Imagine working at a job where there is an early shift and a late shift. Would you be willing to adjust your schedule so that your coworker could have the shift she needs to pick her kids up from school, or would you think it’s not fair to have to adjust your schedule for a coworker since you have a life too?

In this story, one woman is in this exact situation. She was okay with adjusting her schedule to help her coworker out once, but now that her coworker wants her to constantly adjust her schedule at the last minute, she’s pretty upset.

Keep reading for all the details.

AITA for not wanting to change my schedule to accommodate my coworker?

I (26F) have been working for the same company for 4 years.

My two former coworkers have now left my department, and we were only allowed to hire one person after they both left.

My new coworker (37F; let’s call her Melanie) got hired on about seven months ago, and she was originally meant to be my supervisor (I also applied for the supervisor position but was turned down because I was “too young”).

But because of her poor performance and because HR didn’t see the point in one person being in charge of only one other person, they demoted her position to just associate instead of supervisor.

Melanie is kind of picky about her schedule because she has kids.

When Melanie started out, she was told for some reason that she could have the early shift permanently (our department was set up to have rotating shifts, so my manager dropped the ball on that one and couldn’t do anything to fix that).

It worked well for her because she has two young kids and her fiancé could take them to school while she got to pick them up after work.

It wasn’t a big deal to me. I’m married but my husband and I don’t have kids.

Well now, the schedule is about to change.

Melanie needs her schedule to be flexible.

Melanie’s fiancé got a new job, and his hours are about to be much more sporadic.

Because of that, Melanie says her own schedule will now be more unpredictable—meaning MY schedule will be more unpredictable.

I like having a set schedule because my last job was a nightmare scheduling wise. We would find out our schedule week by week on Monday mornings one hour before our store would open. And I’m fearing the same thing is about to happen here at my current job.

Melanie doesn’t really understand.

I told Melanie that I don’t mind helping out for a week or two while her fiancé figures out his new schedule. But I made it clear I have to know her and her fiancé’s schedules two weeks in advance bare minimum because I’m back in college and need to be able to have time to study (plus I have a life outside of work too).

She keeps nodding like she understands and then says, “I’ll let you know at least a week in advance.”

I’ve told her repeatedly over the past three days that no, I HAVE to find out two weeks in advance or I’m not changing my schedule.

They’re at a standoff.

She’s tried to explain that she has kids, so her schedule is more chaotic than mine.

When I told her I understood but still needed a set schedule two weeks in advance, she shut down and now she won’t speak to me.

She’s been making me feel like I’m the AH here, even though I feel like my time and my desire for a set schedule are just as important as her time and her family.

So AITA?

Melanie’s not the supervisor, so who is in charge? They shouldn’t just be arguing about their schedule like this. Surely there’s a boss who can set things straight. I understand Melanie’s situation, but it’s not fair to expect coworkers to constantly adjust their schedule so you can have the schedule that suits your needs. She might just have to hire a babysitter.

Let’s see how Reddit responded to this story.

She doesn’t really ever need to change her schedule for her coworker.

This job may not work out for Melanie.

Here’s a warning…

Her education should be a priority.

She really does need to talk to the boss.

Parents can’t expect their coworkers to rearrange their lives for them.

If you liked this post, you might want to read this story about a teacher who taught the school’s administration a lesson after they made a sick kid take a final exam.