Ok so I started this job 3 months ago. It's a small retail store that is a franchise. I'm the manager of this location, and our location opened 2 months ago. I was hired on as SALARY at $24,000 a year and it would get bumped to $30,000 with bonuses once my training is finished. Long story short, we are open 8a-8p M-Sat and 11a-6p on Sundays. For the 2 months we've been open, it's only been me and one other employee working the store. Even after June is over, I would have had 1 day off the entire month. The way I make the schedule is I give myself off usually Sunday's and one other weekday. 9 times out of 10 the owners will say they can't find anyone else to work on my days off so I will have to work. They've tried hiring 2 other people since we've been open and they lasted no longer then a day each. I'm putting in over 60 hours a week and averaging less then $8 an hour. I have a wife and 2 year old that I see very rarely. We never have time to go do things for the day because of my work schedule. What would you do in this situation?
You can get that hourly wage almost anywhere... if you're a hard worker, at least 50% more. Seems like they should pay you more. IDK, hard to say what to do. If you were to quit, I bet they'd be pretty screwed. If so, maybe tell them you need to be paid OT, and if not, threaten to leave. That is, if you're not expendable. I've never been put in that situation, and I'm not trying to support a family. Not sure I'm the best person to give advise.
This easy. You aren't required to work for nothing. You can find a manager job at places like McDonalds/Whataburger/Wendy's that will pay more than that (Saw a sign outside my Wendy's that said some kind of midlevel managers I think are around $40K, and GM of the stores makes 70K or so). Tell him bump my salary to 40K (I'd ask for 40K for your hours), pay me overtime, or I'm gone.
sounds like your boss needs to try harder to find competent employees. you can't be expected to carry the entire store. demand your boss to do something about the situation.
It sounds like you are being subject to what would be overtime violations for sure and possibly minimum wage violations, but, since you might be classified as a manager, you would likely fall under the white collar exemption. I have no idea what your pay period is, but presuming you get paid semi-monthly at 1k and you work 60 hours a week, it sounds like you would have no minimum wage violation, but an overtime violations at around 50 dollars per week. If you work 70 hours a week it sounds like you have minimum wage and overtime violation of around 150 per week. These are rough calculations I was doing here and I might have messed up. None of this is intended as legal advice, but it sounds like you are getting a raw deal given the facts. Honestly, I'd just try to find another job if I were you.
Sorry, I meant executive (managerial) exception, not white-collar, but I can't edit. Either way, all the above stands.
You need to get out of that situation, but they have you working so many hours that I don't see how you can find the time to look anywhere else. You have my sympathy, considering the responsibilities you now have with a youngster. Does your wife stay at home with your kid? Man, you have a load cut out for you going forward. Do either one of you have a marketable skill? A profession? The possibility of going to college? If your wife could make a better salary than you can at the present time, you might consider staying home with your child and letting her work at a job with higher pay. I did this with my two kids years ago, as my S.O. had an executive position in government, great benefits, and at the time, I was able to. Not only did it turn out great, but the experience was priceless. I wouldn't trade it for anything. You could do serious research online from home for a new job. Perhaps take classes online. That's a real option now that didn't exist when I went to school. Hey, good luck. Keep us up to date as to what happens in the future, and get another job. They are using you up, and the pay doesn't begin to cover the hours your working. Like roflmcwaffles said, for that kind of job, and those absurd hours, you should be looking at $40,000 a year. If they won't give it to you, and it looks like they may not be serious about doing so, go find someone who will. Look at it this way... you're worth it.
1. Look around loosely for other jobs. 2. If there are a lot of other opportunities, start interviewing and applying. 3. Get a better job offer. 4. Go to current employer with news of other job offer. Allow them to match or better if you are interested in that. 5. Choose the better situation. Steps 1-3 are likely the hardest. If it is taking a while and you can't make it to step 3, then approach your current employer with concerns and issues. It will be helpful to also have some alternatives for your employer when you approach him. Do x,y, z and then my schedule will work better and you will actually save money, or some crap like that.
60 hours is a lot but if you're making money and somewhat enjoy it than its well worth it. But w/o either...It doesn't make much sense to stick around your just adding way too much stress.. Quit
If the owners insist on paying their new hires at minimum wage, then the situation isn't going to change.
Work to live, don't live to work. Start shooting your resume around and/or get a job recruiter on it for you.
Get a better job. Even if you work less hours your family will still be living in poverty. I would suggest staffing agencies, ie. Kelly Services.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/qIqeXSYc8nE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
if the owners are ok with taking advantage of their employees, that's basically all you need to know. this company is not worth continuing to work for. do not try to patch up the situation, it is toxic and it won't change. there are many places you could start at next week, 40 hours for the same pay, working for people who respect you and pay you what they owe you. i feel for you, i've been in a sort of similar situation - all i can say is, get out asap before you snap.
He pulled one over on you. He is scamming you. I went through a similiar ordeal when I was in my early 20's. I was hired with promises of a raise from $8/hr to $9.50/hrhr after 3 months of experience. A week before completing my 3 months, the boss said there was a mistake in the paperwork. He said it was for $8.50/hr. You could more than $24k/yr at almost any job, with your current experience. Your boss is an a** that is taking advantage of you. He doesn't intend to hire an hourly employee and increase payroll by another $20-24k/yr, if he has you doing unlimited overtime. The other 2 people were smart enough to bail, when saw what was going on. The pay sucks anyway. Fix up your resume. Pick up a suit from the thrift store and get it tailored properly for $100-$150. Get some great shoes and polish it, before every interview. Throw it up on some websites and go apply in person at new places. If you live in Houston, it should be easy to find a job. Finding a new job can be fun. Keep applying for jobs, even if you have completed several interviews. Sometimes nothing pans out. Other times, you get multiple offers and pick the best one. I was laid off, last year. My first job offer was for a $13k paycut. My 2nd job offer was for a $5-7k raise, and my 3rd offer was for a $12k raise. I almost jumped on the first offer, but I decided to see what others could provide. You can do it, man. Look for something, while you are working. You have the flexiblity to choose the best offer, since you still have a job. It's much easier than looking for work with no job. You might want to change careers, also.
That's retail. My GF was a manager of the Radioshack in Deerbrook mall.....she had the same issue. Luckily, she got out of it. And has a better paying....regular hours job out of retail lala land.
