After almost a year of being required to do at least 8 hours of overtime each pay period they suddenly decided they didn't want to pay for over time anymore. They only gave us one weeks notice so no notice. They changed the pay period around too so even more of my regularly scheduled hours are now not considered over time. This is a 15% pay cut right off the top. It's all perfectly legal but incredibly shitty.
I just moved to a more expensive apartment because I thought I could afford it and now I can't. I don't know what to do. I got this job through a friend and I'm not sure what I can find without a degree that pays better.
To add insult to injury when asking around I found out I am the lowest paid employee for that shift by like $3 an hour. Before I had this knowledge I asked for a raise that would bring me up to what everyone else is making and it would account for the loss of wages and the manager said, “I'll see what I can do.” Knowing full well I am the lowest paid employee and the financial stress I was already under.
It's an absolute mind fuck to be paid the most I've ever made before and still be wildly under paid.
We also created a process that quite literally quadruples production of our product in a fraction of the time it took before. We are talking one day instead of 6 weeks to get the same result. We are producing double what we were last year of every other product so there is absolutely no necessity to cutting anyone's hours.
The asshole owner of our lab just decided he wasn't making quite enough and sent my life into an absolute spiral because I don't know how I'm going to pay rent or bills let alone keep my car running right now. I was already living pay check to pay check.
Rich people really are so disconnected from reality and lack the empathy to understand how a 15- 30% decrease in pay will affect others especially right now. The owner fully expects this to go over well.
My only solace is how everyone is banding together to leave. Most of the work falls on one manager and they are absolutely not going to pick up the peices for this decision. All of their equipment is custom and manuals are often written in languages no one knows. When the experienced staff leave no one is going to know how to operate these machines. They already have people hanging up during interviews when they hear about the schedule they will be expected to work and the compensation with only health insurance as a benefit.