I’m a 2nd year lawyer who has been working at my current firm for about 6 months now. It’s a very small firm: the head attorney, me, and two legal assistants. That’s it. A large reason why our staff is so small is because my boss is an insufferable, neurotic, incompetent asshole who runs through employees like golf balls at a driving range. He has had 30 support staff come and go over the past 3 years. When I started, there were 3 other support staff here; they have all since quit, making me the longest tenured employee here (other than my boss) at 6 months. I’m admittedly learning a lot and my workload is manageable, so I enjoy the work itself for the most part, but my boss is so shitty it genuinely sucks the life out of all of us to be in the office every day.
I am a salaried employee, M-F 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM with a mandatory 1 hour lunch break in the middle of the day. I’m comfortable, but making well less than similar individuals in my line of work. I recieve no bonuses or incentives.
Apparently my boss was complaining about me to one of the legal assistants (he notoriously talks shit about EVERY SINGLE PERSON IN THE OFFICE behind their backs, every single day, and is either oblivious or doesn’t care about the fact that we tell each other) saying I’m lazy and don’t work hard enough. When the legal assistant asked what he means, he replied “He comes in at 8:30, takes his lunch, and leaves at 5:30, every single day.” My boss has never asked me to stay late, nor is there any structure for overtime pay in place. If he ever legitimately asked me to stay longer or come in on the weekend, I think I would genuinely laugh in his face.
These people are deluded. They think we are privileged to work for them, even when it’s for free. Fight back any little ways you can, and do not succomb to pressure, or guilt-tripping, or the sickening grind culture that has been ingrained in us by society that our bosses are so eager to tap into and exploit us with. Please take care of yourselves. Love you guys.