Stumbled upon this sub a while back and seems the perfect place for this story. Keeping things vague/slightly changed to be unidentifiable. It’s a little long cos I needed to vent. Part 2 will be my most recent manager (when I have time to write it lol).
My last job was at a small private centre that provided care services. I was dumb, missing some of the obvious warning signs including:
– offering me pay that was less than the minimum stated on the job posting
– not having any sort of HR
– guilting me for not being able to start immediately despite knowing I had to serve 2 weeks
I negotiated around these and got to where I wanted, so I signed and started. The centre was run by a head care worker (HCW) and a business admin lady (BAL) who did some basic HR stuff.
The first 2 months were fine for me, besides hearing whispers of salary issues for staff that were here on visa, and people warning me to be careful of the HCW.
Then, 2 months in, the shitstorm started. Right before my probation was up, my previously ‘great’ work was suddenly being questioned and criticised daily. Same for other colleagues. The HCW would have team meetings and shame the staff (tearing up written reports, criticising plans and even personal attacks) to the point multiple staff cried daily. Some of our patients noticed and would help shield us by saying they were uncomfortable with the HCW observing our appointments.
When my first review came, I was expecting a post-probation salary bump (agreed in the contract). I’d worked on every criticism big or small and noted it to them via email. Lo and behold… they had some BS reasons why I didn’t meet the requirements:
– asking coworkers questions instead of the HCW
– not being prepared because an item was missing from my room (coworker told me that the HCW took it and forgot to return it, never got it back)
– leaving on time (some people stayed really late to prep, but I came in early, always before HCW)
Despite this, they were ‘willing to keep me and help me’ if I was willing to stay at the same pay. I asked for this in writing, they refused to put down the reasons on paper. I resigned immediately and started looking for a job.
Thankfully I managed to find a new role, and got a later start date so that I could go with my parents to visit my sister in the city she was in for university. Not wanting to share too much about my next job, I told the business admin lady I was finalising next steps but going on a short trip. She then told all my colleagues (and some patients/their families) that I was leaving them to travel and didn’t care about them. My coworkers knew the truth and told my patients. But what the hell man?!
The only pro is that all my colleagues were in it together and bonded a lot, many of us left that job but we still meet regularly for drinks.