How much disrespect will you put up with from an employer?

[Phalex]

My boss and I had a heated discussion several months ago. One of the tools he uses as a motivator is threatening your employment. It works really well on one of my coworkers, but until then hadn't been tried on me.

I pretty much told him to do what he needs to do. I have no control over his actions.

It did motivate me to get my resume together. So far no real bites, but I'm lookin.

[Jim Nazium]

Not much these days. To be honest, I put up with a huge amount of disrespect when I was 25, inexperienced, and barely making ends meet. I didn't think I could afford to quit. In retrospect, I wish I had. No amount of money is worth being treated like dirt. At 47, with a good amount of savings and a very strong resume, I'm not likely to put up with much at all.

And yes, inappropriate touching isn't going to happen more than once.

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Originally Posted by jeffbonny

In my case it is very much about the quality of work I do. I'm very well respected in my field and employers simply don't **** with me.

Having low overhead is directly related too because a disrespectful employer knows when you are willing to walk and aren't going to be intimidated; all but the really stupid ones won't ever try hard enough for it to be a problem. It's like genuinely not fearing a dog...most of the time they'll leave you alone. And when they don't you let 'em have it and no one thinks the worst of you for it.

Not saying how things are for anyone but me here. YMMV.

Those are the types I'm talking about

[1958Bassman]

Originally Posted by Joe Nerve

That depends on sooooooooooo many variables.

If I was making 300,000 a year at job that I really enjoyed my boss could curse me out for no reason in front of the entire staff and it would roll off me the second he/she walkded away.

If I were working like a dog for $40,000 a year I would stand for considerably less.

And a lot would depend on who was depending on me for support.

If you were making $300K/yr, you would have proved that you're able to do things others can't (obviously, with some making $20M, negotiating salary/compensation isn't one of them), but if someone runs a company into the ground, they should be lit up like a billboard next to the freeway. At $300K, some measure of respect should be given by the boss. If not, the person making $300K should be able to find a job a lot more easily than someone who can top out at $25/hour.

[1958Bassman]

Originally Posted by Phalex

My boss and I had a heated discussion several months ago. One of the tools he uses as a motivator is threatening your employment. It works really well on one of my coworkers, but until then hadn't been tried on me.

I pretty much told him to do what he needs to do. I have no control over his actions.

It did motivate me to get my resume together. So far no real bites, but I'm lookin.

The guy I mentioned before has someone working for him who, I'm convinced, killed the attitude of the company by being gruff for no apparent reason. Some thought it was funny, I used to get along with him until I really saw him for what he is- just about completely un-self-aware. He thinks that his ways are the only matter and if someone wants to do something different, he gets all bunched up. He threatens to quit if he doesn't make more money and the owner caves because he doesn't want to have to find someone else. The guy isn't particularly great at what he does, but he has been there for 32 years now and he doesn't like change, so he won't actually quit unless the owner really does something he can't stand.

[hdracer]

Originally Posted by MAJOR METAL

I draw the line at bad touch.

Could you elaborate on this?
That could mean a lot of things.
Sexual?
abusive, like a shove or a swat to get you going

Nether is ever appropriate but they do need to be dealt with differently.

[guitardefector]

Originally Posted by Jim Nazium

Not much these days. To be honest, I put up with a huge amount of disrespect when I was 25, inexperienced, and barely making ends meet. I didn't think I could afford to quit. In retrospect, I wish I had. No amount of money is worth being treated like dirt. At 47, with a good amount of savings and a very strong resume, I'm not likely to put up with much at all.

And yes, inappropriate touching isn't going to happen more than once.

+1. People who constantly excuse these types of people and behavior end up being mousy, disrespected Freddo Corleones. And we all know what happened to him?

[Jazz Ad]

Originally Posted by Simo98

Directly proportional to how much I need the job.

+1.
I'm in high demand so my boss is respectful and for the most part leaves me alone.

[fraublugher]

No comment.

[ggvicviper]

Ooooh, I got a good one pertaining to this topic.

I recently switched jobs in November. Currently, I work for a wellness digital media company as a Front End Engineer/Web Programmer. Previously, I did the same thing for a fashion retail company that is pretty well known (in America), and they are owned by a company that everyone knows worldwide.

