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Locked: Stand up for yourselves!

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  • Jul 31st, 2014 5:29 pm
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Deal Fanatic
Aug 29, 2006
7750 posts
1635 upvotes
^He will have if like he said he is already loaded to the top and making nothing in return.

Over stress could cause health issues. OP, should talk to labor board and get a better understanding in this situation.
The Devil made me buy it - RFD. :twisted:
Deal Fanatic
Jul 13, 2012
8501 posts
1053 upvotes
Occupied Ottawa
ahbib wrote: Why do people keep saying not to quit without another job???? I seriously do not understand? Maybe if you have multiple bills to pay including a mortgage, but if your single and still living at home I don't see the problem. Is saying you quit because the company is struggling not good enough to say in a new job interview?
It doesn't make sense to quit a job because the company is financially suffering unless you're unable to look for a new job at the same time.

People get assigned tasks all the time that are below their position/skill level. That's the world of work....
Deal Expert
User avatar
Jan 27, 2004
52935 posts
18144 upvotes
ONTARIO
Sorry bro. You gotta do what they say.
Even at my work (retail bank) the branch manager would occassional serve clients like a teller if we're short staffed. So there we got someone making $80k/yr doing the most entry level bank work occassionally.
Deal Fanatic
User avatar
Oct 1, 2011
6337 posts
1505 upvotes
If there is a single job I wouldn't do, it would be to clean the washrooms.
Deal Fanatic
Jul 13, 2012
8501 posts
1053 upvotes
Occupied Ottawa
angryconsumer wrote: Most jobs absolutely are about using and taking advantage of the employees who do the real work. In general, paying money to the employee doesn't change that, because the amount of money is usually a pathetically low amount that is not a fair exchange for the time and energy and personal dignity that the employee has to give up for it. Most people have to put up with being taken advantage via becoming an employee who does his of her master(s)' bidding because entering into that kind of toxic relationship is the only way they have to survive.

Having said that, as others have pointed out, only bad things will happen to the OP if he tries to rebel against the system while he is an employee within it.

In addition, as a manager, the OP should not neglect to realize that the many employees underneath him are also being taken advantage of, and most likely, even more so than he is.



That is not going to do you any good, if you are going to move to another job where you have (a) new "superior(s)." Any time you have a "superior," you are in effect his or her slave. As you noted, the only limitation of your superior(s)' power over you is that they cannot ask you to do things that are unsafe.



You might as well, because that is what you are going to have to do anyway at any future jobs in which you have superiors a.k.a. masters.
Are you saying that anyone who is an employee is being degraded and taken advantage of?
Deal Expert
User avatar
Apr 21, 2004
58648 posts
24637 upvotes
ahbib wrote: Why do people keep saying not to quit without another job???? I seriously do not understand? Maybe if you have multiple bills to pay including a mortgage, but if your single and still living at home I don't see the problem. Is saying you quit because the company is struggling not good enough to say in a new job interview?
You would have received (I'm guessing) 50% of that $35k in unemployment insurance and possibly one month of severance.

You are right though, if you have no bills to pay or not need additional income, then your dignity takes precedence for sure.

You can always choose a specific reference from your previous workplace and your ex-employer's HR or managers will have to tread carefully on what they tell your prospective employer. Not sure what we can do about them bad mouthing us though. I think that can be ground for a lawsuit, but then those can get prohibitively expensive and how are we to find out what rubbish or lies they speak about us?

Maybe there's a better explanation during interviews like exploring new challenges or want a change of industry.

======

Wow, talk about split second decision making! You asked for people's opinion and you quit on the same day. I had to double check when you first started the thread.

You will do okay but next time, don't be so straightforward with your response, especially to something as simple as not wanting to do a particular task. There are workaround phrases you can use to provide the same intended meaning:
http://work.chron.com/respectfully-decl ... -3266.html

I do whatever they tell me to do at the workplace, even admin duties but then I'm in audit. I get paid the same doing whatever they tell me to do anyway. Of course, I do tell them that what they expect to be done in one day, I can complete in two or three (only if the deadline is unrealistic) because they're subject matter experts and I'm not.
Member
User avatar
Nov 24, 2007
206 posts
23 upvotes
Kaon
You have the right to refuse unsafe work. If you feel it isn't safe you can refuse it. Just because they say it's safe doesn't mean you feel safe doing it. Also if you quit your job, you aren't entitled to unemployment insurance.
Deal Guru
User avatar
Mar 1, 2004
12861 posts
1485 upvotes
Pickering
1. Some places do give people jobs that they should not because it is the path of least resistance.

