I started this job 8 weeks ago. Found it via a friend's father. It is a small office. Spent 9 solid months prior to find something but no calls, etc. I am grateful I have a job at times like this but it is too much. Boss is rude, controlling and domineering. it has been this way since day 1. According to the other employee whose been there 1 1/2 years, he was 10 x worse to him. He says I have the nice "h".
For starters, he won't let me keep a set of keys to get in. I got locked out 3 or 4 x, so I started keeping it on me at all times. I even take it home at night. One day, him and the other employee were heading out to a job site. "A" told the boss I hadn't gone to lunch yet. The boss said right in front of me, who cares about her .....lunch. After they left, I took the key and went to lunch.
Whenever I've asked him how to do things so I know how to do it right the 1st time, he always gives me wrong anwers then it is my fault.
The boss was taking 1/2 day off last Thursday and all day friday to go out of town for his birthday. They told me in advance to take friday off. Got my check and they didn't pay me for friday. I asked why(I didn't ask for day off) and they told me that when he doesn't come in, I wont be getting paid for it. He is planning a vacation out of the country in october but hasnt told me yet. I saw it on his to do list. So I will lose at least a week maybe 2 of pay for that.
I am a single mom now and am not making it with the pay here and have NO benefits. Not to mention, a lot of job bids arent coming through as planned. There's another red flag. Then I have to come in day in and day out and deal with such negativity. it is bringing me down. There is a lot more to post but I will do so later. I have to leave for work.
Dear western-girl.Welcome to the board. I am sorry you landed in such a negative environment. I realize that you really needed the job but your boss sounds terrible. He sounds like he will find excuses to not pay you for certain days.
You need to get out of there. Your boss will not get better and you will feel worse about your job.
Unless there is a higher up you can go to I would get out. Please keep looking for other employment. As soon as you find something else you can leave. Even your co-workers can vouch for the way your boss acts.
It would not hurt to document the days that your boss decides not to pay you. He can get in trouble for that. At any rate I would sure not stay there. Let me know how it goes. MaryAnne
Hi cl-norsk. I have mixed feelings with this environment and the what ifs and is it me, etc. It is definitely a strange environment. I did manage to find work to do so I could go in on Friday. Had I not found anything, I would have ended up taking the day off without pay, as there would have been no work. He failed to mention this to me when I got hired.
This is a couple owned business but the wife works out of their home and does all the billing, payroll, etc. There is nobody else above to go talk to. I certainly can't call my friend(his daughter) and discuss things, as that would probably get back to the boss and rock the boat. Possibly cost me my job. Her dad was only looking to fill this position part time and a lot less pay then originally planned. However, due to my circumstances, they decided to make it full time and pay close to what I wanted even out of their budget. When he hired me, he told me that if the bids come through that he has out there, it would put them through the end of the year. I get the impression he feels like he "owns me" for doing me a favor. If and when I leave, I am sure he will throw this in my face.
A few days ago, I talked to the other employee and he said the bids out there aren't looking too good and if the owner didn't feel they would come through to be able to pay me, he wouldn't have hired me. I think he will do anything to protect his job. This guy told me 2 different times to give it time and things will settle down with the boss once we get going. But he gave him a key right away. He didn't have to keep it on him like I am from being locked out. I also feel they treat him well with days off, etc, based on another conversation.
He mentioned he went back home 5 months ago. I asked him if we get paid for a vacation and he said it depends if I am on salary or not and if it is a business trip. I am a salaried employee, and now the boss wants me to start tracking any time I may take in the future to make up for it. He said when he hired me he would pay me salary because he didn't want to do this and there would be days I leave early or stay late, so it would balance out. Now I am thinking they cant afford me so that explains the time off when he is gone, etc.
I had no idea it would be like this when I took the job. I was really excited and grateful for landing this job and for having it become f/t, as I was going to work 2 p/t jobs if I had to. Don't get me wrong. But this has turned into nothing but a drain because of the chaos and drama just for trying to do my job on top of the extra crap. If I stay, when it comes to performance review for a pay raise, I doubt he will give me one because of how he is, like I am incompetent. I realize there is pettiness and different personalities in every company but this takes the cake. I no longer feel comfortable there. A bigger company would not treat people this bad.
The last few weeks, I have been doing some serious thinking. I know I will eventually leave and move on, but sine I am not staying here long term, I want to pursue my career. So I have been looking into that and how to go about it. I want to wake up everyday feeling good about what I do and look forward to getting up in the am's. I want to start planning for retirement, savings, a career! I will be 40 in a year. I put my career on hold due to getting married and having a baby but the marriage is over. I am now free to do what I want to do.
Because of the economy, it may be a while until government agencies start hiring again. So in the meantime, do I stay at such a crazy place not knowing if we will keep getting the work in, keep putting up with such crap, while I pursue finishing my credentials or move on to a better environment with benefits and maybe more pay until then? I am looking at a possible 2-3 years until I finish and prepare myself to do what I want.
Now I feel bad about leaving especially since it was my friend's dad who I work for. But I did not plan on working in such a dysfunctional place.
A few weeks after I started, he deleted my settings and preferences for my hp printer/scanner/fax/copier. I am unable to edit, scan, print documents because of this. I have mentioned this several times since then to please add it back on to my computer. Last week when I had to do some documents for a contract, I was unable to edit them and he would not let me use his computer and scanner to do my work when he would be out for 3 hours. Of course, he got too busy when he returned from the office.
When he looked at what I had completed, they didn't come out clear and clean. He wanted to know why I went back and typed several documents from scratch. Uggh!
A week ago, I was at my desk and he walked up to me and handed me some work to do. He told me to get up, and he proceeded to change my outlook settings like he has on his computer. Didn't even bother to ask me or anything. When I said something to him, he got up and went back to his office.
When I am on the phone, he says, what are they saying, or say this, or who is that,and the person on the other end can hear him. Today, when somebody called asking if we sell area rugs, I said we do not. The guy on the phone said all he wanted was one. I told him we are installers and do not carry them, sorry, and my boss heard me and said, tell him no, we dont have those and the guy said to me, guess I said the wrong thing today. He couldn't believe my boss did that. First time this person has ever called( we have caller id). This goes on all the time. I think it is very unprofessional.
A few weeks ago, an installer came in to see the boss. On his way out, he started talking to me and said, one day you might come to work and not get paid for a month. Has he not been paid before on time? Hmm... Why would he say that?
Too many ifs with this place. Too many more things to list, as nobody would read this. This is not the environment I want to be in and represent a company even if I wasn't seeking to leave and pursue my career. This is bad.
It's easier to find a job when you have a job than find a job when unemployed. Take this time to look for another job, actively. This is no place for you to be and this boss is abusive. The fact that he hasn't paid his employees on time in the past is enough, coupled with the abusive part and I'm firmly of the opinion that you should RUN from this place.
It is NOT you. Your boss is a freak. Remember that - it is NOT you. He is a jerk in the purest form. Call your State's employment rights hotline (hopefully you've got one) to discuss your rights regarding lunches (for instance, are you entitled to one after a certain number of hours worked? This would be important in the case when he denied you lunch and left you alone to man the office without keys to lock up). Discuss your right regarding non-payment of wages, etc., in your State. You probably won't be able to do anything about his abuse unless it is sexual harassment. For instance, when he said you have a nice "h", did you mean "hiney"? If so, it's sexual harassment and you can sue the S.O.B.
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