boss (owner) being shady

[greaterdevil]

hey all--

 

used LS before for romantic advice, but never for work stuff. but where else do i turn? thanks in advance.

 

so, here's the drill.

 

in June, I started at a juice bar/restaurant in the town where I live. they have been in business for about nine months. i am the manager.

 

on my second day, i sat down with my boss (the owner of the restaurant) and talked about the wage I expected and would need.

 

i told him i needed 18$ an hour, salaried, so 720 a week. i told him that as manager I would not be accepting tips, as those are for the employees and they need them to supplement their meager incomes.

 

he agreed to this, said it was fair, and that he wanted me to commit to at least a year working for him. i said fine, that i would like to sign a contract with terms including wage, benefits (also agreed on 12 paid vacation days per year), but he insisted that our word would suffice.

 

i started off there at 1250 an hour while learning the ropes, no salary paid hourly. but two months down the road i am doing the scheduling, hiring, supervising and ordering. my boss wants me to go with him to portland to a restaurant supply on my day off. not only does he not pay me for my time, but tells me that our original agreement wouldn't work. he thinks i will have to take tips, maybe pay me 14 an hour plus tips.

 

two problems--this is not what we agreed on, and tips there are less than two dollars per hour (per employee) so even with tips i am taking a pay decrease.

 

I wasn't happy about it but i want the job so i try to move past it.

 

couple weeks ago though i ended up having to work a lot of overtime (25 hours) i am not exempt as i am not a salaried employee yet. he didn't pay me the overtime, saying he couldnt afford it.

 

the same say he had friends in town who he treated to 150 dollars worth of free food and beverage.

 

if it was just this stuff maybe I could excuse it. but from our conversations i am starting to think maybe he is just a son of a bitch. he complains bitterly about employees lack of loyalty, but insists on paying everyone minimum wage. he talks about this one mexican worker like he should be happy to work for us for the next five years for minimum wage (with the "because he's Mexican" implied.

 

one of the long term girls who has been with us since the start (long before me) is getting married soon and all my staff wants to go. i suggested that we close early (an hour and a half on a slow night) so that everyone could attend. he refuses, and can't understand why his employees resent him.

 

anyway, i have long worked in restaurants (12 years) and have wanted to start my own, but this is souring me to the whole idea.

 

that was a lot of rambling, i apologize. I guess my question is, do you think i should save myself the heartache and just tell him to find someone else? i dont want to have to fight with him constantly to get him to follow through with his commitments, fight to get paid, and end up being less a manager than just an enforcer of unsustainable, short-sighted policy. or should i talk frankly to him and let him know how deeply troubled i am by his behavior?

 

thanks.

[Got it]

Small time owners/franchisees are hard. They don't always understand the labor laws, best practices and usually go after cutting costs immediately so that includes labor, quality, and resources.

 

My advice, find something else. He is running his business the way he wants and most likely won't be around in a few years.

[Tayla]

Docuement hours worked.

Time sheets are a standard.

Or Time records for hourly wages.

 

What benefits does he offer? What policy hand book can you refer to for clarification? With Good Ole Obama Care, I'm surprised he didn't start knocking ppl down to part time status...

 

Report what is fairly due, and Leave when its fairly obvious the dynamics do not inspire you to stay.

[carhill]

IMO, this is a dry hole. Move on. If your goal is to be a manager or move into a corporate managerial role, pick jobs which grow that program.

 

Another option, with this product/market being unknown to me, would be to analyze it for potential and, if identified as a viable product/market, build your brand while managing the current owner's philosophy into near certain receivership, then take the fire sale and grow it with your business plan.

 

I know a couple friends who did this (different industry) and are now mid-level millionaires (50-100MM net worth). Identifying opportunities and capitalizing on them. Others failures and poor management choices can be opportunities.

 

Have you taken formal business management courses? Do you have experience in corporate networking and business politics? It's all out there.

