So I started a new job a couple weeks ago and started my first shifts last week. I come from a handy man line of work and this new job advertised itself as such but its basically just grounds keeping and stock. Because of this the only people that are applying are electricians/carpenters/plumbers. I had previous experience in grounds keeping fortunately so It was quite easy to land the job, i knew everything that they were after and because of this i feel they rely on me way too much. There was a guy there before me who had not had a single other coworker in 6 months, the boss talked about how he was untrained and did a poor job and that i was his ace in the hole, this made me feel proud in the moment but looking back on it, it may have hinted towards my current predicament. For half a year the place was a mess and not in great shape, over the course of a week I've managed to make it look pretty and carry out the duties my coworker was unable to do as he had not been trained. The problem was finally highlighted to me, I have not seen my coworker since I started carrying out these duties and I think he's either had his hours cut to 0 indefinitely or he's been let go, I think this as I only worked with him on my first day but I noticed he half assed work for the most part, which I agree with in today's world, but unlike myself, his half assed work is very visible which the employer had already caught on to. He also tried to take on a supervisor role when I started working and tried to coach me on things that I already knew how to do and had more experience than him in, it only ticked me off a bit as for the first half of that shift he did nothing but watch me but he did get back to work in the last half, unfortunately our boss probably noticed that he couldn't teach me anything new and spent 4 hours doing bugger all right in front of him. Not having my coworker with me sucks as I talked with him and found he was quite funny and he helped pass the time, it also sped up filling inventory. I was also looking into forming a union with my coworker and any new guys we got but now I'm on my own, sure I have more bargaining power but the expectations of me and the dependency are high, this isn't what I was after. I've got a holiday coming up for a week so hopefully they haven't fired him yet and they have him back for a short while so I can try form a union once I'm back (it's likely the work will build up and require two of us again) but I'm uncertain as I've fallen ill with a stomach bug the past few days and management have been quite upset over my absence. They first told me to give 2 hours notice or I'll be written up next time, the next day I let them know 2 and a half hours early and they still got pissy and said that I've taken 3 days off now, I corrected them that it was only two, they then said whatever you need to give 24 hours notice next time you're ill as you've got NO COVER, this makes me think the other guy is gone. The way they spoke to me is also disrespectful and the fact they want 24 hours notice for a sick day is unrealistic as no one can predict the future, because of this, when I get back from holiday I will cut my availability down to 3 days and start working on my own company to leave for good. They are buying my time and labour and I owe them nothing more. Should they refuse i will still only come in on the days I said I would as I know they haven't the option to fire me, at least not without performance hits anyway.
TLDR: My work is now relying solely on me after a single week and may have fired my coworker, despite this they treat me with disrespect and are attempting to stop me from taking sick days indefinitely. I am already looking to jump ship.