A few weeks ago I got laid off from my 2nd job ever for making demands.
Some context: It's a horse stable where mostly kindergarten kids and adults with disabilities can go to and get riding trips/lessons under surveillance. It sounds like a nice concept, but everything else was hell for me. This is a voluntary social year which is a common thing people can do in Germany between high school and university. An agency is responsible for our salary.
Some facts about me: I am a very short person and not officially disabled, but I have a bit of trouble with my legs and walking “normally”. I don't know how to describe it but I can't make normal steps like other people and it can look weird to outsiders but I can still do my job, I just can't run or my legs will hurt a lot. Also I have some genetic health problems where I lose consciousness if I have to stand for a very long time and I need a few more breaks than others.
So my boss used this as an excuse to give me all the shit work because apparently I am too slow. My official job description was accompanying kids on pony rides and make sure they're comfortable and being watched over. But my boss also gave me tasks like going on a walk with her dog, clean it and feed it. And then she scheduled me for guarding her disabled child too. She has an adopted child which is 10 but mentally age 3 and has delayed reactions to everyone, also she is mute and unable to speak and often gets angry because we can't communicate with her or understand her requests.
Every day, I was stripped from my work in the afternoon and forced to pick her up from school, cook food for her, help her with homework and spend time with her at work until my boss finishes and picks her up. Sometimes I was also called to guard her at my boss' home, even on the weekends.
I was sick of this and contacted my agency. They were willing to listen to me and I recorded every bit of evidence that I am guarding the child, even screenshotted work schedules where it literally said I am only scheduled to take care of the child. I have no license or anything and I just graduated from school 4 years ago, I cannot take care of the kid. Agency said they had some similar case like this with a person that got fired before me and they couldn't go after it because the person was fired before they could further investigate.
The agency was furious about my story and so angry that their CEO himself visited my workplace. He was extremely angry at my boss and forced her to make me stop guarding the child or he would make sure the place shuts down and she can't hire their agency workers anymore. There were 4 other girls from the same agency working with me at the place at that time and when they heard it, they all started bullying me because I almost made them lose their job.
A few days later, my boss called me in the staff room for a serious talk and she yelled at me that I should have not done this and that now her reputation is gone. She started screaming at me how she had a previous girl who tried to pull the same thing and she was only able to avoid it by firing her. Apparently I could have just said I don't want to guard the child but everytime I did she just reduced the hours for 1-2 days and went back to normal. I just wanted to do what my job description said and what I applied for. My boss literally screamed at me that I don't deserve the same amount of pay as the other girls because I am disabled. I cried after that and went to the doctor for a yearly checkup and asked him if I am really disabled but he checked me up again and I officially don't define as disabled. I got fired for “going too far”. Also, my hourly pay was 2 Euros per hour, apparently I don't even deserve this little amount of money.
I decided to go back to university where I am now rotting as long as possible because I get student loan and I get some extra bonus money every month because I only have 1 parent alive. I can make my timetable how I want and I currently have a 4 day week, sometimes we shift to online classes and I only have a 3 day week.