At my previous employer, I was on a team of producers, software engineers and QA analysts. The software engineering group within the team was but three people: myself, and two other guys, one of whom was my boss. As it was, I ended up doing 70-80% of the workload every week, while my boss had to mainly handle merging code together (which was about 10%). The other guy was an absolute waste of space - his day generally consisted of watching Netflix (and when they took that away, YouTube) movies for about 6-7 hours of the day. What little work he did was very easy (change that text, copy and paste), and more often than not he screwed it up. To top off this crap popsicle of a human being, he had a bad attitude with everyone, and creeped out many of the very pretty women we had at the job, borderlining sexual harassment in some cases. Why did he remain in the job? He was close (friend or possibly family member) with my boss' supervisor.

After several complaints from everyone on the team to my/his boss, our boss' supervisor and the head of the department, nothing was ever done to remedy this situation but a "don't do that/naughty naughty" finger wagging at best.

Eventually I got so frustrated, that I also began complaining to my supervisors. I had to help him with everything that wasn't crazy easy (which is awful considering he was 4-5 years my senior), sometimes doing his work for him, and he had a fairly crappy attitude with me too. I even asked for a change in seating, but my request was completely rejected. I was placed in a corner to help him look good, and people still got frustrated with his awful work. I felt bad for everyone, and I was pretty disgusted myself. Nothing was ever done until I started wearing suits to work.

Suddenly, I was told "things are going to change" by my boss' supervisor. I foolishly listened to him with hope, but of course he was lying to protect his buddy's butt. Two months later, the same garbage was going on, and in some situations it was getting worse. When I put my resume up, I had a better offer with a nice raise, in under 2 weeks.

When I quit, the team went into panic mode, and HR counteroffered me. I told them "If you have supervisors that don't listen or try to deal with real problems in the office, then how are you respecting employees? I reject your counteroffer, and I want to request an exit interview with the VP of the department." I had that exit interview, and the VP was very unhappy that she lost someone that brought much value to the company to keep someone who brought nearly none. Not to toot my own horn, but everyone deserves to know that they have value when they do, and I certainly knew mine at that company. My coworkers were upset that I left, but they were also cheering me on at the same time.

The sweet ending - due to the effects of Hurricane Sandy on NYC, my last week at my former employer was non-existant - I got a few days of pay for free. In addition, my new employer wasn't ready to bring me in when I was supposed to start, so they gave me a week off with pay. Two free weeks, and after my first few weeks at my new job, everyone tells me that I'm valuable and doing a great job. I told them I felt the same way about them.

[bassinplace]

Based on my track record, none. And every single time I've moved on to something better. Just because someone pays me doesn't mean they own me and I will not accept being treated as property at any time. I can always find something better to do.

[fraublugher]

Every time someone says "in these difficult economic times" put your jock strap on quick 'cuz it's gonna get pummeled.

[agent77]

A lot more now then when I was making minimum wage.

[Thrust Meatnozl]

None. Which is why I'm self employed. I have no qualms about 'firing' customers with bad attitudes either.

[Josh Pelican]

I had the manager of an Irving Mainway (before they changed their name). I worked there for like three months. He was a piece of **** and yelled in your face in front of customers.

I drew the line when he had the police show up at my house. Long story short, I was almost arrested on a case of "his word against mine".

[MAJOR METAL]

Originally Posted by hdracer

Could you elaborate on this?
That could mean a lot of things.
Sexual?
abusive, like a shove or a swat to get you going

Nether is ever appropriate but they do need to be dealt with differently.

Both. A finger in the chest or a brush of the hand below the belt. What ever happened to etiquette in the work place.

[Big B.]

I can deal with reasonably aggressive talk if the criticism is constructive. Otherwise I have very little patience for that kind of disrespect. I consider my employment to be a two way contract. My employer reserves the right to run their business the way they want (within legal boundaries) and I have a right to leave if I don't like it. Not having children or a spouse allows me that freedom of course.

[ArvindJayaram]

Look for a job, take any drastic action only after you have one in hand.

Of course, if this "bad touching" continues, I suggest you deck the b*stard and simultaneously file a complaint with the Labour Ministry or some government agency entrusted with protecting workers' rights. Nothing is worth that, it'll end badly if it goes beyond a point and you don't assert your identity.

"In these difficult economic times" is the truth. You're talking 10 per cent unemployment based on government statistics. It's not an excuse to be lazy, need to work harder and endure a lot more abuse to ensure you can make ends meet.

But why is it so hard to comprehend if companies require bailout money (like a Communist addendum to the Constitution for uber-rich capitalists), people do too?

- Jimmy Rage

[mongo2]

None.

[Kitsapbass]

It really depends. Most of the people I work with are ex-military, so it's really a mellow workplace. Occasionally I have to deal with a jackelope who's fresh out of "management training" - which normally isn't a huge deal - but they tend to get put out of shape when you stand up for yourself. My last job before this though, yeah....daily LOL!