2. If you take on a responsibility that is not yours, usually you'll become a favourite dumping ground for tasks that other people don't want to do.

3. There is nothing worse than doing someone else's job, who gets paid more than you, while they skip around absent the work they should be doing.

4. Sometimes people belittle how much work you do and how difficult work is because they don't do your job or consider it beneath them.

OP. The comments regarding you not quitting are not null and void because you don't have responsibilities and live "at home". Those comments were made because it is difficult to get hired right now. Also you should be saving for your retirement, investing in assets to aid and eventually take over your income, or maybe you might want your own place (doesn't matter if you do or not). So if you are unemployed for any period of time and stop apportioning funds to your financial future, you lose the power of compounding over time, you lose money that can now never be made up.

If you are making $35k @ 33 years old, I would think that you should concentrate more on investing and compounding over time. This is no jab at being 33 years old, but you only have so many years before retirement. Given how crap the future looks, I say this because I made that kind of money a while ago, younger than you, and I had very little experience and education about the industry, people just simply get paid less and everything costs more and the climb up the pay scale is slower nowadays.

So if you are in the situation where you don't NEED money, you should be taking the opportunity to leverage that into investing in yourself or your financial future. If you have no income, you cannot invest in your financial future and you just get closer to retirement with no real financial freedom or options. People are saying to find another job first because the job you hate pays more than the job you don't have. With no job, pride starts to slip as well as does the feeling of one's self worth.

Some people are wrong telling you you should just suck it up because you only have a somewhat non career job ( which is fine ), don't lump them together with those concerned with the financial and emotion destruction being unemployed can cause. You've got about another two months before doors start to close for hiring and businesses buckle down until "next year" which means April 2015.
Member
Jul 11, 2004
238 posts
49 upvotes
ahbib wrote: Why do people keep saying not to quit without another job???? I seriously do not understand? Maybe if you have multiple bills to pay including a mortgage, but if your single and still living at home I don't see the problem. Is saying you quit because the company is struggling not good enough to say in a new job interview?
Imagine that you are a hiring manager. You have two resumes in front of you.
-Person A is a person who has solid experience and is currently working.
-Person B is a person who has solid experience but hasn't worked in 4 months.

During the interview, you might ask Person A "why do you want to leave your current position?"
During the interview, you might ask Person B "why did you leave your last position?"

Which question is easier to answer in a positive way?

If you say you quit because the company is struggling, what would the interviewer think of you as a person?

... obviously, you need to protect your mental sanity as well. It might be at the point that you need to quit now and accept the consequences. But I hope you understand the situation. Good luck.
Jr. Member
Jan 15, 2006
118 posts
18 upvotes
Toronto
Not everyone is an amazing student but that doesn't mean we deserve to get used.
Banned
User avatar
Jun 2, 2009
2738 posts
181 upvotes
Toronto
ahbib wrote: Yes I have decided to resign. I have two weeks of vacation time left. I want to use them before I give my actual two weeks notice. The vacation weeks will be staggered over the month of August with the two weeks notice in September. Do you guys feel that this is reasonable?
I know my company the vacation time is based On you working the full year so if u get 3 weeks vacation and quit mid year you have to pay them back for those weeks.
Idle hands are the devils playthings
Jr. Member
Jan 15, 2006
118 posts
18 upvotes
Toronto
Yikes life's hard.
Deal Addict
Feb 2, 2011
1617 posts
270 upvotes
Ottawa
You need to figure out at what rate you accrue your vacation time during a fiscal year.
Jr. Member
Jul 3, 2011
143 posts
36 upvotes
Canada
If it's that bad already I would walk now. Don't wait for it to affect your health, maybe cause cardiac problems or ulcers. Health is way more important than any bloody job.
Deal Expert
User avatar
Apr 21, 2004
58648 posts
24637 upvotes
ahbib wrote: I haven't quit my job yet. I have two weeks of vacation time left and currently am planning on taking it before giving any sort of notice. The work environment is bad and I am being taken for a ride. I don't think I can stick it through until I land a job. I'm a disgruntled employee. I probably won't ask for a reference from direct superior since that's the person I had conflict with but am able to get a reference from HR.
You may be entitled to a significant chunk of EI. Since you are bent on quitting, you might as well just use this as a training ground on how to parlay additional responsibilities and what not.

