Hi everyone , first time posting on Reddit so I’m a little nervous . Also sorry for the long rant as at this point I’m not even sure where to begin and what to type without making it appear irrelevant . Im afraid of being identified so I won’t be too specific
I have been working at my current job for a couple of years now . I am extremely burned out , overwhelmed , under paid and on the verge of a mental breakdown . I have a horrible boss and for sometime now I am considering leaving my job . I have tried in the past but I get cold feet thinking if the new workplace is even more toxic then what will I do . I also haven’t left because of a clause in my contract which says I have to pay 10k if I quit before 5 years.
For context I work at a family owned business and there is no HR department overseeing them . For the longest period of time me and my other co-worker were the only employees and I have had an extremely heavy workload where I would often work till late at night (without overtime).
I have reported my boss’s behaviour to another manager(basically another member of his family) . There was some relief for a few months but he’s back with his ridiculous manipulative behaviour . I have also been complaining of high work load which always falls on deaf years. I have zero vacation days , no benefits and often have to work after hours with no overtime . I feel all of my hard work is taken for granted . The breaking point is first the fact that when I responded with anger to an attempt to disregard my personal boundary my boss is behaving as if he has done me a huge favour by hiring me and is playing revenge tactics where it clearly feels like he is saying “you refused my advances now see what happens” ;like humiliating me in front of other employees and clients , dumping more work on me when he already knows I am heavily occupied and then disregarding when I say I have a lot of work or if I indicate that I am already working on a critical file , he would say the new task he is giving only takes 2 min to do (it does not ) and telling other co workers to give me their work when they say they are overwhelmed . The second reason is when I was very occupied last week I asked a co worker to complete a task for me . I didn’t get a chance to follow up and the coworker had said she will do it . I have an email trail of this . Yesterday I was called in as the client complained he received no response and I was yelled at even after I said that I had forwarded to my colleague to handle . I was yelled at for not following up with her and was told to no longer forward my tasks to my colleagues. I wouldn’t have taken offence to this but he himself has repeatedly told me to forward my tasks to said colleague when I would say I have too much to do and I am unable to handle it. He doesn’t remember what he has said and often back tracks it . ( he is an old man)
I have a lot of issues with my boss (too much to type) but I have been coping with the torture because of the clause in my contract and had intentions of quitting as soon as the time was up . Also ,because of my upbringing , cultural values and religion I find it hard to disrespect elders or raise my voice in front of them . These people gave me a job and helped me out when I was in a very difficult time and facing some personal struggles for which I have a lot of gratitude for them but I have started to suspect my boss is aware of these things and is taking advantage of this . I can no longer tolerate his behaviour and need to know where to look for further guidance . I am in GTA, Ontario Canada . If any one knows of any resources or lawyers that can help at a reasonable rate , please help me , I would really appreciate it.