So I have been in my new job for about a month and a half now. It involves a team of 2 driving around in a van and doing the jobs we receive on an app. The deal is that one person drives and picks up the other person in the morning. So far I have usually been the person being picked up.
On 3 separate occasions now, I have waited in the morning for over an hour past the scheduled time, without being picked up. On each occasion, I have called my manager to tell me no one has picked me up yet and he has told me that there was a misunderstanding to who would pick who up. This is usually down to his ineptitude and forget to arrange it.
Now, I know most people might think it’s a good thing to not get picked up for work. And don’t get me wrong, I would much rather spend a day odd at home. But I figured I would do the right thing and not ruffle any feathers by letting my manager know. At least then he knows I’m making an attempt to work.
This morning, it’s the same situation. The guy I’ve been with all week is off today and I was told that I would be with another guy, who would picked me up this morning. Still no sign of him. I don’t know what kind of mix up has happened again, but I’m willing it bet my manager has caused it.
I’m of the opinion that it shouldn’t be up to me to chase around and see who needs to be picking me up for work. My manager should sort this out himself. Us workers do what he tells us to do. If no one has picked me up, it’s because he never told anyone to. I have half a mind to not call him today and see how long it takes for him to notice I’m not at work. If he ever does.
I don’t think there would be any major ramifications for me just not alerting anyone and not going into work. He has been shown to be reasonable enough when he has made a mistake. And considering I have made an effort to make sure I go into work in the past, he knows I’m not lazy.
Figured I’ve got some time to waste this morning. Why not come on reddit and see other people’s thoughts on this.
49 comments
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Your manager sounds a bit useless, but that’s by the by:
> I’m of the opinion that it shouldn’t be up to me to chase around and see who needs to be picking me up for work. My manager should sort this out himself.
This is a poor, childish attitude that isn’t going to get you anywhere, either here, or anywhere else.
It’s weird, people wouldn’t ever put up with being treated that way. “Pfft, that was your responsibility” is such a shit way of looking things when you know full well something has gone wrong, and you *must* know this. If I knew you were cooking lunch but had forgotten to turn the oven on, would you be happy if half an hour later I said “Oh, yeah, I knew that – but it was your responsibility”.
>I don’t think there would be any major ramifications for me just not alerting anyone and not going into work. He has been shown to be reasonable enough when he has made a mistake. And considering I have made an effort to make sure I go into work in the past, he knows I’m not lazy.
Sure, but not being a lazy worker doesn’t entitle you to a day of extra paid holiday here and there. Your manager may be quite lenient, but in practical terms you not informing him is little different to an office worker not turning up one day to see if they could get away with it not being noticed. Yes, you rely on him doing his job correctly to do yours and he has failed at that, but it takes very little effort to call him to attempt to correct the mistake – which you have proven by doing it in the past – and choosing to do so now leaves you with little defence other than simply “I decided I don’t need to work if you don’t arrange things properly. Unfortunately it’s not really your right to make that decision.
You might get away with no punishment but you’d be painting yourself as an unreliable staff member and from that moment onwards you’d likely be under the microscope for the rest of your time there.
I don’t understand something, the driver (person who is meant to pick you up) knows they are meant to have a partner in the van, but they just don’t bother and do all the work on their own?
If you’re meant to work in teams of 2 and there is an odd number of employees available then maybe you do just get the day off… but your manager should tell you.
OP works for a council lol
Maybe start asking your manager in the evening who’s picking you up in the morning and then confirm with the colleague the time they would come.
Yes you have to call in, but you can start taking the piss out of your manager for keeping forgetting
Are you still getting paid when they don’t pick you up? Probably a silly question that the answer will be ‘no’ to.
If you are still being paid for someone else’s failure and you get a day off, I’d keep calling in each time it happens to show that you’ve made the effort to work and haven’t been able to
I think you need to start being proactive here. Call you boss now, say you haven’t been picked up, find out where your first job is, get there if you can, or into the office.
Then start checking in with the boss every day before you leave work “hey, who’s picking me up tomorrow?” and contact them and make sure they’re aware of this.
Even if it’s not your fault that the message about picking you up isn’t being passed on, it is your responsibility to get to work and do the job you’re paid for. If you have a reputation of being a bit unreliable, not being proactive when stuff goes wrong, you’ll be shuffled out the door fairly quickly.
Ask your manager to confirm to you in writing every evening (text/email) who will be picking you up the next day.
