I work for a small, independent auto repair shop in southeast Michigan (US). There are about 6 technicians total, not a big place. I'm one of four or so junior techs, but there are only two senior techs, who are the ones who bring in the big dollars. So the shop really depends on these two guys.
The other day, the shop was hosting one of its regular events, where one of the senior techs does a demonstration repair project in front of a big crowd. (If you think working on cars is stressful, try doing it on a deadline and for an audience.)
These events bring in a ton of business for the shop. The senior tech who was doing the demonstration has worked 60 hours a week for this shop for at least a decade. He's easily the biggest driver of the shop's revenue. Let's call him Joe.
Joe was doing some repair on a vehicle in front of probably fifty people during this shop event. He finishes something in the interior of the car, gets out, and shuts the door. Immediately he feels a horrific shooting pain in his hand, and looks down and sees part of his finger on the ground. Lots of blood, sweet jesus lots of blood, so Joe leaves immediately for the hospital.
They weren't able to reattach it, not enough unbroken material to work with. So he lost a little bit of bone on that finger. Not a good thing to happen to a mechanic. After that, I'd have gone home to mourn the loss of part of my digit, but that's me.
Joe's dedication to work is a little different. After spending three hours getting patched up at the hospital, he comes back and finishes the demonstration, bandaged finger and all. And it's not just not being able to use that finger, it's bandaged up massively, which makes that hand even harder to use. But Joe is a master, so he completes the job.
At the end of the day, Joe goes to turn his timecard in. And the wife of the owner, who does the billing, informs Joe that they will not be paying him for the time he “took off” to go to the hospital. The owner's wife (let's call her Mrs. Potter, after the villain in It's a Wonderful Life) insists that because this was his fault, he doesn't deserve the money.
Mrs. Potter is saying this to her primary revenue source, the guy who works his fingers LITERALLY TO THE BONE to give her the very cushy life she leads. Sadly this isn't surprising. In February of this year Mrs. Potter claimed that the two senior techs are the “makers”, and that everyone else is a “taker”. And this is how she treats the “makers”.
About three of us are ready to quit over this. I've been giving Joe all sorts of resources on workman's comp, etc., but his nature is just to keep his head down and keep at it. What would you do?