‘You Want Me to Work More Hours for Less Money?!’ : Employee Get’s $2 Pay Cut as Part of ‘Promotion’ ; She Quits, Writes Up Complaint for HR, Instigating a Multi Meeting Series of Discussions, Leading To Petty Revenge

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    Font - Posted by u/ofthefallz 13 hours ago Tied up ex-boss in HR meetings as my accidental farewell gift If there was a thread called "satisfying comeuppance" I would've put this story there, but I'm new to Reddit and this seems to be the best spot for this here tale based on what I've found.
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    Font - The TL;DR is that I wrote a detailed letter to my boss's boss about workplace issues and found out later that this letter had instigated a multi- meeting series of discussions that mysteriously followed the exact format of my letter, thus tying up my boss in a ton of accountability meetings that I know she would've hated.
  • 03
    Font - BACKGROUND: I started working at a certain establishment the second I was old enough to legally work. (We shall call it The Place so that I have a proper noun to work with here.) The Place was super convenient to get to after school and I already knew my boss, who had a very high opinion of me at the time.
  • 04
    Font - So overall a cushy after school and summer job, even though I'd finish every summer at The Place wanting to ram my head through a window. I would complain to my friends about feeling so wigged out and tired at the end of each season, but I figured I was just a lazy teen that was learning about work ethic.
  • 05
    Font - Fast forward a few years and I've graduated from college. I've been working at The Place every summer until the pandemic, and I've just gotten married (and my boss attended my wedding too!). While my spouse finishes the last semester of his degree, I realize I need to somehow find a job during the 2nd wave of the
  • 06
    Font - pandemic to support us. The Place has recently reopened in the past few months, so back I go! At that point the job market was still absolutely ravaged by COVID restrictions, so I was grateful for the chance to work anywhere at all.
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    Font - I worked that season with some friends, who saw the work environment with fresh eyes and informed me that I was not, in fact, lazy and lacking workplace stamina. Instead, I was suffering under inflexible management, the inefficiency of having multiple bosses,
  • 08
    Font - and a persisting environment. my concerns validated and not hostile work Huh. Eye-opener. Having gaslighted for the first time really helped me start to look over the systems at The Place with a critical eye.
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    Font - THE MEAT OF THE ISSUE: I had started out part time but was offered a full time position that opened up a few months after my return. I would work more hours, have more responsibilities, an additional boss to report to (ontop of the pre- existing 3), and I'd split my time between two departments. The catch? A $2 pay cut. I offered to waive my rights to insurance or waive ANYTHING
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    Font - in exchange for my same hourly wage, but my suggestions were turned down. I didn't have a choice. Working full time, it would still be a larger chunk of money each month despite the pay cut and we needed the money. I took the "promotion" and vowed to myself that I would work the duration of my contract and never return.
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    Font - In my last days there, my main boss whom I loved and had known for the majority of my years on this planet, called me up. She said she knew I was leaving soon but she was sending everyone an extra $300 in their paychecks as part of a grant The Place had received. I said thank you and she asked if I would consider staying. They
  • 12
    Font - had some major staffing shortages and The Place would need to close if they couldn't find new hires. Just to test the waters, I asked: "Well, would I still have that pay cut?" "Oh. Ummmm, I guess I could look into that for you."
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    Font - Yep, fat chance. I politely told her I wouldn't be returning. At this point I felt hugely disrespected, taken advantage of, and unappreciated. I had been at this place on and off for almost a decade. I had accrued an insane amount of experience of The Place's systems and
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    Font - policies in exchange for pay raises that only ever reflected new minimum wage laws as they came around every few years. I had been given a pay cut at the earliest opportunity, and my mental health had taken a huge blow every season due to workplace cliques, clashing bosses jerking the staff around, and spotty staff support. It's not hard to imagine why they were having a hard time finding and keeping employees.
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    Font - So I wrote a letter. I wrote a 4-page letter with headings and subheadings that very clearly laid out everything wrong with what I had experienced during my many years at The Place, in the hopes that it would help them understand their persistent staffing shortages. I made sure it was professional and honest and I had
  • 16
    Font - friends and family proof read it to make sure it wasn't lined with any latent vitriol. Despite everything, I still loved my Main Boss and what she was trying to accomplish there and I truly just wanted to help, even as I was on my way out. I made 3 copies of the letter and left one on Main Boss's desk, one on HR's desk, and one on MB's boss's desk.
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    Font - Fast forward to a coffee date with an old friend who still works at The Place. MB never let anyone see her copy of the letter, and told others that it was nothing but a big smear letter against the department (definitely not true). Despite the
  • 18
    Font - attempted coverup, MB's boss "somehow got a copy of the letter". MB and her co-bosses are now tied up in a multi-meeting series of talks about several persistent issues in the workplace. Strangely enough, almost every meeting aligns with a section of my letter. Hmmm...
  • 19
    Font - Knowing how much MB hates change and meetings, I can't help but get some smug satisfaction from all of this. Plus, kudos to upper management for actually listening. After so many years of working at The Place, I would certainly hope my honest insight means something more than an attempted coverup.
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    Font - RJack151 +3 - 13 hr. ago Hopefully she had to endure a pay cut for being cheap and not valuing talented employees. 133 Reply Share
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    Font - NotUnique_ 10 hr. ago What kind of an idiot does on that hill? It's $2 for Christs sake. And more, what kind of even bigger moron disguises a pay cut as a promotion which will obviously lead to losing a good and loyal employee? 67 ↓ Reply Share
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    Font - ofthefallz OP I honestly would've stayed there if they'd taken care of me. All I want is a healthy work environment and a living wage. I don't think that's asking a ton! 9 hr. ago 62 Reply Share
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    Font - mochi_for_breakfast +1.39 min. ago If you look at it another way, you had a decade to realize they were never going to give you what you deserved. So you were asking a ton, because they were operating at rock bottom.
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    Font - +2.13 hr. ago. 9lobaldude edited 13 hr. ago So upper management did not know anything about what was happening in the trenches an middle management was trying to cover their mess... No surprises there
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    Font - You did upper management a big favor, many times they pay big money to a consultancy firm to get the same info that you laid out in the letter 161 Reply Share

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