Long story short, I am new to Michigan. So that meant new job. I’ve never worked as a wood worker despite having done it as a hobby for a long time. This place claimed they can teach anyone, which is fine! Until you realize it actually means you don’t mean shit there.
Where they went wrong…
This is a small family run business. A husband and wife duo started this biz on Etsy. Making a few custom wood tables and chair sets. 3 years later they blew up online and started to hire workers as 1099 contractors.
On paper- you’re a contractor, free to set your own hours, take the breaks you want, show up and work early or late, stay as much or as long as you want in this shop on their property (which isn’t zoned for a commercial business) with overtime AFTER 90 hours worked. Strike 1.
Strike 2. In winter, to prevent the city from shutting the business down, you have to park at a nearby business and walk to work in the winter/snow because the dead trees show too many cars on their property.
STRIKE 3- In person, the shop owner is breathing down your neck about how you “aren’t committed” because I had to take my 9 months pregnant wife to doctors appointments, sometimes take her 6 year old son to school before going into work… so my showing up late or coming in to work evenings was a show of laziness.
THEN… they asked for volunteers to deliver product to customers. I signed up, trying to show a sense of interest in the company and display some sort of team effort. They asked me to do a “Last minute rush order” to South Dakota. Which, to get there from where I live was a 15 hour drive. They wanted me to leave on a Sunday and return on a Monday. I drove for 32 hours with 5 hours of sleep. GOT PAID $100.
STRIKE 4829375- After all of this, I take that Tuesday to recover from the long (and icy) drive, I was told that we wouldn’t be getting paid at the end of the week until SATURDAY because they were going to be gone for a wedding. There are 26 employees who were informed via Slack about this.
When I messaged the boss and told him that this is unacceptable and I need my pay on time just as he needs his finished products on time, his response was “I see you’ve been slowing down on hours in the shop… should we move you to part time?”
I said “bro, I spent 30 hours in two days driving for your business because you said you had trouble finding drivers. No I don’t want to be part time. But if it’s shop hours you are worried about, I’ll gladly stop driving and focus on time in the shop”. At this point I was done and searching for new jobs.
Fast forward to just shortly after my son is born this year. 6 employees quit in the last 2 months. Some of them were his most trusted and longest standing employees. The treatment of everyone in the shop had us questioning if he (boss) was with his right to question us about hours we put in, his automatic deduction of 30 lunch time whether we actually take a lunch break or not etc.
STRIKE 1,000,000- This dumbass makes everyone use Slack to relay messages relating to work and scheduling and everything else. I’ve been scolded so many times for “being on my phone” at work therefore “stealing his money”.
I explained numerous times that I was communicating with my department manager. And instead of asking the department manager, he demanded to see my phone to “prove it”. I said “the fuck you’re not…” Then I explained that I’m on slack… for work things, which YOU the BOSS instructed us to do… so like what the actual fuck here?
(This part I’m 95% sure of)- several former employees filed an SS8 form with the IRS to determine what their legal status was as an employee or contractor at this place. Before we could even know the outcome, the boss announced everyone was being switched to W2, and a few guys were given “promotions” to managers without a raise or pay or even an offer of the position. It was just sort of placed on them.
I finally found a new job close to home. I can walk there and it’s a small 3 man operation. I can be closer to my family also.