They need to find a better way of doing this collection rota. Maybe suggest that. There are a lot of hopeless managers out there, and when it starts making your work worse, it’s time to speak up and get something changed.
Just because someone else is inept doesn’t give you an excuse to behave poorly in your role. I would call them and just explain your grievances to your manager.
You need to be phoning your manager every time you don’t get picked up and asking what’s going on. Maybe find out who his manager is and let them know the situation.
‘Managing your manager’ is a thing. You don’t know what else he has going on. His system isn’t working for whatever reason, so try and think of a better one that will make his life, your life, and everyone else’s easier. Maybe suggest a couple of options, e.g. the guys doing the work have a WhatsApp group to check in with each other about lifts etc. Or, as another person has said, check all is in place the day before.
You will be seen far more favourably by everyone at your company if you try to be a positive ‘can-do, solutions guy’, not a ‘hands-in-the-air’ *”not my problem, sod you all”* guy.
The thing is if you’re only 6 weeks into your job, you’re still going to be in a probation period where they can shitcan you with no recourse. If they tried to pull you up for something out of your control and you can demonstrate you contacted your manager about it every time, you can defend your position. If you don’t, they could use it as an excuse to bin you, even if it’s only the one time.
Yes it sucks and yes it’s not your fault, but the fact of the matter is if someone decides that either you or your manager need to go, they’re going to choose you just because it’s less of a headache for them in terms of paperwork etc.
Cover your own back, otherwise it will be seen as AWOL, falls under gross misconduct, they will have grounds to sack you with no problems. If you don’t have two years service you won’t get a tribunal, only an appeal to HR, which in this level of Logistics won’t have any compunction about just fucking you off
Ps – I’m a Transport manager, I’m speaking from experience. I haven’t done this myself, but I’ve seen similar things happen
Unless you’re actually outright willing to say to your boss *’I didn’t bother phoning you to let you know I didn’t get picked up because I don’t think it’s my responsibility’* then it’s probably not a good path to head down.
Trying to say something without actually saying it, can be career limiting at times.
To ensure they can’t use it against you, I’d let them know, and ask for your own van.
Then start job hunting for a role that gives you a bit more satisfaction.
Arse covering 101: always call in and let them know the problem.
Because if you don’t, it’s on you, not him, and that could mean no pay, disciplinary acton and a warning from HR.
Be proactive not passive, if you don’t get picked up once someone realises one of the first questions they will ask is why didn’t you raise it? It may not be your job to plan it, but when things don’t go to plan it’s up to you to alert someone.
If you start just not calling in and then the work gets done anyway, they’re going to reach a stage where they think ‘do we even need this guy?’ I don’t know if the work would get done in your particular case but that would be one of my concerns. You find yourself surplus to requirement.
If it was me and i know i was being picked up by a different person i would check in at end of previous shift , ask who is picking you up and drop them a text with your pick up details for next morning.
This will show willingness to work and initiative.
But if you are happy loafing around and hopefully getting paid for it i would keep checking in as you have been.
This is probably going to be unpopular, but if you are getting paid, then a phone call is easy work. If you ask your employer if making sure you get picked up is part of your job, they will probably say yes. Annoying but I don’t think not calling to make a point is going to be useful for you or anyone else tbh.
…is he paying you for the whole day when HE makes you late?
Is he swallowing or handling any problems caused by this?
Such as, the customers who you MUST be arriving late for??
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My advice; stick it out, find new work, someone forgetting you exist is going to start ”forgetting’ your wages soon enough.
Make sure it’s written down, you want an audit trail if it comes to it
Well he is suppose to manage you so he’s not really doing his job
Send him an email, but make sure that, within the email, you also mention (without sounding arsey) the other times that your collection hasn’t happened.
It is really important to document stuff like this. HR are not there for you, but for the managers – including the shit ones. If he starts slinging shit about why you haven’t been at work on these days, you need to be able to refer them to your email trail.
There would almost certainly be ramifications for you not alerting anyone, they might realise that the work is getting done without you and just sack you.
Do you get paid when you are not picked up?
If you worked in an office and hadn’t been provided a key fob to get into the building, would you turn around and go home or would you ring someone to let you in?
If you turned up and your laptop hadn’t arrived or your charger was missing, would you sit at your desk all day or find someone in IT to help?
If you were provided a company car and it kept breaking down, would you keep calling to get it fixed or would you go back to bed for the day?
