Personal rant / venting frustration....

I just need to get this off my chest cause it's bugging the heck out of me !

I've been working as a S/O for a company here in Ireland for 10 months now.
I needed this job to keep me going through my studies, so even though it's an unskilled job and the money is not so good, i had to do it because it was the only one with a flexible timetable so i could attend my classes at the same time.
Now besides being the most disorganised company i have ever worked for :
1) Provides ZERO training to it's officers.
2) Has no local manager.
3) Has no Supervisor during daytime hours, so if something goes wrong you are on your own.

Now all this i can live with, end of the day it's not rocket science and as with everything else in life, a little common sence goes a long way, plus i have basic training in fire fighting and first aid due to my army backround.

I worked 5-6 days and up to 60 hours a week, which under labour law is illegal. But again i needed the money so i said nothing.

Now that i finished my studies, i thought i'd do the honourable thing and give them more than just a weeks notice prior to my resignation. I called the manager 15 days in advance and told him that i intend to hand in my resignation because i am going back home and i would appreciate if he could give me a few extra shifts because moving is rather expensive, he said ok i'll see what i can do about it and we left it at that.
I get my roster last week 30 hours..... I said ok they might not have the hours available, maybe he'll make up for it next week.
I get my roster for this week aaaaaaaaaaaand ZERO FLIPPIN HOURS !!!!

I nearly went through the bloody roof when i saw that, i think the accountant had something to do with that... maybe they wanted to close my file early or something, but still after bending over backwards for them, this is how they repay me ?! 10 months without a single complaint and actually getting personaly requested by name from the managers of some of the sites i worked for !!!

So i got on the phone and talked to some of my co workers, thank God for good ppl as most of them took one of their shifts and passed it on to me, so now i got a full week of work.
I wasn't expecting them to sed any tears over me leaving, but to screw me over like that in my hour of need is just too much to swallow...

//rant mode off//
//vent valve off//

A lot of us are just 'labour' or 'manpower' to the company... a statistic, a tool... only greater companies really appreciate 'human resource'. I'm glad your colleagues chipped in and helped you get some extra work. Good luck with everything!

Sorry to hear you've been hard done by. Sounds like this company truly does not care about you, but it sounds like you have awesome colleagues. Leave the company, but remember your colleagues.. and may you find brighter skies soon

Every time I ever left a notice I got screwed.
Last notice for me..., just walk out from now on.
It just is not worth it trying to be good to companies any longer.
You are just a number to them.

KevinL said:

Leave the company, but remember your colleagues.. and may you find brighter skies soon

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Definately In fact i will leave each one of them a light to remember me by since the company only provides them with a 1kg lantern that looks older than they do...

Find out who owns the company. Write them a nice letter explaining what happened. Sometimes the guy at the top has no idea whats going on at the coalfront.

Secur1 said:

Definately In fact i will leave each one of them a light to remember me by since the company only provides them with a 1kg lantern that looks older than they do...

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That was a wonderfully generous thing of you to do as well.. Hats off to you!! :bow:

Remind them they owe you unpaid overtime over the last 10 months, but will settle for whatever schedule you want for your last two weeks.

You did the right thing because that's the kind of person you are. And, that is what separates you from them- you will probably continue to do the right thing. Those more powerful than we are can always take almost everything away from us that we've worked so hard to get. However, the one thing you maintain control over in life, no matter what, is how you behave. Look at it as a existential act of thumbing your nose at those greedy, disrespectful people - do the right thing and you'll sleep better than they will. And you'll never become them. Best of luck in your future endeavors!

Secur1 said:

I worked 5-6 days and up to 60 hours a week, which under labour law is illegal. But again i needed the money so i said nothing.

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Is it illegal to work that many hours over there, or just that many hours without overtime pay? In the states you're required to get time and a half if you work more than 40 hours in a one week period (44 in the case of some union contract agreements). The only way to get around that is if you are considered part of management, and hence on a salary, or to pay you off the books (illegal but many employers here still do it to get around minimum wage laws). There is no limit on the number of hours except in certain types of jobs, mostly those in the transportation sector. There were a few weeks I personally worked 120 hours on one of my jobs. Nice getting 4 times your regular pay, even though regular pay for that job was only $160 ($4/hour). This was in 1987 IIRC, not recently.

BTW, what happened to you doesn't surprise me. Hourly workers are the modern day surfs. I would never go back to working for someone else again, especially a large company where you're just a number. Managers conveniently forget all the times you saved their behinds but will remember petty stuff like a week where you were a few minutes late twice, or took an extra 5 minutes during one of your breaks, or whatever. And of course any dedication is for nought if the company is poorly managed. One place where I worked for the immediate surpervisor even agreed I should get a good raise but the company was perpetually broke due to screw-ups by higher management. The same company laid everyone in their NY branch off eventually, using the famous line that they were "not economically viable". At least they gave a few weeks notice which is more than a lot of companies do these days. A friend once was laid off but didn't know it until he showed up for work Monday morning and they wouldn't let him in the building. They even got out of paying him unemployment compensation by saying he wan't punctual (because of one lateness in 10 years of employment!).

This is why I'll never be a successful businessman, I just can't see people as things to be used and discarded as profit decrees.

Thanks for all your kind works guys
I don't try to be a perfect person or perfect employee, i am just trying to be a good person and do the right thing, no matter how many times i've been stabbed in the back for it. That's me and i will not change

@jtr1962 It is illegal to work over 42 hours a week, unless there is a particular and unavoidable emergency which must be thoroughly documented and forwarded to the head office. We do get payed over time like time and a quorter - time and a half after that, but only if they feel like it... Most of the times i just got payed my usual flat rate for the extra hours.
According to labour law concerning S/O's and other physicaly demanding jobs, we must have at least 8 hours off between shifts. I in more than one occassions worked 2 shifts back to back with a 3 hour break in between, at which i also had to travel from one location to the other...
Other things wrong... doing a 12h static security duty for 5 days straight. The client wanted someone manning the entrance and standing on his feet with 1h break and our manager agreed. Now i have donne honour guard in the army, that was hard, but even that was 8 hours long and happened only 3 times a week.
On another occassion i did onboard security for "special" trains loaded with rugby fans going to Dublin. My duty for the day was to go up and down the train making sure there was no alcohol consumption onboard........ So picture this 1 foreighner in a high viz jacket, without a radio, in a train with 200 drunken irish fans asking them not to drink... I did 1 pass up and down and then locked myself in the engineers cabin cause i'd rather be called a coward than get killed over this.

I could go on for several pages, but it's just not worth it. It was another life experience for me, i learned a lot. Now it's over, i got a new beggining ahead of me AND I JUST CAN'T WAIT

Your time there will soon be a memory. Good for you for working full time and studying. I know how hard it is because I did the same thing. All the best in your future endeavours!!