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That’s why I don’t live in “America” 😆
Art Slinger wrote:if you are worth more than what you are paid : Tell your boss to give you a raise or fire you 💡 . If you can’t get better at what you do, don’t do it, you’re wasting your time. This really counts in every part of life.
Great idea, leaving a job if it doesn’t pay what you want… IF you can afford not to be paid while you look for a new job.
I can’t afford not to bring in a paycheck – even if it’s smaller than what we really NEED – for any length of time.
Hell, I can’t afford to take a day off sick when my back is hurting so bad I can barely stand and making me so sick to my stomach I can’t eat… and why is my back hurting? Because the boss’s office doesn’t have any access for people to bring deliveries of his new gift shop’s goods… and a delivery of 200+ ceramic pots arrived on Wednesday when I was one of three people in the office. One other person has a bad back also; she didn’t help. The other other person couldn’t lift the boxes, because they were too big to get her arms around. And the delivery man felt that his duty ended the minute the last box was off the truck – and left.
So unless I wanted to leave a couple thousand dollars worth of stock sitting outside in the boss’s rock garden… *I* had to shift it.
Now… what I was hired to do is web design.
Ssthisto wrote:Hell, I can’t afford to take a day off sick when my back is hurting so bad I can barely stand and making me so sick to my stomach I can’t eat…
Aren’t employers legally obligated to provide sick leave?
It really sounds like it would be a good idea for you to discreetly look for another job while you keep working at this one.
Ssthisto wrote:So unless I wanted to leave a couple thousand dollars worth of stock sitting outside in the boss’s rock garden… *I* had to shift it.
Now… what I was hired to do is web design.
I thought it was also illegal to expect someone to do heavy physical labour when it was not in their job description to begin with, and especially if they have a physical limitation? If you were to be further injured by doing the work, they could have a worker’s compensation claim on their hands… or perhaps the law works differently in different places, not sure.
I had that happen once though. The big boss man himself even said “Would you pick those boxes up and carry them back with you?” They were very heavy, and awkward, and I couldn’t believe his audacity to make such a request just because he couldn’t be bothered to have someone appointed to that task to do it. We also had to move our own computers, chairs, etc from one building to another, and no one would help. The second group of people who had to do it were offered a moving company by management to help them. 🙄
mimitrek wrote:Aren’t employers legally obligated to provide sick leave?
It really sounds like it would be a good idea for you to discreetly look for another job while you keep working at this one.
Not really, no. If it’s not a government nor unionized job, there are no rules it seems.
Same place I worked at as mentioned above allowed us 3 days of paid sick leave per year. That’s it. If you needed more, you either accepted that you wouldn’t be paid, come in and do overtime to make up the time to get paid (and therefore futher exhaust yourself), or would have to eat into your 15 days of vacation time per year to take more days off.
Most people there would come into work sick, making others sick, or work themselves so hard that they were actually indebted a ridiculous number of hours to the company in order to be paid for it. And given the lousy pay and poor (previously ‘no’) medical benefits, we needed all the money we could get.
Even one day per month would have been more generous of them. Heck, have that day ‘expire’ after the month if not used… that way they aren’t out the money, since that’s what they were so worried about.
A lot of companies have their employees cowed into doing things that aren’t in their job descriptions.
And really I don’t understand why people who are unhappy with their jobs aren’t constantly job-hunting. But most of them don’t seem to be. They complain and gripe, but they don’t actually go looking for a new place. It is because they’re afraid their old job will find out that they’re looking, and then fire them?
I could never do that kind of thing. I really couldn’t. The longest I’ve lasted at any normal job was one year. When I got sick of it, I went and did something else. I stuck out three years, off and on, doing a weird night watch thing, and two years at a children’s museum, but those were both weird and interesting jobs, so they held my attention longer.
I think it’s partly a fear of being caught and fired for looking elsewhere… but also, it is a detriment to one’s resumé to be seen as having jumped ship too often, having short stints everywhere when one leaves because things are not ideal. It can harm one’s chances of getting into another job, possibly one you’re really interested in staying at, because they can’t trust that you’ll stay on with them. Having been an interviewer many, many times for potential employees at my last job, I can attest that we questioned the applicant about that issue every time it arose when their resumés showed signs of ‘unrest’ or lack of commitment, no matter the reason (save for layoffs, downsizing or closures, etc)—and let’s just say it’s a sure way to be turned down if one explains the reason and complains about the conditions of a previous place of employment or your employer/manager during an interview.
