HR Professional here. I had completely left an HR Specialist position at a non-profit company after realizing that employee advocacy was not what they actually wanted; what they did want was someone who would saber rattle for them when they wanted unfair policy applied. It made me sick. It made no sense in an industry with such a high turnover rate. Having to try and justify punitive actions against employees being paid minimum wage who couldn't afford car repairs or afford childcare began to wear on me. Having started as a line staff just like these employees, I cringed every time a manager came to be ready to bitch about their staff for something that was run-of-the-mill and wanting them to pay a price for life events.
I went rounds with the management, I pushed back on every unjust termination or disciplinary action, stressing retraining and intermittent agreements everywhere. It meant that managers had to actually take the time to give situations the respect they deserve. I was not well liked, but I was respected and the employees and management often came to me for counsel.
I had frequent clashes toward the end with my own supervisor, who had a habit of making racist and sexist, even discriminatory observations and glossing it over with “I'm just sayin'”. After confronting her on this, and other high-ups on similar behavior regarding biases, I was targeted. She began to write me up for any little thing, including things that fell under ADA protections. It was very stressful, the culture was toxic, and once I realized that they would do nothing to change anything about the culture, I quit. That was January 2020.
Fast forward to now. After a stint back in school, I went back into a very different position at another nonprofit. It was very different; they pay was not great, but management was incredibly supportive, benefits were also incredible, and there was no chance of ever having to take any work home or having anyone call you during off hours. There was also discussion of succession plans, so that felt very promising!
After a few weeks, I was contacted by an acquaintance from my old agency who was now working as a director for a company started by another mutual acquaintance. Said acquaintance was begging me to come on, citing horrible amounts of overtime and an inept HR professional they currently had who couldn't recruit fast enough. I named my price. We had some meetings. Hands were shook. I put in my notice.
They immediately began shenanigans; they low-balled my pay, saying they wanted to wait until my 3 month review before giving me the full amount agreed upon. I begrudgingly agreed, due to having already left my previous employment. I met the current HR person there, and it was very clear after about a week that I had been lied to. This person was a consummate professional, knew every bit as much about HR processes as I did. I looked at her recruitment process, which while slightly different than mine, was very up to par. Upon inspecting everything and being presented with a historical review of emails, it was very clear that this director had been sabotaging this professional out of personal rancor. It was also very clear that I was brought in as a means of intimidation, in hopes that she would quit. This enraged me.
After around 4 months of fighting the good fight, witnessing the manipulation, learning that the director had hired all of their children into the company along with several of their acquaintances who acted as little spies, witnessing several violations of employment law, and having to essentially force the owner to honor their initial agreement for my pay rate. I also put together a report of all of the violations committed by this director to the owners, but they declined to act on it. The report included documented intimidation tactics, sexual harassment, and breach of confidentiality on several occasions. After this lack of action from the owners, my HR partner decided to quit. They were exhibiting signs of PTSD and severe stress when they left; it was horrible.
Over the past few weeks, I've continued to make attempts at being effective in recruitment and retention, to no avail. The director and their family make it impossible, as their attitudes drive people out the door faster than they can be hired. Often times, within a week of hire. They've continued to circumvent my professional processes and pretty much hire unvetted people on the spot, not even bothering with references or turning in all required documentations or trainings before 'throwing them to the wolves'. After a final plea with the owner, clarifying that what this manager does clearly violates several labor laws and training standards for our industry, the owner has made it clear that they will take no action. I suspect that there's unseen leverage.
For the last few months, me and my former HR partner kept in contact. We've discussed the generally toxic atmospheres of these types of agencies, and a desire to change it. During one of our discussions about a month ago, I snapped. I said it's time we started our own agency, a non-profit dedicated to advocating for the employees as a central part of our broader mission. Competent training. Supportive policies. Better wages. Clearer benefits with shorter waiting periods. Respect for their rights in the workplace. Fair schedules. Bonus payouts. Generous accruals. An effective employee assistance program. As of today, I've sent off our registration with the state to be licensed as a nonprofit. Our policy books are written. We've recruited our board of advisors.
I've had enough. I only wanted fair treatment for myself and others. Other companies want to maintain the status quo by grinding workers into dust. No. Not anymore. I'm here to eat your fucking lunch now. I hope there are more like me and those my partner and I are bringing along in our new endeavor; those ready to push back and fight the system. Rip it to shreds so that we can be our best selves at work and have room for a real life. They wanted to fuck around, we're here so they find out. I love you muthafuckas; stay gold.