[Banker Chick]

I'd move on. This guy has definitely shown you he has no desire to keep his word so you're going to continue to get screwed. Why invest any more time and resources? I had a job where I stayed longer than I should have because I didn't want to admit what was going on & figured things would change. My first clue should have been there weren't any employees that had been there over 18 months. Live and learn I guess.

[preraph]

hey all--

 

used LS before for romantic advice, but never for work stuff. but where else do i turn? thanks in advance.

 

so, here's the drill.

 

in June, I started at a juice bar/restaurant in the town where I live. they have been in business for about nine months. i am the manager.

 

on my second day, i sat down with my boss (the owner of the restaurant) and talked about the wage I expected and would need.

 

i told him i needed 18$ an hour, salaried, so 720 a week. i told him that as manager I would not be accepting tips, as those are for the employees and they need them to supplement their meager incomes.

 

he agreed to this, said it was fair, and that he wanted me to commit to at least a year working for him. i said fine, that i would like to sign a contract with terms including wage, benefits (also agreed on 12 paid vacation days per year), but he insisted that our word would suffice.

 

i started off there at 1250 an hour while learning the ropes, no salary paid hourly. but two months down the road i am doing the scheduling, hiring, supervising and ordering. my boss wants me to go with him to portland to a restaurant supply on my day off. not only does he not pay me for my time, but tells me that our original agreement wouldn't work. he thinks i will have to take tips, maybe pay me 14 an hour plus tips.

 

two problems--this is not what we agreed on, and tips there are less than two dollars per hour (per employee) so even with tips i am taking a pay decrease.

 

I wasn't happy about it but i want the job so i try to move past it.

 

couple weeks ago though i ended up having to work a lot of overtime (25 hours) i am not exempt as i am not a salaried employee yet. he didn't pay me the overtime, saying he couldnt afford it.

 

the same say he had friends in town who he treated to 150 dollars worth of free food and beverage.

 

if it was just this stuff maybe I could excuse it. but from our conversations i am starting to think maybe he is just a son of a bitch. he complains bitterly about employees lack of loyalty, but insists on paying everyone minimum wage. he talks about this one mexican worker like he should be happy to work for us for the next five years for minimum wage (with the "because he's Mexican" implied.

 

one of the long term girls who has been with us since the start (long before me) is getting married soon and all my staff wants to go. i suggested that we close early (an hour and a half on a slow night) so that everyone could attend. he refuses, and can't understand why his employees resent him.

 

anyway, i have long worked in restaurants (12 years) and have wanted to start my own, but this is souring me to the whole idea.

 

that was a lot of rambling, i apologize. I guess my question is, do you think i should save myself the heartache and just tell him to find someone else? i dont want to have to fight with him constantly to get him to follow through with his commitments, fight to get paid, and end up being less a manager than just an enforcer of unsustainable, short-sighted policy. or should i talk frankly to him and let him know how deeply troubled i am by his behavior?

 

thanks.

 

If you're in the US, file a complaint on him with the EEOC and get your overtime at least.

[mrldii]

If you're in the US, file a complaint on him with the EEOC and get your overtime at least.

 

The Labor Commissioner for your state is also well-equipped to help employers understand the federal and state laws regarding compensation for employees...

 

...and they are happy to do so. They don't much care if the employer doesn't want to, can't afford to, and/or is deliberately obtuse to such matters of running a business.

 

And, you can contact them while working there or after leaving his employ.

 

 

 

Best of luck to you...

[kenmore]

First of all, I went the whole "sit down and talk things over with my boss" route (not that the result would necessarily be the same with yours), and his response was "then get out." If you decide to have that talk, be ready to leave that day. (I was.)

 

When I say be ready to leave, don't just quit with some hair brained idea of getting some other job or starting your own business with no serious plan, have your back-up plan ready. To me the obvious next step is find other employment first. THEN have the talk (or quit if that's your preference at that point.)

