My former boss tries to pay people as little as possible, which led to staffing retention issues. I saw through it, and knew he needed me more than I needed him, so I negotiated my pay up from $50,000 to $60,000 with the same 40 hours. NO BENEFITS TO ANY STAFF. This is decent pay for the position, in Seattle. Not amazing, but acceptable.
There were many small red flags to me that made me start to search for a better job. They were small enough where I can tolerate them, but they are not ideal.
- He stated he is a hard working boss who is in there 50-60 hours per week. This is due to staffing issues, caused both by the 'new state of the workforce' but also by the low pay. But saying that is kind of beside the point. The owner reaps all the benefits but also shoulders all the burdens too .That is a given. I don't see him coming in everyday as something to admire, as that is his literal job if there is short staffing caused by his own low wages or otherwise.
- Says he is nice to everybody (he is), and buys people nice food on their birthdays, takes us out on employee appreciation for dinner or host a cook out. Yes, those things are nice, but I'd honestly rather everybody get paid more rather than have any of these things. I also think being respectful and nice to co-workers/employees is supposed to be normal, not a plus.
- He forbids us from talking about pay, because when employees find out the differences, they quit. It's because he will pay as little as possible to people, unless they know how to negotiate. For example, I knew how to negotiate $29/hr. His veteran cook, who is a nice man but doesn't question things, makes $19 an hour and he has been there 11 years. The other cook makes $18 an hour. The servers and counter people make $16 an hour.
- He calls me in early often because they have too much prep to do. It was almost every week.
- Sometimes, a few hours here or there were not accounted for.
- Zero benefits. No health insurance, acts like using paid sick leave is a burden on him.
- Calls the employees 'a family' – red flag IMO.
I applied, interviewed for, and got a job offer for $85,000, working 5 days a week, 10 hours per day. amazing benefits.
- Health insurance, 2 weeks PTO, $1200 for cell phone . $1200 stipend to eat at other restaurants . $800 for professional clothing. $2500-$5000 in bonuses based on performance. FREE FOOD (up to $50 per day, allowed to take home if you dont use up all $50 in your day). This one alone is prob worth $5000 in a year, seeing as this is a high quality restaurant (Michelin stars). Free work parking. $600 towards employee wellness (gym membership, meditation etc). 401k match up to 4%.
- ALl of this is easily worth $25,000 more per year, and I would have spent money on all of them anyway.
- This makes my pay from this new job the equivilant to $110,000 per year if monetized.
I told my former boss, I am putting in my 2 weeks and moving on, he asked if he was bad to me. If he ever mistreated me. That I am abandoning them when they are short staffed and need me. I betrayed his trust (because I was sucessfully able to negotiate my pay from $50k to $60K, I somehow am supposed to be 'loyal' to him???). It was like breaking up with a girlfriend, and uncomfortable.
He was certainly not the worst boss I've had. He is a nice guy, but just cheap and frankly sees workers as part of family. We are not family. We will do what is best for us, not his 'family' or his business.
The way he said I was abandoning them or betraying him really bothered me, because not everything is about the owner. The workers need to do whats best for them too, and he cannot see this. At the core of it, i think he thinks lowly of me and all his workers, because he thinks he is doing us a favor by giving us a job. It means he doesnt think I'm capable of working a higher level management role at a much larger and prestigious establishment. It means he thinks lowly of me, and that bothered me.