Woudl it be appropriate to ask my boss if I can do this?

[villanelle75]

Keep in mind that I hate anything remotely resembling confrontation, which in my head unfortunatley translates into talking about anythign that the other person might dislike or say no to, so that may be why this feels huge to me adn why I need to prepare ahead of time for when this comes up.

I amd slated to get a promotion. It's a long story but my office is hiring a temporary relpacement for my current job while I do the job of a coworker who left. After about 6 months, if it works out having me do the new job, Newperson will become permanent and I'll offically be hired in my new position, complete with a raise.

This new job will be exempt from overtime. This was a HUGE issue between the girl who eventually left and our boss. She would come in late, leave early, and take daily two hour lunches so she pu tin about 5 hours in a typical day. In conversations with another co-worker about Boss's expectaions of an exempt employee, boss made it very clear that he sees it as meaning you put in at least 40 hours. In other words, more, not less, hours than a non-expemt person puts in. I'm fine with that. However, I'd like to see if I can work out a flexible schedule where I perhaps don't take a lunch break and can therfore come and go half our later and earlier than I do now, or even work 4 nine hour days and then a half day on Fridays. (There is no reason I'd need to be here during standard working hours. )

When we sit down and have the official conversation about pay, new responsibilities, etc. I know he'll bring up his expectations of the non-exempt status, since it's so sensitive to him, especially after the last girl took advantage of it. I'm worried that if I immediately bring up wanting to flex my hours, he'll think i'm trying to take advantage of the change in status, especially since it's such a sore spot for him. Do you think, given that this is such a sensitive topic for him, that it would look bad for me to bring it up? I would I emphasize that I know I'm expected to work at least forty hours a week still and that I'm just wanting to understand exactly what the expectations are and to see if it would be acceptable for me to change my regular hours a bit if I still continuted to put in my full time. Would I be better off keepin gmy mouth shut? Asking later after I've started in the new status? Phrasing it differently? TIA!

[smiles33]

I, too, am reluctant to deal with confrontations (heck, I didn't even negotiate when I got my job), but I think you are totally entitled to request a flexible schedule.

Given that your boss presumably knows you well, I think it is very reasonable to ask whether a flexible schedule is possible. You are not the woman who left and obviously have demonstrated your value already to have been offered this position.

It sounds like he may be sensitive about being taken advantage of (obviously the guy wasn't a good supervisor if he let that woman get away with it for a while). However, you are taking on new responsibilities so you should feel comfortable asking for new benefits.

Good luck!

[boilermaker]

To be honest, if I were your manager, I would prefer you address it at the 6 month point. You're going to have a discussion at that point anyway and by then you will have a better idea of the time needed to perform the job properly and your supervisor will know that a flex schedule won't negatively impact your contribution.

As a manager, I wouldn't be opposed to it, but if you addressed it right away, I would start thinking that it was one of the main reasons you took the position...and you don't need your manager thinking that.

[maple]

I agree with boilermaker.

Since it is a sore subject, the last thing the manager will want is any reminder of the current situation. I think you work the schedule as is, impress the h*ll out of them, and then when they want to make you permanent, bring up your desire to have a flexible schedule.

They'll be much more flexible at that point.

Just my 2 cents.

[villanelle75]

I realized I was a bit unclear in my OP. I'm already doing the new job, so I don't think we'll have "the conversation" until he's about ready to make me permanent, which I beleive will be after about 6 months, or shorter before that. That's when I would bring it up, so I would already have been doing thye new job for 6 months and presumably, proving myself. We never really had a talk about any details when I started the job because she left in a hurry (very unpleasant situation) and with zero notice (she called HR to tell them she quit after she left early for the day) so it was pretty much a panic situation where the next day he called me in and told me that he thought I'd be good in the situation, and I just hit the ground running.

I think by the time he brings it up, I'll have shown him that I can do an excellent job in this new capacity.

So I guess I was really thinking of doing exactly what you suggested, Boilermaker and Maple, and bringing it up around the four- six month mark, which is about when I think he'll sit downand actually discuss the new job with me.

Thanks for you input so far. Any other thoughts woulf be appreciated!

[dionysia]

Do you know why they changed the status of the position from non-exempt to exempt?

Di

[villanelle75]

The new position was always exempt, but my original position with the company was non-exempt. When the new person who will be doing mostly what I am doing now is hired, she'll be non-exempt, as I was. Although my title (and job) would be slightly different than the person's who left because I'm less experienced, I'm essentially taking over that position and therefore moving from a non-exempt position to an exempt. In other words, no position's status is being changed; it's just that when I become officially moved from old job to new job, I'll be moving from a non-exempt to an exempt position.

It's all rather confusing, and made more so by the fact that we have these IMO idiotic rules that say if you are going to be reclassified from one job category into another, you have to be doing the new job (while still being paid and holding the title of your previous job) for 6 months before you actually get the raise and new classification/title. Since it has to be that way anyway and my new job is one I have fairly little experience in and would never have been hired for if I were just applying off the street, my boss is using those months as a trial period of sorts to make sure I function well in the new job that I'm slightly underqualified for on paper. (Of course, by being far less qualified than the nightmare girl who left, he saves on having to pay me nearly as much, and there's pretty much no way possible for me to be worse than she was. Sloppy work habits, ineffective interactions with pretty much everyone she ran across, rudness to clients and donors, anti-semetic comments and an ensuing HR intervention, and eventually theft of my personal property which became another HR issue as well as a police issue, and which finally and thankfully lead to her immediate resignation. They are exactly huge shoes to fill. )

[dionysia]

Villanelle-

Ah, gotcha. Though I wonder if the 'you have to be doing $JOB before we actually change your status and title' is kosher per the FLSA. ANYWAY!

Back to your original question:
I would show your boss that you can do $NEW_JOB for at least 3-6 months before asking for any flexible workweek arrangement. You are right, he might resent you asking so soon, especially if he thinks he's taking a chance since you are somewhat underqualified.

Di