# How to lose an employee in 3 easy steps OT/NT



## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Rant don't read.... 


About a week ago my boss informed me that somebody from Corp was coming on the 28th for 'annual inspection'. I was asked to 'help' get the place cleaned up in time. Somehow this turned into ME doing a bunch of masonry repair (to 40 feet of curbing), carpentry (to rebuild one entire corner of the building where the trash truck had smashed up everything last winter), fixing the office ceiling, AND painting the outside of the whole place.... "Help" actually meant 'do it by myself'.... about six 12-hour days worth, most of it 'off the clock' because there is NO way to wait on customers and accomplish much of anything else when you are by yourself. My GF Kimmee was nice enough to lend a hand.... nobody else offered to lift a finger.

Once it was 90% finished I was told that it 'looked really good', and they decided they were gonna pay me a whole $50 for the work! ( Like, huh? Earl Sheib got $99.95 for just painting a CAR 40 years ago! and he'd paint right over the chrome -- and bird dookey!).

Then yesterday their youngest son (he's 39?) came in (first time in a month, he's "a carpenter for the mine, and a team leader, and all his men LOOOVE him", yada yada, BARF!) He snarls about everything, says the things we're half done working on "look like sh#t", then nearly runs Kim's hand over as he knocks down a cone leaving (she was painting the curbs I had fixed)!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ----- Kim and I confronted the owners about their son's unacceptable irratic behavior, and they DEFENDED HIM!!!! "Oh, he's a perfectionist", and "he was just tired", and "he gets mad easily, you just have to understand". Yep, I understand, but isn't there a difference between getting mad and braying like a jacka$$, and being so out of control that you nearly injure someone????

Today the comment was made "Who asked Kim to help anyway?"... My reply? "I did! And you all should be darned glad she did or only 1/4 of the stuff you wanted done would have been finished!"

Like Popeye, I've had all I can stands 'cause I can't stands no more! There's a BIG difference between being cheap, and screwing people who are trying to help you. I need A job, not necessarily this one. One more unwarranted critical comment from ANY of them, and I'm quitting without notice, mid shift, even if I have to lock the door and shove the key in the exhaust slot to do it. And you can bet it will be a cold day in **** before I'll 'help' them do ANYTHING again!!!!

Believe it, No good deed goes unpunished.....


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## blueregal (Jan 3, 2008)

Oh man you forgot the unwritten RULE!!! Never criticize family especially when they are your bosses kids or family! They can NEVER do any WRONG. Did you say you are now looking for a new position or employment????? LOL The Regal


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## rpc7271 (Jan 2, 2008)

I can relate to your problem. I have worked for the same engineering firm for 12 years. In the last 2 years the boss has hired 2 of his kids and they have taken over. I waited until the work was backed up and there was no way they could get it all done without me, walked in and told him I quit right then and there. Well his jaw just about dropped to the floor. Then I let him know why. Ended up with a smaoo bonus and a raise but as soon as I find a new job I'm outta' there for good.


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

I had that problem with a company I worked for in Seattle Washington

When I left I wrote the following letter. 


Dear Mr Jackson 

With great pleasure and Ecstasy I get to inform you that your services as a employer are no longer required.

I have contracted with some one else to supply me with a paycheck

I am ending this miserable relationship NOW .

Yours truly happy as can be
John J Jablonski


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## Rod Fearnley (Jan 2, 2008)

Mik, don't get mad, get even..................................................








Rod


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Rod, 
not mad, not really. Just...... tired. I was watching this old BBC show on late night PBS 20-some-odd years ago. Something called Dave Allen at Large . Remember it by chance? Mostly consisted of this fellow on a stool with a highball telling jokes? Anyway, one night he's zipping through his monologue when he suddenly stopped and deadpans, "Don't hit a man when he's down. Kick him, it's easier."... then he winked and took a drink. It just kinda stuck in the back of my noggin, because that's EXACTLY what many people do. Everybody loves a champ, anyone else is just a chump. 

