'This led to them doubling down on their stupidity': Business docks employees' pay for leaving work 9 minutes early, employee calls their bluff and takes them to court

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Dec 12, 2023 5:00 PM EST

This company was great at first, but slowly became too toxic for one employee. 

Cultivating a professional and pleasant atmosphere in a workplace takes effort from every person in the building. If employees are happy, they'll probably be friendlier, which will make collaboration easy. When employees are dissatisfied at their job, though, cliques start to form between different branches of the business, and employees might harbor resentment towards management. After all, if management is in charge of things like offering snacks and beverages, or having a relaxed work-life balance, it shows that they care about their workers. That can't be said of every person in upper management, and especially not for the ones in this story by u/freeasabird_ta. 

This story is on the longer side, but the ending is absolutely shocking. It's definitely worth the read! You can check out the whole tale below, plus a bonus comment from the OP. And after that, this employee deleted all of their client's data… too bad the IRS still needed that information. 

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  • 01
    'No contact unless it's via legal representation? OK.'
    via Romain Dancre on Unsplash
  • 02
    No contact unless it's via legal representation? OK. OC This happened about 15 years ago. Relatively early in my career as a web developer/software engineer, so some details are not remembered precisely. Names changed etc. Tldr at the bottom. Anyway, I thought I had landed a dream job at a small media company that had gone all-in on digital media and marketing a few years prior and had started to land some big clients (think NHS etc...).
    via u/freeasabird_ta
  • 03
    The team comprised of two owners, we will call them Jeff and Nige. Jeff was the lighthearted, approachable and more tech-oriented member of this double act. Nige was the straight man, less approachable, and less likely to join us in any social antics but ultimately a seemingly decent guy and the main driver of the business. In addition, there was an office manager, James, who was also Nige's other half and Rachel, an office assistant and a good friend of Nige. The rest of the workforce made up t
    via u/freeasabird_ta
  • 04
    What made this a dream job for me at the time? Well, on top of the fact they were doing some great work with what was, at the time, cutting edge technology, it was an overall great place to be. Flexible working hours, lots of holidays and lots of social events. To give you a better idea, most lunchtimes Jeff and the media team would all go out for lunch together, or play a FIFA tournament, go to the pub to mob on a new idea etc. Most importantly for this story, every Friday we would all finish a
    via u/freeasabird_ta
  • 05
    It was a very open place to work at the time and the two owners were clear on how they expected the business to expand and our future positions within such an expanded company. Basically, all the guff any potential employer peddles when you interview but we were actually doing it and living it. They were receptive to new ideas or different ways of doing things, and regularly included us in sales meetings and we could see the direction the company was going in. Everybody who worked there was exci
    via u/freeasabird_ta
  • 06
    As time went on the company became more successful, and with more success came more recognition, more clients, more money, and greed. I won't go into too much detail, but by the time of the main event in this story a couple of years after starting there, this once open and relaxed workplace had become There were no longer flexible hours, you had to be in at 8.50 am to get ready at your machine and you didn't power down until 5 pm at the earliest unless you had been asked to stay late to churn ou
    via u/freeasabird_ta
  • 07
    No more lunchtime socials, there was a lunchtime rota that stated who could go for lunch and when, so we could no longer take lunch together. Despite the ever-growing workload of more complex and larger websites, no new members were added to the team. Even when the other lead dev left, no replacement was found. On top of this, despite the growing workload and shortening deadlines, promises of raises and bonuses never came to fruition, which was especially galling when coupled with the fact both
    via u/freeasabird_ta
  • 08
    Nigel also made it clear that with the success of the company as it was, his plan was to sell it at the ripe age of 45 (I think) and semi-retire to a life of travel writing and photography (despite being mediocre at both), without a second thought for the rest of us. The business was now being run in a manner that allowed the owners to line their pockets with as much cash as possible whilst also making it look like a good takeover prospect. The only perk that remained was the 4 pm Friday finish
    via u/freeasabird_ta
  • 09
    One Friday afternoon, Nigel, Jeff and James went to visit a prospective client. Rachel was off for some reason which left nobody in charge of the office. Expecting the usual early finish everybody had completed their work by 4 pm, but having not received any word from the owners, we hung on. At around 4.50 pm and with nothing else to do we collectively decided to " ", lock up and go home. Apparently, at about 4.51 pm Nige had tried to call the office, probably to tell us to go home, but of cours
    via u/freeasabird_ta
  • 10
    cancelled (it probably already was anyway, but why not use it as a punishment) and that our wages were going to be docked for leaving early. Now, here in the UK, it is naughty to make deductions from a salary unless it is for some legally mandated reason, e.g. taxes, national insurance, student loan etc. or unless the employee has given explicit written permission so I didn't think this last threat would actually happen. I didn't have to wait long to find out as we were paid weekly, but sure eno
    via u/freeasabird_ta
  • 11
