I started a new job after a couple of years of sick leave, undiagnosed ADHD that spiraled out of control. They wanted to give me a shot because I seemed cool and could fit in, this was as a chef at a restaurant but first we had to build the restaurant basically, clean out trash, move in new stuff etc.
It all went quick and I didn't join a union right away and after 3 days the kitchen was ready to use and they called me after I got home instead of talking to me before I left for the day to say I wouldn't cut it, I busted my ass off with heavy lifting, cleaning and they saw me cook fast, efficient and with purpose. I felt used and that they only wanted me to help with the dirty work to get the kitchen ready but I don't know if that was the actual case tbh, I had gotten a work schedule for the next 3 weeks and they told me to not come in the next day, my ex-Father in law told me to take printscreens of my schedule and mail them a demand for money for all hours I was scheduled since they didn't want me to work them, but I was entitled to those hours in salary if it was their initiative to terminate me.
I sent my boss a very formal and polite email about it, wishing them the best and that I hoped they'd find someone more suitable and he called me about 30min after I sent it, my partner was in the room with me and she has also experience with HR, worker laws etc like her father and asked me to put it on speaker so she could hear, so I answered and got chewed out putting all the blame on me, playing on my conscience that this is not how you make friends for the future etc, he was willing to “maybe give me work during the summer if we forgot about this”, essentially meaning I would work for free, my partner made nods or shook her head to steer me in the right direction depending on what he said.
The union could not help me much because I wasn't signed up there yet but they told me to write to them and imply I was a member and hope they wouldn't call my bluff, they didn't and I'm the end I got about 3 weeks salary for 3 days work because of my girlfriend. What I learned from that is that your employer is never on your side, they are ofcoruse on their own business side and we really need to know our rights and the law and to know our own worth and not get taken advantage of and after that I started studying law and got really interested in it and now later specifically about work environment and I want to help people be safe physically and mentally in their workplace.