At what point do you say enough is enough and walk away from a job?

daveyboynire

I got made redundant from a fairly decent job 2 years ago now, I took a job in a factory just to tide me over because as they say any job is better than no job right?

Anyway in them 2 years I have put everything into finding other work with no success.

In my current job I have had an issue with bullying which HR did damn all about and basically blamed it on me. I have had various issues including stress, depression, IBS triggered by this job. An endless work load, compulsory overtime, faulty equipment that's never fixed and management don;t want to know. I am just finally sick to the back teeth of it all, and all for the minimum wage. I've gave this my best shot but think this is beyond me.

Piriz

what is your alternative if you leave? financially can you manage on social support? would you consider retraining? if you relocate you could get a better job...sounds like your deeply unhappy so i'd set about a plan that will lead to a different job.. might require retraining or relocating etc.

daveyboynire

Being on min wage I wouldn't be much worse of on benefits, the problem would be getting benefits if I walk away from a job. I started retraining shortly after I started this job, part time degree takes 6 damn years Hell of a long time.

Elessar

If you are stressed get a letter from the doctor, social welfare will give you benefits straight away then.

daveyboynire

Its a lot to think about.

Wizzy2011

If you're earning min wage and factor in paying tax, travel expenses, lunch etc you're roughly coming out with 200 profit. Now don't get me wrong, for all those lazy so and soes that use that as an excuse to waste their life not working, and sloth their way through life, it's not an excuse. It's a short term solution for you, as if this job is affecting your mental health, it'll cost you ten fold in the long run. Build the bridge and move on

CatFromHue

If you went and did your degree full time would you be able to get a grant or something or would you be able to get part time work or savings to get you through it?

irish bloke

You shouldn't have that much responsibility and stress in a job that pays minimum wage. Minimum wage jobs are generally task orientated only.

Walk away from this crap situation and go on sick/stress leave if you have to.

Minimum wage jobs are 10 a penny with far less ****e then what you are putting up with.

sawdoubters

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employment/equality_in_work/bullying_in_the_workplace.html

Hingo

I had a similar experience in a job I held a good few years back, basically worked for one team, was hitting targets left right & centre, leading the odd project or that, basically doing very well for myself. Then I got moved to another team during a restructure and got a new manager who I learned had a fierce reputation of "managing people out" for just not liking them (either due to personality clash or something I don't know)me being one of the candidates for that fate. Anyway there were a few others on the team all in the same boat, some managed to find jobs elsewhere, others like me decided to try stick it out and put in the extra work.

In the end I went from having a credible track record loving my job, to being stressed out in the exact description you gave. Worst feeling ever, soul destroying went on for about a year and took a very destructive toll on my personal life. After thinking about it for weeks I drafted up my notice and as I was just about to hand it in the company announced it was in basically going under and the needed voluntary redundancies, which if it had been announced about 20 mins later I would have lost out on that. But that was just luck for me

In your situation, I'd definitely look into going to the doctor about stress (from the sounds of it, it's not like you're trying to pull a fast one or anything) , if you can get a decent chunk of time off work.
This can work in two ways for you.

1. If your HR dept is anyway decent and learn this stress is caused by work they'll take action to ensure your workload is lightened to give you a chance to get things back up to speed.(after your time off)
2. HR will do nothing and if that's the case then your employer is not worth the minimum wage they're paying you. Use the time off to refresh yourself, your CV and focus the energy that would otherwise be used up in the negative environment of your current workplace & use that energy to get you to a more positive workplace! I know you've been looking for jobs to no avail so far but trying to seek a new job with a stressful full time job to burden, is a giant task, especially for interviews trying to portray enthusiasm etc. look for employers that can see you as a valuable asset.

Last resort is to just pack it in. I'm not saying don't do it, but just make sure if this is a decision you need to make that your prepared (in every aspect depending on your circumstances). Sometimes it requires one to take one step back before taking two steps forward. Having said that just make sure your decision doesn't see you in the same or worse scenario in another 2 years time

SCOOP 64

irish bloke wrote: »

Minimum wage jobs are 10 a penny with far less ****e then what you are putting up with.

Unfortunately these days this bit isnt true.

daveyboynire

SCOOP 64 wrote: »

Unfortunately these days this bit isnt true.

Don't I know it, It harder to get a min wage job than it is a professional job, you rarely see them advertised for a start, companies don't need to these days. And if I look at my current employer, the place is full of qualified people who are just making do until something better comes along if it ever will, I wonder are all factories, warehouses low paid jobs in general the same across the country?

chefwes

Maybe you should consider contacting NERA if you feel conditions in work are unacceptable, your health and we'll being is most important. I completely understand the financial pact this can have by leaving a job but if you have decided to leave you have nothing to lose and it can be done annonymously

doolox

I was amazed how easy it was to get two weeks off a particularly stressful job I was in and it gave me time to think things through and work out an exit strategy from the job.

