'I personally went from making 15$ an hour to $27 an hour': Swim club president insists on pay cuts, hero boss gets every lifeguard a gigantic raise

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Aug 1, 2023 3:00 PM EDT

This person had the best summer job ever, all thanks to their boss who went above and beyond his job duties. We could all use a boss like John, as their former employee, u/timothy53, told in a tale of incredible malicious compliance. 

Summer jobs give teens a taste of independence. At your first job, you have the freedom to drive to work, earn some cash, and then catch up with your friends to enjoy some summer fun. A really great job for teens is lifeguarding. You have to be certified, and it's a serious role — you're protecting the lives of the swimmers around you, especially children. Some people think lifeguarding can be dull and slow, but the pay is excellent compared to many other entry-level positions that pay minimum wage. The more certified you are, the higher your pay rate can go. 

This person's boss took advantage of that exact logic. The OP shared their story to the malicious compliance subreddit, and even dropped an additional story about John in the comments. Their boss sounds like a really good human being, and it seems like he changed the lives of his employees for the better. 

Up next, this pizza parlor employee was told to take all phone calls very seriously, during an epidemic of prank calls, so the employee did exactly as they were instructed. 

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  • 01
    Sky - GUARD
    via Richard Bell on Unsplash
  • 02
    Font - My first boss and how he got the whole team every certification available XL OC When I turned 14 years old, I got my first summer job and had one of the best bosses I'd ever had. I recently found out that unfortunately my mentor and someone I would consider a friend, John, passed away. Although its been well over 20 years I still use the lessons learned and the work ethic he passed on to me, although at times he could be hard he was more than fair and always did the right thing for those
    via u/timothy53
  • 03
    Font - Before I get into the story I need to give some background and context on John. John was the textbook 'all American boy'. John had attended a prestigious boarding school somewhere in New England and eventually attended Yale back in the late 50/60's and was not only a scholar but a three sport athlete. He played football, he boxed and was a captain on the track and field team. Fast forward to when this story takes place and John was still in phenomenal shape for a late 60's early 70's man.
    via u/timothy53
  • 04
    Font - As a teacher, he had the summer's off and became a lifeguard at the local town beach, eventually becoming the captain of the lifeguards. Over time he developed standards for the town/county/state lifeguards to pass. He really transformed what was a rag-tag style of lifeguard's into a full fledged official lifeguard corps, training academy and set the standards for what is still used today. John was eventually hired to run the lifeguards and manage an entire private beach club instead of w
    via u/timothy53
  • 05
    Font - President of the beach club took pride in having the best staff and making sure that lifeguards were well paid and to his credit safety was the upmost priority. This private Beach Club, certainly catered to the more 'wealthy' clientele who wanted a nicer club instead of going to the public beach. Some of the advantages were the amenities which were lockers, cabana's, private parking, a very nice restaurant that served great food and drinks. This was one of the few beach clubs that also ha
    via u/timothy53
  • 06
    Font - multiple summers you still got an additional raise. Most summer's this was a dollar or two. As an example I started at 7.25$ at 14 years old (this was back in the late 90s) and by the time I was in college I was making almost 15$ an hour. Typically the president of the club serves a term which is a few years and when his term was up a new President was ushered in. Upon taking office the new president loudly proclaimed that he wanted to ensure that the club had 'fiscal responsibility' and
    via u/timothy53
  • 07
    Font - hourly wage would be cut, most of the senior staff immediately left and were quickly hired elsewhere. The lifeguards were spared at the appeal of John to ensure safety, although some senior guards left for other beaches and pools, John was able to convince the lifeguards as he would 'take care of things'. Onto the MC, while John agreed to have the staff take the pay cut, he convinced the new president that any lifeguards with additional certifications would get 2$ an hour on top of the ba
    via u/timothy53
  • 08
