Here's the story of a brave employee fighting a greedy boss
Bullies, bad bosses, snakey people at the office. They do exist and here is a recent story experienced by a young executive employed by a company in Malaysia.
But an employee who refuses to see the rights of the workers trampled upon by greedy bosses is fighting hard. And here is what the employee had to say in a letter sent to WFTV.
The employee said it was a plain case of victimisation by a greedy, cowardice and manipulative boss.
“Victimisation, as I’ve found, can come in many faces – the most recent one being the smiling face of my ex-boss. It’s not an easy thing to recover from. To have the trust I had in his (what I had assumed) good personality and to be so easily betrayed.
“It left a bitter aftertaste knowing that I was ere taken advantage of either because of my naivety or simply because there wasn’t anything that could be done. In my case, it was a mixture of both,” wrote the unsuspected victim.
The employee – we will not reveal the name or gender here to protect the person’s identity – accepted the job as a barista and receptionist in a hostel in desperation for anything that paid.
“I went for the interview and was happily hired to start the next month. I didn’t suspect anything then. My ex-boss appeared to be a decent man, the staff was helpful, and the workload didn’t seem too taxing,” the employee wrote.
The letter also tells of a starry-eyed and attentive employee as any fresh-faced employee would be. There was this eagerness to learn, to please and the hopes of getting a bump up in my pay.”
To cut a long story short, the employee said the experience itself didn’t bring much to the table. Between the painfully repetitive tasks, the dreaded full 12-hour shift, the workers were expected to get through five days a week with what is described as a meagre pay.
“It was no surprise I decided to quit on the spot as soon as a better opportunity with more humane hours presented itself.”
Though feeling bad about taking on another better paying job, the employee promptly handed in a resignation letter directly to the ex-boss. It was to be immediate, with a co-worker being kind enough to take over the rest of the shift.
“That’s when I was hit with the first wave of victimisation in the form of a friendly smile,” the victim wrote.
“It’s unfair for me. To pay the remainder of your salary when you’re leaving without even a week notice,” said the boss.
“I remember bristling at that statement. In the first place, there wasn’t a contract anywhere saying I had to give him notice before resigning. But still, I relented. I kept my comments back. I’ve seen firsthand how he reacts around employees that spoke back.”
Trying to settle the contentious issue of not giving a notice, the boss refused to pay for the long hours of hard work. The employee felt completely within their rights to be paid as agreed.
As with most cases, the story began to unravel itself, presenting an even stickier situation. No overtime was paid to workers, the boss failed to pay the correct agreed upon salary due for working during public holidays altogether.
The worst part is while the parties tried to settle this amicably, the boss threatened not to pay the remainder of the salary. The condition he imposed was that the employee will have to work extra days.
But not going away without a fight, the employee initiated a court case against the greedy uncivilised boss.
“He threatened to take back my medical claim and my salary increments for the months that my pay had been bumped up for a good job I had done that month. All I remember thinking to myself was: where did that nice, decent boss I worked with go?
“Now we’re in the midst of a court case. I had no proper contract, no official payslip, and was asked to work over the 48 hours per week. I can safely say I’m confident in my own case. Since this issue, I’ve heard he’s finally gotten around to giving his employees proper contracts. They are also being paid the correct rates for overtime.
The case is still an ongoing one but with some concrete changes at the workplace already seen taking place. The other workers are benefiting from the actions of a brave employee who would not want their rights trampled upon.
“While I’m glad the current employees (hopefully) won’t be facing the same issue as I did. It does beg the question. How many before me were taken advantage of? And if so, how many cases were swept under the rug simply because they felt they didn’t have the power to make a difference?”