Yeah, just as the title says, I don't understand bad bosses that don't treat employees fairly or pay them what they deserve.
TL;DR This is my story comparing a bad boss that lost all of my loyalty, to my new place of employment that I love. If you hate your place of employment, I encourage you to leave. Something better is out there, even if you don't believe it.
I'm a veterinary nurse, an occupation that's notorious for hard work for little money. It's a high stress job, and not just playing with kittens and puppies all day as some would believe. Unfortunately toxic work environments and burn-out are very common.
I started at one veterinary clinic and stayed there for a short while, but ultimately ended up leaving due to said toxic work environment. The next clinic I went to had great coworkers, but the practice owner was terrible. Our work was never good enough for the owner. They were a clean freak and germaphobe to the max. How this person also ended up being a veterinarian is beyond my comprehension. We would spend hours cleaning the clinic every day, but they always found fault in our work. If they found even one dog nail on the floor, obviously that meant we didn't vacuum! I tried so hard to please them but nothing was ever good enough. I became unmotivated and often thought to myself “why even try?” Something my coworkers often voiced as well.
The practice owner was also a huge micromanager and had a huge temper. It wasn't unusual for all of us to get screamed at at least once daily for something stupid like forgetting to windex the bathroom mirror. I stayed for 2 reasons, 1) word on the street was everywhere else was just as bad and 2) at least my coworkers were amazing. I can deal with a bad boss as long as my coworkers make the work environment enjoyable.
My place of employment was a revolving door with most employees lasting an average of a year. I was the first employee to last more than 3 years. The boss didn't believe in annual raises. They said if we wanted a raise we had to approach them and discuss why we deserved it. Every time I asked for a raise, I was only ever given like 20cents if I was given one at all.
Meanwhile the boss would go on 3-4 luxurious vacations a year (5 star hotel, room service, flying first class, etc) and was constantly spending large amounts of money. At one point the boss completely remodeled their entire home including adding an in-ground, heated pool. They liked to frequently tell us lowly peasants how much the remodeling cost, and trust me it wasn’t cheap. My boss could afford all that, but if I wanted a 20cent raise I practically had to write a 5 page essay with a powerpoint presentation.
Eventually things took a turn for the worse and I decided I had to get out. I'll save you the drama, but the straw that broke the camels back was when I was asked to come in on my day off, I said I was unavailable, and I was told I would have to present a doctor's note for not coming in. A lot of other stuff happened leading up to it as well, but I'll just leave it at that. I immediately started looking for work elsewhere. I immediately started getting offers for interviews, so many that I had difficulty scheduling them and had to be strategic in my scheduling.
I ended up accepting an offer that offered me a good amount more than what I was currently making, but honestly the pay increase is just a bonus. The work environment is the opposite of toxic work environment. We have a healthy work life balance. If I tell my manager I'm sick and can't come into work, or if I'm at work and tell them I don't feel well and need to go home early, then the answer is 'sure, take all the time you need to recover.' If I want to take an extra day off for like a trip or something, as long as I give them enough advanced notice, then they will make it happen. They have monthly profit sharing where if we make a good amount of extra profit, ALL employees get a bonus. If any of my fellow coworkers have to unexpectedly take a day off because their children's daycare is closed, it's accepted without consequences.
Annual reviews with pay raises approached and I wasn't expecting much. I had only just started 6 months ago, and I had already been hired at a good amount more than what I was previously making. And I thought that amount was because they knew I had other interviews and were offering a competitive rate. I would have been ecstatic to receive 50cents. Remember I previously came from a place that made me jump through hoops and do monkey dances just to get 20cents. Well during my annual review, it was basically just 20 minutes of the office manager telling me what a great job I was doing, citing quotes from doctors and other nurses of how they enjoyed working with me, and examples of things I was excelling at. Then the office manager tells me I'm getting a $2 raise. I was floored, I nearly started crying. That $2 told me that the amount offered at hire wasn't just to compete with other offers, but that I was actually worth it. I hadn't even realized until that moment that part of me felt guilt for the original salary offer because I thought I wasn't worth it. After all, my previous employer would never pay me such wages. That $2 pay increase told me I was wrong, I am worth it. My previous place of employment had damaged my self-worth and I didn't even realize it.
I love my new place of employment. I feel so appreciated, not just because of the pay, but also my employers actions and words. It motivates me to want to work harder, because I know my hard work is being noticed and appreciated.
Fuck my ex-boss. They can continue to wonder why they can't keep employees for more than a year and complain when people leave that nobody is loyal anymore. My new place of employment is treating its employees right, and as long as they continue operating this way I will continue working for them.
Oh and just a little extra icing on the cake. Before I left my previous place of employment, they had been trying to hire more staff so that they could then hire another doctor, had been for a while actually. They wanted another doctor not just for the profit it would bring, but also so they could take even more time off and go on even more vacations. I think they wanted to hire 2 more nurses before I left. Well since I have left that means one more nurse they have to hire to replace me. But since I left more than 6 months ago, they haven’t been able to hire a single nurse. The vet community is small and people talk. My ex-boss has gained a reputation for being a toxic boss and now nobody wants to work for them. Other nurses and veterinarians that haven’t met my ex-boss have approached me and told me they heard ex-boss is crazy.
If you are looking for a sign to quit your toxic work environment and seek employment elsewhere, this is your sign. Don't give your loyalty to bad employers.