Really need job related advice for dh

[Kissy]

So everyone knows I posted about dh's job (in the post asking for votes for his home business) and that he is working 2 jobs right now. Well the one he works for someone else the company is awful. They change the schedule on a whim.

 

When hired they told him the job would go permanent in February then when that time came they did a hiring freeze. Then they said he would be hired on June 4 but at a pay decrease from temp. :glare: Then it was oh we didn't get the paperwork in and it will be June 18 now two days later (after filling out the paperwork) they came to him and said since you are still looking for jobs we are going to leave you temp and when we find someone for permanent you will lose your job. This is so wrong he has been temp there for a year waiting to go permanent. He had filled out all the paperwork and they knew decreasing his hourly wage would mean he would have to keep looking for another job (he has been looking for a year) because we can't make ends meet.

 

In addition to all this they sent him an email saying even though his boss told him Monday (after he said he needed a break hasn't had a day off in a long time now) she said well you don't have to work this weekend. Then he got an email yesterday evening saying he has to work an extra 32 hours this weekend...yes pretty much a weeks worth of work extra on the weekend. 8 hours friday night 12 saturday and 12 Sunday in addition to the 40 hours he will have already put in and after his 12 Sunday night he is supposed to be there all day Monday....I feel like they are trying to kill him. They know he works a side business and I wonder if they are trying to make it hard for him to work it.

 

So anyway, we are too scared for him to just work his business but considering all this should he quit or wait to be fired? :confused:

[elfgivas]

the deal dh and i have is that we are a team and have to house and feed our family and ourselves. so that means someone must be employed at the necessary level all of the time.

 

what that means is that if one of us is going to quit, we need to coordinate with one another so that everything is covered.

 

in your situation, that would mean figuring out how much you need each month, and whether it can come from the home business alone or whether one of you needs outside employment. if one of you does, then who and what need to be in place before he quits or gets fired.

 

a few random thoughts.

a) we don't actually know anyone who is working in the usa who doesn't work way more than 40 hours a week... dh works ~80 a week, week in and week out. it changes on a dime. and he is a permanent employee. the canadians we know have a much more sane life.

 

b) once you have another option in place, he could talk to his boss and ask about the scheduling. eg. what is the take-away message for me? should i be understanding that ya'll are trying to kill me, or that we have more work than the current staff can handle or ???? the take away message i want you to have is that i would love to work here as a permanent employee full time. but.... i have a wife and children, so as a responsible adult i have to keep looking for a permanent position until i have one. what that means is that as soon as i go permanent here i will stop looking. (but only if that is true).

 

c) what are the labor laws in your state?

 

good luck! it sounds to me as if he'd be better off with another job....

ann

[Kissy]

Answering some of your stuff. Thank you Ann!

a) we don't actually know anyone who is working in the usa who doesn't work way more than 40 hours a week... dh works ~80 a week, week in and week out. it changes on a dime. and he is a permanent employee. the canadians we know have a much more sane life.

 

I understand this. Originally when hired he was told that he would be working 12 hour shifts and would be 36 one week and 48 the next. That was a good thing but literally now everything changes regularly just whenever. Nothing can ever be planned because he doesn't know when he is working at any given time. One day they changed the schedule 3 times in a day. They will say this is the last time every time. It is crazy. I hope your dh works his 80 at least knowing about when or has something set about it maybe one day he is on call or something.

 

b) once you have another option in place, he could talk to his boss and ask about the scheduling. eg. what is the take-away message for me? should i be understanding that ya'll are trying to kill me, or that we have more work than the current staff can handle or ???? the take away message i want you to have is that i would love to work here as a permanent employee full time. but.... i have a wife and children, so as a responsible adult i have to keep looking for a permanent position until i have one. what that means is that as soon as i go permanent here i will stop looking. (but only if that is true).

 

He would have stopped looking if they wouldn't have cut his pay.

 

c) what are the labor laws in your state?

