Before the Car | Escapes #0.5

Chapter 11

"I meant by cutting your labor."

"Don't you go touching anything on there. I have things set up a certain way for a reason."

I sighed. "Don't you want to bring in more revenue?"

"Who wouldn't? But I live comfortably. We all do. You can't tell me you've been neglected or in want at any point in your life." He did have a point. "You can't possibly think that we need to get more money."

"It's just that there's too much leniency with your employees. The standard is to not get too close to your employees and to do things in the best interest of the business."

Dad sighed. "Tell you what. Run the store for a little bit how you see fit. You have until I come back to work. If things are running better, you win. If things are running worse, you're going to be put on the back burner again until you decide to do things the right way."

Somewhere in my heart, I knew that what he was saying was correct. Yet, Charlie's words kept replaying in my head: You're going to always have that one employee that's going to push the limits. You're going to grab them by the chops and lay down the law. I know it seems hard, but you're going to have to man up and do the job.

The only employee pushing the limits right now was Jenny. I wasn't sure why she was. The only thing I knew was that she was earning far beyond what any high school kid should have been getting, especially for their first job. I'd told her that she needed to show me her worth, but I knew what she was capable of. I'd been watching her for a year at that point.

I stood up and got ready to go. "I'm heading to work."

"Be careful, and remember what I said."

"I will."

When I reached the store, I double-checked myself. My calculations weren't wrong. She was the reason the store's profits weren't what they could be. Her and the old woman, Thelma. They were the ones that were draining resources. I also checked and saw how we could increase the profits from the others.

It took a couple of weeks, but I finally produced schedules that allowed people to spend more time with their families and less time working. Simply rotating out some people cut the labor cost by a very noticeable amount. Enough that we had the budget to expand somewhat. It was amazing how much Dad was putting into the people working for him. 

A part of me wondered why, but another, louder part of me told me that I had to man up and fix this. It sounded an awful lot like Charlie. I shook my head and tried to push the voice out. I didn't want him in my head. We were too different, and his ways were wrong.

The night before I enacted the new schedule, I couldn't sleep. I knew there would be backlash. One of the key people fighting back would be Charlie. I was sure of it. I had cut his hours by a bit. Not as much as I cut Jenny's or Thelma's, though. Thelma was old. She didn't need to be working so much at her age. Her file showed she was about 70. Jenny was about to be 18, but she was also a school kid. She didn't need to be working as much as she was, either. She was on the schedule every day. 

I came into work and gathered everyone around. Jenny was the last person to come in, as I'd planned. I finished my little meeting and gave her the new schedule. As I'd planned. What I didn't plan for was her reaction. 

After I handed Thelma her schedule, I heard Jenny say quietly, "That's not fair to you."

The thought made my stomach twist. "On the contrary," I said. "It's very fair to her. I took into consideration her age and I've noticed that she has some limitations. This will ease the burden on her and frees up time for her to see her grandkids and be able to be with her family." I knew I sounded like the hardened jerk Charlie was. My eyes subconsciously sought him out and he was smirking at me.