I think you mentioned HR threatened to fire you if you don't take on the additional tasks/responsibilites. You might as well practice your skills in declining additional responsibilities and get fired, get paid EI and some severance. Clearly, these are just my thoughts. Don't take anything personal at the workplace anymore. The thing is, in many workplaces, there are bound to be these kind of individuals you loathe to work with/for.

Also, if you don't need the money, maybe you can use these sum to help pay down your parents' mortgage, if there is any left. :)
Deal Guru
Dec 11, 2008
13064 posts
3754 upvotes
alanbrenton wrote: You may be entitled to a significant chunk of EI. Since you are bent on quitting, you might as well just use this as a training ground on how to parlay additional responsibilities and what not.

I think you mentioned HR threatened to fire you if you don't take on the additional tasks/responsibilites. You might as well practice your skills in declining additional responsibilities and get fired, get paid EI and some severance. Just my thought. Don't take anything personal at the workplace anymore. The thing is, in my workplaces, there are bound to be these kind of individuals you loathe to work with/for.

Also, if you don't need the money, maybe you can use these sum to help pay down your parents' mortgage, if there is any left. :)
+1

Unless you are absolutely miserable and cannot handle the workplace and it's seriously depressing you. Stay and work on getting fired so you can get EI and some severance. I'd also spend more time at work looking for new jobs. Heck even take vacation days to go to interviews.

Part of you probably wants to QUIT to show up your supervisor that you don't need them. But in turn, you are giving up EI and severance for that moment of pride. It's up to you.
Deal Guru
Dec 31, 2005
13306 posts
750 upvotes
Did I miss something?

What was the task? What was the OPs current capacity? If they were only at 75% capacity, the added task didn't add overtime or wasn't safe, then the OP was in the wrong completely. T0 be honest, the second he refused, I would have immediately brought them into senior management with HR, put them on a PIP and given them a short window to correct their behaviour.

Raise is a separate issue and should have been dealt with previously. Was there no COL increase?
Newbie
May 14, 2009
46 posts
14 upvotes
Oakville
OP, as a manager why didn't you just delegate the task to one of the employees you supervise? Seems like the obvious solution.
Jr. Member
Jan 15, 2006
118 posts
18 upvotes
Toronto
The entire company is overworked and underpaid. I'm the only person who said screw this because I still live at home and have few bills. I was told in the HR meeting that techincally they can ask me to clean the toilets and I would have to comply. The task wasn't difficult or hard I was just making a point and taking a stand. I basically said why don't you ask a certain employee who doesn't do much. I was written up for refusing to do an assigned task. The person who used to do it was laid off among many others. I am grateful I have a job but honestly I value pride more than money at this point in my life. Maybe if I had kids house etc I would humble myself to my superiors. I can and will get many references from co workers just not the most important one from the direct supervisor.
Deal Addict
User avatar
May 4, 2010
1863 posts
582 upvotes
ahbib wrote: The entire company is overworked and underpaid. I'm the only person who said screw this because I still live at home and have few bills. I was told in the HR meeting that techincally they can ask me to clean the toilets and I would have to comply. The task wasn't difficult or hard I was just making a point and taking a stand. I basically said why don't you ask a certain employee who doesn't do much. I was written up for refusing to do an assigned task. The person who used to do it was laid off among many others. I am grateful I have a job but honestly I value pride more than money at this point in my life. Maybe if I had kids house etc I would humble myself to my superiors. I can and will get many references from co workers just not the most important one from the direct supervisor.
I get where you're coming from but I think you could have handled it better, started the conversation earlier, ask for a raise,made a move sooner etc.

Keep in mind, a supervisory reference is usually what hr wants to see. The suspicion is there 'why is there no manager reference?' Although, I've managed to get jobs without this but it helps to have it.

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