After being laid off from my previous job, I searched for a new position for 3 months and took the first nice offer I came across. I've been working at my this job now for a couple months, and I've never been unhappier.
The CEO is the absolute worst. I'm the only person of color in the workplace; the CEO makes a comment on my race almost every day. He has said some very, very, off-putting things about people of darker skin, as if to try and compare me as a “better” person of color. He's very condescending and disrespectful in the way he talks to me, and pretty much anyone else.
I recently went on an unpaid vacation (because I haven't accrued enough vacation time yet). We had fully agreed on the dates, and the fact that I wasn't going to be paid, but that I also wasn't going to use any vacation hours. I stated I wasn't going to work the day before I left for my trip, since I had to pack and take care of other things (loss of a loved one). He still asked me to work at least a half day, and said “I legally still have to pay you for the full day, so just get your work done and leave early”. He proceeded to assign me a ridiculous amount of work due by the end of the day, so I ended up working the full day anyways. I fully documented what work I did and what time I worked until. Once I left for my vacation, I got an email saying he deducted 4 of my vacation hours, and the reasoning was that “Employee left early to take care of emergency, and for vacation”.
He also assigned me a ridiculously long reading to do over my vacation. The reading wasn't even related to the work I'm doing. When I got back, he set aside time to “pop quiz” me on it, and when I failed, he proceeded to yell at me for half an hour with another coworker in the room.
There is absolutely no work-life balance. I'm told to work 10+ hour days; I'm called, emailed, and pressured to work on weekends.
The job description was that it would be hybrid – 3 days in office, 2 days from home. Ever since starting, I've been in the office 5 days a week, with the promise that it would be reduced to 3 days a week after 1 month of onboarding. After 1 month of onboarding, I was told that it would actually be another 3 months until I could do 3 days a week, and in the meantime, we would “try out” 4 days a week from the office. The commute is 1+ hour each way, with parking and (mandatory) toll not expensed by the company.
I have no friends at work; it is a very small company and I'm the youngest by far. It seems the CEO's grumpiness trickles down to everyone at the workplace, because the others in the office also have spouts of toxicity and grumpiness.
Obviously, I've already started looking for other jobs, but I can't stand being in that office another day. I'm not in the best place financially since I was just unemployed for 3 months, so I'm not exactly in the position to just quit without having my next move lined up, but will do so and figure it out if I have to. What are my options here? If I just quit, I won't be eligible for unemployment, right? What if I'm fired? Feeling like I'm at my wit's end here. If you made it this far, thanks for listening to my rant.