I am not sure I know we are a work at will state but I am not sure if there is anything about all this. I do know that I have never heard of a company being like this. Granted I am only 30 but I have had a few jobs. I am actively looking for one in youth or children's ministry right now so he can quit. You have given me a lot to think about and I appreciate that. Just a hard awful day here. He is supposed to start a deck this weekend.

[Harriet Vane]

This is not a good place for your dh. He needs to get out. His managers sound like power-hungry, boundary-less idiots. I say keep the income while it is needed but work to get out of there asap.

 

If the job interferes too much with his side business over the next two months, then just get out.

[JumpyTheFrog]

There are many companies out there that take advantage of temps and interns with hints or promises of future jobs that never materialize. My advice to anyone temping or interning would be to assume you will never get a permanent job at that company. Assume they are stringing you along, and decide whether the pay and experience is worth it.

 

In your DH's case, the bosses have shown they can't be trusted in any way. If his schedule was consistent, I would suggest to stay while job hunting. But these people are making his life miserable, and I don't know why. Do they toy with everyone's schedule this way? Or is he being singled out? Is there some reason they might be trying to make him quit so they don't have to fire him? I don't think he's eligible for unemployment, but maybe there is some financial incentive for them to get him to quit vs firing him. (I'm not suggesting he's a bad employee, but that the company is scheming for some reason.)

[Reflections]

There are many companies out there that take advantage of temps and interns with hints or promises of future jobs that never materialize. My advice to anyone temping or interning would be to assume you will never get a permanent job at that company. Assume they are stringing you along, and decide whether the pay and experience is worth it.

 

In your DH's case, the bosses have shown they can't be trusted in any way. If his schedule was consistent, I would suggest to stay while job hunting. But these people are making his life miserable, and I don't know why. Do they toy with everyone's schedule this way? Or is he being singled out? Is there some reason they might be trying to make him quit so they don't have to fire him? I don't think he's eligible for unemployment, but maybe there is some financial incentive for them to get him to quit vs firing him. (I'm not suggesting he's a bad employee, but that the company is scheming for some reason.)[/QUOTE]

 

:iagree: This.

[Kissy]

There are many companies out there that take advantage of temps and interns with hints or promises of future jobs that never materialize. My advice to anyone temping or interning would be to assume you will never get a permanent job at that company. Assume they are stringing you along, and decide whether the pay and experience is worth it.

 

In your DH's case, the bosses have shown they can't be trusted in any way. If his schedule was consistent, I would suggest to stay while job hunting. But these people are making his life miserable, and I don't know why. Do they toy with everyone's schedule this way? Or is he being singled out? Is there some reason they might be trying to make him quit so they don't have to fire him? I don't think he's eligible for unemployment, but maybe there is some financial incentive for them to get him to quit vs firing him. (I'm not suggesting he's a bad employee, but that the company is scheming for some reason.)

 

All the employees are getting a dose of this but it does seem to fall on him a little more. I have wondered about them trying to get him to quit. I don't know what incentive might be there if he does. He is going to try to go talk to the temp agency to see what they think about all this. This company has broken everything they have said to him.

[LazyDazy]

I said just keep working and looking for a job. This was assuming that you could not afford to live off what your dh is making at his side business. If you can make it on what he makes on the side then by all means he should quit.

 

FWIW, my dh works all the time - 70 to 80 hrs every week, 7 days a week, for months at a time. He works 2nd shift but is called in early several times a month and is required to work late several times a week (with no notice). He works holidays. Sometimes he has to be back to work only 6 hours after he left work. For an employee it stinks but, in his industry it can't be helped (much). This is to say that his company is not trying to yank his chain and make his life difficult. They have rigorous standards to meet and have to do everything and anything to meet them. On top of that it's a large company so even when one plan is put into effect it could be overturned by the higher ups at any point (and often is).

 

From the company's standpoint it would be a bad business decision to hire a temp they know is looking to work somewhere else, because using a temp doesn't cost the company nearly what hiring a permanent employee costs. If they know he isn't likely to stay on long he is not a good risk for them. The company may not be trying to make his life difficult. Rarely does a large company take in to consideration what their employees are trying to do on the side when making their schedules. I wouldn't take it has a personal issue. It's just business to them.

