Buckle up bitches, this is one of my favourite quitting stories. No I did not flip a table, no I did not tell my boss to stick it; but instead, I beat them at their own illegal game.
My work doesn’t pay overtime or holiday pay (which is highly illegal where I am). When I finally quit, among many many other reasons (most of which was a huge lack of respect despite bending over backwards for the company).
When I finally decided to quit, I was planning on writing a formal letter, signing it and all but of course, I got a last minute custom cake order & only got the reference photo ONE AND A HALF HOURS BEFORE PICK UP (this is like every fucking cake I do, such a garbage system). I fucking had it & sent a text to both my manager (who I actually like) & my GM (general manager) – a 23 year old know it all who doesn’t actually know shit.
No reply ALL DAY (the audacity). Until finally around 2pm, GM came downstairs & brought me into the office. He asked me why I was quitting so I told him everything, every time of disrespect, every awful aspect of their trash order system, every rude & unnecessary comment from the owner. The expectations that the employees are to be essentially broken down into submission as if it’s nazi Germany (yes I said this word for word).
Among my many complaints (& very valid ones), I said it’s BS we don’t get holiday pay as it’s fucking illegal not to be paid holiday pay. GM asked me if I knew how to calculate holiday pay & while I do in my home province, I don’t actually remember how to do it for this province (regardless, it’s fucking grade 5 level math).
He tells me (in the most condescending tone): “See? You don’t know how to do it and that’s fine, I didn’t know how to it either before & now I know that it’s a complicated process”
After adding that it’s really not complicated at all he says again that it’s “too difficult to do”
Then, he tried to push me out before my last day until I brought up severance pay & all of a sudden “they might actually need my help for the last week”
WELL he picked the wrong math whiz to say this to.
I couldn’t sleep that night, at all. It bothered me so much that he said this to me when in fact, accounting was my second choice for career studies (I truly have a gift for math but I can’t sit still so I chose baking instead).
I went through ALL my pay stubs & my hours & calculated the exact amount owed for each holiday that I was employed there – I even got a pay raise half way through one holiday pay period so I went as far as to calculate what percentage should be at the original pay and what percentage of that pay should be with my pay raise – down to a .00%.
I also added all the calculations for my overtime pay as I (and I made sure to write this as well) did not sign any agreement being okay with not being paid overtime IE ILLEGAL.
So high as fuck & half drunk, at 10pm, I managed to do all the math that was “too difficult to do” (for the crap ass excuse for accountants they have).
I sent it all (math & everything) by email & said “I took the initiative to calculate the missing holiday pay, since its, as you said, too difficult to do.
I’ve included overtime pay as I did not sign any agreement stating I would be okay with no receiving it – texting this to you as I prefer to have things in writing
Have a good evening!”
GM basically ghosted me for 2 days. My manager said that he got the email, he asked if he was going to pay me & GM said “well I have to, legally I’m obligated”
BUT that wasn’t enough for me, I just had to ask him myself; so when I saw him that day this was our convo:
Me: ‘I assume you got my email?’
GM: ‘yea I did’
….
Me: “and?”
GM: “and what?”
Me: “well are you going to pay it?”
GM (in a bitchy attitude): “yea obviously”
Hahahahahaha mother fucker I WIN!!
I know my labour laws asshole. Don’t fuck with me.
TLDR; general manager told me that holiday pay is “too difficult” to calculate so they don’t pay overtime or holiday pay (which is illegal). So I took the initiative to do all the calculations myself & now he said he’s legally obligated to pay me. I know my labour laws asshole.