When I got hired I was asked what my availability was, and I said seven days a week. So now I have to keep 12 hours a day Monday-Saturday and 9 hours on Sunday open, even though I'm only scheduled to work 12 hours a week. The days I work change every week...it could be morning, evening, half day, full day, no hours at all. I won't know until Wednesday or Thursday if I'm working on Sunday. Then I'll find out the schedule for the week, but nothing further than 9 or 10 days out. I can't even plan a day to clean my own house each week because I don't know if I'll be working or not. I can't be on a committee at church. I can't volunteer unless it's through a Carmax scheduled charity. Here's an example of how I live: Halloween is two and a half weeks away, and I don't know if I should spend the money to buy candy to pass out because I don't know if I'm going to be home to pass it out or be at Carmax. That's a really crummy way to live! I don't want to put in "RO"s because I don't want to be seen as not being a team player. They told me in the interview it was "retail hours", which to me means evenings and weekends, but to them it means they won't tell you your schedule until the last minute. That's really weird, and not at all considerate to the employees. I worked at the mall for five years (which is retail, "retail hours", yes?) and I always worked the same days at the same time. What surprises me most is that Carmax brags about "great work-life" balance. I think they mean lots of part-time employees and no paid overtime for the full-timers when they say that. It certainly doesn't mean you can plan ahead to go to the movies next weekend. My anxiety is way too high to live this way. And it's embarrassing to be an adult and not be able to give an answer when another adult asks to meet for lunch. I just feel so stupid for not understanding what they were implying. If I had known, I wouldn't have taken the job. I've only been at Carmax a few weeks, but I think I'm going to have to leave. A 12 hour a week job is not worth putting my whole life on hold.
