so I work in a beauty store, was hired for $13/hr around april 2023. in total we usually have 5 employees, including the manager. recently, our manager has gotten tired of how corporate treats us (never praising our numbers, only ever putting us down, enforcing 4 people working weekends when we only need 3 and threatening to add cameras ONLY pointed at the register because according to them we're lazy and never do any work, literally drilling our numbers into us so much they make us cry on virtual check ups in front of every other district???, other things that arent coming to mind too), and she ended up putting her 2 weeks in. we didnt hear anything from our DM until her FINAL DAY. no info on what is going to happen, if we will have a manager, or anything. I forgot to say this earlier but another employee quit before she did, so we're down to 3 employees total. my final 2 coworkers put their 2 weeks in shortly after because our manager was amazing and lovely. after our manager finished her last day, we had no manager, at all.
3 employees, 2 of which have their 2 weeks in, and no manager. in a beauty store where we are EXPECTED to walk customers thru every step of doing nails, every type of nail polish etc, how to bleach/dye your hair, how to do makeup/lashes, know what hair products are good for EVERY hair type, we're expected to know everything about perms, every chemical in the store, professional grade items (such as mannequin heads, the exact dimensions of our towels, everything about razors/clippers/trimmers/shears, shampoo capes, chair covers, etc.), perms, relaxers, etc. we're basically held to a standard of knowing everything about everything in our store, both by corporate and our customers, which just isnt feasible. 3 employees isnt enough to run this store.
on top of this, my 2 coworkers 2 weeks are up on monday. after monday I'm the only person working here. today, we had a temporary manager show up after >a week without a manager, and yesterday they called to ask if I'm staying. I told them I'm on the brink of homelessness working here already, if they want me to stay under these conditions I'll need at LEAST $15 an hour, and even then I'm pretty sure I still wont be able to make do. I work in a state with minimum wage set to $7.25, and most employers here only pay $9-12/hr, I feel lucky to be where I am even now, but I just cant live like this.
the temp manager has asked if they can up my hours (I'm autistic and have explained I cant work >26 hours or I begin having meltdowns more frequently) when my hours are already at 26-30 as is. i told her i cant, and she told my coworker today that shes going to ask to up my hours again.
i guess i dont know what to do? I've demanded a raise, but my previous manager told me our store will be shut down soon, once our lease ends in january/february. I'm also only one person, but the temp manager is trying to hire people asap. i can either quit and fuck them over, or i can wait for them to pay me $15, and deal with the extra hours. i really like this place, but corporate sucks, and my coworkers rlly made me love it here, but they're gone.
also forgot to mention, my previous manager had to FIGHT for our full time employee to be paid $14. our company doesnt give raises to anyone but managers.