• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

Being asked to cover someone's shift

Status
Not open for further replies.
C

Conor_Fool

Banned
Hey everyone,

So I work part-time at a bar/restaurant right by my house. I am scheduled to work 5pm-9pm both today and tomorrow, then 11am-9pm on Saturday (no formal break but I can go smoke a cigarette every hour or two). My employers just hired an 18 year old fresh out of high school that seems like a bit of an idiot. He just let them know today that he won't be able to do his 5-9 shift on Friday, my only day off in the next four days. So my manager texted me asking if I could cover his shift, to which I replied: "Ahh sorry man I cannot. My friends and I bought tickets to the baseball game that night." Well, upon further research, I saw that it is perfectly legal to fire someone in the US for refusing to cover another persons' shift.

Am I in the wrong here? Should I always cover shifts no matter how much I don't want to? I don't want to get fired
 
Depends on your boss, but if it happens often I don't see why he wouldn't fire you over someone willing to cover shifts regardless.
 
It's perfectly legal to fire you for wearing a red shirt on blue shirt day. Welcome to America.
 
You're good, your boss would have to the biggest asshole in the world to fire you over this, and likely would fire the 18 year old first.
 
Firing you for such nonsense would cost the business more money in the long run. I think you will be alright.
 
Do you always refuse? If you've covered folks in the past then I think you're good, but it as always depends on what kind of person your boss is and if he notices what you've done in the past.
 
Conor_Fool said:
I saw that it is perfectly legal to fire someone in the US for refusing to cover another persons' shift.
Click to expand...

America...what the fuck?
giphy.gif
 
Halcyon said:
Depends on your boss, but if it happens often I don't see why he wouldn't fire you over someone willing to cover shifts regardless.
Click to expand...

You're saying he should fire me if I don't pick up shifts? Fuuuuuuu. This isn't the first time I've refused to pick up a shift either. They tried to get me to take the 8am shifts all 6 freaking days of the week last week and I said the best I could do was 3 of them. They didn't schedule me for one.
 
You're not in the wrong.

I find it odd the boss had to ask you, usually places I've worked at the employee has to find a person themselves to cover. And if they don't find one and don't show up it falls on their head.
 
You can be fired for anything in America if they want you gone.

covering a shift on such short notice shouldn't be expected by anyone, I've never had an issue with it. It should fall on the unreliable employee instead.
 
Unless your boss is an extremely petty asshole I wouldn't worry about it. If he is a petty asshole, he's more likely to fire the 18 year old before you.
 
Probably shouldn't have told the boss why you couldn't make the shift.

And have to consider the team player part. Better hope you don't have to get a shift covered in the future. That would be my immediate concern.

Most competent places put the burden on the person calling out to get the shift covered anyway.
 
I don't see why he would fire you, unless you constantly refuse to cover for shifts. If anything he would more likely fire the 18 yr old before you.

Unless your boss is a major asshole and wants to see you leave. Nothing from your post made me think that though.
 
It's usually better just to say you can't, rather than saying why you can't. That may depend on your relationship with your boss as well.
 
Ferrio said:
I find it odd the boss had to ask you, usually places I've worked at the employee has to find a person themselves to cover. And if they don't find one and don't show up it falls on their head.
Click to expand...

Yeah, this is how it worked at all the jobs I've had.
 
I don't think you're in the wrong, and although I don't know what your manager would do, I'm pretty confident you're fine and won't lose your job. The guy who couldn't come in would be fired first.
 
GoldenEye 007 said:
Probably shouldn't have told the boss why you couldn't make the shift.

And have to consider the team player part. Better hope you don't have to get a shift covered in the future. That would be my immediate concern.

Most competent places put the burden on the person calling out to get the shift covered anyway.
Click to expand...
Why? I think telling them you have some plans is better than just saying you can't. Especially since he already bought tickets to something you can't return.
 
Mammoth Jones said:
Shouldn't have said it was a baseball game.

"I'm sorry, I'm going to keep an eye on my grandma since she's recovering from a stroke" sounds much more convincing.
Click to expand...

whatever, you have to be employed by a real asshole for them to hold what you planned to do on your time off against you.

it's easier to tell the truth than keep up with how many lies you've told.
 
GoldenEye 007 said:
Probably shouldn't have told the boss why you couldn't make the shift.

And have to consider the team player part. Better hope you don't have to get a shift covered in the future. That would be my immediate concern.

Most competent places put the burden on the person calling out to get the shift covered anyway.
Click to expand...
I agree with this completely. However, if you have a financial expenditure (such as tickets) behind your inability to cover a shift, it can add to the reasonableness of the refusal.
 
Conor_Fool said:
You're saying he should fire me if I don't pick up shifts? Fuuuuuuu. This isn't the first time I've refused to pick up a shift either. They tried to get me to take the 8am shifts all 6 freaking days of the week last week and I said the best I could do was 3 of them. They didn't schedule me for one.
Click to expand...

I'm not saying he should fire you for not picking up shifts. I'm just saying it wouldn't surprise me if he did after repeated refusals.

Just put yourself in the managers shoes. If you have kids calling off and nobody willing to cover the shifts wouldn't it make sense to get people in there that are more reliable all around. Did HE have to then cover the shift? Someone's gotta work.
 
Wait... I can get fired for not covering shifts if asked to?
I should probably stop drinking on my days off then, because I'm always drunk when they call me.
 
Why would he fire the guy he's ask to cover some other dudes shift? My GF covers every shift she can get because she likes the overtime, but she doesn't do it because shes fearfully of getting fired.
 
Where I work we have to organise that ourselves....if you can't get cover then you have to work it, take it as holiday (if allowed), or call in sick.
 
Wow thats a law? I think if anything, the 18 year old would get fucked over first. I have never heard of anyone getting fired for refusing to cover a shift on their day off, especially if they have plans.
 
Bosses go after the person who called off in this scenario, not the people who couldn't cover for them.

Unless your boss is both dumb and an ass, you're fine.
 
I worked at target a few years after high school and I had no problem telling them no every single time.

Luckily though they couldn't text me cuz I never gave them my cell phone number.
 
I got fired by one ahole restaurant manager for not covering a shift. He had some stupid policy about always being "on -call" because he hired delinquents that called in sick fifty percent of the time. I didn't answer his phonecall when he called. He told me not to come in the next day.
 
I was once told in an interview for a retail position that if I got someone to cover my shift and that person didn't show up, I'd be the one who gets written up.
 
Lol it's perfectly legal to fire you for a bunch of reason, even like your superior disliking your socks.

Just like you can leave at any time, and they can fire at any time.

That said, you will be alright.
 
its very unlikely they would fire you for not covering someone elses shift. if anything they would fire the delinquent person and hire someone else.
 
Asking over text like that seems pretty casual, so to me it doesn't seem like the manager was expecting anything anyways. Not sure how OP's place works but that's how I read it. I wouldn't read into it too much but I wouldn't go around refusing every offer either
 
Probably not a huge deal, although your response might've been a bit too much of a closed "nope!" if your boss is a jerk. I doubt it'll be an issue though.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Spotify, Universal Music Unveil AI Cover Songs Feature
14
412
YCoCg replied
  • Locked
New Epstein Emails: Elon Musk Repeatedly Asked To Visit Epstein Island
39 40 41 42 43
2K
9K
Baemono replied
'Ride the Lightning' cover from Megadeth.
14
521
nkarafo replied
Being a Drifter
2
59
2K
Agave replied
Want to kill someone? AI here's to help!
6
378
NeoIkaruGAF replied
Top Bottom