To want to leave this job already

[heatseeker14]

I'm not sure if I am over reacting and being over sensitive so require some perspective.
I started a new job very recently, after spending what seemed an eternity looking and applying,which I found totally soul destroying.

It is a small company which I am not used to, so it may just be me but...

Our parking is shocking outside work, no car park it's a choice of single/ double yellows/permit holders only/2 hour bays.
One of our customers parked their van outside on single yellow to have work carried out on it (which is a usual occurrence) but at some point received a ticket (which strangely disappeared).
Customer received a letter requesting payment and so our the boss said the company will pay but £5 will come out of everyone's wages....?
I am finding this hard to swallow plus the fact I have to remember to move my car twice a day to avoid receiving a ticket.
The other thing I disliked was being called by the boss after I finished work to accuse me of cocking up someone's wages. Which turned out not to be an error at all, just that my colleague had changed some tax codes.
AIBU to want to leave already....

All those things are annoying but the £5 thing doesn't even sound legal! I'd start looking again...

How on earth did he justify taking a customers parking ticket out of your wages?

How long have you been there?

I went from a massive company in London to a small company (3 of us) locally - it was a big shock and took me a while to adjust.

I don't see why you should pay £5 for your customers parking ticket though, that seems very strange.

Re the boss calling you in....well, my boss can be quite strange and I once got called in for ticking my accounts in the wrong coloured biro. Water off a ducks back, maybe your boss will just take a bit of getting used to.

New jobs are horrid until you find your feet.

I would be fuming if my boss took 5 out of my wages for someone else's parking ticket! That is really unacceptable...

The error on the wages though, is the sort of thing that just comes up. I get accused of mistakes that aren't my fault sometimes...

Don't leave right away, but it might make you feel better to look around for another job!

I think when you start a new job there is a period where people are getting used to you and learning to trust you so you can get accused of things a bit unfairly. This can pass in time. But I think the charging the parking ticket to you is completely out of order. I'd probably keep working there but look for something else.

I'd be seeking legal advice on the £5 deduction. It's only £5 this time but how much next time and how many times, could really add up. Sounds dodgy to me.

The £5 thing sounds very odd, and you need to query the legality of that.

The other stuff I don't see as a problem. Parking might be a pain in the arse, but you can't expect every employer to provide easy parking, that's just unrealistic.

It's impossible to comment on the issue about someone's wages without knowing if you were actually accused unfairly, or if you were just called in to discuss it.

I am sure the deduction is illegal.

Look for something else, but don't leave. Easier to change jobs than start again from scratch

The deduction sounds very iffy. How do the other employees feel about it?

Other than that, welcome to the world of work. Parking can be a PITA, bosses can be pernickety or unfairly accuse you of making a mistake. It's annoying but unless you have another job to go to you'd be mad to walk out.

Thank you for your posts.
I know I can't walk out of my job as it will make getting another job very difficult.
Before having children I worked for a large organisation, so I am finding it hard working for a small company. I find it hard that for most of the time I am alone, so nobody to talk to on my break and also nobody to ask if I need help for the majority of the time.

I have decided that next week I will challenge him about the £5 deduction next week. I also can't see why the other members of staff should pay either (they are not aware of this at the moment as he has not told them...) and will say this on their behalf which will probably result in me being fired

If I can get this deduction sorted I will give it a few more months to see how things go whilst looking on the job web sites daily

Is the parking thing that important? I have no parking at work, and we all have to either pay for expensive parking (over £10 a day) or park 10 min walk away and have to walk to the office.
Some people use the park and ride facility.

As I read the OP's first post, she isn't complaining about the parking situation, she is just giving that information as a background to the issue about the parking ticket.

I agree it seems wrong to take the price out of people's wages - however, I'm wondering whether it's on the basis that, because of the parking problem, staff are supposed to move cars for customers or look out for wardens or something.

hotfuzzra The area surrounding the place is residential permit holders only, so I think it will be just something I have to get used to.

Icimoi the guys who work on the vehicles have to watch out for wardens all the while.
I was not told when I accepted the job as part of my contract I would have to share the cost of a parking fine not that I have a contract as such and it would not occur to me that the rest of the employees would be charged either (perhaps get a warning instead). One of the other employees due to have this deduction, works in an area with no windows, how is he supposed to spot a warden?

Don't like the idea of £5 being taken out of staff's wages, that's just wrong.

I would leave, tbh. In fact, I did once leave a job after only six weeks because the boss was a bully and every day was a obstacle course of stress and anxiety. The boss wasn't going anyway, so I jumped ship.

greyhound just wondering out of interest did you wait for another job offer first? If not when you were job hunting did you include that job on your C.V?
Feeling nervous at the moment because if this deduction is still made after I have challenged him, I'm not sure I will be able to stay.

Hi Heatseeker - no, I didn't wait for another job offer. To be honest, I ended up getting ill from stress after working for this awful man, so I was out of work for a few weeks. In the end, I got another job about a month and a half after leaving the place and stayed in it for several years :)

Your boss sounds a bully and his methods are not ethical. I have never heard of money being deducted from staff for the reasons you describe.

In my opinion, life is too short to be miserable at work and I don't think this man deserves to have decent people working for him.

That sounds like an awful experience greyhound, good to hear you managed to move on to a better company.
It took so long to get this job and the thought of returning to constant job searching and rejection is depressing. But on the other hand I can't work with someone who deducts money in this manner argh!

Hi Heatseeker - The guy was a classic psychopath. No empathy, no interest in people except for what they could do for HIM. He had lots of superficial charm but was extremely manipulative. He had a sadistic streak and loved power - he would hire and fire on a whim and was a compulsive liar.

I was privy to a lot of his lies, as I was his PA. This made me very uncomfortable. For example, he fired a guy and then told everyone that the guy had "deserted" the company.

It says a lot about him that, when he left early on a Friday afternoon to travel to his home in the countryside, we would actually throw a party to celebrate. Money would be collected in a kitty and a visit to the off license made. Of course, one day he came back and caught us at it... wasn't chuffed.