Anonymous wrote:Does the support work involve getting on the floor and connecting cables or something that would require jeans instead of a suit? Or is it sitting at a computer and doing different work than usual?

If you are just at your desk, I would wear normal office attire from 8-5. If you come in at night or on weekends, then wear jeans.

If the support work has a task that needs to be completed during a regular meeting, email your boss and ask which has priority.

Since you are being paid extra for the support work, it seems like you would still be expected to do your 8-5, 40 hrs/week tasks. If you are doing the extra work from 1-3pm, when are you making up those 2 hours of your regular assignment?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP you can’t let one person’s snide comments rattle you so much. They probably were having a lousy day and said something stupid in passing. You can’t control that. You can control how you react though. It’s not like your boss came down hard on you and wrote you up. Just move on and stop dwelling.

I can see how OP is rattled. He was doing the team a favor, taking on the extra work, minding his business, and then some jealous weirdo got mad he wore jeans and skipped a boring meeting. It would put me off going the extra mile as well. Is that really what the workplace wants? They should have handled the whiner and reminded them of the support work policies rather than indulging their petty complaints.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you let it go but essentially ignore it and either continue the way you were, or stop doing this whole support thing since it’s too much fuss now.

OP again. You know what’s funny? Right after I was called in to have that chat, my boss found me and asked when I was planning to come in and offer support again. You can’t make this stuff up.

This is where you say that you won't be doing it again. Since the expectation changed, it is not at attractive to put in the overtime.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you let it go but essentially ignore it and either continue the way you were, or stop doing this whole support thing since it’s too much fuss now.

OP again. You know what’s funny? Right after I was called in to have that chat, my boss found me and asked when I was planning to come in and offer support again. You can’t make this stuff up.

Anonymous wrote:OP you can’t let one person’s snide comments rattle you so much. They probably were having a lousy day and said something stupid in passing. You can’t control that. You can control how you react though. It’s not like your boss came down hard on you and wrote you up. Just move on and stop dwelling.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you let it go but essentially ignore it and either continue the way you were, or stop doing this whole support thing since it’s too much fuss now.

OP again. You know what’s funny? Right after I was called in to have that chat, my boss found me and asked when I was planning to come in and offer support again. You can’t make this stuff up.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do some extra support work for my company during staffing shortages. It's essentially overtime, but it's much more flexible than a normal workday. When I'm doing support, I can dress casually, make my own hours, work weekends if I want, etc. Anyone is eligible to do it, and the whole point is to help keep things running.

So imagine my surprise when an unknown colleague apparently complained that I wasn't required to sit in on a meeting and instead was allowed to "leisurely stroll into work in jeans."

My boss called me into his office and told me I should have attended the meeting since I was there. I pushed back and said that I wasn't there in my normal capacity, everyone knows that, and if someone had a problem with it, he should have explained that. His response was basically, "I know that, but..."

At that point I said, "Am I correct or not? Because if you know that, then there shouldn't be a 'but.'" We went back and forth a little. My suspicion is that someone with some influence was behind the complaint, because otherwise I don't think this would have gotten any traction.

Now I'm annoyed. My wife says to let it go, but part of me wants to escalate it because I feel like I got called in and criticized for following an arrangement that management already approved. On the other hand, I don't know if this is worth ruffling feathers over.

Would you let it go or push back?

Did you really say this? That’s pretty rude (whether you’re taking to your boss, a peer or a friend, for that matter). Also, how is it “like overtime” if it’s happening at a time that you normally would’ve been there and expected to attend this meeting? Maybe next time you sign up for the support shift you should send a message to the team letting them know that you’re in the support role that day and not available for regular work, meetings, etc.