My boss is replacing all his employees with Jehovah's Witnesses

[Jainarayan]

You all realize of course I'm being totally tongue-in-cheek about Canada being part of the US? It's probably because of our mutual history of being British subjects (along with Oz and Kiwis) that we're all allies and friends.

And I seem to be one of the few people (at least down here) who remembers that it was the Canadians who got the Iran hostages out.

 

[The Sum of Awe]

Definitely sue. Not just for you, but for all of the other non-Jehovahs that may want the job.

 

[angellous_evangellous]

My boss is a JW. A little while back he let go a long time employee and hired a JW to replace her. Then he hired another person who I met today. Turns out she is also a JW. Meanwhile he is making all kinds of noises to the two of us who are not JW that he needs to cut back on our hours "to save a few bucks", but I can't help but notice every shift we get shaved off our schedules is going to these JWs, who get paid the same as we do (I know, because I do the books).

Should I sue him or just quit? If I quit, should I do it in a fit of rage and cussing or should I properly train the JW who he has apparently pegged to replace me first?

That depends. You could pretend like you're a JW.

Or do a lousy job. Without him knowing, of course.

Or only take a shower once a week.

Switch the decaf and caf coffees in the morning. This is killer, makes a bad day for everyone.

Change the language on his computer to Japanese.

Sign him up for all kinds of fan clubs and have literature sent to his house. I signed up my boss for a different fan club each month for two years. I never told him, and I still do it even though I'm not there anymore. I'm talking about Star Trek, Hello Kitty, Star Wars... just really oddball stuff.

If you really want to play dirty, buy him a subscription to the nastiest porn you can find. I did this to a supervisor once and had it delivered to work. Poor guy got fired.

 

[Alceste]

Whatever course of action you decide to take Alceste don't let him get away with it.

I think the fundamental laws of the universe are not going to let him get away with it. He is the sort of person who checks his bank account on a shared computer in a bustling shop and then wanders away for several days without bothering to log out or shut down. I've seen what kind of shape he's in. There are collection agencies calling all the time.

 

[Alceste]

Sign him up for all kinds of fan clubs and have literature sent to his house. I signed up my boss for a different fan club each month for two years. I never told him, and I still do it even though I'm not there anymore. I'm talking about Star Trek, Hello Kitty, Star Wars... just really oddball stuff.

Oh, yeah! Take that, dumb boss!

 

[IsmailaGodHasHeard]

Sue him for religious discrimination.

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

More thoughts.....

What are the most profitable bits of his business?
What are the bits to avoid?

Could you duplicate the best bits with out having a shop?
Could you take on the music students with out a shop?
A small Office over somewhere or workshop, might work.???
perhaps part time hours to start?

Do you have a client list?

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Could you duplicate the best bits with out having a shop?
Could you take on the music students with out a shop?
A small Office over somewhere or workshop, might work.???
perhaps part time hours to start?

FWIW, a friend of mine had a language school. He'd hold classes during the day and a few evenings a week. The rest of the time, the school was unused, so he looked around for other people - including music teachers - to rent it out to on the other nights and weekends.

As long as you're teaching guitar, say, or some other portable instrument (i.e. not piano), you might be able to make a similar arrangement with someone in your town. I can't say for sure, but it's a possibility.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

My boss is a JW. A little while back he let go a long time employee and hired a JW to replace her. Then he hired another person who I met today. Turns out she is also a JW. Meanwhile he is making all kinds of noises to the two of us who are not JW that he needs to cut back on our hours "to save a few bucks", but I can't help but notice every shift we get shaved off our schedules is going to these JWs, who get paid the same as we do (I know, because I do the books).

Should I sue him or just quit? If I quit, should I do it in a fit of rage and cussing or should I properly train the JW who he has apparently pegged to replace me first?

I don't know if I'd bother with suing, as the time and energy required could well not likely pay off for you. If I were you, I'd foul up as much as stuff as possible, that you couldn't be legally held responsible for, and quit at the most inopportune time for your boss's business. Basically, **** his business over as much as possible before you leave. As it sounds like he's not very organized or knowledgable about the workings of the business, it seems as though you could really do some damage that nobody there would even be aware of.

Since you want to run a competing business, take the knowledge you learned while working there - both things to do, and things not to do - and use that knowledge to create a superior business model. Since you're starting from scratch, you have the advantage of trying to do improve on all aspects of the business from the start.

