Note: This is a throwaway account. I posted this awhile back but it was deleted since my account is too new. Hopefully nothing in this violates the sub's rule. If there is any, mods, please contact me and let me know so I can rectify those mistakes
I will redact any mention of relationships, names, or other identifiable info here, except for the company's name itself because name and shame should be more common around here. This is a small, independently-owned American company, in Southern California
So I went and visited someone I knew about three weeks ago and we went out for a drink, let's call him “Norman”. Norman is a Vietnamese-American man, around 60-ish. Norman works for a CNC machine shop vendor that specializes in making small parts for equipment/fixtures/etc. in engineering. After a few drinks, he began to rant about his job, to which I was astonished as to how much he has been exploited by his boss.
According to him, his boss:
– Does not pay his employees 1.5x rate for overtime. If the pay is $10/hr for the first 8 hours, it's $10/hr for the next 4.
– Any overtime pay (still same rate as the usual 8 hours shift as I mentioned above) was given in cash instead of the usual direct deposit or checks, so there's little trace of his wage theft left. The typical direct deposits were only done for regular work hours, the rest are “under-the-table”
– Verbally and loudly berates his employees constantly if the parts that they made came out defective or have wrong dimensions. In CNC machining, this is to be expected. No machine is perfect and that's the same for humans, but this jackass probably never get the memo, or the simple fact that the parts can be fixed or remade without him throwing a tantrum
– It's a CNC machining location but the shop has NO A/C, so during the summer, when the machines runs for a long time, they emits tremendous amounts of heat that can possibly lead to heat strokes. The few fans that he has set up might as well be blowing hot air into his employees' faces
– Discourage people from taking breaks. He specifically called out an employee who regularly skip breaks to finish his work as someone whom everyone should emulate. He does not go as far as forbidding it, but the feeling was there according to many people who worked for him
The boss' turnover rate is massive. He struggled to find staffs because he pays people in peanuts and treats them as expendables. Norman is one of his senior employee and worked for him over 15 years, guess what his hourly rate is?
If you guess that it's the same as the amount of years he toiled under this POS, you were right!
$15/hr!
What a deal!
Norman has been working for the same boss for over 15 years. He came to the US legally some times ago and this place is basically his career for the rest of his life in the States
How did he joined this place? Norman got laid off from his previous job and he was stressing out about how to take care of his family when the owner offered him a job (apparently they met at a coffee shop or something). He also was not great at English because he never had times to take ESL classes. As soon as he arrives, he was working to support his family, mostly for other Vietnamese-American bosses, which brings me to my next point.
The boss/owner of this company only hires recently immigrated Vietnamese men. The pretense is that he wants to “help out his fellow Vietnamese and their families who just came to the States and need a source of income” but the reality is that those people are A LOT easier to exploit than someone who was born and raised here, who knows his or her rights and will sue his ass to the ground the moment he dared to even try one of the thing in the above list
Because of that, his employees do not know that they don't need to take his BS. That there are better jobs out there, with Vietnamese-speaking bosses if needed. They are mostly “grateful” for being able to come here, work and support their families, and the boss took full advantage of that.
The employees struggles to support their families, while the Walking-Garbage recently bought his third house, with wage that he stole from his own people, his own fellow Vietnamese who came to the US and struggled in order to secure a better future for their families just like he did. And yet, as soon as he “made it,” he not only pulled up the ladder, but decided to drop some rocks on the people below as well
When I tell Norman that he should band together with other employees, gather as much evidence as possible and consult with a lawyer, he was hesitant, because he is already close to retirement and he doesn't want to rock the boat and/or make a fuss. He said that he will just “take it easy” and take more breaks, days-off, vacations, etc. but not much else. Also, apparently, one of the other senior employee is also the owner's cousin or at least tangentially related to him, which makes the situation more awkward and difficult to organize any kind of action towards him
Since Norman at this point in his life no longer has the will to fight and just want to work a few more years and retire in peace, the situation doesn't seems to be changing anytime soon. And the boss will probably run this company to the ground until he can no longer find employees and close up shop. His three houses can probably generate enough incomes for him and his family to live comfortably for the rest of their lives, and with the current housing market, he can easily sell one of them and get away with a ton of cash, while his former employees struggle
Since this is a throwaway account, I will not be responding to any comment after this. At most I'll post this to another board, but I will still lurk with my real account and consider all of your comments and/or advice
Thank you
Name and Shame: HT Machine in Orange County, CA, US
(Do NOT mistake it for another HT machine in another state or location, as far as I can tell, they're completely separate entities and are only coincidentally named)
For the love of all that is good and holy, do not start bombarding the site or harassing them. I know most of that comes from a good place, but I want to find a way resolve this legally, with a lawyer or a government agency if possible. I want the owner taken to court or at least have to pay back all the overtime wages that he stole from his employees. This might be a long shot since I'm a 3rd party and the employees seems to no longer care, but I want to at least see what my options are. Your knee-jerks reactions can screw this up and make everyone look bad. Plan first, act later, not the other way around.