Context: Retail, Vic, Australia
Just had my pay cut down to bare minimum because I started asking about weekend rates on my previously $30 ph job.
Guess this flagged with them that they would need to start following the rules or I could cause them trouble, but as a result they dropped my pay to minimum award rate (level 3), so that even with a weekend shift my income is lower than ever before. The worst part is I took the job when I already had another job, and made them promise they could match my old wage – only to change their tune after I finished probation. So I was manipulated into leaving a higher paying job.
Not only am I now being paid far less now, but they are treating me like a manager of the store which was not the role I applied for – requiring elaborate financial records etc that I was never trained to do, ordering and stocktake were all done by me and they are now verbally pushing me far harder than ever and I have to deal with multiple bosses (CEO, Manager, Product Manager) that all tell me conflicting things.
Technically, the manager of this store location is a guy that trained me for two days and then never worked with me again. He runs all of the stores around the city, he is the only manager among 5 stores but I am here by myself so often that the customers always think I own this store.
The manager is obviously spread super thin, and I can see that this is a pattern within this company (small team of staff, all of them super overworked).
I need to get my wage back up, otherwise I am going to be leaving.
If anyone has any insights/similar experiences/knowledge of retail award level 3/4 specifically and can shed any insight on whether any of these tactics the company are using are actually illegal and can be used as leverage?
TLDR: Wage cut to min when asked about weekend holiday pay/ basically managing a store as a level 3 retail employee and “manager” is running 5 stores spreading himself too thin, leaving me basically managing a store without the wage to match.