company being unreasonable, us and them

[gruntygiggles]

Does it say in your conract that joiners are not allowed to park on company property? If it doesn, nothing you can do. If it doesn't, then they are effectively showing prejudice against you, as a group and you cna probably have them for that, but I doubt it's worth the hassle.

Why are they now asking you to work 50 hours a week?
Under 18's can only be made to work 40 hours a week. Over 18's cannot be forced to work more than 48 hours a week. It can be done over a 17 week period to average 48 hours a week, but cannot exceed 48 hours a week every week for that period.
Also, you can agree with your employer to work longer than 48 hours a week, but you, the worker have to sign to agree to this and cannot be punished in any way if you do not agree to this. You can also opt out of an agreement to work additional hours by giving 7 days notice in writing.

Are you members of a trade workers union? If not, you should be....they'll be able to do a lot for you.

[gruntygiggles]

Also......it is true, people are still hiring, the recruitment industry is moving again and you should try and move. If you don't want to do that, start your own business up as a sole trader on the side (PM me if you need advice) and build up a good client base and word of mouth. Then put up with your employers for 6 months to a year, knowing that you can leave soon and work for yourself.

It is hard, but well worth it and far better than dealing with that kind of work life. Most say life is too short to deal with that cr4p.....I say life is too long.......you're already fed up so don't waste your time being unhappy. Some people stay in jobs they hate for their whole working life and it's such a waste!

Good luck!

Well i made you an offer for work

I think you should jump ship matey, sounds like its a poorly run business, and poorly run businesses are not guna do will in the coming months/ years

[Wideboy]

problem is no one i work with has a back bone, me and the other apprentice (still serving my time but im out in 2'ish months) are the only ones that stand and and be herd, everyone else just bends over and takes it

Sounds to me like it's a sinking ship. Rats tend to jump long before the boat goes under...

I suggest you do the same.

I've been in a similar position, and it was THE best feeling in the world riding away from the office, on a lovely sunny day, after telling the company chairman where he can stick the job & why.

Originally Posted by Wideboy

problem is no one i work with has a back bone, me and the other apprentice (still serving my time but im out in 2'ish months) are the only ones that stand and and be herd, everyone else just bends over and takes it

Take some positives from this - you've seen how this company is like and you know what to avoid for the future. If you're still an apprentice, then at the very least working at this company has, hopefully, given you some valuable knowledge!

Remember: No-one's indispensbile, work don't owe you a living. The company will survive (or fail) without your contribution. At the end of the day it's no biggie. So DON'T SWEAT IT.

Move along, move along.

[Swin]

Originally Posted by Baph

Sounds to me like it's a sinking ship. Rats tend to jump long before the boat goes under...

I suggest you do the same.

I've been in a similar position, and it was THE best feeling in the world riding away from the office, on a lovely sunny day, after telling the company chairman where he can stick the job & why.

lol - I hope you left the chairman a process diagram showing him how and where to stick it

Originally Posted by Swin

lol - I hope you left the chairman a process diagram showing him how and where to stick it

No, but I did detail the process by which he would remain paying me for a couple of months after my departure as severance pay.

I then took approx 5 months off over summer, and spent the entire summer holidays with my kids. Then had to look for work & ended up where I am now.

Take no prisoners in negotiations!

Place i used to work at had a pretty bad record with discrimination against warehouse staff compared to office staff aswell but i guess that's how it works? Yours sounds quite bad though.

[gruntygiggles]

Originally Posted by Thingus

Place i used to work at had a pretty bad record with discrimination against warehouse staff compared to office staff aswell but i guess that's how it works? Yours sounds quite bad though.

It's how it works until something gets done. My dad went from a lengthy career as a senior director in a blue chip company to spending a few years one a few boards after being made redundant. A few years back he decided to get a part time job order picking at Wilkinsons warehouse so he could use the wages to pay his green fees and Wed & Sat nights up the golf club rather than use his savings or pension.

He saw a dsigraceful amount of discrimination in the workforce and the warehouse staff were treated like cattle, while office staff had ever privilage going!

Having the experience he did, being a great negotiator and mediator, he became the voice of teh warehouse staff and over a few months, got the problems ironed out.

A company can only get away with treating staff badly if the staff keep allowing them to. It's hard to do, but the law is on your side!