Personally, I think the output of negative energy required to pursue such a lawsuit, is often more detrimental - whether you get your "justice" or not.

 

[Alceste]

I don't know if I'd bother with suing, as the time and energy required could well not likely pay off for you. If I were you, I'd foul up as much as stuff as possible, that you couldn't be legally held responsible for, and quit at the most inopportune time for your boss's business. Basically, **** his business over as much as possible before you leave. As it sounds like he's not very organized or knowledgable about the workings of the business, it seems as though you could really do some damage that nobody there would even be aware of.

Since you want to run a competing business, take the knowledge you learned while working there - both things to do, and things not to do - and use that knowledge to create a superior business model. Since you're starting from scratch, you have the advantage of trying to do improve on all aspects of the business from the start.

Personally, I think the output of negative energy required to pursue such a lawsuit, is often more detrimental - whether you get your "justice" or not.

Leaving him to run his business himself is probably the most damaging thing I could do. In addition to the fact he doesn't understand the bookkeeping system for the school or the rentals, the people he has hired from his church are both awkward and terrible with customers. One traps customers in a corner and waffles on endlessly about specs and the other is so meek and timid she won't say a thing to anyone - more importantly, she won't be assertive getting people to pay up for their lessons.

I like the idea of letting him destroy his business on his own. It's elegant and keeps my hands clean while still quenching my thirst for revenge.

 

[Alceste]

More thoughts.....

What are the most profitable bits of his business?
What are the bits to avoid?

Could you duplicate the best bits with out having a shop?
Could you take on the music students with out a shop?
A small Office over somewhere or workshop, might work.???
perhaps part time hours to start?

Do you have a client list?

Definitely the school is the most profitable part. Apart from me and my potential business partner (the other non-JW guy) letting our own students know where we've gone, I wouldn't want to misuse any of the information I've collected for the store to build my own client base. I could delete it though.

OTOH, there are things I know there is a high demand for that this school can not provide, like group lessons. I could start with that before I even quit or get fired - he won't like me doing it outside the store (like a pimp, he is obsessed with getting his cut), but we all teach privately. There's nothing he can do about it. I can rent a very cute little hall in a neighbouring town for $50 a day (I "pay" him more than that to teach in a crappy, cramped, half finished booth in his store). The only problem is finding the time to develop a curriculum for a few interesting 6-8 week programs.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Definitely the school is the most profitable part. Apart from me and my potential business partner (the other non-JW guy) letting our own students know where we've gone, I wouldn't want to misuse any of the information I've collected for the store to build my own client base. I could delete it though.

OTOH, there are things I know there is a high demand for that this school can not provide, like group lessons. I could start with that before I even quit or get fired - he won't like me doing it outside the store (like a pimp, he is obsessed with getting his cut), but we all teach privately. There's nothing he can do about it. I can rent a very cute little hall in a neighbouring town for $50 a day (I "pay" him more than that to teach in a crappy, cramped, half finished booth in his store). The only problem is finding the time to develop a curriculum for a few interesting 6-8 week programs.

This defnitely seems to be the way to go. Simply remove the ways his business has come to rely on you - whether he's aware of those ways or not. Additionally, use what you've learned about the business and the local market to maximize on the most profitable areas, and take adavantage of areas not being utilized.

My wife and I had a similar circumstance. About 10 years ago, she got a job at a dog walking/pet sitting company in our area. The woman who ran the company mistreated both clients and employees, and ran the business very poorly. After about a year, I convinced my wife to leave and setup her business utilizing all the things she learned about the business and the market. My wife was concerned because she signed a non-compete, but after doing some research, I found that, even if the woman had pursued it, most of the non-compete was legally unenforceable, anyways.

The woman was particularly stupid, as not only did she screw over my wife, which was the final straw, but I was also in the middle of developing a custom database for her company which kept track of client/employee info and handled scheduling functions. She wanted to do it piecemeal, so my original contract for work only covered a portion of the system. I had finished the initial work order, and simply didn't sign another with them in order to finish the work. So, she ended up paying me several grand and didn't have a completed system. When she called to ask when I would be available to meet to talk about finishing the system, I laughed out loud and hung up.

Anyway, a few years down the road, my wife's business was already far more profitable, efficient, and successful than the company she left - largely based off the lessons she learned while she was working there.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

My wife was concerned because she signed a non-compete, but after doing some research, I found that, even if the woman had pursued it, most of the non-compete was legally unenforceable, anyways.

