I’ve worked for the same dive shop in the Mexico for the last 5 winters. It was a family owned business and they were awesome at first! The pay way industry leading and they hooked us up with amazing gear discounts. The reputation was if you work for them, you can get a job anywhere in the industry.
Well 3 years ago it really started to slip, leading to this past winter, where the owners, who are a married couple, had to stay in Canada for medical reasons and left us manage their shop, tours and bar. We are a very experienced team many being with them for 6-10 seasons. Well, because of the medical condition, their personal finances were tight, they became cheap and stressy. Despite more responsibilities for senior employees, no raises were given. They canceled most employee discounts and reduced the rest so that it was unattainable for any of us to buy gear with what we were earning. Next they installed cameras and would watch us from home. They would often message us during quiet moments and say that if it’s quiet enough for one of us to sit, we should send someone home, we would be slammed for hours then suddenly have 15 minutes of quiet to take a break. It’s a big enough place that one person would struggle if there were more than 3 people in the shop 2 people is essential. The final straw: I owned up to a couple transactional errors I had made and pointed out a VERY easy way to prevent it (the debit machine takes both USD and pesos, on back to back transactions it auto selects the currency in transactions less than 2 minutes apart, which is easily missed when there’s 7 people asking for your help. 2 separate machines, clearly labeled would stop this from happening) instead, they brought up some mental health issues(depression and adhd) I had disclosed in confidence and asked if I was still on my meds. At that point, I told them I was done, but still let them have 2 weeks notice. They even demanded I give them the free promo gear back that was given to all staff by the main brand they sell 3 years ago. I did, then left and never looked back.
I had a summer job lined up in a different industry with my bf, it’s better treatment, pay and benefits than I’ve ever had. I can actually live in Mexico all winter without needing to work.
Today, they had their manager email me asking what my availability will be this winter. I haven’t stopped laughing. Do I respond? Do I demand an absurd raise and brand new everything to come back? I know for certain, they’re bleeding employees, some of them loyal hard workers for 10+ years.
Side note: when I left, I discovered they were paying their local MXN employees who do the same job ~$15-20US per DAY, while I (Canadian citizen with MX residency) made $12/hr working 6-8 hours per day.