I'm overworked and underpaid by my employer

I got a job with a small company as their webmaster a year and a half ago. At first the job seemed pretty ideal as I got to work from home. However, I have found that this is the worst paid job I have had with the highest workload since I finished college.

I was promised a raise, but the goal posts constantly got moved, so in the end I have learned that the guys who own the business simply don't want to pay me any extra. There is no point in even asking any more.

To make matters worse, soon after I started working for them I was diagnosed with a huge kidney stone that was filling my entire right kidney and causing a permanent kidney infection. I ended up having a 6 hour operation, got blood poisoning and was in hospital for over a week. I had tubes coming out of my back for 5 days and I am only 33. I was signed off for 3 weeks after and my boss will forever hold over me how much time I have had off because of my kidney stones and infections.

So now I have caved in and I am working 40 to 48 hours a week...

Hands on a computer keyboard This means that whenever I do anything he doesn't like, or I try to negotiate a better deal for myself my boss reminds me of how good he has been to me. I am only on a part time contract and at the start of the year I was given 3 large sites to manage in 24 hours a week. My boss even admitted that it was one and a half full time jobs worth. So now I have caved in and I am working 40 to 48 hours a week for around £7.50 per hour and I am expected to jump through hoops and behave as a manager, but without the compensation in my pay packet! The only time I keep my boss and his brother off my back is when I am effectively working 6 day weeks.

I hate this job so much, my other half works away and actually gets to have contact with real life people while I sit and rot in front of my monitor doing this job that is sucking me dry mentally, emotionally and creatively. It is affecting my relationship as I am so damned jealous of the fact my partner is not sat on his backside, on his own at a keyboard all day. In fact I am actually starting to hate him at times because of this.

I recently felt quite suicidal, but I am a mum so unfortunately I am condemned to this daily misery 'till I find another job. Seeing as I live in a rural location and don't drive it looks to be a long time coming! Plus, now I am a webmaster people think I am over qualified to do things like admin, cleaning and reception jobs. I got my dream house in the country, but it has turned out to be a prison!

Thanks for reading!

By: Bexter BMF

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Bexter! You have got a hell of a nerve!!!
Dream house out in the country!
A job from home so that you do not have to be away from your kids!
A partner! Even though it works away from home at least you have one!
You realy do not know how lucky you are! Many would give thier EYE TEATH to have what you have!
But all you do is winge and gripe!
You realy have got it all compared to most, but all you can do it wine and complain!
You have probably been utterly spoiled all your life and never realy known real hardship, if you had you would thank your lucky stars!
Well I sincerly hope the tide changes for you, and you have something genuin to realy complain about! Put it this way it might make you a better person!

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siouxsie - 30-Jul-11 00:25

The one thing a boss loves to hear is...... "Boss, I have bought a house and have a mortgage". To them that is the best thing they can here cause they have got you by the you know what's. But it does not give anyone the excuse to treat people in a way they would not want to be treated. Treat your staff well and you will be rewarded. I used to work 60-70 hours a week Saturday and Sunday included without overtime pay just the promise of a bonus which incidentally was spread equally amongst the staff so someone doing 27 hours a week was getting the same cut as me. Needless to say it annoyed me but did not dare say anything for fear of getting the sack and losing my house, car and the dog. I then learnt a very important lesson. I knew I was quite important in the company and realised that allot of projects and future projects depended on my input. So that's when I learnt leverage. Make them see that you are invaluable and if their not stupid they will see it and reward you accordingly. Don't be arrogant though. Fortune favours the brave. If they are silly and ignore you, leave quick cause their probably going under.

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WORRAPS - 3-May-11 21:42

Hi everyone, hope this makes someone happy cause one day it will be your turn.
I am three months away from retirement and my boss decided to drive me as hard as he could, so today I told him to stick his job up his ass. Luckily I have enough cash to see me through to the start of my pension. The look on his arrogant face was a sight to behold. PS, I did it in-front of the entire workshop.

-1

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gone fishing. - 23-Oct-10 14:53

Never,never give up with anything. Believe me, I have been through some tough hurdles in my life. Look for every opportunity. Keep looking around you.
Whatever you do, look after yourself. Drink plenty of water and eat fruits and vegetables and exercise. This will actually help you immensely, to be a stronger person mentally and physically.

You can try your local Job centre for new career opportunities that may involve training at first. You have learned from this job and use this experience in looking for another job. Something will come up but it needs you to work at it first.

I have had about 15 jobs, each minimum 2 years and each one I have learned something. Finally you reach a point where you have gained so much experience to your benefit.

Find a good careers advisor. Good luck

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Rock climbing hero - 13-Sep-10 23:41

When one signs on with such an outfit one makes a compact, a covenant with the anti-christ. He gorges on your sanguine self until you are completely dry, nothing but a cadaver to be discarded.

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The Vampires Part III - 3-Jul-10 08:39

Such firms are measured by the greed of their owners, and what they buy with their ill gotten gains, pocketed from one's non-existent pension rights, from one's lack of any real career: large ranches, race courses and horses, owners of sports teams, out-sized yachts, large personal jets, mansions in California, New England, wherever: you grind and they greed, with a deep and nasty greed. Such firms are very, very nasty. In such firms you are nothing but a cipher, a true slave. It's horrificly depressing how our country's legislation does not protect one properly from the exploitation such outfits bring.