 

Sounds like your dh needs to decide if he wants to be an employee or risk it all and go out on his own. I can see how doing both would be extremely difficult. Good luck to you!

[Audrey]

I can tell you right now that they ARE trying to make it difficult for him. I would not bend over and just take that, and your dh shouldn't either. Quit, tighten your purse strings and devote every possible energy into getting that business flying. Without the stress and distraction of the other job, your dh should be able to make serious headway into getting it off the ground and soaring in less time than you think.

[Susan C.]

If he is a temp. he can say no, correct? It seems a temp. can be unavailable. He is getting paid for all of this time, correct?

 

My dh worked at cut pay for several years. He had to get a side business going for us to eat. He had to keep the job so we could have insurance. He worked all the time doing the day job and the side work.

 

We wouldn't be planning a deck during that, because when he didn't work, he had many other things that needing catching up (yard work mostly and maintenance stuff). I have a house that still has builder white after 8 years! No time to paint it!

 

He ended up losing the permanent job, but luckily he had the side business going long enough that he has enough work to support us. He hung on literally until the business closed. He is still crazy busy and works all the time (at home) but you have to take work when it comes because you don't know if you will have any next month.

 

Don't hurt yourself financially, or try to scheme a conspiracy where there might not be one. At minimum, the business he works at needs work done and needs someone to do it. If he physically can, and if he gets paid for the extra hours, then it might be good to stash the extra money.

[TranquilMind]

So everyone knows I posted about dh's job (in the post asking for votes for his home business) and that he is working 2 jobs right now. Well the one he works for someone else the company is awful. They change the schedule on a whim.

 

When hired they told him the job would go permanent in February then when that time came they did a hiring freeze. Then they said he would be hired on June 4 but at a pay decrease from temp. :glare: Then it was oh we didn't get the paperwork in and it will be June 18 now two days later (after filling out the paperwork) they came to him and said since you are still looking for jobs we are going to leave you temp and when we find someone for permanent you will lose your job. This is so wrong he has been temp there for a year waiting to go permanent. He had filled out all the paperwork and they knew decreasing his hourly wage would mean he would have to keep looking for another job (he has been looking for a year) because we can't make ends meet.

 

In addition to all this they sent him an email saying even though his boss told him Monday (after he said he needed a break hasn't had a day off in a long time now) she said well you don't have to work this weekend. Then he got an email yesterday evening saying he has to work an extra 32 hours this weekend...yes pretty much a weeks worth of work extra on the weekend. 8 hours friday night 12 saturday and 12 Sunday in addition to the 40 hours he will have already put in and after his 12 Sunday night he is supposed to be there all day Monday....I feel like they are trying to kill him. They know he works a side business and I wonder if they are trying to make it hard for him to work it.

 

So anyway, we are too scared for him to just work his business but considering all this should he quit or wait to be fired? :confused:

 

To be blunt, and from experience, I'd say the writing is on the wall: he is on his way out. Hopefully, he can make this on his terms instead of theirs. Praying he finds another job, pronto!

 

He should increase the intensity of his search. It will likely not get better at this company, which clearly does not respect its employees.

[Slartibartfast]

If he is through a temp service they likely don't want to pay the fee to permanently hire someone.

 

I would keep looking for work.

[Kissy]

 

My dh worked at cut pay for several years. He had to get a side business going for us to eat. He had to keep the job so we could have insurance. He worked all the time doing the day job and the side work.

 

We wouldn't be planning a deck during that, because when he didn't work, he had many other things that needing catching up (yard work mostly and maintenance stuff). I have a house that still has builder white after 8 years! No time to paint it!

 

He ended up losing the permanent job, but luckily he had the side business going long enough that he has enough work to support us. He hung on literally until the business closed. He is still crazy busy and works all the time (at home) but you have to take work when it comes because you don't know if you will have any next month.