    Font - and hired most if not all the trainers in the town and county. John was also a volunteer fireman and new all the EMS personnel and not surprisingly had either taught them in school or hired them as lifeguards in their past lives. John quickly called in favors from every trainer and certifier across the county who were more than happy to repay all the favors John had done for them in the past. Most waived the training fee's and expediated the training sessions for the lifeguards and they w
    via u/timothy53
  • 09
    Font - certifications for a 'regular' lifeguard. We got trained as either EMS and EMT's, although lifeguards had to be certified in CPR - we re-trained and got our CPR certifications again, Lifesaving ocean and pool rescue techniques, Certified Swimming Instructor, Certified Food Inspector (the club had a kitchen), Certified County Pool Operator license, Certified Sanitary Inspector (cleaning the bathrooms), we even had one guy who wanted to learn how to SCUBA, the county's firefighters had a wa
    via u/timothy53
  • 10
    Font - previous wages were. At 18 years old and back in the 90s I personally went from making 15$ an hour to $27 an hour all due to the certifications and trainings. It took a month or so for the fall out to happen, while the new president tried to renege on the deal, John was smart enough to have a formal arrangement in place and there was nothing the new president could do besides b about it. He winded up resigning his position 'to spend more time with his family at the beach'. We rarely saw h
    via u/timothy53
  • 11
    Font - A few weeks ago, I heard from friends and former colleagues that just at the start of the summer season John passed away in sleep of natural causes at the ripe age of 91. He was still working although not as much in the past, it was more of a I wanna keep busy type of thing then a need to work. Every morning he would take out the lifeguards row boat and get some exercise in, after all he was a Certified Rowing Instructor. RIP John, you were the best.
    via u/timothy53
  • 12
    Font - dorkmania President: So John, I hear you have a lot of certifications. Which ones? John: Yes 1.2k Reply Share timothy53 OP All of the certs
    via u/dorkmania
  • 13
    Font - Commercial-Team-8935. The world needs more folk like John. Rest easy now John you were clearly a good one!
    via u/Commercial-Team-8935
  • 14
    Font - Neat-Plantain-7500 It so nice with a person with that much talent and affability to give back to the community. To give back to that community like he did is something special. Plant a tree where others can sit.
    via u/Neat-Plantain-7500
  • 15
    Font - o timothy53 OP. Another quick story I just remembered about John. Later in life he got really into golf, and being the natural athlete he was, he got really really good. He went from never playing golf to being a scratch handicap in a few years. He also refused to join a country club and only liked to play at the local public golf course with his teacher friends, lifeguards (obviously) and the volunteer firemen. He eventually became the golf pro due to his charismatic nature and obviously
    via u/timothy53
  • 16
    Font - I asked him why he wanted another job, and he said well I get to play for free now! You could find John most of the week at the golf course either in the pro shop, on the course or if it was later in the day and hot out at the halfway house having a turkey on rye with onion and a cold beer. Another golf related story, he let some the SCUBA guys go diving in the various lakes for golf balls, which they cleaned and resold for quite a profit. All they had to do was give John a few of his fav
    via u/timothy53
  • 17
    Smile - student5320 A true relic of the past. What I would give for a boss like that now at 40 let alone college age.
    via u/student5320
  • 18
    Font - 1lluminist +1 the new president that any lifeguards with additional certifications would get 2$ an hour on top of the base minimum wage. I personally went from making 15$ an hour to $27 an hour all due to the certifications and trainings. Oh snap! So it was $2/cert, not a flat $2 if they had certifications? 88 Reply Share timothy53 OP. $2 a cert!
    via u/1lluminist
  • 19
    Font - Puzzleheaded-Phase 70. that's awesome! And with all those certifications, all of you got huge bonuses towards year-round employment in all those different fields. 25 Reply Share timothy53 OP I winded up leveraging my Certified Pool Operator license for another job. It was actually quite a hard cert to get, alot of studying, math and chemistry involved
    via u/Puzzleheaded-Phase 70

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boss workplace-stories jobs lifeguard work stories malicious compliance coworkers malicious-compliance-reddit swimming certified raise swimming pool pay workplace great boss money
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