(Apologies for the veritable mountain of text)
To begin with, I am a college student on his final semester of studying Nursing. A month and a half ago, I took on a part time job at a cheese shop to make ends meet until the end of the summer when I'd be ready to start working as a nurse. I provided my employer with the relevant information and she was cool with me having to take time off for my exams which fell on consecutive days Monday through Wednesday (with the exception of one that is in three days).
At first, everything seemed to be going smoothly. I would only work the 4 hours that my contract underlined, my employer was polite,made small talk, gave me free produce to taste or take home. The second week of my employment there she went abroad for an expo. The third leading to her departure was pretty tough, I was working full shifts to make sure we'd have enough supply for her to sell at the expo. For those who don't know, it's a lengthy process, as you have to cut the cheese blocks into pieces approximating 250g,put them in plastic bags, vacuum them, trim the bags, sprinkle boiling water on them so they shrink, dry them and then paste logos, best before dates, mark their weight and barcode them.
The first day that she was absent I was working the morning shift and prepared all relevant orders that had been placed. The afternoon shift made one more order and stored it in a different fridge that we don't use for orders and told me nothing of it. No call and no note. So, when our delivery driver came to pick up the orders, that one was left behind and our employer blew up on her and me.
Ever since then I have worked nothing but full shifts, having to manage both the orders and the front desk all on my own. I always end up having to leave half an hour to an hour later than I should because I have to make sure everything is left spotless. My employer though has developed a habit of calling me when I'm off duty to ask for details, make remarks etc which other than being very annoying and inconsiderate, stresses me a lot. A few times she has woken me up or interrupted me from other activities or obligations.
Yesterday she told me, as I was clocking in, to cut and package as many wheels as I could (she installed a new fridge in which she wants to have a stock for deliveries). I couldn't do that immediately as the technician who would install the cables needed the processing area (the fridge would be installed on the room above and he had to drill).
So, as soon as he was done, I started sweeping and dusting off my work area and immediately launched into cutting cheese soon after to make up for the time lost. By the end of the night, on top of having to manage the front of the store and make sales, I had managed to cut and pack 6 wheels for the stock and some other cheeses for the display. By this point, I was approaching an hour over the 8 and the store should be closed. A restaurant places an urgent order and I call my employer (she and her family are all involved in the business and live very close to the shop) if any of them could take it to them . She told me I'd have to do it myself. So I locked the shop for security reasons, delivered the order then returned to sweep and mop the place.
I ended up working 10 hours (and 8 every day before that, coming home at night, have an exam on Wednesday,am expected to work the two full days leading to that). I fear I may already have scored badly on my three previous exams because of work.If I fail to pass any of these classes I will have to take the exam again on September. I should add that as a college student I am required to take 2 days of paid leave whenever I have an exam (one for the day prior and one on the day the exam is hosted). My employer did let me have those days off and told me I didn't have to bring any certificates from my college to prove I was there taking the exam. I should have thought something was up there and then. Once I was done with those three she told me that, to make up for my absence, I'd work the sum of three shifts for free (18 hours at 4€=72 euros).
I was dismayed but couldn't do or say anything. She texted me this morning that she found two bits of gravel from the ceiling under the vacuum machine (with a picture). I texted her back saying that, I missed them, left work two hours later than I was supposed to on top of the extra four hours I already work every day (6 days of work) and that Sunday is my day off on which I want to study and relax. The only message she can leave me on Sunday is if she wants to move my shift around for Monday. Very soon after she told me to take tomorrow off as well and think if I want to continue our ''partnership'' or not.
(I should also add that the woman who delivered our outbound orders quit last week because our employee was bearing down too hard on her. I was led to believe (by my employer and her family) she was lazy (we only ever interacted once or twice a week and only for as long as it took to load the orders on her truck so I didn't know her very well) but now I think otherwise.
So, what do I do?