FYI for Alceste:

It sounds doubtful that this guy would've put a non-compete clause in your contract, but what Senor Trout says goes even moreso for Canada. The general principle is that you're entitled to pursue a livelihood, so non-compete clauses/agreements generally have to be very limited in scope if they're going to be enforceable here... even more than in the US, from what I've heard.

 

[Alceste]

FYI for Alceste:

It sounds doubtful that this guy would've put a non-compete clause in your contract, but what Senor Trout says goes even moreso for Canada. The general principle is that you're entitled to pursue a livelihood, so non-compete clauses/agreements generally have to be very limited in scope if they're going to be enforceable here... even more than in the US, from what I've heard.

Contract? Lol. This guy is allergic to putting things on paper. You have to work there for months before he even puts you on the official books. He doesn't even get people who rent things from him to agree to be liable for damage and authorize auto-credit payments. There's a form, he just doesn't use it. Seriously, if it isn't a sticky note or a torn bit of scrap paper, he's not interested.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Contract? Lol. This guy is allergic to putting things on paper. You have to work there for months before he even puts you on the official books.

Heh... sounds like a cafe I worked at part time for a term in university. I was there for four months; for the first three, I got paid from petty cash.

And by the time I left, I had outlasted two managers and was in the upper half of employees by seniority.

 

[Alceste]

This defnitely seems to be the way to go. Simply remove the ways his business has come to rely on you - whether he's aware of those ways or not. Additionally, use what you've learned about the business and the local market to maximize on the most profitable areas, and take adavantage of areas not being utilized.

My wife and I had a similar circumstance. About 10 years ago, she got a job at a dog walking/pet sitting company in our area. The woman who ran the company mistreated both clients and employees, and ran the business very poorly. After about a year, I convinced my wife to leave and setup her business utilizing all the things she learned about the business and the market. My wife was concerned because she signed a non-compete, but after doing some research, I found that, even if the woman had pursued it, most of the non-compete was legally unenforceable, anyways.

The woman was particularly stupid, as not only did she screw over my wife, which was the final straw, but I was also in the middle of developing a custom database for her company which kept track of client/employee info and handled scheduling functions. She wanted to do it piecemeal, so my original contract for work only covered a portion of the system. I had finished the initial work order, and simply didn't sign another with them in order to finish the work. So, she ended up paying me several grand and didn't have a completed system. When she called to ask when I would be available to meet to talk about finishing the system, I laughed out loud and hung up.

Anyway, a few years down the road, my wife's business was already far more profitable, efficient, and successful than the company she left - largely based off the lessons she learned while she was working there.

Thanks for the inspiring anecdote, KT. I know exactly how to out-compete on the retail side because I know musicians and I know the local community better than he does. He orders fairly random stock from suppliers nobody has ever heard of to save money. That means there's no local store carrying reputable brands. Also, everything is made in China. Just about every customer around here asks, and they want Canadian merch. His market is beginners who don't want to spend much to get started. Pros and collectors don't come to his shop unless they're desperate or they just noticed it for the first time - and those ones come in looking excited and leave looking depressed, never to be seen or heard from again. You know you're doing something wrong when a guy with 60 guitars comes to your guitar store and doesn't even want to touch any of your stock, let alone play it. Lol.

 

[Alceste]

So he told me yesterday he's shaving 2 hours off two of my shifts "to save money", but when I showed up two hours later than usual today, the JW chick was working my hours. I can't believe this guy! I'm training her again, because she's nice and it isn't her fault, but I'm having trouble bottling up my rage. I just about turned around and walked back out when I showed up and she was here.

 

[Father Heathen]

So he told me yesterday he's shaving 2 hours off two of my shifts "to save money", but when I showed up two hours later than usual today, the JW chick was working my hours. I can't believe this guy! I'm training her again, because she's nice and it isn't her fault, but I'm having trouble bottling up my rage. I just about turned around and walked back out when I showed up and she was here.

Like I said, don't let him get away with that ****.

 

[Alceste]

Like I said, don't let him get away with that ****.

I'm half tempted to burn the place to the ground, to be honest, but I'm still plotting. I really will create some drama, but not while he still owes me money, and not before I have another job lined up.

 

[Quagmire]

Keep notes and when the time is right, go to the newspapers with this, Alceste.