I have been a dog walker in Ohio for a company for 12 years, my friend has been there 10 years (friends before working there and we live together). We have been mistreated and taken advantage of by the owner of the company for many years and we've realized we need to move on.
Our boss texted us one morning and said “I have new contracts in my mailbox, sign them and get them back to me in 3 days” She wanted them back on Thanksgiving. The contract was incredibly restrictive and the non-compete had no end date. I told her I was having an employment lawyer look over them and I'd get back with her. I've reached out to about 15 other people who are lawyers or deal with contracts and they all have said DO NOT SIGN THIS. My boss was waiting outside a client's house one day completely blindsiding me and started asking about the contracts and when we'd have them back. I was very short with her because I was taken aback when a text would've been appropriate. She then sent me a 10 paragraph email about my tone.
My friend and I are leaving and starting our own business. We have given our boss a list of concerns with the contract and what we need to move forward, but this is a toxic relationship and we need to leave. Many of our clients over the years have told us to start our own company and now they want to follow. They've told us we're the only reason they continue to use the services. Our boss can be very condescending to clients, like if a client texts us directly and not her she'll send them multiple texts about how it's her business and they cannot communicate with us. We've gotten complaints about this.
Clients want US to care for their animals, not our boss as we are the ones who have built the relationships. Is taking clients really shitty to do? This part has been kind of morally hard for us because we don't want to screw someone over but these people wouldn't even be staying if we left and took jobs in completely different fields. We were taught two wrongs don't make a right, so even if she's screwing us, is taking a large chunk of her business ok? I am reaching out to some of our other clients and not asking them to go with us explicitly but asking for them to pass our names on to anyone they may know in need of animal care and possibly write a review.
Our “boss” has also misclassified us as independent contractors for 12 years so that's a whole other can of worms. I had a meeting with her yesterday morning and went through the IRS checklist and it was clear she had no idea what being an IC even means (she has complete control over our schedules, pay, clients, how we do our work, etc). Oh, she also takes part of our tips if clients give them, raises prices on clients without telling us and then doesn't give us our proper pay (we're supposed to get a percentage of the fee), and is a giant narcissist! A narcissist never understands they are in the wrong so I don't see how we can move forward.
My contract expired 11 years ago and my friend never even signed a contract. She's a terrible businesswoman and I feel we cannot sign any new contract and this is our time to get out.
Any advice is so appreciated, thank you!