Happy New Year

Wow, it's been nearly a year since I last posted here... and I didn't post at all while I had that web design job..

Now I'm unemployed once more..

I probably would have just complained about never getting paid on time, or paid in full, or getting my wage slips.

I finally quit last week - I gave my week's notice the week before...

Thursday, 4th January. The boss came back from his holiday and comes into the office around 4.30pm. Apart from the obligatory "Happy New Year", the first thing he says to me about an hour later was that I've spent too long on a project and that it's supposed to be finished already - then he threatened me with instant dismissal if I can't justify the time I spent on it to him the next day. He said my attitude was pissing him off. My face felt like it was burning and I could feel it turning red. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I didn't know what to say so I just said "Ok" like I usually do whenever he gives me work to do and went downstairs. I felt like quiting right there and then but somehow I didn't say anything. I got my coat and my bag and whispered to my coworker, "I think I'm going to quit tomorrow", and then left the office. My coworker obviously heard every word because it's an open-plan office and the boss is just on the second level.

I've never been spoken to like that before. I felt betrayed - I lost all confidence and trust in him as a boss.

I have a bad attitude? I have been 100% dedicated to my work, I don't even take coffee breaks or lunch breaks. If there's a problem with the system he tells me to stop relying on the programmer for help and use my own initiative, but then if I'm taking too long I should pass it onto the programmer. How am I supposed to learn anything? The programmer is totally swamped with a million projects and can't help me all the time. He won't hire another programmer or either they don't want to work for him - the last programmer he hired only lasted a month..

A month before he said the same thing to my coworker - completely out of the blue as well. He said he had a bad attitude and that it was pissing him off - almost word for word. We were both completely confused as to where this outburst came from.

So anyway, I come into work the next day and I'm waiting and wondering and worrying if it's going to be my last day - if I'm going to be fired. I said 2007 was going have a lot of firsts for me - getting fired for the first time ever would probably count. My coworker says not to worry - he'll have a word with him for me.

But the boss is late. The boss finally comes in at 11.45am. Was he going to call me to his office and shout at me again and fire me? No. He acts as if nothing at all has happened and just asks us what projects we're working on.

At 12pm my coworker goes up to his office for a regular project update meeting. It suddenly turns sour when the boss accuses my coworker of having a bad attitude again and that he has to be a better manager - but that's not his job - it's the boss' job. The boss says he only wants to get the jobs in and not have any creative input - but how are we supposed to know what the client wants if we don't meet with them and the boss doesn't want any creative input? It's madness. He doesn't want to be a motivator or boost our moral - and it shows - there was just a horrible feeling of dread in the office for the past month.

Finally, he says that we're completely disposable or replaceable. My coworker has had enough and just walks out.

I'm left alone with the boss... what was I going to do? There was no way I was going to stay working there - especially on my own with him. I text my coworker to ask if he's really quit and he says yes, he's had enough.

I'm sitting there quietly doing my work of half an hour when the office phone goes off. I take a message and it gives me an excuse to go to his office. He tells me to sit down and to have a chat because I must have overheard his conversation with my coworker.

He says things have to change around the office. There's a cash-flow problem and by the end of the month if things don't improve there will be lay-offs. Er.. my only coworker just quit and you can't fire the programmer, so it's just me left. He was basically giving me till the end of the month. Did I have any questions? My mind was blank.. then I remembered that he owes me £30 from my last paycheck. He said he doesn't owe me anything because he gave me a bonus the month before which more than covers the £30 and that I can now keep the difference as the bonus. I went back to work.

A client comes in for a meeting which lasts for nearly two hours. The phone goes off several times - clients are looking for my coworker but the boss doesn't tell them he's quit.

I couldn't concentrate - I kept thinking about how I was going tell him I was quiting but the meeting with the client seemed to go on forever. When the client finally left I said to the boss that we have to have another chat..

I tried to be as calm as I could. I told him that I didn't feel comfortable staying working for him. I told him about the late wages, the late wage slips and not paying me in full. I told him that the way he spoke to me was upsetting and unacceptable. Ugh.. my voice was getting really wobbly at that point. He apologised for those things, but I wasn't going to stay. I gave him a weeks notice.

The next week was bizarre. He was being really nice to me - just trying to talk to me - which he never did before. He wrote me a check for the money he owed me. He said he didn't want people on his payroll because paying people's taxes and National Insurance was too much hassle - he prefers using freelancers so he doesn't have to deal with that stuff. He originally planned to have my coworker be the manager of the office so that he could spend a couple of months in Dubai. He wanted me to stay until the end of the month - and that I could carry on working as a freelancer for him. I said I would think about it but didn't promise anything.

When I finally made up my mind not to stay - he says that he thought we had agreed that I was going to stay until the end of the month. I did no such thing! I made it clear that I wasn't staying and then he tried to guilt me into staying.

He said there were loads of unfinished projects: yes, but I already took them as far as I could - they needed to be finished by the programmer or were just test sites that were only missing the contents now. Then he started saying something about how he "took me from the job center" - I stopped him there.

I'm grateful that he gave me a break and a job as a web designer - my dream job - but I don't think I've learnt anything significant the entire time I've worked there. The ASP code I learnt was only to modify the system the programmer created - I don't think I can apply it to anything else. It just felt like working in a production line for websites.

Then I made it absolutely clear that I was leaving the next day. He said I was being unreasonable.

My final day went surprisingly ok. He was calling freelance agencies all day and I overheard that some were charging £150-£180 per day but he said he could only afford £100 - which is more than me and my coworker combined. At the end of the day we shook hands and he said there was freelance work if I wanted it. I gave him my keys to the office, my address to send my final payslip and P45 and left the office. I hope the two weeks wages he owes me gets paid on time..


Now I'm just looking for a job that pays me on time, in full and gives me my wage slip. Is that unreasonable?