that as a casual staff member, I not only had the right to be rostered within my availabilities, but that I shouldn't have to cover the shifts that I wasn't originally available for. So this afternoon my manager called me, apologising for the roster, saying that she had covered my shifts, and to compensate for them, she offered me an extra three hrs tomorrow.
So I guess, if you're going to work, you need to not only be strict, but also assertive, about the times when you're available. As has been said, such assertiveness will get you the shifts you want. My manager said to me that they will bend over backwards to help good staff during their studies. Hopefully the same will happen for you.
. The reason i want to quit is that my job isn't flexible, when I'm rostered, its either do or die pisses me off when teachers pack on a whole lot of work... Its not that hard to find another job.. but whatever. Right now I vary from 8-16 hrs 2 day a week.
