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Wed 13 Jul, 2005 02:13 pm
Well, life is strange and often unfortunate
. I was fired this week from my 10-week-long job as a Women's Shelter Advocate, because I refused to work any more extra shifts.
I think I felt I wanted to resolve this situation, and I feel some relief that it is resolved, but I feel guilty as well, wondering if things "would have been fine if I had handled it better."
So, I was hired to work 24 hours per week in 2 days of 12-hour shifts. I actually liked these hours, especially for such emotional work. In theory, I had plenty of time for emotional recovery between shifts.
In reality, I was called or e-mailed almost daily during my entire tenure, sometimes to work extra shifts, sometimes for entirely trivial reasons. Of course I didn't get paid for any of the trivial stuff, amounting to an hour or two per week of extra work, but frankly that was OK with me.
However, after 10 weeks, my average hours per week (actually worked at the shelter) were 31, and that was AFTER a great deal of reluctance and whining on my part about being hired to work 24 hours per week.
This company considers 36 hours weekly as full-time, so I was pretty close, even with my protestations. Finally I told them, twice no less, "Look, I think 10 weeks is long enough to solve the 'staffing emergency' present when I was hired. If you really feel 24-26 hours per week in insufficient, then feel free to fire me."
Teehee, so they did, and mostly that is OK with me. Except for feeling a bit guilty, as if I've let the women and children in the shelter down, and they need me to listen to them.
I've never worked in a place before that had water dripping from the roof in 2 places, with a Tupperware bowl on the office desk to catch the drips. This is the Women's Shelter itself, which currently houses 20 people (only 16 are permitted per local Fire Regulations).
The last time I saw the Executive Director of the agency, she looked at the half-full bowl of water on the desk and said, "Just hold on for another year and a half!" which is the approximate time they need to build a new shelter.
This is Florida, folks, and we're about 25 miles inland. My guess is the roof will not last through the current hurricane season.
Do I want to be trapped there during the next hurricane? For $7.00 per hour?
Well, frankly, I'm not THAT dedicated to the cause.
The shelter is full of mold, built around the 1960's; has a dripping bathtub fixed with a bucket under it; and is missing most of the doorknobs on the rooms. There's no working FAX machine, and the only computer is in the Advocate's office. It's dark and musty. But the roof was my primary concern. The other stuff was just sort of depressing.
So, back to my firing, this last bit starts over 3 weeks ago, when we had a staff meeting (2 1/2 hours minimum) during which a part-time Shelter Advocate announced that one of the 2 full-time Shelter Advocates was leaving.
Oh no, thought I, and here we've only this week gotten to being fully staffed! Why did it take almost 2 months to return to being fully staffed, you might ask? Well, another person was supposed to be hired with me. One person was hired, saw the shelter, and never showed up again. A second person was hired, and never showed up again.
Finally, a third person was hired, and she had to go on a vacation before she could start, so by the time she was trained, almost 2 months had passed. In the meantime, I worked just under 40 hours per week, one week working 49.5 hours
on a part-time job.
So, I spoke up at the meeting, and said, "Do you think we'll have to work extra shifts to cover X's leaving?" Apparently my boss (the Shelter Manager) did not understand me, for whatever reason, so I brought it up with her again after the meeting. She assured me she had it "all taken care of" and "not to worry."
So I didn't worry. Then I got a call from X saying she was taking her owed vacation time, and could I work a shift for her?
I talked to my boss, and said something like, "Excuse me, but you told me you had this all taken care of. What's up?" She told me she "performed a Supervisory courtesy" to X by not bringing up to her my concern about working extra hours. Of course, all she had to say to X was 3 words: "Don't call BorisKitten."
OK, said I, but doesn't "Supervisory courtesy" mean some acknowledgement of an employee's stated needs? I told her this both via e-mail and on the phone. Then I got a lecture about how hard she works, how she doesn't get paid for covering shifts at the shelter, but I do, and perhaps I wanted the extra money (of course she knew I didn't, by that point),
Can you tell I felt I was not being heard? So I told her something like, "Look, I'm sorry, but I can only work my 2 shifts per week. If that's not enough, please feel free to fire me." Both on the phone and in e-mail.
I was actually willing to be fired, asking to be fired, because it seemed, after a couple of months, there was no other way for me to work fewer hours. I even checked the internet, and there's no law preventing a company from calling you "Part Time" (so they don't have to pay benefits) while working you Full Time hours.
It's funny, but they've just fired a person who not only did great work, but who really does care about the women and children in the shelter. But I figure that's their prerogative.
Tomorrow I'll drop off their keys, sign my last timesheet, and be done with it. Too bad for all.
wow. what a shitty ordeal!
