Stand Up for Yourself

I am a great believer in standing up for what I believe is right. Sometimes this gets me into trouble but at other times I find that it is the only way to get something done. I never complain about the way something is going because I always voice my opinion to the people that can do something about it.

Just one example is a workplace. I knew that it was being run completely wrong and that I was being treated in the wrong way. What did I do? I took it straight to the director of the business and asked her to sort it out (it was a manager so that was the only person I could go to).

In the end, I was fired, partially because of the complaint that I put it so I went straight to the head office of the franchise to sort it out that way. Still nothing has been done and I’ve been back and forth with letters of complaints and threatening to take legal action that I know I am entitled to take – I know my rights! As an update, nothing ended up happening. The head office refused to answer any of my letters and even the owner of the franchise ignored me. I’ve not completely given up but I have noticed that a few changes have been made. While that does not help me, it has helped others. Also, because of this mess, it has given me the kick that I needed to start my law degree and move into being a corporate law solicitor.

The problem is, I’m happy to make official complaints and stand up for myself but there are plenty of people in the same store that I once worked in that complain about their job and the way they are treated. Just recently many of the part time students who do not do a certain course have found out that they are going to be losing their jobs. They have no idea when but they just know that it will happen. If that was me, I’d be going straight to finding out my rights but they haven’t. Instead, they complain and then search for a job elsewhere.

Now, I can’t complain at them for doing that because they are taking matters into their own hands. They are finding other work and are doing something positive about it. At the same time, they are all going to be leaving the certain store in trouble because there will not be enough staff.

What I am angry about is the fact that the store thinks that they can get away with discriminating, not just against part time staff, but against those who are doing certain courses! That is not right at all but they are all letting those in charge get away with what they are doing. If that was me, I’d be going straight to head office and questioning what the hell they think this store is doing! Either that or threatening to take legal action. In the end some of the staff did take the issue up with the directors and proved that they do know their rights and that the law is on their side.

Yes, it is a business and yes, they need to make money. The difference is, getting rid of your part time staff that generally work all the weekends so the full time staff don’t have to is not going to save money – especially when those members of staff work a lot harder than some of those who do work full time, including managers.

If the directors really wanted to save money, they would have gotten rid of two managers when they had the chance. Instead, they kept them on. They would also be better getting rid of the members of staff that aren’t actually doing their jobs right and are causing more money to go out instead of in the store. Something tells me that these directors have no actual sense of business and are looking for easy ways to get rid of people without having to pay them off, which is the wrong way to go about it.