    I approached the owners about it, but I was basically given the same speech as on Monday morning previous. Law has been a particular interest of mine, still is, and whilst I'm no lawyer nor any kind of expert, I know enough to stand up for myself and those around me, and so, with the backing of the rest of the media team I sent what may be considered a "Notice Before Action" just prior to leaving on Friday. That NBA being a formally worded email to both owners stating my grievance, the illegal d
    via u/freeasabird_ta
  • 12
    mean the engagement of legal services. On Monday morning the owners arrived late and instead of Nige's customary visit to the media room to ask how we were* (*make sure we were slaving away) they both retreated directly to their office and shut the door. This was shortly followed by an email to us all stating that due to my "threat" and after taking legal advice they had been told to cease direct communication with any of us until the matter was resolved. The resolution they wanted now being a f
    via u/freeasabird_ta
  • 13
    Now, I'm reasonably sure they hadn't had any legal advice on the matter, or if they had, it was Firstly, a decent solicitor would have told them they were idiots for doing what they did and to give the money back and apologise. Secondly, because the entire point of a Notice Before Action is to try and find a resolution prior to taking any legal action, in closing up shop in this manner they are practically forcing a legal engagement. My belief is that they were simply calling my bluff, and didn'
    via u/freeasabird_ta
  • 14
    from my legal representation. I, of course, was not bluffing and complied with their request. What they didn't know was that a member of my family was not only educated in employment law, albeit not an actual solicitor, but also a union representative at another company, so by the end of the day a legally drafted letter arrived on the owner's desks laying out the illegalities of what had happened as well as the expected timeline of events going forward. Within 30 days (I think) we were to have h
    via u/freeasabird_ta
  • 15
    meeting, and with the expectation that my demands in the NBA were to be met as they had no defence. Should that not occur, this would be going to a tribunal or maybe even full court with the company liable for expenses. It was a slam dunk, so they would end up with a relatively hefty bill. Instead of folding, as I expected them to do, this led to them doubling down on their stupidity. Their door was permanently shut with very little direct communication between the whole media team and the owner
    via u/freeasabird_ta
  • 16
    At this point, Rachel and James, who were obviously on good terms with Nige became openly hostile toward me. For a small example, Rachel would make everybody in the office a coffee in the morning, now it was everybody except me. Seemingly, neither the owners nor Rachel and James seemed to know or understand that I had the full backing of the rest of the team. They didn't have the know-how or the will to fight it themselves, but they were aware of the downhill direction in the working environment
    via u/freeasabird_ta
  • 17
    become exceptionally toxic and nobody wanted to be there. They, and I, started actively looking for different employment. If I remember correctly, an extension was requested and granted but the deadline for the aforementioned meeting came and went so my representative sent another formal letter to my employers stating that we would be going to tribunal. It also now stated that I would be leaving the company immediately and I would be claiming "Constructive Dismissal" due to the actions of the ow
    via u/freeasabird_ta
  • 18
    The only result of the extension they requested being an extra few weeks of workplace bullying logged. Receiving all this was the last straw and their resolve was broken. An apology was sent via email along with the promise that the money would be returned in our next paycheque. I'd had enough however and I immediately handed in my notice which I believe was 4 weeks. I hadn't found another job, but I had decided to move to the city anyway and go freelance. Before my notice period ended, the juni
    via u/freeasabird_ta
  • 19
    The business owned by Jeff and Nige was essentially dead, with many of their existing clients seeking us out to continue doing work for them on a freelance basis. I learned that Jeff and Nige eventually had a falling out, with Jeff resigning as a director and becoming CTO at another tech company. Nige renamed and rebranded the old company and attempted to carry on somehow but to this day the examples of work on their web page are still the ones we made 15 years ago. Most of them aren't actually
    via u/freeasabird_ta
  • 20
    I also later learned, as we had all suspected, that Jeff wanted nothing to do with the wage deductions etc. Although I'm not sure how hard he fought against it. Although I've not physically met them since the day I left, I am connected to everyone in the media team and they are all doing well. Jeff also reached out a few years later and he is doing well too. As for Nige, James and Rachel, I have no idea. Rachel was close to retirement anyway, so I guess she was reasonably fine. Looking at the pu
    via u/freeasabird_ta
  • 21
    travel and photography blogs stopped being updated a few years ago. Nige's (and James as his partner) plans to retire early and travel the world are probably now permanently on hold. As is his penchant for a new car every few months. And the amount deducted from our wage over which Nige lost his business and planned future for? £6.80p Tldr; Owner illegally makes deductions to my salary and insists on only discussing it via legal representation, so I get legal representation and he loses his busi
    via u/freeasabird_ta
  • 22
    NaturalCurlz15 Wait a minute! ALL that hostility over Nigel not wanting to pay £6.80?! F'n idiot! Glad that greedy little pig was unable to "retire" early.
    via u/NaturalCurlz15
  • 23
    thenlar I bet it was really the requirement for a formal apology to the team that really stuck in his craw. No way he was going to "grovel before the peons" or some such.
    via u/thenlar
  • 24
    freeasabird_ta OP. I can't remember the exact legalese, but I believe the apology was required, although maybe apology is the wrong word. Basically, they had to explain themselves and assure us it wouldn't happen again.
    via u/freeasabird_ta

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