dodgy work situation

[- English -]

Well its not so dodgy, rather just very annoying and wondering what you guys think i should do about it.

Basically im working while in Denmark with my girlfriends dad for a company hes worked at for about 25years. We deliver stuff, magazines, newspapers, brochures etc, whatever comes our way. He got me the job last may, and his boss did it as a favour to him, so without him i wouldnt have a job, and without his boss being nice i wouldnt have a job. Initially it was for 1 night a week (well thats my permanent shift ;p), doesnt seem alot but it would allow me to earn over 5000kr a month and allow me permision to stay in Denmark which is just some law required for Europeans.

The start of the problem i should say is the recession, theres less work coming to the company, less people ordering magazines, people cancelling newspapers, old people dying - as its the first things to go when people are saving. My gfs dad is on a good wage, far too good for the skill type of the job, and therefore hes already had a wage cut - from what i know, its about 10,000kr a week cut (i said he was on a stupidly good wage). Now - back to my problem.

For the last few months Ive been taking extra work on, 6 nights a week since some old woman broke her leg and since ive nothing else to do at nights i thought i might aswell work. Im just happy for some work really, and in relation to wages in England it feels like im earning a fortune (bring about 150kr an hour!) but this is where the problem is.

There are many polish people in the company, all who work at a lower wage. And the boss is dodgy in these situations, he will underpay people. "Accidently" forget to pay them for districts, take a few papers off each district and usually they dont notice/say anything (makes a nice extra income for him). But for the last few pay cheques for me, hes taking the piss.

We basically get a summary of what we worked with our paycheque, how many we delivered, and how long time it should take etc. Now when i check some dates, it looks dodgy, some days im doing less and getting paid more then other days where i do more and get less. This is because hes pissing around with the amounts ive delivered. Hes also "forgotten" to pay me for 1 night, and "forgotten" to add a 1 infront of two districts i did on friday. Overall it works out for the 2 weekly cheque im minus about 500kr (£60~). The pay cheque before i was minus about 250kr (£30~) so as you can see its adding up.

Now you may just think.. tell him and he will sort it. But its not so simple. My girlfriends dad is scared, worried what ever you wanna call it that it will piss him off. Times are bad in the company, and hes trying to keep a low profile as it would be disastrious if he lost his job. So he doesnt really want to confront him directly on this. (25 years working means alot eh).

So my question is what do you think I should do? He cant keep ripping me off like this, im getting mighty pissed off, but on the other hand I cant contact him due to implications it may cause as he knows i only got the job due to a favor, and its easy to get another pair of polish hands who he can rip off.

:s

p.s i would find another job if it was so easy!

 

[tierk]

p.s i would find another job if it was so easy!

There is the solution. As hard as it sounds this is your best option. I would suggest finding a company that is doing similar work and offering your services there.

 

[old.Tohtori]

Well you can't take it up the bum like that.

Aren't there protection laws in place for emploees, that they can't get fired "just because"?

If you have solid evidence of this tomfoolery, then confront and if he tries to do something dodgy(like fire you, or especially a relative which has nothing to do with a work relationship), sue the fecker.

In short; rough times doesn't equal absolution from being a dick.

Ofcourse you have to choose yourself, but you have two choices; do something, or keep taking it. Gather a list of +/- if you have to, but make a choice.

 

[- English -]

There is the solution. As hard as it sounds this is your best option. I would suggest finding a company that is doing similar work and offering your services there.

Well its harder than that. I travel to work with him, I use his scooter etcetc. The only way that would be possible is if he switched company which wont happen unless hes fired/company closes, then whos to say I can get the same job and make it work aswell as it does now (not intended to make it sound ghey).

Theres not many jobs going, especially for non talking Danes .. or non talking fluent Danes .. im trying but its another 2 years before i can get a danish talking job. Im applying for anything ICT which requires English (quite rare to come acorss), which often results with no email back ;}

 

[- English -]

Well you can't take it up the bum like that.

Aren't there protection laws in place for emploees, that they can't get fired "just because"?

If you have solid evidence of this tomfoolery, then confront and if he tries to do something dodgy(like fire you, or especially a relative which has nothing to do with a work relationship), sue the fecker.

In short; rough times doesn't equal absolution from being a dick.

Ofcourse you have to choose yourself, but you have two choices; do something, or keep taking it. Gather a list of +/- if you have to, but make a choice.

Thats true, but things are on a thin line - and lets face it if they want you out of the company, they will find a legal way to fire you.

If i didnt feel the pressure that if i fuck up when consulting him about it that it could have implications on his job, i would have no hesitations. I think he might be contacting some1 else at the office but i doubt that will have any impact.

