Standing up at work

rewrite more concise and still in my voice: My old boss at work who is in charge of the cross functional department asked me if I would be willing to take cross functional shifts again so that she could give people vacations. I told her no. I told her I do not need the extra hours as I have another job which pays 35 an hour which I need to spend more time on. I really hated working as a cross functional. I like my current department. I like my new manager a lot more, he is a lot less bossy. Plus there are only 2 other guys in my department so it is not like they can really afford to lose me. Add to that if I let them do this once they will more than likely do it again. I don’t want to work as a cross functional. It is a lot harder on your body and you have to deal with customers a lot more since you work in service at the front a lot. If they really wanted to push the issue they could schedule me against my will and then I would simply call out those shifts. I have enough commendations that I can call out 7 times before I get fired so it is not like they could fire me for it and it would teach them not to do that again. My current position is hard to fill and even harder to train someone for. Like I said there are only 3 people total in my department. So I don’t think they want to lose a good worker. Anyway she thanked me for being honest so I think this will stop her from being so bossy all the time. She is not in charge of me but still bosses me around so hopefully she will realize that I really don’t care what she thinks of me anymore and she has no power over me. I have enough of an emergency fund saved that if they fired me I would still be ok for a while. I also still have money coming in from Meta so even if I lost my job I would still be earning enough that I could support myself. I know what she is doing, trying to say I would be good management just so that I will do absolutely everything she asks of me. It is better to stand up for yourself so that they treat you better. They hired me to work in GM so if they want me to work more than one department again they are going to have to at least give me benefits since I don’t even get sick time or vacation like everyone else. Kind of ironic the reason she stated for me to work for them is so that her full time people can take a vacation when I don’t even get that benefit. I also know that this is just the beginning of having me work in departments I don’t want to. Thus I am taking a stand and if they don’t like it then they will just have to find someone else. I don’t think it will come to that as everyone in the store is happy with my work. This is another reason to have an emergency fund saved. It means that you don’t have to stress yourself out at work too much. That is the main reason I don’t want to work as a cross functional anymore. It was stressful on my body and I was very unhappy. Why else would I change departments for fewer hours and no pay raise? The other reason is that I know that if I wanted to advance in the company it is going to be a long time before that happens, like years most likely. I don’t really want to advance in the company really. I would rather advance in my computer programming jobs. I am getting better at programming so perhaps I could start working on Upwork like all the other freelance programmers. So we will see if they try something, but I don’t think they will. Worse case scenario is that I leave HEB but I would still have another job which pays more and I could work even more hours. Then if I lose the HEB job and then I also lose the Meta job I would still have enough saved that I could buy a cheap car and start doing Uber Eats again until I got a better job. I would also be able to apply to more places that are outside of walking distance.

My former boss, who oversees the cross-functional department, asked if I’d cover shifts to let others take vacations. I declined. I don’t need extra hours since I already have a $35/hour job I want to prioritize. Plus, I hated cross-functional work—it’s physically demanding, involves dealing with more customers, and I enjoy my current department and manager much more. My team is small, with just three people, so losing me would be tough on them. If I gave in once, they’d likely keep asking. Even if they forced shifts on me, I’d call out rather than comply. I’ve earned enough commendations to avoid consequences and would rather make a point than sacrifice my boundaries. My position is hard to fill and train for, so I doubt they’d risk losing me. I also have an emergency fund and other income streams, like Meta, so I’m financially stable even if I lost this job. Their suggestion that I help others get vacation when I don’t even receive sick time or vacation benefits is ironic and unfair. I know this is a strategy to make me more compliant under the guise of “management potential.” But standing up for myself ensures better treatment. I switched departments to escape the stress and unhappiness of cross-functional work, even though it meant fewer hours and no raise. I’d rather focus on advancing in programming, not retail management. If things escalate and I leave HEB, I still have my higher-paying job and other backup options like Uber Eats or freelance programming. This situation underscores the importance of financial independence—it gives me the freedom to prioritize my well-being over workplace demands.