Im sorry it went so rough, but if thier schedule was taking more outta you then you can handle, I DONT BLAME YA!!! ;-)
Aw, I'm sorry, BorisKitten. Put it this way -- with that, you bestowed a great real-life lesson on the importance of self-respect and getting what you deserve. That at some point being nice just becomes being a doormat.
So sorry they took advantage of you that way. I know it's a hugely stressful field, and that often leaks right up the chain of command. But that ain't right.
You did a lot of good in your time there, be proud of that. And you have some more experience for your resume.
Good luck with your next endeavor...
I'm sorry to hear this - it's terrible.
Wow, what a fast reply! I feel a tad better already.
The point of having part-time people in a job like this is to prevent burn-out, or so they say.
I can handle 2 days per week of 14 screaming children and 6 in-crisis women, but I can't handle 3 or 4 days.
When the Executive Director visited the shelter, she said, "Gosh, it sounds like a zoo out there!" meaning the racket from the screaming kids and yelling moms in the next room. The other Shelter Advocate and I just looked at each other, thinking the same things... "It's always like this," and "That's not a hurt scream, it's a complain scream, so it can wait."
Well, it was quite a ride, anyway.
Sorry to hear it BK because I know it was very fulfilling for you. It sounds like you are relieved about the situation. Don't let the guilt get you, we all have our limits.
That's the hard part... if it were 2 days per week, the job would have been just great. I could have done it indefinitely, and helped scads of people.
How sweet it was last week to hear a woman say, "You're the first person who's really listened to me, and given me hope. I'll never forget that."
<sniffle>
BorisKitten--
What a mess.
Essentially you were a volunteer with expense money--supervised by women who were protecting their own jobs and their own egos.
Don't feel that you've let the women and children down. Eventually the high turn over in staff will alert someone to management problems. Had you not spoken up, you'd be facing both explotation and burnout.
I wouldn't be a bit surprised if you didn't get a call from the shelter asking you to fill in one or two twelve hour shifts over the weekend.
Hold your dominion.
Aw, that must've made you feel all warm and weepy. It would have me, that's for sure. You can still help people, just maybe not there.
BorisKitten,
I am so proud of you for standing up for your rights and not letting your self get pushed around and taken advantage of as soz mentioned sometimes happens.
My heart goes out to you and to the women and children in the shelter however, because you did and could make such a huge difference in their lives and I am sure that will be sorely missed by you and them.
You done good, BK.
Yes, I guess I'm relieved I don't have to say NO anymore.
I think they count on women's reluctance to say NO, thank you, and stick to their guns.
Other employees claim they work other jobs, or live too far away to work extra shifts. They often say they'd "love to help out more" but are just too committed in other places.
I debated whether I should just LIE and say I'd gotten another part-time job, but I hate to lie, so I didn't.
Thanks so much everyone. It hasn't been the best day ever.
Oh Boris ..... this deeply saddens me.
Because I know, not only what satisfaction you got from helping these women.....but also how blessed the dear victims were to have you.
And it angers me that the people responsible for running that shelter, would even think of taking you off payroll.
Like I told you in the beginning ... take care of "you" first. So I am glad that you stood your ground and told them that 24 hours was enough for you. I am so sorry that the higher-ups were an uncaring, inconsiderate, bunch of ***holes!!!!!!!!!
Not all shelters are like that. But most are very underfunded and that is only getting worse.
This shelter in Fla will most likely have bigger problems on their hands someday, than staffing. When you were telling me about all the different women they turned away....without really knowing for SURE that they were just looking for a place to sleep because of drug addiction and not abuse .....made me cringe.
So much could go wrong with that assumption, as you already know, and pointed out to them. Besides the fact they could be putting someone truely in danger, back into the hands of their abuser ..... they might turn away someone that knows their rights, and questions the motives.
For instance ...a minority that knows the Fair Housing Act and takes rejection personally. DV shelters are under this law and I am not sure most victims know this. A huge shake-up could be in the horizon for the shelter, when one comes along that does.
Just be grateful you won't be around for it.
"E" ......... you are an awesome woman. I am proud of you. I love you dearly my friend. And I for one, want to thank you for the unselfish time you spent trying to make a difference in these poor womens life.
((((((( BORIS ))))))))))))
I'm confused. I thought the point of this shelter was to HELP abused women....not CREATE them.
I'm really sorry it didn't work out, BK. But I'm sure there are lots of other agencies that could use your talents. Not all are run like that one.
(((((BIG HUG)))))
BK, I'm so sorry you were treated so badly. This is probably for the best. Sounds like they didn't appreciate what they had in you.
