VA: Don’t Treat Your Employer Better Than They Treat You
Feb 21st, 2007
(7 votes, average: 4.14 out of 5)
Loading ...Exactly one year after working at the Worst Job I Ever Had, I took my one week paid vacation. I hated that job so much I couldn’t even wait a […]
Original post: Don’t Treat Your Employer Better Than They Treat You
No comment on former employers,
though I couldn’t have made this
statement any better…
Once again, V you’ve written superbly.
Having recently quit a job that I intensely disliked, I can sympathize with this article.
When I came in to pick up my last paycheck, I ran into the one coworker whom I knew best (i.e., I could probably pick her face out of a crowd.) She asked me where I’d been, and I told her I quit.
She looked shocked. “Why would you do that?”
“Every day I came in here, I complained about how the customers and our bosses treated us. And you know I don’t need the money. Why do you think I quit?” After saying this, I realized my now-ex-boss was probably just within listening range, so I quickly slipped out.
I wish I had done more to get back at my employer for the shit they put me through, but I’m not that assertive. At least I called in “sick” a couple times to play Zelda.
I wasn’t even aware that companies practiced this sort of stonewalling checks about previous employees. Is it merely large companies or do small companies practice this? Perhaps moreso than large ones due to less cash in the bank?
So… you figure that because you choose to trade your time and skills for the money they’re offering you for 40 hours a week they owe you something more? Nice to hear you quit the job you didn’t like, but it’s your own damn fault for letting it get to the point that you dread having to go in.
So no, not ‘fuck them’. If it’s a shit job you should recognize that in the 1st few weeks and get out as soon as possible with a backup job. If you deserve extra cash, ask for it. Don’t whine about doing a great job only to get a pat on the back.
Meh, you’re pushing off too much responsibility in this one.
Ronnie are you from Texas?
If you’re not ronnie…
you should be.
at the same time, there’s no sense sacrificing yourself over the righteousness of your cause. Generally there is very little that you can do to “make them pay” for their bad treatment of you. Anything you might do is just a blip on their radar, but in the meantime it can really screw up your own future. Get in, get what you need, then get out.
see, it’s not entirely true that they can’t say shit about you for fear of lawsuits. There is one question that they can answer without any fear of repercussion - “Is he/she eligible for rehire?” And most companies have a policy that you are not eligible for rehire if you didn’t give your 2 weeks notice before leaving.
Emerild…. are you high?
Southern by the grace of God.
My former employers were pricks
I hope their business prospers
public hangings are entertainment
Saddam runs amfam
pretty cool, huh?
thanks Emerild
13 out of 17 posts of Rain Man mind diarrhea is really adding to the quality of the discourse.
@4
You have a point. I’m coming down with you on this one.
I have sympathy for V’s situation, and I’m glad she left when it got to be too much. I also strongly agree with V’s overall point about companies needing to treat their employees better and in doing so would get better employees in return.
But I don’t agree with “Your job steals 40+ hours of your life a week…”. No, you entered into an agreement to give x hours in exchange for y salary and terms. You agreed to it; they are stealing nothing unless they ask you to exceed your agreement and refuse to compensate you for it. You might not like the terms of your deal, but you have the right to go get better ones.
If you can’t quit and go elsewhere then it could be because of a few different reasons:
- you have a higher opinion of what your skills are worth than the marketplace does (not the employer’s fault)
- there is a genuine shortage of positions for your skill set (not the employer’s fault)
- you are over-committed in debt and haven’t planned financially for a potential unemployed transitional zone (certainly not the employer’s fault)
- there is a cabal of companies that are actively conspiring to devalue salaries/terms of certain types of positions (rare, and illegal, but in this case it is indeed the company’s fault).
