Hi everyone, this is going to be a lengthy post but I am hoping their are some individuals who are willing to read it and offer me some form of advice.
I began a summer job at my previous school practicum placement, my practicum began in September of 2021, I graduated in April of 2022. On June 15th I will have been working at my practicum for 2 months.
I feel completely taken advantage of, in every single aspect. It’s making me lose hope and ambitions for the field I am in.
For starters, I work for a non profit that provides services to families with children with complex behavioural issues/ needs. When I transitioned out of practicum student to worker, my duties changed and I was no longer in the office, but doing more so of the frontline work.
I have been placed working directly with the kids in the group home, and my duties mainly consist of me being a glorified taxi driver and house cleaner. I am a recent university graduate. I know this line of work pays horribly so I already had low expectations, but this just seems.. despicable.
I am expected to drive my personal vehicle (not including my drive to and from work, which is 30 KM one direction) around 150-200 KM/ shift. I am driving these children two and from school, taking like 4 or 5 trips back and fourth a day. I am paid mileage, but it is far below the number the government stated employers should be paying their employees for mileage. I have found the information online stating that. The price of gas is so expensive here currently that I spent almost 200 dollars in 1.5 weeks- the mileage I was reimbursed was 65 dollars..
I had asked my boss if the company could cover collision, I already have the 2 million dollar liability on my car and bare minimum insurance after that- over 300 dollars a month and I’ve never been in an accident or gotten a ticket. My employer said no for covering collision, and stated I agreed to this before beginning employment. I argued in my email stating that I felt uncomfortable driving this much without collision coverage, as the likelihood of me getting into an accident is exasperated when I am driving high risk clients in a busy city. One of the clients choked one of the staff out while they drove their car..
I also have gotten abused at my job, my coworker administered a restraint on a youth in program, so I had to assist. Previously, I had asked my management many times for retraining on it, as I hadn’t taken the course since September of 2021 and had not used any of the knowledge I had learned since I was not working directly with the kids. During the restraint, I did not hold the child’s legs properly and he kicked me about 45 times. I was in so much pain I could not sleep. Bruises covered my body, it looked like a domestic violence case.
This child has gave numerous staff concussions, has damaged the inside of staffs vehicles (which company has not offered to pay for) and has caused thousands of dollars of house damage, and is not even supposed to be in our program anymore. His caregivers apprehended him mid program placement, and they have been trying to have this child transition out for the last 3 months. I just found out they have extended his stay again as children services is offering the company lots of $$$, I only know this because the subcontracted worker told me- hinting that the upper management is keeping all the money for themselves and not giving any to the frontline staff.
I also have extra responsibilities in the house, and I get paid 2 dollars less then what I am supposed to make. I asked the last staff member who had my position and she gave me that info. I see how my management was trying to be sneaky, stating I wouldn’t have all of the responsibilities. They also never asked me if I wanted this, and voluntold me. I find it quite unfair I am expected to do more than the average house staff but make the same.
Some other shitty things they do is that they never even bothered to train me on how the house works, or how to fill out time sheets and expense sheets, they just threw me in there. When I would ask people for help, my messages were read from management and never responded to. This has made it increasingly difficult for me to get paid, and it took me about a month of working there before I even got some money. I didn’t get a good pay cheque until about a month and a half in.
I have a meeting with my boss on Wednesday, she wanted to go over the expectations of my driving since I expressed distain in those responsibilities. I was planning on handing in my 2 weeks notice, stating that I would not have accepted this job if transparency on expectations of driving would have been there. I am also hoping that my 2 weeks notice that I am giving helps me stay on somewhat good terms for a reference, as I know that employees are not required to give that if they have worked for an organization for less than 3 months.
I do not have another job lined up, but have a stacked resume, skills and a recent university diploma. I know that if I work hard enough I can have another job by mid June,
Do I sound like an entitled, young kid? Or am I really getting treated like horse shit here. I am fortunate to have a boyfriend who will support me until I do find a job. This job is ruining my mental health and I am miserable. The only plus is the connection and relationships I get to build with the youth enrolled in program. But it’s not enough to make me stay as I’m losing money. I can’t afford 500 dollars a month on gas alone, and only be reimbursed for a fraction of it.