I DID get even, the best way I could. All the stuff they wanted done on the cheap was done as well as I could swing. Just wait until they add up all the receipts for materials..... I think I spent about $350-400 of their precious money on lumber, cement and good industrial paint. It should last for years instead of a few months. So they'll have to look at it for a LONG time after I walk. Also, it seems one their own daughters, AND the son's wife agree with me..... which means, doodly. But it makes me feel a little better. 

I also left a list of what wasn't done yet when I go off shift yesterday, and hung it where the owners could see.. I told the guy who relieved me (one of those who happily watched Kim and I bust our humps in the hot sun, while not even attempting to pick up a rag or broom) that he could do them - or not - I didn't care. But* I* wasn't scheduled until AFTER the inspection, and would NOT be in until my next shift. What are they gonna do? Fire me?


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## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

Geez! $300 is dirt cheap, they should be giving you some recognition instead, if they had hired ANY outside contractor the bill would have easiily been $3000 dollars. BTW never walk off a job unless you have another already lined up, I dont know how things are in your neck of the woods but out here the job market is pretty bad, so dont make a bad situation worse by quitting when theres nothing to replace your current job, just never "volunteer" for such a project ever again, you can say you've done your turn, let someone else do it and just stick to your assigned tasks. "hey man, not my job"


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## ThinkerT (Jan 2, 2008)

Been there before, am in a milder version now. Long list of petty projects - mostly cleaning stuff - that simply will not get done unless I do it, even though it is other peoples responsibility. I do it mostly to stave off that wonderful late shift boredom, so I don't mind so much, but even so all I get a fair chunk of the time is abuse. Nowhere near as bad as Mik's situation, though. 

Do try to have something else soliidly lined up before you leave, though.


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## jbwilcox (Jan 2, 2008)

I took a class one time from a guy who was a hospital administrator at the time. He gave some really good information about jobs.

He told us that you should never quit a job and then take a few weeks or months off before finding a new job. This gap in employment looks really bad on your resume.

He also told us that you should always be looking for your next job while you are still employed. He told this story: He was working for a very unreasonable boss and not enjoying his job at all. So he started looking around. He found an add in the classified and enquired about it. Turns out that he was inquiring about his own job! His boss planned to terminate him and started the recruiting process in advance.

He gave another good bit of advice. When he was in human resources reviewing resumes, he made sure that he discarded any resume that might potentially be a competitor for his position.

I am now retired and don't have to worry about all the politics involved in working for a living. I put up with 20 years in the Navy dealing with incompetent bosses many times who were in control of my future. 

John


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

The last time I worked for anyone else was in 1980. And THAT was so I could learn my OWN business better. I have been on my own since 1976, even while working for that other guy back then. It is the ONLY way to go. I haven't seen a bad boss since 1975. Some years I have not done so well, but I have always held on because I burned my other bridges to make sure I HAD to go on, no excuses. NOW I have my LS hobby wrapped into my business. What a deal !


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

As of 8:36 this evening I am officially unemployed. The owner's wife called to rant at me. All the above mentioned crap again. Plus she called me a liar, two faced, made several disparaging comments about my being on medication, said Kim must have put her hand near her son's tires "on purpose". AND on top of that threatened me that if her son found out we were "telling lies about him" that he would "come after" us. 

I told her that, in that case, it would be best if I turned in my company shirt and nametag. Then I hung up on her mid rant. 

Enough is enough, and too much is more than enough.


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## Ltotis (Jan 3, 2008)

I would call the local police department and registered a compalint that you were threatened after you complained to owner of the business about their son who almost ran your S.O's hand over. Then call the business that if anything happens to you or the S.O. the first people the police are going to look at are THEM and their son.

LAO
PS, Send them a bill for labor for all the "OFF" hours work you HAD to perform. aAke the bill for two people.