As far as two weeks notice - I believe that by law you must get two weeks salary from your employer if laid off. (I couldn’t verify this…anybody? If not, then they should) Notice I said laid off, not fired. Fired means you breached the employment agreement and deserved being shown the door.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not sticking up for the bastard bosses at all. I’m all for givin’ em what they got coming to ‘em. I just saying that personal responsibility is a large part of any employment agreement (not to mention Life) and people could stand to be reminded of this more often. We are not powerless, and if we find ourselves in a powerless position, 9 times out of 10 we put ourselves there of our own free will or actions.
As for the golden rule - absolutely. Applies to everyone.
I recall it’s been shown scientifically that money makes a very poor motivator on its own. Recognition gets much better results. The problem is when stupid bosses think they can get away with emulated recognition, pre-printed in batches of 1000 with a blank for “insert name here”. This is of course seen as what it is, a lie and a snub. Proper recognition consists of a nod and a “well done” from a respected boss who doesn’t give praise lightly. Money as well also helps, but it’s not enough.
@Emerild:
Your a fucking psycho
Let’s take each point in turn:
They Demand Respect While Simultaneously Treating You Like a Child
People are motivated by different things. Some want money, some want recognition, some want gifts and goodies, and some want time off (my preferred one). A decent company allows its managers the latitude to define rewards for their direct reports; it’s then up to the managers to figure it out. Lazy companies use cookie cutter rewards for everyone.
They make it taboo to steal
I have a hard time with this one, simply because the point made is that the company is “stealing 40+ hours of your life a week.” This is flat out not true. The company is compensating you for your time, at a rate that you agreed to before you even started. Nowhere in your employment agreement does it say “you will be compensated at $5.25 per hour and a box of fucking paper clips.” You deserve more? Talk to your manager and HR, and lay out the reasons why. Your manager, HR, or anyone else in the company disagrees? Then it’s time to move on. If the company won’t negotiate because their wages are fixed, then it’s time to move on. But don’t blame the company for what you agreed to BEFORE YOU EVEN STARTED.
The demand two weeks notice before you quit
Different state labor laws might apply. Many states that are claimed as “right to work” states have laws that don’t require notice on the part of either the employee or employer. If either is unhappy with the other, they can quit or fire in a second. I don’t think any state will listen sympathetically to a company that complains an employee left without a two week notice. But I’ve never heard of a company that included this requirement in their employee handbook, although I concede it’s possible. But enforceable? No.
The bottom line is, too many people bitch about how they hate their job, they’re not getting paid enough, and the company doesn’t do enough for them. The answer is, you get what you signed up for. Learn to negotiate better or improve your skill set so you are eligible to work at companies that treat their employees better. But I can tell you this, I’ve worked in the badly run companies for low wages and at better run companies for higher wages, and you’re always going to find something to bitch about. If I could retire tomorrow, I would.
@13 I’ve been told that before…
I’ll take that as a compliment.
On my current job, I stepped up to the plate and took on a secretary’s work after she was suddenly let go (oops - no two weeks for her to look for a new job) and I was rewarded when the new secretary was hired with a $300 bonus. But: it was taxed at 40% - so I actually got $180…..Wow. The next time someone left, I actually told them up-front that if they couldn’t make my bonus so that it came out to me after taxes to be $300, that I wasn’t going to put myself out. They didn’t and I didn’t.
Broken Employment Relationships…
An article I read touched a nerve with me:
Don’t Treat Your Employers Better Than They Treat You
When did working for an organization become a privilege? Employers today seem to think that the lines of communications with their employers don’…
Peter Gibbons: I uh, I don’t like my job, and, uh, I don’t think I’m gonna go anymore.
Joanna: You’re just not gonna go?
Peter Gibbons: Yeah.
Joanna: Won’t you get fired?
Peter Gibbons: I don’t know, but I really don’t like it, and, uh, I’m not gonna go.
Joanna: So you’re gonna quit?
Peter Gibbons: Nuh-uh. Not really. Uh… I’m just gonna stop going.
Joanna: When did you decide all that?
Peter Gibbons: About an hour ago.
Joanna: Oh, really? About an hour ago… so you’re gonna get another job?
Peter Gibbons: I don’t think I’d like another job.