As luck would have it a VSP scheme came up and I was able to leave the company with a good package that allowed me breathing space to get another position.

That did not work out but at least I had got a chance to give that sector another chance.

I then completely changed to a different sector using talents I had since childhood and what my father then called a "waste of time".

Going self-employed I have found a lot of people using their hobby skills to earn a living.

While it might not get you a big mortgage, the only reason I can see for holding down a full-time job with our beloved blue chip multinational but soul destroying corporations, it will pay bills, put food on the table and get you by.

If you want to be a real c**t, take a lot of sick time 2 weeks at a time and string this process out if the company policy on sick pay allows, some pay up to 26 weeks certified and you should be able to avail of this. If you have made the decision to leav your sector it should be possible to string them out for a year or so but this will be hard on your co-workers, it depends on how much you like them or how big the company is..... but if I had the chance to do it I would love to string them along for a year or two as revenge.

daveyboynire

doolox wrote: »

I was amazed how easy it was to get two weeks off a particularly stressful job I was in and it gave me time to think things through and work out an exit strategy from the job.

As luck would have it a VSP scheme came up and I was able to leave the company with a good package that allowed me breathing space to get another position.

That did not work out but at least I had got a chance to give that sector another chance.

I then completely changed to a different sector using talents I had since childhood and what my father then called a "waste of time".

Going self-employed I have found a lot of people using their hobby skills to earn a living.

While it might not get you a big mortgage, the only reason I can see for holding down a full-time job with our beloved blue chip multinational but soul destroying corporations, it will pay bills, put food on the table and get you by.

If you want to be a real c**t, take a lot of sick time 2 weeks at a time and string this process out if the company policy on sick pay allows, some pay up to 26 weeks certified and you should be able to avail of this. If you have made the decision to leav your sector it should be possible to string them out for a year or so but this will be hard on your co-workers, it depends on how much you like them or how big the company is..... but if I had the chance to do it I would love to string them along for a year or two as revenge.

Ha ha. You're missing one important point. Most low paid jobs don't offer sick pay. You don't work no pay. You get statutory sick pay after a week or something but its peanuts, similar to what u get a week on the dole,

sligoface

daveyboynire wrote: »

In my current job I have had an issue with bullying which HR did damn all about and basically blamed it on me. I have had various issues including stress, depression, IBS triggered by this job. An endless work load, compulsory overtime, faulty equipment that's never fixed and management don;t want to know.

I had some of the same issues in a factory and although I was on nearly double min wage I was not permanent and my temp status was used as leverage to force me to put up with all of it and also made to work 12 hr nights five days a week every other week with OT on the other week that was supposed to be my short week. I had moderate psoriasis which became severe and was all over due to stress. I couldn't get out of a chair or walk without pain. I posted about this a few times if you want to read it check my post history.

Long story short, I told them I would not accept another 30 day extension if I wasn't put back on the hours that were stated on the contract I originally signed, 8 hrs M-F, because they told me the 12 hr nights would be for 8-9 weeks, and it ended up being for 9 months and it was affecting my health and work performance in a very negative way.

They let me go. A few months later they let most of my colleagues go as well.

Since then, my condition has improved immensely, but I am struggling to make ends meet. But I feel I made the right decision, especially considering how they laid off people anyway. These places could not care less about you, and if you don't take time out to heal yourself now you will just get worse and you may become too ill to work there or anywhere else anyway. I also found HR in factories are useless to employees, they will never do anything, so unless you're in a union you are powerless to the higher ups, who as you said, are not at all interested in any issues employees have with work conditions.

If you can survive on the dole, I would quit. You'll get the dole, don't worry too much about that bit. No amount of money is worth your health, and min. wage definitely isn't. Just be aware that financial problems can be stressful also, and jobs are scarce, but being able to feel like a normal person again and not a stressed out, unhealthy, miserable shell of a person whose hard work is not properly appreciated or compensated is something to seriously consider. Life is too short to spend all your time being miserable in a crap job. You might need to make some changes to afford to live off the dole till you get healthy and get back to work, but if you budget you can scrape by while you undo the damage the stress caused to your system.

Hingo

daveyboynire wrote: »

Ha ha. You're missing one important point. Most low paid jobs don't offer sick pay. You don't work no pay. You get statutory sick pay after a week or something but its peanuts, similar to what u get a week on the dole,

Could even just use this statutory sick pay as a trial to see how you could survive on the dole, at least that way you'll have an idea if packing in the job is going to rid you of stress or cause more through financial loss. If the latter then ya can just go back to work after the leave has finished.