Normally, employers are the ones dealing with dishonesty in the form of dishonest employees. However, I find myself on the opposite end of the spectrum - an employee who has worked for dishonest employers. Fortunately, I was not defrauded out of my wages outright, but I was intentionally misled and directly lied to by management on several occasions.

Company A is in technology logistics, and shall remain unnamed to protect the innocent. (Yeah, sure, it’s really to keep me safe from a fraudulent lawsuit designed to shut me up.) I was surprised, yet delighted to hear from them, as it was only a few weeks after my previous temporary position had ended. They needed several full time Field Technicians to install computer equipment at several different client locations. I was scheduled for an interview with the Project Manager.

I had an extremely difficult time getting there, and it turned out that I would be late, as I had missed my train by a few minutes, and would have to wait about 45 minutes for the next train. (I hate commuter rail schedules) Fortunately, I was prepared. I called the Project Manager and informed his voice mail that I would be running an hour plus late. I still had difficulty getting there, as I had to get an additional bus to get there. When I did arrive, I was sure that I would not even be considered because of my extreme lateness. (Over 2 hours) I was given an application to fill out and other forms. The project manager told me that the first people to fill out the forms and fax them back would get hired. There was no actual interview.

I was very skeptical of being hired, regardless of how fast I faxed back the forms. But I was hired, and with a fair hourly rate. Not as much as my previous position, but still fair. I was introduced to their scheduling system - which was viewable online. For some reason, I was not on the schedule for any sites. I assumed that this was a mistake, and looked for the largest scheduled site deployments - thinking that they would need help. I showed up, and worked. After a few days of this, I was informed that I should not show up at a site if I am not scheduled. I thought that I was being proactive by doing what I did. Luckily, I was paid for the time I worked. I eventually did get scheduled, however.

So far, so good. But, one thing I noticed was that the technicians were unloading the equipment from the trucks and bringing the equipment onto the site. This was not in the job description. I don’t mind helping to unload equipment sometimes, but if that is supposed one of my job duties, I should be informed of that before I am hired, so that I know what to expect. This was brought up at a meeting, and it was said that it was the driver’s responsibility to deliver the equipment inside. One driver to deliver fifty-plus boxes that fill up a 24 foot freight truck? Not likely unless its one site per day, and even if it was, it was expected for sites to take as little time as possible. No, they expected the techs to do it, but never admitted it. Fortunately, I wasn’t too concerned with the box loading. I was happy as long as I got to do what I loved - technical work: installation and configuration of computers and printers. Plus, it was good exercise.

Then it happened - after about 3-4 months of work, all the techs were told that we would no longer be doing configurations. Another company will now be doing that. Great, take away the only real reason for working there. In addition, there was the fact that a 40 hour work week was an extreme rarity. The average work week here was about 25 hours or less. This was intentionally done by management to save money. There was extra work, but that was dumped on the salaried supervisors. Nice cost saving tactics, ripping off workers by giving them part time hours when they were promised full time positions.

Well, with very little configuration to take care of, the job became boring real fast. I hoped for improvement, as management promised that changes would be made, but nothing happened. I started looking for other positions. I interviewed for about 5 months. I was finally offered a position at another company…

Company B is a computer training center, and shall also remain unnamed. No free advertising from me! They needed a PC Technical Support Specialist. I interviewed with them, and was offered the position. I was so relieved and excited to get my hands on a “real” job at a “real” company. Finally, a company I could really be a part of. It was my intention to work for this company for at least 5 years, to build my career and experience. I was a little peeved at them for wanting to give me a lower hourly rate than I asked for, but, since I was so dissatisfied with my current employ, I didn’t argue. I was also a little surprised when I was asked if I could do a little administrative/procurement work in addition to my technical responsibilities, since I have almost no experience in procurement. The manner in which I was asked this implied that it would be a small task to be done when I had free time. I thought, “No big deal, I could purchase a few things and document them…” and said sure, no problem.

For the first few months, things were great. I was learning the ropes, and enjoying my work. I was even given a salary, based on a 40 hour work week at the agreed upon hourly rate. Now I could afford medical benefits! What, the company pays for half of the medical benefits? Yeah! I was amazed. I got along quite well with my co-workers also, which added to making it a cool workplace. I worked long hours, but because I wanted to, and because I enjoyed my work. However, I made startling discoveries, and things slowly started to change…

Now, in my first few months of working there, there were a few things that bothered me… I discovered that my employer used illegal pirated and/or cracked software for several of their classes. I also discovered that they had difficulty providing the technical staff with the proper tools for their jobs. Many other techs had to bring in their own tools to get their work done, and actually had their tools stolen. I took note and never brought in any of my tools, as I could not afford to replace them. I also noticed several “shortcuts” in the way my employer designed their network infrastructure, which dramatically increased network issues and downtime. For example, if one salesperson accidentally knocked out their phone’s power cord, several other salespersons phones would go out as well. Not good. For some reason, my supervisor refused to make any effort to make fixing this problem a priority, in spite of the fact that the solution was simple. I also had to deal with the difficulty of having a tiny and crowded work area. I also discovered that my supervisor had told my coworkers that I was the new “purchasing guy” who would do a little tech support when I had time. But, I just assumed that this was a misunderstanding between them. I knew what I was hired for.