 

Don't hurt yourself financially, or try to scheme a conspiracy where there might not be one. At minimum, the business he works at needs work done and needs someone to do it. If he physically can, and if he gets paid for the extra hours, then it might be good to stash the extra money.

 

What does your dh do? It sounds like you guys have lived my life right now..LOL That describes where we are except I have found out we can get private insurance for about $400 a month if he were to get unemployed. His side business is a handyman business for cars, yards, and homes and he has projects lined up but we are scared of the winter months when sometimes people stop doing repairs or projects and we don't know what that will be like in our area.

 

He will work the hours he can but because they told him he would be off he is supposed to start building a deck for a customer and that pays a good deal. She is also on a deadline so I am afraid they will schedule him so much he won't be able to get it done plus if he works what she said then he will have to work 20 hours straight Sunday to Monday overnight and through the day.

 

I don't know if he can say no or be unavailable. He has never done that.

[Susan C.]

What does your dh do? It sounds like you guys have lived my life right now..LOL That describes where we are except I have found out we can get private insurance for about $400 a month if he were to get unemployed. His side business is a handyman business for cars, yards, and homes and he has projects lined up but we are scared of the winter months when sometimes people stop doing repairs or projects and we don't know what that will be like in our area.

 

He will work the hours he can but because they told him he would be off he is supposed to start building a deck for a customer and that pays a good deal. She is also on a deadline so I am afraid they will schedule him so much he won't be able to get it done plus if he works what she said then he will have to work 20 hours straight Sunday to Monday overnight and through the day.

 

I don't know if he can say no or be unavailable. He has never done that.

 

We were able to get insurance when we could say that we couldn't get it through his work, so now we have our own. Handy man would scare me because it is seasonal. My dh does computer graphics.

 

Its scary to change your availability. (That is why dh does all work that comes his way). If someone is found to replace you when you aren't available, they might be a replacement. But it does sound like they are one person down needing 80+ hours a week and 20 hours working straight. No one would want that job!

[Kissy]

We were able to get insurance when we could say that we couldn't get it through his work, so now we have our own. Handy man would scare me because it is seasonal. My dh does computer graphics.

 

Its scary to change your availability. (That is why dh does all work that comes his way). If someone is found to replace you when you aren't available, they might be a replacement. But it does sound like they are one person down needing 80+ hours a week and 20 hours working straight. No one would want that job!

 

I know they told him that they couldn't get anyone to stay there before. He works as a chemist for a plant and they pay lower too because they know it is hard right now to find a job. There was an analysis of the plant and they higher ups were told they needed to hire 6 more people to work in the lab because of the workload and the coverage level. They haven't hired anyone. Everywhere else he has worked there is a forecasting system that is generally right and sometimes you have to work over but it doesn't change daily or even weekly but this company doesn't seem to have any idea about its production schedule. He is slammed and so are all the other chemists.

[Susan C.]

So he is a chemist? It seems he could have the pick of several jobs. That is a pretty specialized and difficult field. "Everywhere else he has worked" is that local and has he contacted them? What do the other chemists say? "can't get anyone to stay there" is a description of a not-so-good place to work. Is he there through a temp agency? If so, the place of employment may not want to pay the fee to hire him. Also, check if you have to break with the agency to get other employment, other places of employment may think they need to pay a fee also.

 

Just saw your other thread, I voted! I hope this works out for you!

Edited June 21, 2012 by Susan C.

[Kissy]

So he is a chemist? It seems he could have the pick of several jobs. That is a pretty specialized and difficult field. "Everywhere else he has worked" is that local and has he contacted them? What do the other chemists say? "can't get anyone to stay there" is a description of a not-so-good place to work. Is he there through a temp agency? If so, the place of employment may not want to pay the fee to hire him. Also, check if you have to break with the agency to get other employment, other places of employment may think they need to pay a fee also.

 

Just saw your other thread, I voted! I hope this works out for you!

