Disclaimer: I am a European with a fairly luxurious safety cushion, so standing up for myself in that manner was easier and safer, than it would be for most people.
Less, than a year ago I took a job at a warehouse, which did look somewhat unsavory, but job market is shit , where I am, so I decided to give it a shot. The major red flag was them being somewhat vague about work time (“from X till Y , but we sometimes stay late”) . There wasn't much overtime at first, but “working time” was never really a thing there. If there is more work, then you are supposed to work. And the actual times got worse fast.
I was labeled problematic for refusing to work more than 10-hour shifts 5 through 2. A few workers, that were working almost 12-hour shifts 5 through 2 poked fun at me for that and a few others complained (both to me and the employer), that I was leaving “early”. Needless to say, all that forced overtime didn't legally exist . Such amount of overtime can't legally exist in my country.
Worker turnover is high, but the only problem management really sees is maintaining sufficient flow of new workers, who'll probably get fed up and leave in less , than a year. For all I know, management sincerely believes , that “no-one wants to wooork anymore” and sees no problem whatsoever with its actions.
Last month I gave notice and this month my paycheck was pretty light (I'd say at least 15% lighter, than it should have been). I confronted the management about that particular instance of wage theft and , boy , were they not happy about that. They instantly switched the conversation to trying to guilt-trip me for supposedly being an awful and “problematic” (see above) worker and kinda both-siding the issue (basically, “Hey, maaaybe we withheld some of your salary, but are you reaaally upholding your end of the deal? ” ) with some insults thrown in for good measure.
They did back-pedal somewhat by acknowledging an “accounting error” (yeah, right) after I left. I also got a few wildly passive-aggressive messages from a person like 2 levels above me in the company hierarchy, whom I , basically, only saw during job interview. The first message was kinda amusing (“you so bad, you make all the mistakes“), but the second one was so over-the-top passive-aggressive , that it weirded me out, really.
Anyway, I am glad, that I am out. I will be fine. I am already eyeing a potential job prospect or two. I would also like to thank this sub for encouraging me to stand up for myself.