One of my responsibilities on the job was getting equipment ready for shipping and packing it up. (Like procurement, this wasn’t in the job description either.) I worked with someone who took care of the addresses and shipping labels. I was to assist him in keeping track of the shipments for some reason. He was let go not too long after. I found myself being asked more information about the shipments. Soon my shift changed from the odd “Tech Staff” shift to a Monday through Friday 9AM-6PM shift. The reason was so I could be around more to provide information to management about the shipments. I thought cool, better hours. I didn’t realize that that management had silently dumped all the shipping responsibilities on me. I also found myself having more and more procurement to take care of, and less time to do tech support. I also somehow became responsible for my employer’s entire inventory - updating and keeping track of every item, all by myself, with no help from anyone else. None of this was in my job description.

I attempted to maintain all my responsibilities for a while, but it was impossible. I informed a manager of the difficulty I was facing, but was glibly told, “I believe you can do it.” Shipping was the first to suffer. Because of my multitude of tasks, I had to prioritize everything by order of importance. Making sure classes are running trumped keeping management informed of shipment progress (because classes generated profit). One manager eventually barged in to my tiny work area (which I shared with the tech team) and asked about some shipments. I was swamped with work. I told him I didn’t know. He asked why I don’t know, since it’s my job to know. I told him that I have too much work to do, and then he left. Because of the situation I was put in, my stress increased dramatically, and my health slowly started to decline. At this point, I had no time for technical work whatsoever. I wrote an email to my supervisors regarding the situation. They didn’t answer it.

I decided that it was enough of that garbage. I started cutting back on the times I worked late and worked through lunch. My work piled up, but I thought, “Who cares. My health comes first. If my employer wants to abuse me, that will be their problem, not mine.” I disregarded any tasks which I considered non-essential. Things like data entry tasks which were designed to make it easier for management to get data regarding shipments. But nothing was done to make my job easier. It’s like I was expected to work late and work through lunch, doing things that were not in my job description, to kill myself for no additional compensation. I never liked the idea of being ripped off, and I wasn’t about to start now.

Eventually, I was told that someone will be hired to take over shipping. Finally! I trained the guy they hired; he worked a few days, and then disappeared. Great. Sometime after this, a shipment he worked on reached us. One of my supervisors asked me about it. Why is he asking me? It’s not my job, and I was concerned with getting my work done - work that I was officially responsible for. I told him that I didn’t know, and that shipping was not my job. At this he seemed surprised, and then got very angry. He then proceeded to tell me “Don’t you ever tell me that. Your job is to do what ever I tell you to do. If you don’t like that, then you will just have to look for something else.” He was referring to looking for a new job. His true colors exposed. Truly a disgusting character. I did what he asked of me, and did my best to avoid dealing with this filth in the future. I also started working on my resume, so that I could find a new position, hopefully with a company that didn’t view their employees as slaves.

I started noticing that my immediate co-workers started treating me differently. They started acting like I wasn’t doing enough work, in spite of the fact that my workload had more than tripled since my hiring, and they seemed to like me fine before. Then I remembered a conversation I recently had with one of the other techs - I was mentioning that I would love to be rid of the shipping/purchasing/inventory burden, and do all tech work, and get more money. I had assumed that the others in the tech team earned more money than me because of their technical positions, and I told him this. He proceeded to say “I know for a FACT that you make more money than we do.” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I was also shocked at the fact that my co-worker knew my salary. I didn’t know, or care how much they earned. It wasn’t my business. But if what he said was true, it said a lot about the integrity of my employer. I believe this tech I spoke to told the other techs about my salary as well, which is probably why they started treating me differently. I also discovered that my employer didn’t pay overtime to the other techs, who routinely worked over 50 hours a week just to “bring home a decent paycheck”. I was disgusted at my employer. However, I still did the best job I could - I am a professional after all.

It was very disheartening to be looked down upon by my co-workers. However, if they didn’t have the brain power to direct their anger where it belonged - to the employer, rather than at me, then they deserved their low pay, and the shafting they received. I was on their side, but they were doing exactly what the employer wanted - being disunited so that they could be easily taken advantage of. Just like sheep. Fools, all of them. I was in quite a disgusting work situation. But I continued doing my work to the best of my ability, despite all the garbage I received. The same tech who originally knew my salary insinuated that because I think I am underpaid, I do less work. I promptly corrected him, but he will believe what he wants. He also made remarks about me having responsibilities like a manager, and managers stay as long as it takes to get the job done, so I should work longer as well. Obviously, I have no managerial responsibilities, and I was not paid nearly as well as a manager. Only after I told him “Well, I’m not a manager.” did he relent.

My employer eventually terminated me, telling me that even though there was no problem with my work, everyone on the tech team had a problem with me, and he can’t get rid of the rest of the team, so he had to let me go. He even went on to say that instead of telling other employers that I don’t work well on a team, that he would give me a good reference - as though I was responsible for the problems. He also promised me one week’s pay as severance, which shocked me. Could my supervisor, who continually lied to me since I was hired, have some remorse for his wrong doing? Apparently not, because upon checking my pay stubs, I discovered that I was not paid for the first week in which I worked. A nice scam they have going. At least with their so-called “severance”, I had all the pay which I was owed.

Even though I was set up to fail from the very start because of my supervisor’s lies, I at least learned some new skills, and a healthy new disdain for working at small companies. Not that all small companies will be so abusive, but now, I no longer wish to take that chance. My quest for long term employment at an honest, ethical company continues. To all companies whose core values include honesty, integrity, and ethics, I seek to offer the same values to you as an employee.

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