Link to this page: http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/issue/526/3947
From The Socialist newspaper, 28 March 2008
My bullying boss
I THOUGHT I would tell you all about my experience working for an independent trader as a Saturday girl. My name is Katie. I'm 17 years old and studying for my A levels. I don't receive Education Maintenance Allowance so I needed a Saturday job.
Katie, Gloucestershire
I was expected to work 9am to 6pm with one half hour break for lunch and I had to ask for comfort breaks. I was not taken through health and safety rules, I received no contract and my right to work wasn't questioned. I was told I would get a contract but six months on, it wasn't forthcoming.
Pay was a nightmare. I was paid by cheque and more often than not my pay was wrong. My boss refused to pay me because he claimed he overpaid me one week and I owed him money. When I showed him pay slips proving I didn't owe him money and I asked to be paid, he kept dodging the question. When I asked for a direct answer he shouted at me and told me to stop harassing him.
The day I collected my cheque for the outstanding monies, I received a call from one of the full time staff stating that the boss "doesn't want to give you a job", (through a voicemail) and that was it - I was fired.
I had to box clever as I needed a Saturday job and his reference was essential. I now have an offer of employment so I will revisit this matter, once I know my new employment is secure. This man is a bully. He ignores legislation designed to protect workers and completely ignores workers' rights.
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In The Socialist 28 March 2008:
Socialist Party NHS campaign
Agenda for Change: Hospital workers' victory
Socialist Party workplace news
Teachers balloting for strike action
Northern Rock: Workers 'gutted' at the scale of job losses
Shelter workers angry at management
Socialist Students
Socialist Party news and analysis
Workers' flame burning brightly in Liverpool
International socialist news and analysis
Chinese regime suppresses Tibet uprising
Greece: Government pension attacks provoke general strike
Solidarity with Kashmir workers
Socialist Party Marxist analysis
World events and their repercussions
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