Chips Down For Casino Worker

Q: I recently started working as a cage cashier in a casino.

The job involves heavy handling of cash along with chips and tokens.

My training consisted of watching someone do the job for one week, and then someone watching me work for one week.

My problem is that my supervisor makes me feel like a total idiot.

When I miscounted some chips and overpaid a customer by a few dollars, he said I should take my time and pay attention to what I’m doing, but that I couldn’t possibly get any slower than I was.

One day I was short $3,000, but it turned out he had shorted me on the coin count. He made me feel so bad I just wanted to quit.

When I try to explain that I was told to do something a certain way, he tells me to stop making excuses. I need a job, so what can I do besides quitting?

A: You have chosen a tough business.

Since accuracy is crucial in that position, you may need to tune out all your emotions so you can ignore his harshness and focus strictly on the job.

The bigger picture is that you can’t allow any job or boss to upset you so greatly that you feel turned inside-out by the end of the workday. Even though you need a job, you need to maintain your self-esteem and peace of mind, too.

Seriously consider other fields, because it doesn’t sound like this job suits your personality.

Employee penalized for lack of homework enthusiasm

Q: As a municipal employee, I was assigned to complete a home-study course on my own time. Although I did complete it, I was chastised for not having it done by the date set by my employer. This was reflected in my evaluations and thus affected my job status.

How can an employer assign such work to an hourly employee without compensating him for the time studying at home?

A: Certain types of training should be covered during work hours, such as training on new software programs and hardware systems.

But many employees choose to better themselves by taking outside classes after hours, where they aren’t compensated for the courses or their time, even though the company will benefit. Such courses are usually presented as options, and it sounds like your boss was considering you for a higher-level position based on your home-study course results and was disappointed by your lack of enthusiasm.

Warehouse workers get no respect from bosses

Q: We work at a warehouse where our boss treats people like a bunch of animals. He has no respect for anyone.

Many of the conditions are unsafe, but when one of us gets hurt, he makes the person go back to work and refuses to let him go to the doctor.

We spoke to the general manager, who doesn’t pay attention to us, so every day just gets worse.

We need to do something to stop this guy.

A: If your workplace contains safety and health hazards, you may file a formal, confidential complaint with the nearest state or regional office of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, a federal agency that investigates all filed complaints. If it finds violations, the company will be fined and forced to correct the problems.

Nothing will change the insensitivity of your boss to injured workers, but with properly functioning equipment, there ought to be fewer accidents.