I get a lot of people asking me why I did not go back to my job during the Covid 19 Pandemic. The main reason I did not go back is that it was just not safe. The pandemic was out of control where I live and the company I had worked at was a very small building. There was just no way to stay 6 feet apart at various times. There were also various other things that went on and I just decided not to return.
I spoke to a coworker and asked if they were all wearing masks and practicing the 6 foot self distancing. The answer was up in sales, they wore a mask only when a customer came in or if they came up front to speak with a customer. I asked about back in the service area where I worked and the answer was no, nobody wore a mask at all and they were staying 6 foot apart at all times. I was told it was basically, it was business as usual. When I worked there, I was constantly sick and other coworkers were having the same problem. We only had 1 sick day a year and 2 personal days, so if we needed more time we had to use our vacation time. So workers always came in sick and passed it around, including the flu.
I spoke to my coworker and was asked if management had called and asked me to come back. I said, nobody had called me at all. Later on I was asked again if they had called me. I was told that management was apparently telling other employees that they had spoken to me and I told them I was not coming back. That was just a bold faced lie, because I had spoken to nobody since they had laid us off. My coworker told me that they had a lot of work and he could not keep up with it.
My coworker also told me that one technician was going on 3 weeks vacation and my coworker was going on a week vacation when the other technician came back. This basically left nobody to do the work and customers were already complaining. I was informed that management was going to give me a call. This was quite awhile since they had opened back up and were not doing curbside service. I believe they were not calling me back, but got stuck and had no choice.
You see there was an issue, because they bought the company I worked at previously and things did not work out with that business end of things. There was always some issue with that and I was never treated the same at the other workers. Well management called and left a message on the phone for me to come in and speak with them. They said in the message that they would only pay me what unemployment paid me. Apparently not including the $600 a week stimulus amount.
You see I had worked for them for about 24 years and that includes a few years at the previous company. In the time I worked for them, I never had a raise in pay and not even a cost of living increase in pay. In fact the pay raise was stopped a few years ago and they started an incentive plan. It was almost impossible to make enough billable hours to get the high bonus. One time when I reached the amount they decided to split it up with the other technicians, so I go very little.
People ask me, why don't you ask for a raise. My answer is that I had spoken to management many times and they always had an excuse. I satisfied all their excuse and they just made more, so I gave up. Okay, so they called again, but did not even leave a message. My coworker spoke to me and said they were getting angry, because I did not answer or call them. They then sent me an email asking me to come back. I finally sent them an email and let them know I was not coming back.
I thought long and hard about what I was going to do. I let them know that I was going back to my previous career that I had worked at before. I need a job, where I make more money to pay my bills. I was only earning a little more than minimum wage and now I would be making even less. That is just ridiculous for an employee that has been there for so many years. I asked my coworker what he was earning and it was the same as before the layoff. This person had only been there a few years and was being paid a more for the same job as I was doing. I also found out before form other workers that they were paying other employees more than me for the same job.
There were other reasons I did not go back, such as being told to myself that I knew nothing. I was also told by another employee that I was the most unappreciated person there. They were also doing things that were not legal according to manufacturers. Due to my Catholic Faith and beliefs, I can not and will not work or represent a company such as this. There were other things that were personal that happened. I had put up with so much all these years, I could not take anymore. I had prayed many times for God to get me out of that place. Well God finally answered my prayer, not in the way I would have imagined with a Pandemic.
