Failing economic times can bring out the best, and the worst, in people. Whether it be through a sense of obligation, guilt, or altruism, those who have it to give will likely donate more to charitable organizations. Friends assist one another with job tips, invitations to dinner, and neighbors get together to swap everything from recipes to clothing.
Unfortunately, too often during times of economic uncertainty, employers large and small take advantage of employees through various unethical and sometimes downright illegal actions and demands. The employers know full well that what they're doing is just plain wrong. The employees however may not even know that they're being taken advantage of, and even if they do, they're very reluctant to make waves for fear of losing their job.
A situation just like this is happening right now just down the street from where I live. And it makes me incredibly angry.
I frequent a chain gas bar/variety store/coffee bar about five minutes from my house. It's a franchise of a well known, national retailer, and in order to protect those involved, I shall refrain from naming them.
The service, along with the coffee, is excellent; I have no complaints there whatsoever. Those are the two reasons that I keep going back. I've become quite friendly with the woman who works the morning shift behind the coffee counter. She's an intelligent, hard working lady in her early forties, who took a part time retail job that pays minimum wage because she had to. Like all of us she has bills to pay and food to buy; tough to do when you can't find a job in your field and your employment benefits have run out!
Over the past year or so we've had many good chats and although I wouldn't call us friends, we are acquaintances. A few weeks ago, her daughter took a part time job at the same place. It was agreed that as she is in high school, the hours would be part time. Now here comes the kicker. Her first two weeks on the job were for training purposes. In each of the two weeks, the young lady worked 35 hours, for a total of 70 hours, without pay because, as management explained it, training is unpaid.
When her mother brought it to management's attention that this was in violation of our jurisdiction's employment standards, the daughter was fired. Her mother is now subject to all manner of snide comments, remarks and insinuations from management and has been assigned a 'monitor', someone to ensure that she's doing her job properly. All this in spite of the fact that during the preceding year her reviews have been more than satisfactory and the customers love her. What it boils down it is that her employer is looking for a reason to fire her because she stood up for her daughter; she spoke up about something she felt was wrong and attempted to have a constructive conversation regarding an intolerable situation.
If this company succeeds and fires her, I will not stand idly by. I will contact the local manager, the district manager and the head office of this company to voice my displeasure. I will cut up this company's credit card, and obtain one from a competitor, and I will ensure that all concerned are aware that I've done so. I will contact the local media and encourage them to investigate what I am sure is a common practice these days, particularly for those who toil for minimum wage. Additionally, I will tell all my friends and associates this story, name names and encourage them to stop patronizing this particular establishment. It may not be much, but it's a start. And at some point each of us has to stop and say enough is enough.