 

Always get things in writing in the future and always suspect anyone who says things like "our verbal agreement is enough." I recently had a guy tell me that, someone I'm trying to partner with and I got him to sign the agreement anyway. Anyone who says "trust me" is NOT to be trusted!

 

If you worked overtime then labor laws state he must pay you overtime. If you don't have proof of your hours, your bad. Make sure you definitely start keeping documented proof and by proof I don't mean just writing down your hours, I mean proof like showing up for work and taking a selfie next to the clock and again when you leave. If he uses time cards, try to get copies without raising too much suspicion.

 

So does this clown do his own books? His own payroll? Is there someone else there to appeal to regarding your overtime?

 

Finally, if he's not going to pay for your overtime then you have a right to say then you're not going to put anymore in (get that new job lined up.) Also, since he didn't live up to the terms of the "gentleman's" agreement, then you have no obligation to stay the year he asked you to promise to.

 

Good luck, start looking for new work tomorrow. Remember two things: 1) it's much easier to find good employment when you have a job and 2) It's no fun to be desperate for a job. Find the new one first!

 

Ken

[pink_sugar]

The Labor Commissioner for your state is also well-equipped to help employers understand the federal and state laws regarding compensation for employees...

 

...and they are happy to do so. They don't much care if the employer doesn't want to, can't afford to, and/or is deliberately obtuse to such matters of running a business.

 

And, you can contact them while working there or after leaving his employ.

 

 

 

Best of luck to you...

 

I would look elsewhere and report this once you're gone. Oftentimes, especially with small businesses like this, you will likely burn a bridge by going to the labor board...not only will your employer have to pay up for what he owes, but also penalties due, which in your case could be a quite a lot. Employers often pay a daily penalty for each day late you are unpaid of what is due. I went to the labor board against a woman who wanted to deduct pay for mistakes and also because she didn't think I "worked hard enough". Those excuses didn't fly with the labor commissioner and if we went to court, she could have easily went from owing $50-$100 to well over a thousand due to penalties.

 

After all of this...ALWAYS, ALWAYS get your employment agreement...wage, salary, job duties in writing before accepting a job and let this be a lesson learned. The fact that he wanted to rely on word is a huge red flag. It sounds like he knew he couldn't commit to the wage offered and hoped you would take the bait.

[greaterdevil]

wow, everybody, just wow.

 

thank you all so much for all the wonderful advice. it's weirs, because my boss comes off as being this sweet kinda clueless old yuppie, but now i wonder if it's just an act. he's obviously successful enough that he can't be that clueless...

 

this really has me thinking. I will start looking elsewhere for employment.

[greaterdevil]

I just remembered when i started there he was dealing with a lawsuit from a contractor who helped him set up the store.

 

he told me this story about how the contractor had cheated him, but the judge agreed with whatever the contractor's side of the story was. now id really ne interested in seeing what he tried to pull there.

[pink_sugar]

I just remembered when i started there he was dealing with a lawsuit from a contractor who helped him set up the store.

 

he told me this story about how the contractor had cheated him, but the judge agreed with whatever the contractor's side of the story was. now id really ne interested in seeing what he tried to pull there.

 

I agree. It sounds like there is some history to this and I know the woman we worked for was bitter about us taking her to the dept of labor for due funds. If he really pulled the poor me act with you about the contractor, that's a red flag. Good luck with your search. Be sure to report any earnings you're due once you resign and also keep tabs on any unpaid earnings.

[veggirl]

If you don't totally hate him, I'd at least tell him I plan on going to the labor board regarding the OT pay. Maybe then he'll just pay up. And look for other work, this situation will not get better.

[kenmore]

he told me this story about how the contractor had cheated him, but the judge agreed with whatever the contractor's side of the story was...

 

There ya go, he's a liar!

[Sweet Workaholic]

1. Find another job. Take it.

2. Then Call EEOC & get overtime paid

3. Lesson: Honest people know there are dishonest people in the world, and for that reason don't object to written agreements. "My word is my bond" = "I'm a liar."