-4

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The Vampires Part II - 3-Jul-10 08:30

The company I work for, a very large American firm, my employer is nothing but a thief and a vagabond. Its kind are not to be trusted with anyone's career or terms of employment. They are thoroughly to be distrusted and disbelieved. They are liars.

They are so so large that they can can totally ignore you if you are at the bottom of their horrendously long and steep hierarchy. In such organisations, it is only the person or persons at the top who have any authority. All the layers of management in between, are all useless deadbeats, and have no authority at all. My firm has refused to discuss my salary for four years now. That's right: I have had no payrise and they refuse to discuss it. They refuse to sit down and negotiate. I am paid effectively a quarter less in real terms than what I was paid when I joined 11 years ago.

-2

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The Vampires Part I - 3-Jul-10 08:27

well done Bexter. work because you want to learn something. work for free as you have been and soon you'll be dreaming up new revenue streams. you see money is just an idea that caught on really well. money should be more honest and gambling with peoples futures in the financial markets should be banned or heavily regulated. people who have saved their whole lives have had it erroded by stealth. i'm done. peace :)

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Terry Tibbs - 2-Jul-10 01:27

Thanks Mersyside Alice, I am much happier and relaxed now if nothing else!

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Bexter BMF - 19-Jun-10 08:11

Well Done Bexter, hope you`re having some luck in the job stakes!

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MerseysideAlice - 19-Jun-10 01:40

What I meant was "not being recognized." It's an oversight and no doubt a few more than I care to re-read and re-check; but you get the drift.

Good luck.

-3

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Sam, the Tiger - 12-Jun-10 12:41

Nice piece of write-up, and do understand that this is the kind of world we live in. It's too bad your innate talents are being recognized and deferred to for what it's worth, the recognizing of it.

Your financial loss, et al., is their loss in more ways than one. Speaking of corporate conscience, none exist; it's all about profit and lining the pocket of the kleptocratic big whigs. The people who make the wheel turn are only a tender of a machine.

Keep smiling and writing, and the world will seem a better place. I'm encouraging, am I not? Knickerbockerglory got it down pat.

PS - Head West, young man, my Canada is the land of milk and honey, comparatively speaking.

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Sam, the Tiger - 12-Jun-10 12:39

Yep, and that is what many poor factory workers and very low paid for working 7/7 with no holidays but they are generally ignored, perhaps because of their colour?

We should have the same standards of health and safety and holiday pay, to be fair to everyone.
I am afraid to say that with the Tories in Power, workers are the bottom of the pile. They are the voice for the Fat Cats now. Roll on BP!

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Knickerbockerglory - 12-Jun-10 10:41

its called working for a living. I work more hours than that, and Im fifty, and not from the comfort of my own home, infact its not unusual for me to do 240 hrs a month. You wanted that dream house, you have to work for it, one day things will be better..if you are really that unhappy only you can change the circustance but often you have to give stuff up....do without stuff...stuff and nonsense,..thats all it is..wish I'd learned that years ago.

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frpgmellah - 10-Jun-10 23:05

Hi Andy, I have given notice. I would rather work for free doing something worthwhile in my community than work in a job I hate just to make my boss richer!

-2

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Bexter BMF - 27-May-10 15:16

If you hate it that much then leave.
Try getting a job somewhere else.
And before you say there are no jobs out there, then look harder, or put up with it.

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Andy - 26-May-10 19:23

Help Me! Please Help Me! What can I do if the organisation I work for has gone completely mental? What can I do if the organisation requires me to fulfill objectives and false obligations that are completely meaningless, objectives which represent no value to the customers?

-2

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The World Has Gone Mad - 20-May-10 12:18

True. Just scan the Guardian on a Wednesday and apply for a pointless job like

Resources Efficiency Assessment Coordinator (35 hours pw, 9pm - 5pm, 23,000-30,000 pa)

There's hundreds like it - all swallowing up your council tax, which needs to rise every year to keep these workers busy on service critical training courses - like fact finding missions to China and learning all about equal opportunities and how to use the right political correctness lingo - such as there's no such thing as Christmas. It's festive season, holiday season etc. Meanwhile, your dustbins just keep overflowing, and soon the mice will come-a-knocking.

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Grumpy xx - 17-May-10 22:21

Grumpy xx, I would dearly love to get a job in the public sector, they seem to have a cushty deal there!

-2

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Bexter BMF - 17-May-10 13:42

Perhaps Bexter, the article writer, should try getting a job in the Public Sector. Everytime I try to ring a department between 12 and 2 I just get knocked back because everyone is on lunch breaks. At 5pm when I try to catch someone at the office, they've all gone home.

I now work as for myself but I find myself working all hours god gives and I have to wait weeks to get paid. I haven't taken paid work for a few months now.

At the moment I am working weekends starting a new business and don't have any revenue stream at all. I'm simply living off savings I acquired a few years ago, which are dwindling away by the day. I could now claim benefits technically, because I now qualify for them. But I'm not doing that. The best thing about what I do is that I love my specialism and really want to make a go of it and I can work at home too, which saves on tedious commutes to and from an office. But apart from that, I doubt that I am any better off than you wage slaves out there.

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Grumpy xx - 16-May-10 22:35

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