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

After 25 years with the company working in Gold and Silver, the owner's wife freaked out because I was making change for her daughter out of the cash register! I left that year... I was buying her brat's fund raising candy! 
Go figure. 

Good Luck finding a new job. 

John


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## Nicholas Savatgy (Dec 17, 2008)




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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Ltotis on 05/29/2009 7:45 PM
I would call the local police department and registered a compalint that you were threatened after you complained to owner of the business about their son who almost ran your S.O's hand over. Then call the business that if anything happens to you or the S.O. the first people the police are going to look at are THEM and their son.

LAO
PS, Send them a bill for labor for all the "OFF" hours work you HAD to perform. aAke the bill for two people.


Get this, she said I was supposed to be doing all that work ONLY during my scheduled hours, BY MYSELF, and that I 'took it upon myself' to work on my own time and that Kim wasn't supposed to be helping either.(No mention how the **** I was supposed to actually accomplish this miracle without spouting a dozen additional arms)....except they had plenty of opportunity while the work was being done (they knew when she and I were there, and when I was on the clock, and even stopped by a dozen times) to object, and didn't -- until the crap with Matthew went down.


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## ThinkerT (Jan 2, 2008)

Good luck Mik. May you find someplace better.


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## DKRickman (Mar 25, 2008)

Mik, here's wishing the very best of luck to you in finding a new position. I know it's tough these days, but I completely understand, respect, and support your decision to quit. Incidents like yours are the reason I've learned to keep my head down, my mouth shut, and only do the bare minimum required to keep my job. Overachievers are usually severely punished in today's workforce. 

Good luck, and if you're ever down this way, the beer's on me.


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

I know how you feel. I have been there before too. I hope you find something soon.


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## Steve Stockham (Jan 2, 2008)

This company is one you should be glad to be gone from! They are ungrateful, vindictive, greedy and unprofessional. You are lucky to be rid of them!


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## ohioriverrailway (Jan 2, 2008)

Mik, I sympathize. Been there. Worked for a place where the boss brought in a kid from his church to "work" for a six month stint. The kid spent most of him time playing games on his cell phone. It was a bus company, so he really couldn't drive, or do mechanical work. [Although the boss did spend time and resources to get him a CDL -- and had him drive a charter to NYC -- where most drivers fear to tread!] We did get a little maintenance work out of him, but he wore most of the paint rather than the building. To make matters worse, the kid was getting the same rate of pay as the folks who had been there for 5 or 10 years. As soon as I turned 62 and could collect on pensions and social insecurity, I was outta there before I wound up doing something that would have resulted in jail time. 
Best of luck on new employment. EBT hiring??


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## Mike Reilley (Jan 2, 2008)

Allen...my sympathies to your plight. But...a suggestion...slow down with the shovel. You're digging yourself into a hole... This is a you-can't-win situation. But keep blowing off steam here if it's helping you.


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## Bills (Feb 20, 2008)

Allen, 
I agree with Mike. If you quit this job then it's done. Move on and start looking for the next position. Your work has value, if you work an hour for a company then you should be paid for that hour. Doing it for free only made you angry and them take lose sight of the value of your work. 
Unless you truly feel threatened by their comments I would not give them a second though. Kimmie should never be working for someone she not employed by. if there was an accident she might not be covered by their insurance and might have little recourse. 
There are opportunities out there so go out and get them!


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

I'm actually rather happier now than I've been in the last 8 or 10 months... Ready to throw a pizza party happy! No more constant griping by both bosses and customers. No more expecting me to carry my job and half of Puppy's too. No more having to be out in all weather. No more jerry rigging stuff because they are too cheap to fix it right. No more 5:30 alarm clock buzzers. No more "can you do such n such, just until...?"s that never come. It's like kicking a bad habit that was slowly killing you.

I'm sure the worry of how to pay bills will kick in soon, until then..... Yippeee!


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