 

[Lakih]

Im not sure about the laws in Denmark, but he shouldnt be able to just fire you. On the other hand if there is a recession and the company isn't doing well he can lay you off due to lack of work. Ofcourse what you did each day have to be done by someone else, that can be solved by either distribute your workload to the other workers or hire some moonlighter.

I would swallow some shit while looking for another job asap. Considering your GFs dad works there and is doing great i wouldn't "go public" as he might punish him just to fuck you over.

Sometimes you just can't win

 

[old.Tohtori]

If there's a way to go over the guys head, it would ofcourse be the solution, but i'm gussing there's one one there.

The problem with firing people is that, for example, in Finland you can't get fired for being drunk at work. If you do your job(as per contract), you can't really be fired without a lenghty forum and you'd have to fire a couple of others in fear of targeting.

Ofcourse don't know how it's there, it could be US style "no reason fired".

Think this is a discussion for you and your GFs dad, because internet advice always go for the action before caution and it doesn't always work out well.

Have a good chat, decide what to do and then live with that.

As a silver lining of sorts, even if he's ripping you off, from what i read you're still making good cash so, could be worse.

In any case; illegal activity is illegal.

And ofcourse you can always fight fire with fire;

If he's rippping others off, there's nothing worse then a whole company scheming against the company. minute longer coffee breaks, a full magazine session in the bog, three times a day, coffee packages disappear from the break room etc. Get yours

Or just form a strike, he can't fire everyone.

 

[- English -]

Im not sure about the laws in Denmark, but he shouldnt be able to just fire you. On the other hand if there is a recession and the company isn't doing well he can lay you off due to lack of work. Ofcourse what you did each day have to be done by someone else, that can be solved by either distribute your workload to the other workers or hire some moonlighter.

I would swallow some shit while looking for another job asap. Considering your GFs dad works there and is doing great i wouldn't "go public" as he might punish him just to fuck you over.

Sometimes you just can't win

Aye, the thing is we have swallowed so much shit recently. We get paid for the time it takes to deliver the stuff, so if he have 300 in a night, its about 4 hours pay or so. Sometimes they are late, forget to give us all the papers at the right time so we are waiting around in upto -20oC without pay. We take breaks at our own time so things like abusing that wont work ;p.

But @ Toht, ill discuss things with him, maybe he has some better solution, or knows someone to talk to about it. I do earn ok money for what I do, but then agian its only just above the Danish minimum wage. Ill keep an eye out of other jobs but really think its impossible with these current times. Perhaps my CV needs some enhancing if anyone is good at that stuff :}

 

[Punishment]

Anonymously report him to whatever employers rights service there is over there and it will be quickly sorted tbh, i was in a similar situation with my last job getting paid 1e an hour or so below what i should have been getting, i made 1 phone call and a weeks later i got a 700 euros extra in my paycheque

Don't let assholes like that guy think they can walk on you just because you feel you owe them a debt, you have shown you can do the work and are willing to cover shifts so fuck him.

Also on a sidenote, i have nothing against polish/latvian people coming into other eu states and working hard, but they constantly let this kind of shit slide and say nothing and it really fucks it up for the regular joe who has been 50+ years getting the employee's rights we have and encourages asshole employers who try to fiddle some extra money for themselves

 

[Ormorof]

you are in Denmark, join a Union, tell them about it, and watch them fry his ass over a fire, he cant fire you over it, because then the unions fry him some more, also if he does fire you, the union will help pay your unemployment, get you training and help you find work

 

[ford prefect]

I agree. It is a very sticky situation. Pay your dues and let a Union Rep sort it out for you. You don't have to speak to the guy about it. Just keep your head down, do the work, and let them do their thing.

 

[- English -]

I spoke to him and we have taken photocopies of my wage slips and are just gonna give them to him and see if its a genuine mistake or not.. tho i do fear the latter. Lets see what happens ;p

 

[Litmus]

I know a jobs a jobs, but if your not getting paid for the work you do then you shouldn't be scared to talk to him about it. We don't live in the 1800's any more

 

[Olgaline]

English,

Are you also studying in dk ?
if so you can join HK for a mear 95,- pr. month membership + A-kasse

also wich town in DK ?

if it's anywhere near århus i might be able to set you up

 

[Gwadien]

Tbh, if he's been in the company 25 years, and he's 'scared' to approach his boss, then what the hell is he still doing there? - I know there's a recession on, but if he's openly ripping people off, and your father in law knows about it, then don't you wonder why your FiL is still there? - because he keeps quiet about these things, exploitation at its finest