For reference, “I know someone who” is my standard opener for a maybe-too-personal story.
Anyway, this person has a masters degree, related post-graduate internship, professionally licensed since 2008, and a qualified trainer for students/interns in the field since 2015(?).
The agency, like any non-profit non-governmental social services agency, typically has high turnover, and routinely requires their program managers/supervisors to do 2.5 people's jobs, on salary basis.
This person has been hourly since starting with the company almost 10 years ago, unless bumped to just-above exempt when the minimum salary in FL was just over 48k. They were moved back to hourly after a sort-of-perfunctory demotion (conflict between agency and referral bosses not related to the employee, just was used as an excuse). They then worked part time during COVID, then moved back to full time, but also was working one Saturday a month for overtime, which had an annual salary with the overtime barely breaking $45k. But, because I meet the technical specs of “professional” therefore exempt, they dropped the overtime. For reference, there are jobs in the same county, in same industry, that are hiring manager trainees at 45k without overtime. Hence the advice to ask for a raise or find another job.
Now, this is the tricky bit. This person is quite loyal, to a fault (worked at Burger King 4 years, only recently started going to McDonalds without feeling disloyal) and has been at the agency longer than almost everybody. (One other has been the same time, but his work leaves A LOT to be desired). The other thing is, thos person's work quantity/timeliness has always been problematic, had gotten fired for not keeping up with paperwork from the last job, and is grateful to have a job at all. There have been plenty of opportunities for the agency to fire her, and she is afraid that if she makes an ultimatum, they will use the fire-able offenses against her.
Is this just fear masking as loyalty, or should she send the email that's been sitting in her outbox for a month?