Joanna: Well, what are you going to do about money and bills and…
Peter Gibbons: You know, I’ve never really liked paying bills. I don’t think I’m gonna do that, either.
You can work for me it’d be a lot more fun.
V made me cry. 2 1/2 yrs in and I’m way beyond hiding under the covers; I’m ruined.
me too… it’s not that bad.
I believe her point was,
THEY TREAT YOU LIKE SHIT.
No one, regardless of holding a paycheck over your head or not, should be able to do that. ESPECIALLY if they are holding a paycheck over your head, because they are not supposed to be some smart mouthed kid off the street, but an adult with the responsibility.
If you can’t talk to your employees without looking down on them, then YOU should stop being an employer.
Do not even think of bringing up what is wrong with them because YOU hired them and are just proving you screwed that up to.
Idiots.
Get a job.
I find that I’m agreeing more with V than not. You can certainly say that I am being compensated (at $8.75 and hour, no less) for 40 hours a week of my life, but that is 40 hours that I will never get back. They are taking something from me that I don’t necessarily want to give them and they are keeping it. That is called stealing.
As high-minded as the idea of searching until you find The Right Job is, it’s not practical. Few to no companies are going to want to negotiate about salary, and sometimes, as sucky as it is, you have to suck it up and deal with it. But if (and I suspect this was the case here) the shitty salary was not the only problem with the job, then yes, leave. And no, if a job treats you poorly, I see no reason to give them notice. There have only been one or two jobs which I have left abruptly - and they were for damn good reasons.
But I digress. The point is that I found this article bolstered my confidence a little. I fear I may be leaving my current job very soon, and were I not fond of the people I work with (not including my boss), and if I didn’t know that by cutting out like that it would be them, not my bastard boss, that I’d be causing trouble for, I’d probably leave the same way V did.
So yes, Fuck Them.
But do it quietly, until you find the appropriate-sized rock.
Thank you for this article! I thoroughly enjoyed it!
I recently quit my job. I gave them 3 weeks notice. My last 3 weeks were pure and utter hell. I wish that at the time I would have had the boldness to simply say “fuck you” and gotten the hell out sooner!
I uhm, worked at Wal-mart for four years… that place was fairly horrible in a number of ways… for the first 6 months I worked there, I busted my ass for no recognition
In fact the only recognition I ever tend to get at jobs is the recognition that I didn’t do enough, no matter how much I do they find something…
So, I decided to use their own backwards ways against them, and it worked.
Basically, for the next 3 and a half years I only really worked the way they would want me to work when one of my bosses or snitching co-workers (i hate co-workers also) was around.
The bosses still pointed out whatever faults they could find, but ironically they always seemed to only need to point out one or two no matter the situation.
Mainly because my job at wal-mart wasn’t in a structured work setting… they put me there and told me to “do whatever needs to be done that you see”, and expected me to diligently bust my ass as hard as possible.
Well they didn’t expect it, but it’s what they would have liked the most. Unfortunatly, because they “expected it”, you never got any recognition for doing so, however, they didn’t really know what was my best work and what was my half-assed work… so I just did the half-assed work and it worked out fine for me.
I went from working my ass off for 8 hours, to reading a book for about 3 or 4 hours a day especially if I closed my department and no one was around… and, I stll got my scheduled raises, and I still got bitched at for missing this or that…
I suppose it’s obvious what I’m getting at.
If the company wants to fuck you, then try and fuck the company at it’s own game… notice established patterns and flaws and take advantage of them for yourself.
If you see that your boss takes a 25 minute break when she/he should only be taking a 15 minute break, see if you can get away with taking a 20 minute break, let em get used to it… increase the time to 21…
be as PETTY as you can because you can derive enormous pleasure from any spiteful dime you feel you are getting for free.
Why do you deserve that free dime? Because if you worked twice as hard it would still only be a dime… you deserve it because your company is stupid, and it’s stupidness can lead to your being taken advantage of unless you take advantage of it.