I sell for an industrial supplier in Western Canada. I am extremely good at my job and have a customer base that loves it when I visit. About 6 months ago, I applied for medical benefits due to my wife leaving her job. I was denied because I was late to apply (90-day deadline for signup), and my family is “high risk” (attempted suicide and mental health medications). When I approached the employer to see what could be done, I got a passive-aggressive response saying I should have applied earlier.
Strike 1.
Fast forward a few months, my territory is doing absolutely phenomenal. I've grown the territory well over 30% and have fantastic penetration and closing ratios. I projected over 2.5 million dollars in sales for the year but noticed I was going to only see about 70,000 bucks from it. Now, I'm all for the company making more than I am. However, that is fucking ridiculous. I built my portfolio with all the info I needed and approached my manager for a raise. He cut me off mid sentence and told me that if I don't like it, then I am “easily replaceable.”
Shortly after that, I started to receive stacks of disciplinary action forms. They resulted in me “losing 1/4 of my annual bonus next year.”
Strike 2.
So I picked apart my commission statements and found that they are skimming around 150 bucks a month for a “quality factor.” I approached them again, telling them that I wanted it fixed, and they had 1 pay period to do so, or I would file with the labor board. They thought I was bluffing.
Strike 3.
I filed the complaint on Monday. I still work here, and I'm protected by employment laws. I have a strong case built for constructive dismissal, discrimination (because I won't buy “trust units” in the company to get promoted), and 2 separate instances of the company trying to reduce my income.
Apparently, other salesmen working here have had their incomes reduced by 40% through territory splitting.
Enough.
I am not a fucking puppet and you're ripping me off. I was always told to choose my battles, and this is the hill I'm willing to die on. You don't get to fuck the employees who run the company for you and you don't get to force feed the Coolaid on people. This place is an absolute nightmare. I hope everything goes the way I expect it to because I'm getting absolutely shit on by the company now. I'm a lot stronger than they think and I'll fucking die before these pricks take another penny from me without my approval.
Luckily, I have had some excellent interviews in the last few days, and I can get away from this cult. It's sad to see so many people just… OK, with this type of activity. We all need to rise and exercise our rights or these pieces of shit will never stop fucking us. Stand strong. Eat the rich.