....to be angry with my manager

[chubbasmum]

i work 3 days a week tues, thurs and sat my car battery died on saturday and despite knocking on neighbours doors although they could see me didnt open their doors and ringing around friends i still made it to work with great difficulty its a 20 min drive faraway from the train station as for the bus thats a non starter as for the cab it would have cost me £22 i rang her up yesterday and told her i have got a pound in my name she got very angry with me and and told me tough i want you in anyway i was assertive and said no and she basically said to me you wont get paid then am i being unreasonable be brutally honest

i forgot to add that i helped them out during the christmas period when they were short stuffed

??

sorry, i don't fully understand your post.

If you are saying what I think which is that you refused to go into work because you are having transport problems, then yes, YABU and shouldn't expect to get paid.

It is up to you to get yourself to work, why didn't you get yourself a new car battery?

yabu..if you know you have to work that day then you should have set aside the minimum amount of money to get there even if it means walking to the train station. i had to walk to my work once which was 10miles away on a main road with no pavements, i would never have dreamt of calling in and saying i cant come in cause i dont have any money!

I find it odd that your neighbours could see you but didn't answer their doors?

I agree that if you knew on Saturday that your car wasn't working you should have made alternative arrangements for getting to work for the next weeks shifts.

i understand what you are both saying but i am a single mum all my money is accounted for i did not plan to have a dead battery not forgetting the fact that my 21 month old needed dropping of to the child minder opposite direction it was only one day i was missing i just didnt stay home and did nothing i had to walk to into town to the bank and get myself a new battery as for the neighbours i cant make excusses for them we are supposed to be good neighbours, ever since i became single through no choice of my own people automatically think that the only help i need is always financial help and thats not the case the only day i needed help i didnt get it

i should stress i get paid on a wed i have never called in sick apart from being away on mat leave and im always at work on time and most of the time help out my collegues with their work loads when i finish with mine is that so wrong

Hi chubbasmum it's crap when your car conks out isn't it. All I can say (and I promise I mean this sensibly, not patronisingly) is to always ensure you book your car in for a winter service once a year.

It's not your managers fault and YABU to expect to be paid for work you haven't done. How would you feel if your manager decided not to pay you for a days work because she only had £1 to her name?

What did you knock on the neighbours door for?

when you have problems you panic and it doesnt help when you have a screaming child at the back of the car you just hope its nothing and just need a second opinion not to be sexist but a male point of view thats why i knocked on my neighbours doors. i didnt expect to be paid for the day i didnt work but she could have cut me some slack given the fact that we had 2 extra members of staff and when ever they are short staffed im there fair point about the winter service i normally do but financially i have been f...d who hasnt been this time of the year. its not even that i over spent i just didnt have the money

Could you take the day as annual leave or offer to make the time up?

Although you can't forsee breakdowns (and regular servicing doesn't eliminate all possibilities) you have an obligation to make your own way to work. If you, like me, can't afford the virtually non-existent public transport alternative then an offer to make up the time should be seen as reasonable. To be shouted at by your manager is not reasonable.

I'm lucky as my boss is very understanding with me - he knows I live a long way from work and he knows what a crap car I have, BUT, I would feel that I was taking the pee by expecting to be paid if I couldn't get in due to a breakdown.

If you are ever in a position to buy some jump leads then do - they've saved my bacon many a morning when I can't start the car. And RAC membership is also great value if you can afford it (late Christmas present from family?).

Yeah, you do panic when you've got car problems and screaming kids so I do sympathise with you. Not much help I know. Maybe your neighbour didn't hear you knock. Maybe they don't know anything about cars. Maybe their just mean and unhelpful - who knows.

Get your car sorted, accept the fact that you're gonna lose a days pay (is there anywhere at all you can cut back on spending, just for a week or two?) and then try to put the whole story behind you.

I can't think of anyone who has had a good start to 2010 so far. I certainly haven't. Things can only get better.

Try not to fret and worry (I'm good at telling other people what to do, shame I don't listen to myself)

Am off to bed now, hope you get some sleep.

Oh God yeah, RAC membership and jump leads, definately.

i even said to her i didnt expect payment but not lay into like that verbally i am not a scrounger the only benefits i claim are child benefit and the rest is off by back im one of those people i would do anything for anyone and very respectful those are the values that were instilled in me thats why i feel a bit miffed that im always there to helf people but when i need help theres nobody

Realistically speaking, what did you expect your neighbour to actually do to help? Is your neighbour a skilled car mechanic with lots of spare time on his hands? Coz I can't think of anyone else who would have been of any use to you to be honest.

ive got jump leads and one of those electronic 3 in ones as for taking the day as annual leave i wasnt given the chance to suggest it she just laid into me i think im coming across as stubborn but what would you are having a sh....ty day no money you are skipping one day through no fault of your own after you have been with the company for 12 years and other people get away with murder some people at work we see once a wk when they feel like it as for family i cant my sister has only just emigrated and all other members died my friends have helped but there is only so much they can do

Not much Famishedass but when you are having abit of a crisis you panic and they always say to me if need help just knock on the door i help them too sometimes

Perhaps it was your attitude that made your manager angry?

Neighboure could have jump started the car

OP, I'm sorry you are having such a run of bad luck. Hopefully your neighbour was ill or in the middle of a row and they are nice really.

Your boss doesn't sound very understanding but of you approach them when you go back to work, they may have had time to think about your attitude/loyalty and realise you are not a piss-taker. I reckon you were just unlucky, probably another 3 people had called in sick/snowdays and they were relying on you to be the one not to let them down.

Hope things look up for you soon.

OP

I am sorry that this has happened and that previous posters were unsympathetic.

How would they react if they were in the same position.

I hope things get better for you.

YANBU

i would like to thank the last 4 ladies for your kind words i had a better day got my money car to be sorted out tomorrow and the best part i got an appology from my director, will be paid for day not worked , his exact words were one good turn deserves another

Nice one, chubbasmum! So glad you got it sorted.

So pleased