Hi guys I know my last post may have been missing some points but I was pretty emotional at the time of posting having just worked my hardest all day just to be tricked and given 6.66 an
Hour when I expected at least 10$.
A couple points to be made
-I worked 10 hours and 30 mins my first day and about nine hours and some change my second day today before quitting when it all became too much.
-No I’m not related to anybody at the nail shop by blood.
-My friend of 10 years asked me as a favor to start work within a day of being asked. No the favor wasn’t the job it was the speed at which I was hired.
-No contracts or paper work were signed and my hours were not logged nobody is even the late night cleaning lady.
-I was told I would make under 12-13$ an hour ambiguously as possible by my friend then told not to discuss pay because the owner would see it negativity like I’m begging for money. I honestly think this is prevalent in Asian culture and especially nail shops asking for a raise or what you’re worth is the same as begging.
-I know I’m an idiot for even getting involved but I trusted these people before hand as I’ve been on vacation with them (my friend and the owner) and helped them multiple other times.
-I am pissed at them for sure even my friend but I don’t know how I even want to move forward I wouldn’t want to destroy my friends life but also hate how the situation was handled and how race seemed to play a part.
-I do truly need the money to fix my car I saw it as a good opportunity to make some cash that’s why I even went today knowing I would probably make under minimum wage. I can see how a lot of people are tricked in the terrible positions especially people who are less fortunate.
-And I do have a job interview tomorrow i’ll probably just take out a loan to fix my car.
Okay now that this is out of the way I did quit today after hours of verbal harassment by the owner for not acting inline with his instructions. I was told to talk in the highest pitch possible with the customers as I have a deeper voice and was verbally reprimanded by the owner for not doing so. After this a lady tried to give me a three dollar tip which was immediately put into a nail techs tips by the owner. A little time passed and then another lady said she would be tipping me on the receipt when the lady went to check out the owner got up checked her out like I was supposed to be doing and then didn’t include me on the final receipt to split the tip. Then I stepped over the line by asking a woman and her child that came in with drinks if they’d like to use the bathroom before we started their nails and feet. I was taken to the break room and called weird multiple times for even asking. That trigged us to argue instantly I said it was weird how he could pay somebody less because of their skin, steal my tips, pay under minimum wage, and attempt to do all of this under the table tax free. The owner immediately was annoyed with me and begin saying I’ve only been there one day how can I say all this stuff. And that my pay was so low because I was training. I said there’s a federal minimum wage even if it’s training you have to pay somebody the federal minimum wage. I said that my friend told me I would be making at least $10 an hour. The owner told me that’s what my friend told me and not him to which I responded I thought my friend was speaking verbatim from what the owner had said because he was looking for workers. At this point I was pretty upset that I hadn’t just been apologized to. So I said I quit then the owners long time girlfriend entered for some reason this just bolstered the owners confidence and he begin saying I was only there a day how could I say this stuff and we were friends and I was ungrateful. The owners girlfriend then began saying that everything they had done had been lawful I then said that my friend said I was being paid less because I was white and I had text proof of it. I showed them the proof and this didn’t sit well with them. They said sorry and said they would pay me minimum wage on my check I was actually offended by this. I told them I was ready to go and I’m sure the labor board would like to hear about this. I was then told not to leave and they sat me down and called my friend into the room. At this point I began recording and have a clip of my friend saying he called his brother racist. I was offered 300$ and said why not just pay me like a human in the first place why even risk this? I was pretty heated at this point and wanted to just go I told them I’m good and we’re all fine and this reassured them enough to let me leave. The lady who I had originally asked for the restroom promptly left after the argument.
Alot of people continue to criticize me for wanting to take action against my friends family. I don’t know if I will I am just looking for advice. I just know this is probably not the last time they’re gonna try to screw somebody over. It was an all-around terrible experience for me I thought I was doing a good job and I really needed the money to fix my car and get another job going. I don’t know what they’re going to pay me I’ll know on Tuesday.
Thanks for the advice from previous post. Any other advice would be greatly appreciated!