I can’t do the regular employment thing anymore either. Having been on both sides of the table at interviews, I just can’t fathom doing THAT process alone, never mind working for people who don’t appreciate you and treat you like cattle (not the hard workers you are who make their business thrive).
DigitalDragon wrote:I thought it was also illegal to expect someone to do heavy physical labour when it was not in their job description to begin with, and especially if they have a physical limitation? If you were to be further injured by doing the work, they could have a worker’s compensation claim on their hands… or perhaps the law works differently in different places, not sure.
If it were a big company, maybe yes. But our little company (the boss is the business owner, and there’s all of seven employees including him) … a lot of the laws don’t seem to apply until you’ve got ten employees.
He’s not legally obligated to provide me with sick pay (and statutory sick pay doesn’t start until you’ve been off four days – and doesn’t cover what you ACTUALLY would have been paid, it’s about £60 a week. I make not quite that in a day… so I can’t even afford to wait for the statutory-sick to kick in). I’m glad I get paid holidays, given the size of the company.
Never mind that I couldn’t afford to bring a workman’s comp suit against him to begin with – I couldn’t afford it when it was constructive dismissal at the Tech college library job, and I really can’t afford it now.
SPark wrote:And really I don’t understand why people who are unhappy with their jobs aren’t constantly job-hunting. But most of them don’t seem to be. They complain and gripe, but they don’t actually go looking for a new place. It is because they’re afraid their old job will find out that they’re looking, and then fire them?
Because a bird in the hand is better than two in the bush? Why would I want to jeopardise my paycheck on the basis that MAYBE someone else wants to hire a 29-year-old American with no college degree, no UK qualifications, five years of library experience and two years of web design experience AND pay me more than I’m getting now?
I’m actually not UNHAPPY with my job. I like the web design aspects of it, and once the gift shop takes off, I’m sure my boss will either move to proper premises instead of working out of his basement or hire a storage facility for the gift shop stock. I certainly want to stay long enough to get some distance-learning qualifications on my boss’s ticket with regards to web design and programming, since he’s willing to pay out for that kind of staff training.
Wait… if you are currently employed and go looking for another job you may get fired? Why keep it a secret?? Just go look for a job! Heck, tell your boss that you may be putting in notice soon cuz you are job hunting. You cant look for another job while you are employed?? That seems silly.
I’ve heard of places that will basically go “Oh, you don’t like it here? Fine, you’re fired!” So yeah, sometimes looking for a job can get you fired.
Which I do think is pretty lame. But I am freelance and self employed now! No more lame bosses for me! *grins* (Just lots of Ramen.)
Mah listening to all of you guys talk about jobs in normal places makes me glad I live here. The unemployment rate for here is 2%, so basically if you sow up your a good employee, if you show up sober, your a very good employee, show up on time, sober and every shift, damn your number one employee.
Ugh I just did my taxes, don’t ever be self-employed, guys!! No benefits, no 401k, no insurance, no paid time off or sick days… and Federal took 15% of my total income even though I made under $8k. That hurts! And I can’t deduct anything because none of the utility/house/car bills are in my name. Worse yet, instead of being due in April, they’re due at the end of this month. And I only get a tax break after age 25- which I only hit on Friday. *keels over*
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My art: featherdust.comOh Nambroth that sucks big time! So sorry to hear that, espcially with so many of the memebers seeming to be getting big returns this year.
Nambroth wrote:Ugh I just did my taxes, don’t ever be self-employed, guys!! No benefits, no 401k, no insurance, no paid time off or sick days… and Federal took 15% of my total income even though I made under $8k. That hurts! And I can’t deduct anything because none of the utility/house/car bills are in my name. Worse yet, instead of being due in April, they’re due at the end of this month. And I only get a tax break after age 25- which I only hit on Friday. *keels over*
Wow, that really blows for you… I was lucky last year, I just barely managed a $75 refund *LOL*. Even if I had owed taxes, it wouldn’t have been TOO painful.
That’s a little unsettling though about not being able to claim utilities… my bills aren’t in my name either as I rent space from a friend. Yet my accountant didn’t seem to care. Odd… maybe it’s different in Canada, who knows?
I decided not to bother getting involved with my taxes too much; biz taxes are way too complicated (particularly keeping track of the depreciation on computer and other equipment, how much to deduct of certain long-term expenses to ensure you optimise your return each year, etc etc etc).
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