Hi All,
I've been trying to find resources to help a loved one who is by contract salary. He's been tied to this contract for many years and though he works in the states-the contract is tied to another country (China). Everything helpful that I can find on the internet is based on people who are not salary and admin/necessary for operations. -but his problem is that he is high up in management and seems to fall outside of the protection normally given to employees due to his salary/contract.
This person is treated very badly by his job–how badly? A double and triple shift is the norm for him. -Because other people in management are on a different (newer) contract than he is bound to and he not only has to do his job, but other's jobs too. If someone in management (also salary-but different contract) doesn't want to work a weekend or a shift etc–it falls to him. (and this is a regular thing) The place he works is unionized -although being management-he is not. He's long been to the point where even a “day off” or vacation time-means–“take your work home and do it” rather than day off. So there is never a TRUE day off without him getting called to do work, or come back to work.
He's screamed at, has been actually told outright that he is owned, and has even been told when he leaves work to “go straight home-do not stop anywhere” because they expect him to be “on call” all the time. Regular sleep hasn't even happened for him for a very long time-because he's not “allowed” to leave work until his job is done. He can't even get a solid night's sleep because he's been living this way for so long-it's the way he lives (he's literally at a job that he will never be done-and has been told he can be fired if he leaves because “it's in his contract that he can't go till the work is done) Many, many times, he has 2-3 hours to go home and shower and then come straight back to work.
There's so much I can add to this post about how badly he is treated, that is surreal that anyone lives like this in this day and age-it's about as close to a sweat shop atmosphere for him as I can imagine -as no breaks are authorized-and even eating is not authorized at his job–apparently salary is a whole different animal when it comes to “rights”
It might seem an easy answer for him to quit/find another job-but he's in his late 50's and has concerns about starting over at his age. Sometimes the devil that you do know feels safer than the devil that you don't, I guess…It's a shame, because he's been in his field for so long-I have a hard time thinking he couldn't get hired somewhere else, even with his age, but it's not my decision to make.
My concern is that this company is working him to death-and he's so afraid to not have a job, that he takes whatever treatment he is given. That being said-I'd love to see him go to some sort of employment lawyer about this contract-but I doubt it will happen, as he hasn't even been able to take time off to go to a doctor for a very long time without penalty from his employer.
Does anyone know of an agency that he could contact for help/understanding of his situation better?-or if there really and truly is no help available for him other than going to a lawyer about the contract? The only thing I can find is that he can quit–which I don't think he will do….I'm hoping that if he could get validation that what is happening to him is not legal-it might give him the mindset that he's not “owned” by them, as he has come to believe. (because they have told him they do)
I'm very concerned for him healthwise-as the accumulative effects of not getting enough sleep on a regular basis are clear, and the stress is very high—he has so little time to do anything for himself, he's been planning to go to a doctor for well over a year-but each time he has plans he has to fill in for someone on a different contract who is able to take time off for a vacation etc. (He's the only one still on this old contract and is treated differently for it)
I don't have any way to help him, unless I can come across some information somewhere that will show him that he does have some kind of rights-to basic sleep, to being able to go to the doctor, to being to have time to eat…….so if anyone knows resources that I can show to him/have him call–outside of him trying to get the time to go to a lawyer-which is tough since he's not even going to the doctor due to having the time off to do it.
I'm being careful not to identify the place he works so that it doesn't create issues for him. (There was one other person there in his exact situation before and when there was a complaint-he was fired) So that just leaves this one person on this old contract.
This was long-thank you for reading. I wish this wasn't a real situation-but it is. I'm just trying to make sure I'm not missing any helpful outlets for him, as it's tough to see what he is going through and not be able to help in any way. Thanks for reading–