Urgent meeting now scheduled with スレナガ
I know what that means. It means they want something from me.
I enter the room and it's not just my direct superior, the biggest authority on-site and the HR supervisor that are there.
The owner of the facility deemed this meeting worthy of his attendance.
The first thing you notice is their kind smiles.
As a part-timer, I know this can mean only one thing:
We're at our wits' end, スレナガ... The summer months are always the busiest.
A fraction of our people have scheduled their vacations, but we had everything covered
HOWEVER
One of our staff broke her arm and will be out for two months. Another took a month's leave due to burn-out™
No-one can do any more hours than they're already doing. You're the only one we can turn to.
Grimly curious, I ask to see the days and turns they have scheduled for me
(It's a sea of RED, with one or two empty greens here and there. Each red cell with numbers ranging from 7 to 9)
Two hundred and seventy-two hours.
I have a speech readied for exactly this situation.
As you know, in the past, I have prioritized work hours over personal and academic projects. That attitude took a toll on my well-being and it took me great strains to salvage my academic prospects. I have decided never to do that again. I can compromise on doing extra hours, but never the amount you propose to me here. I cannot go any further than thirty hours per week. I apologize and understand that you may feel disappointment towards me and am willing to put my position and my continuation in this facility to consideration.
We'll pay more
The magic words bind me to my chair.
We're willing to increase your hourly wage by 225% per each extra hour.
(It's a lot of extra hours)
(And it's only for a month, right? What harm can it do?)
I just don't learn.
Update (15/09/2023)
(Originally partially posted on sushigirl dot us, 07/09/2023)
Every time, I try to be only a useful member of the part time staff. Every time, I'm given more responsibilities and more hours while the rest of the staff gets culled and working conditions deteriorate until others bail out. I've began to wonder if I'm a contributive factor in the degradation of working environments. My objective is always to do as much work in as little time possible so that everyone has more time and space to breathe. It doesn't matter if productivity goes up. It doesn't matter if expenditure decreases while profits increase. It doesn't even matter the socio-economic stratus that the employer occupies or traces origin to. The pattern is always the same.
It might be time to quit. Again. And if I leave, the house of cards will crumble, those in charge will have to reconsider their priorities and things go back to the status quo. Except I'm no longer there to reap the benefits. All I get is accumulated stress, reset progress and more lost lifetime. This has been a recurring pattern and I'm wondering if the same will happen here.
"Just this month."
"Things will stabilize once everyone's vacation time is over by the end of this month."
"One last stretch this month and you'll be back on your standard hours."
Three months of my life lost and all factors outside the gladdening tone in management's voices indicate a fourth month is in store. Maybe even the rest of the year. Am I being paid a handsome amount for all of this? Yes. Is it worth it? I'm still struggling to answer that question. I have enough money to live frugally for a decade and I'm wondering why I'm not doing so. I could even work as a small-time food delivery guy for 10 hours a week to keep myself busy instead of working in my area, and I'd still pocket enough that my funds would keep increasing or staying at the same level. The way things are, such a line of work is bound to be the type that always needs people. Same as my current profession, except I wouldn't earn as much and I'd lose my oh so prestigious title... But I'd work on my terms.
Workplace ⓑ is also an option...
Update (04/10/2023)
I decided not to wait until the end of the month.
Two days after writing the above update, in minced words, I told that either they'd give me 30 days off starting the following week or to consider the conversation as me giving my 30 days notice.
I'll give them November and December.
I'm very inclined to leave in January and lead the precarious life of a freelancer for a while.
Time will tell. Now I rest.