It’s an annoyance to have to chase your manager, but not an excuse to ignore the issue and take a day off IMO. I’d be asking your manager why this keeps happening and what can be done to prevent it in future.
Call it in, with a “reminder” email (paper trail), every time.
Intentionally not saying anything will not be an acceptable excuse later.
You need to tell someone
If you feel your manager is being incompetent and it is having a negative impact
on your work or your life, privately report an informal grievance to their line manager.
Do you work for the council this has happened to me a few times before lmao.
I’d take the odd day here and there as a freebie, but I’d drop a message every other time, just to cover yourself.
Fuck no, I no wouldn’t call in. I think we might do the same job based on what you’re saying and I was forgotten about for a whole week when I first started
*”I’m of the opinion that it shouldn’t be up to me to chase around and see who needs to be picking me up for work. “*
——
You are a millennial aren’t you?
It is up to you to get yourself to work each day. If that means sorting out who is picking you up each day, that is on you.
Did you get picked up
Boss, I’ve been waiting so long, I’ve started growing roots. Should I bring my own pot to work?
I’d be asking the manager to arrange pick-ups the day/night before and letting everyone know. That way if you’ve not heard anything by 8pm or whenever the previous day, you can message them before it’s an issue. Even an allocation sent out each morning let’s you see if you’ve been left off early on.
You should be finding a solution here, not looking to prove a point or take advantage of it.
Reddit isn’t the real world.
You know there is a problem, so try and sort it out.
Don’t wait until the problem happens. Sort it out beforehand.
Ask for the number of who will be picking you up. Contact them to make sure they understand what they need to do.
Email them if possible with your manager cc’d in.
More than 15 minutes late? Call AND text AND email your manager.
Cover yourself.
TLDR, but, are you being paid? If yes, you probably should be working for it, and you should definitely raise the issue with your manager. If you aren’t being paid but they’re leaving you hanging daily, move on.
Your manager’s responsibility is to manage the business and that also means managing you. Your responsibility is to work for the business and that also means working with your manager.
If you notice that managing the pickup assignments is being neglected why don’t you offer you manager to take on that duty? This is afterall how you advance in a company from staff to a manager. You take on management responsibilities.
You shouldn’t have to chase a lift, but you do need to let them know you haven’t been collected.
I’d say it’s your duty as an employee to flag up that you’re not being given work to do to your manager.
Do this every day that you’re not given work to do, don’t let it be you that dropped the ball when this inevitably comes to a head.
You want to be able to point at a long chain of texts, emails or phone-call records saying you tried to do your job and haven’t been given opportunity to do so.
And then yeah, if you aren’t given work to do, do whatever you like at home until you are.
INFO though, do you still get paid if you aren’t picked up for jobs?
IF you need to be picked up in order to get money, then this is eating into your income and you need to get this straightened out ASAP.
I’ll just hide under my desk until they remember, maybe they’ll think I’ve transformed into office furniture!
I’d just message in saying, been forgotten again.
Call them. Even though it’s ridiculous that they are so disorganised.
If you find yourself later down the road having taken money but not worked the hours, you would be in legal hot water.
Whereas now, you’re just being a good employee and showing willing.
I don’t know how the company is structured, but if there is a manager above the one you talk to normally, I’d probably point it out now. Explain that this happens regularly. If they’re at all worth their money, they’ll want it solved asap. And if not, then you’ve done your best to solve it.
If that manager is the owner of the business, then either keep going and either enjoy it, or hope that eventually the problem is resolved as it may be the person coming on shift that is getting it wrong. So The manager is trying hard to resolve it (or not).
If it really bothers you so much, then I’d consider moving jobs. Otherwise, enjoy the odd time off.
Always alert your manager asap.
Doesn’t matter if it’s a one off or happens every day, report it every single time at the correct time. Allow for traffic of course, but its your responsibility to inform your manager you haven’t been picked up to do you your job.
Is this setup unprofessional and stupid? Of course. But you have to be accountable for you. You can’t go with the attitude “ah well I reported it 3 times, so I’m not lazy, I won’t bother next time”. You do it every time, be the responsible one. So he knows that every single time he can depend on you.
Personally if I was in your boots I’d keep requesting for the van as much as possible, be the one picking up the other person. Then you know, you have control.
But I would also be looking for another job by now as the manager seems inept.
So yes, stupid and frustrating!
Why are you not checking the day before? who, where and when
Surely thats the default – then if they don’t come the next morning they are the ones you ring? if they don’t answer then you ring the manager
You are all adults