 

Thank you! It is hard field for chemists in our area right now because there are so many here. We can't really move either. He is in the situation where those that want you to move want a Masters or Doctorate and we own our house so we couldn't move unless we had some relocation assistance. He just keeps applying for other places and hoping someone will see the value since he has 8 years experience. If he had about 15 with his bachelors he would have more options. I think the chemist field is becoming general grunt work at least the lower level. On the upside he is getting his MBA 4 more classes. He took the summer off because of all this schedule stuff and his business picking up. I hope he gets the grant and can just work his business and tell them to shove it. LOL

[besroma]

Thank you! It is hard field for chemists in our area right now because there are so many here. We can't really move either. He is in the situation where those that want you to move want a Masters or Doctorate and we own our house so we couldn't move unless we had some relocation assistance. He just keeps applying for other places and hoping someone will see the value since he has 8 years experience. If he had about 15 with his bachelors he would have more options. I think the chemist field is becoming general grunt work at least the lower level. On the upside he is getting his MBA 4 more classes. He took the summer off because of all this schedule stuff and his business picking up. I hope he gets the grant and can just work his business and tell them to shove it. LOL

 

I hope he gets the grant, also. How wonderful to be so close to getting his MBA.

 

Sorry things are so rough right now. :grouphug:

[Susan C.]

Thank you! It is hard field for chemists in our area right now because there are so many here. We can't really move either. He is in the situation where those that want you to move want a Masters or Doctorate and we own our house so we couldn't move unless we had some relocation assistance. He just keeps applying for other places and hoping someone will see the value since he has 8 years experience. If he had about 15 with his bachelors he would have more options. I think the chemist field is becoming general grunt work at least the lower level. On the upside he is getting his MBA 4 more classes. He took the summer off because of all this schedule stuff and his business picking up. I hope he gets the grant and can just work his business and tell them to shove it. LOL

 

The thing that has saved us on several occasions is that dh can do his work at home. So when he is out of work, he can increase business at home. Can your dh do the chemist jobs as a contract laborer so he can work at home and then supplement with chemist jobs?

[Little Nyssa]

Just an additional thought to all the above... I've known several women who spent a lot of time fuming over their husbands' bosses. Being mad on their husband's behalf. Of course it's justified, but don't let it consume you like I have seen happen. Don't let your own peace be disturbed, because you need to be strong & keep home the calm place. :grouphug: Hope it is all settled soon, and well.

[Kissy]

The thing that has saved us on several occasions is that dh can do his work at home. So when he is out of work, he can increase business at home. Can your dh do the chemist jobs as a contract laborer so he can work at home and then supplement with chemist jobs?

 

Unfortunately he can't. He wouldn't have anywhere to store all the nasty chemicals and keep them temp controlled or do away with hazardous waste. He started his Yes Dear business because it is something he can do at home and when jobs go crazy that is what he does anyway. He does contractor type stuff, landscaping, and mechanic work. He has a business plan that if works that business could eventually be national. Until we are stuck.

[Kissy]

Just an additional thought to all the above... I've known several women who spent a lot of time fuming over their husbands' bosses. Being mad on their husband's behalf. Of course it's justified, but don't let it consume you like I have seen happen. Don't let your own peace be disturbed, because you need to be strong & keep home the calm place. :grouphug: Hope it is all settled soon, and well.

 

Thank you for this. I needed this reminder. He called me last night and they are making him stay an extra week on the crappy shift and no one else will have to stay on it like that and he got the official letter for the job rescind and his boss lied. She said he stated he did not want to work for the company and wanted to get out as fast as he can. He didn't tell her that. He did tell her he was looking for a better job with a schedule of some sort and a minimum hours a week. After two weeks of this crappy schedule and both weeks will be 80 hours each they are going to shut down midweek to midweek so everyone gets 16 hours each week in July. They are truly testing my patience and taking away my calm we can't eat off 16 hours a week. I will squirrel away some of the overtime but we have back bills we need to pay because of this sort of sporadic paychecks. I am going to try when he is sleeping to take a few minutes and ground myself today so I can be more calm and make our home our place of peace for as long as we have it.:)

[Kissy]

