I just need to vent. If anyone has anything to add, please do. If you don't want to read me complaining about my situation, please read no further. It is basically about the amount of work I do increasing, being promised a raise and getting nothing (well, I was offered a cell phone).
I've worked here for almost 6 years. This is a small company (6 people work here now). I started out working the front counter which would be considered the lowest job currently here. When I started, there was also a part time delivery driver. This is a print shop. The manager also did the large format printing (we also have someone that does small format printing). I actually love this place and the people I work with. The manager though was terrible at doing large format printing. She would forget to do a job (when the customer is standing 10 feet away from her waiting on it). 90% of the jobs she ran would be ran in color (when they were supposed to be black & white) and so on. She was also bad at managing. I guess the owner realized how bad she was and asked me to take over doing large format printing and she would go to the front counter and do that (and still be the highest paid employee because shes tecnically the manager). The front counter person is responsible for responding to emails, printing email orders to bring back to me so I can run the actual order, and once the order is complete, the front counter person creates the invoice for that job and will give it to customer when they come pick up. Every month I'd go look through her desk up front and find a TON of orders that she never invoices. We basically gave it away.
Finally, the manager left! The owner notices that the sales $ have increased. I try telling him the sales haven't increased, we are actually billing for everything now where as before, they would go unbilled because of her. I've taken over doing the manager things she should have been doing (but wasn't doing most of them). The delivery driver also has left (was fired for being an idiot) and the lady who did the accounting (was also the owners wife) has also left to work some other job shes wanted for a long time. She was a co-owner and I believe still is.
Now… I am doing my job (large format printing) but also managing (I don't have the title manager but if someone calls and asks for the manager, I am who is put on the phone). I handle a managers responsibilities. I also do deliveries (though that is decreasing as we have hired a new girl to hopefully run the front counter and do deliveries). On top of those things, I somehow because the IT person. I have some IT knowledge. I certainly am not the best but I know more when it comes to that stuff than my coworkers.
I am pretty disappointed that the manager is no longer here which means the owner is no longer paying her 65k salary. Ive taken over her responsibilities (on top of keeping up with my own). I am doing some of the accounting still (sending out invoices, generating and sending monthly statements, some billing). My pay has not changed even though I am doing a lot more work. My cost of living has certainly increased as well.
About 9 months ago I brought up that I really need to be making more money. I'm not greedy and didn't expect anything crazy. Even though the manager and her 65k salary are gone, it's not like I expected that to be added to what I'm paid.
My boss (the owner) told me when I brought up a pay increase that it WOULD happen. He said it may take some time (why? I have no idea why it needs to take time. He is the owner, he does payroll, etc) but I said ok. 4 months later there had been no more talk of this increase so I asked him about it and he said “Yes! I was actually just looking in to that. It is still going to happen. I don't know if it will be on this next paycheck but it will be happening”. Saying that makes me think “oh, it will be on the check after this one” even though we never discussed numbers. A week later I am walking in from my car in the morning and he is out in the parking lot and calls me over and says “Yeah. I was thinking… I have this cell phone that is on my family plan but nobody uses it. It is paid for but nobody uses it. I am not going to be able to give you a pay increase right now but, you could use that phone and that should save you some money”
I know he didn't mean it to but that felt pretty insulting. I do a lot of extra things for this company. I really do like my boss (he is a great guy and he's helped me out before). I just don't like how they are about raises (raises don't exist here). It's all very frustrating to me.