Been a lurker for a while on and off, and finally found the words to get this off my chest.
Like a lot of people in Canada, I got laid off end of March 2020. I saw it coming (I worked in an industry that was “essential” but in a position that did a lot of the “non-essential” duties), but it still sucked since my partner had also just been laid off, and I was 12 weeks pregnant at the time.
Luckily, we both were able to get on CERB so we were still able to pay our bills, and we had some savings to get us through while we waited for unemployment to kick in. We got rid of my partners truck so we only had one car payment, and cut down on all expenses.
In June 2020, Ontario announced that the non-essential part of my job would be opening up again. I waited almost a month to hear from my job. Saw everyone else getting hired back, but no word on when I'd be able to come back.
So, I emailed them to tell them I'd be going on maternity leave in October 2020, and if they wanted me to work there they had to bring me back before then, knowing that late summer/early fall is a really busy time for them.
In the meeting to bring me back, they told me they could only “afford” to have me back two days a week. I told them I needed a minimum of 4 days to be able to pay my bills. Their response? “Well, you must of gotten used to getting paid for doing nothing sitting at home all day”. I saw red. I was not going to come back to work and lose my unemployment if I couldn't even pay my bills. Keep in mind, my partner still hadn't found a new job.
I finally was able to secure three days a week, and covering 3 separate peoples holidays (yes, I knew how to do 4 of the jobs at that workplace). This would get me to mid-October where I could switch to maternity leave for a year and be able to pay my bills.
They struggled to find someone to cover for my mat leave, eventually found someone the day after I went on leave, didn't train them, and that person quit a week after starting. I had made a training binder for my supervisor and everything. Went above and beyond.
Fast forward to the end of my mat leave. I was struggling to find affordable childcare (my partner had found a good paying job in the meantime). I called my job, and spoke to my boss. They, again, were only going to give me 2 or 3 days a week. In my area, it's impossible to find part time childcare, so I'd be spending more on childcare then I'd be making.
I told them to shove it. Politely, in my resignation letter, the day after my mat leave ended. They still haven't found someone for my previous position, and my coworkers are dropping like flies.
The kicker? In February 2020 they were training me for a promotion to accounting. Seems like they just forgot about all that and didn't want to acknowledge my previous standing with the company.
Moral of the story? Car dealerships are trash to work for, bosses don't care if their employees can afford to live, pay bills, etc, and don't ever stick around for a crappy workplace – they don't care about you.