Just an update today I was going to try to set aside a time to try to ground myself but my husband got an official letter to rescind the offer of employment stating he told his supervisor something he didn't say. Now he wants to tell him he didn't say that but isn't sure the proper channel of how to do it without them just letting him go. he does want to keep applying for a job that is closer to what he was last making this job is a $15,000 paycut so it hurts to take it but in this economy it would hurt more not to have anything. He wants them to understand it isn't that he doesn't want to work for the company (which is what his boss told HR) but it is that he wants to get the pay he used to so we can keep our house and he would like a schedule that was at least somewhere around 40 hours a week and where there were enough workers so that when they did have overtime it was killing them. He stays slammed and they don't do lunch or anything it is go go go the whole time because they are grossly understaffed because no one will stay because they treat their people like crap.

 

So anyway, now instead of relaxing some today I am a nervous wreck and so worried about what this is going to do to our family. If you pray please pray about this. I really don't know what else to do. I feel like I have been tested and this is the breaking point. If you are not a prayer think good thoughts for us or whatever you do we need everything we can get. I can't tell him how worried I am because I can't dump this on him too. :crying:

[besroma]

I'm so sorry. What a tough day.

 

I will pray for you and your DH. :grouphug:

[Soror]

How did it go?

[Kissy]

Since it was a night and it is the start of weekend he didn't get to speak to anyone. He wants to speak to a labor lawyer to make sure he can assert himself in a politically correct way. He is afraid to say no or fight back because he has been fired before for trying to speak back. He is not a person who is good with words or at articulating himself. He is awkward and comes across as not tactful and way too blunt. He isn't really that way but he just doesn't understand communication so well. So now we wait. We would try to build his business up but with 20 hours one week and then 80 the next it is too hard to schedule too much so we have to very slow with it.

[Iucounu]

If your husband was extended an offer of employment that he wanted to take, he shoud have taken it before it was rescinded. I don't think it's going to help to try to correct the record; the offer's off the table.

 

One thing your husband could try is grabbing his cojones, going in there and telling them that he knows he's valuable to them or they wouldn't have kept him there this long, but that of course he has to keep looking for a job until they have actually hired him on. Part of the issue here is that he has weakly sat there and taken it as they suggest that it's his fault he hasn't been hired on. In your husband's place, I'd essentially tell them to sh** or get off the pot, while projecting that I knew my own worth and could go elsewhere. I'd repeat that I'd shown lots of patience with their endless shift changes in good faith, but that if there's not a job, I have to look elsewhere. You're always better off dealing from a position of strength.

 

In the meantime I'd go ahead and work on the deck. He can make any number of excuses, but when the demands of the employer that will likely not hire him on permanently (and will likey fire him) interfere with his attempts to secure other employment, something has to give.

 

It's time for your husband to push back appropriately. It's not time for him to simply quit, since that would worsen your financial situation in the short term.

 

A side question: Are you sure he's getting paid for all this overtime that he's asked to work? I mean, are you directly in shared control of the finances and can see what he's getting paid, and can see the extra income from all the overtime at night, on the weekends etc.?

[Kissy]

I do see his checks so yes he is getting paid for his overtime. The payment comes from the temp agency so I am sure that helps.

 

He is trying to work on the deck luckily the inspection did not go through so he is not expected to start on it this weekend.

[~Tara~]

Ugh. I so feel for you.

 

This is pretty much where we were when my husband just dove into his own business. Sink or swim. He couldn't truly build his business while trying to maintain a substantial job and meet all its demands.

 

So, by faith, he devoted all his time and energy to the business, leaving the 'sure thing' job behind.

 

We are now a year into this decision and he has had more work than he knows what to do with. A struggle at first because he wasn't yet successful enough to hire help, so he had to do it all himself, spreading himself very thin. But we got through that and now have trustworthy, solid help and the Lord has continued to provide enough work to keep them all quite busy.

 

I'll pray He does the same for you.

 

I think it may well be time to give this business everything. Take that leap of faith. :) *hugs*