If they had persisted with adding hours to your time, eventually you would have been a full-time employee, which tends to change the benefits perspective vis a vis the local labor laws. Here in Mass., if you make $7/hr (actually, if you make anything less than, I believe, $30/hr), you get time and a half for working more than 40 hrs/week. The shelter was flirting with some major workplace violations, and that doesn't even go into the physical working conditions.
For them, it's a vicious cycle. They are underfunded and understaffed, so everyone is run ragged and the place looks like hell. And because everyone is run ragged and the place looks like hell, no one wants to work there, people burn out quickly and they look for other work, for an escape. And so, they remain understaffed and the "survivors" remain overworked.
Good to be gone from there and, as Brooke says, there are other shelters in which to work which may be better. Many of them are not going to have the best working conditions, that is, unfortunately, a fact of life for most of these places that they are chronically underfunded, but at least if you can find people who listen to your work concerns and respect them, that should go a long way.
Best to you, that's a very tough job that most people cannot do. My hat's off to ya.
Oh, I'm so glad to hear from people who's opinion I respect on this matter!
It seems to me these women (the Shelter Manager & Executive Director) have put their own egos before the needs of the shelter residents they are paid to protect. It's both juvenile and tragic.
Brooke, you're so right about this shelter's problems blowing up at some point. I'm just glad I don't ever again have to hear the words "She's just homeless" again! As a new employee it was very hard for me to say, "Well, homelessness is not a crime", and "Don't you know many homeless women become homeless because of abuse?" After all, they're supposed to know these things.
I also think flaunting fire regulations and failing to repair the shelter's roof in hurricane season are both asking for trouble. Given the state of the roof, shelter residents should be evacuated to a local sturdy building, like a nearby school, during a hurricane
but they aren't, and won't be.
At this point, that is to say 1 1/2 months after the start of the hurricane season, management has been unable to procure a battery-operated radio for shelter use during hurricanes when power fails. I'd planned to just buy one myself, and bring it in as a donation to the shelter this week. As it is, mandatory evacuation notices and tornado warnings just won't be heard
to save maybe $10.
I've already complained to Brooke via e-mails about the agency's failure to answer their hotline several times, including for 9 hours one Friday night, because someone in the office forgot to transfer the phones to the shelter. Another lawsuit just waiting to happen
should someone call during one of these "forgotten" periods, and die as a result of not getting an answer, well, it'll all be over for them. Yet when I brought this up to management, I was given a long series of weak excuses.
I'm glad I didn't have a position of greater responsibility; these problems were, luckily, not my problems to solve.
On a lighter note, I should have known, given the Executive Director's mode of dress, that something wasn't quite right. Her tops were so low-cut, with such push-up bras, that I feared her breasts would make an unwelcome appearance if she bent over. Watching her teetering about in high heels and unable to sit because of her tight mini-skirts didn't engender my confidence in her managerial abilities. I wondered what sort of message she was trying to convey with her mode of dress. To me, she appeared to be screaming for sexual attention
that is to say, slutty.
Ha! I said slutty!
I feel better now!
Jespah, I'm glad you brought up local labor laws. Florida just recently raised their state minimum wage to $6.15 per hour. Thus I probably could have matched my $7.00 per hour at McDonald's.
I just saw a newspaper ad for a school crossing guard that paid $9.86 per hour, and a shelter resident just got a job as a receptionist for $9.00 per hour (both part-time jobs). We don't have to wonder how this makes Advocates feel.
I studied the laws a little bit, and discovered there are NO Florida or federal laws preventing an employer from working you full-time hours, or longer, and calling you a part-time employee (thus no benefits)... forever.
The laws do require employees be paid time-and-a-half for hours over 40 per week, so they're usually careful about overtime.
The week I worked 49.5 hours, they silently assigned the extra 9.5 hours to my previous paycheck, as "back wages," so they didn't pay overtime. I didn't say anything at the time, but I did notice it.
From what I hear, conditions in agencies like this will only get worse as funding gets cut even more. More's the pity for everyone involved.
I'm sorry you went through that.
I agree with you that it sounds like the management staff is there for their egos, more than to help their clients.
I wonder if a turnover in management staff would change things.
Have you considered reporting all the infractions?
You ARE lucky to be out of there!
[/QUOTE]management has been unable to procure a battery-operated radio for shelter use during hurricanes when power fails.
Quote:
???? You mean none of the management there could go to a freaking CVS and buy a radio??? Yep, sounds like they're real concerned about the women they're supposed to be helping (voice dripping with sarcasm)
Sorry to hear this, BK. I've got the feeling you were one of the good ones while you were there.
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