My current work situation is a little odd. I'm a mobile plant operator and I've taken on some questionable employment before but when my current boss took me on it raised a few red flags with me. To start with I wasn't notified of much regarding my employment before I started and only knew I'd be working on mobile plant like front end loaders/ excavators and trucks but had no idea of the pay rate/ employment conditions or even when I was supposed to get paid. Fast forward 4 months and of the 3 other guys I work with 2 of them were put through this odd set up as well. We didn't even have employment contracts when we started and weren't getting overtime/ penalty rates or public holiday rates (wish I'd known before I worked 5 of them in a row when I could have spent the time with my son and fiancee). I got moved to full time after pestering the director of the company for months but it hasn't really improved my situation, the pay rise I was excited for was less than expected (it was very low to start with) and means I'm not eligible for family tax benefits so we're back where we started in terms of income. My coworkers however are still on the odd/ bordering illegal employment on low pay and the lack of communication from management/ no tools to fix our machines and overall shitty work environment has us all at our breaking point. One of them has just quit and the other is seriously considering it. I've been looking elsewhere and am going to jump ship at the first opportunity because I can't afford to work on a wage that only JUST covers my expenses. All of this because they don't communicate clearly, don't pay appropriately and provide bad working conditions. They'll lose a collective 30 years worth of knowledge and skills and be left shorthanded again like they were before we all joined because this has actually happened before. If you have good quality employee's just pay them a livable wage (a survival wage is not enough), don't be a dick to people doing their best for you and communicate clearly and openly how'd you'd like things done.
A few extra dollars would save the tens of thousands you're about to lose you absolute assholes.