For wanting to ring dd’s boss up and tear her a new arsehole?

[NicoAndTheNiners]

I won’t actually do it but feel like it.

Dd is 17yo, in sixth form. Good, polite, hard working kid. She’s been desperate for a job and heard that a business in the village was employing.

I had slight reservations as I know this business gets through staff quickly and I’ve also seen them asking for people to work unpaid for a week on trial before potentially getting a job.

Anyway dd started working for them on a Sunday. Gets £25 for 8 hours so not even minimum wage which isn’t good. No break either. But enjoys the work and gets on with the manager ok. Manager told dd she was the best person they’d had in ages and was professional as she works hard and isn’t on her phone like others have been.

She was asked if she wanted more work over the summer and texted back to say she could work but not Tuesdays or Saturdays. They texted her back saying they wanted her to work this Tuesday (2 days before). She had plans but didn’t want to upset them so texted back and said she could work but only till 12. So did 4 hours work.

During this shift the manager made her aware of some comments that the business owner had written in a staff handbook about dd. Dd said it was an A4 page of ranting saying that dds work the previous weekend had not been up to scratch. Lots of swearing, “I’m fucking sick of x, she’s a fucking lazy bitch and I’m running out of patience”.

Dd has only told me today and broke down in tears. She says it’s not even true. She did everything she was supposed to do and spent 4 hours making the place spotless. The business involves animals and the boss was basically mad because the next morning there was animal poo about.....odd that dd finishes at 4pm so by the next morning the animals will have produced more shit. Dd Is adamant she cleaned all the poo up on her shift.

When she finished at 12 the owner refused to pay her anything because she said she hadn’t done a full shift. They’ve asked dd to work next Tuesday and said they’re doing it to teach a lesson because if she was an adult she would have to prioritise her job over driving lessons. Dd has told them she can only work the morning again and says she will do it even though she doesn’t think they will pay her again.

I’ve told her not to go back. I’ve offered to ring up and either politely or ideally not very politely tell them she won’t be coming back. I really want to ring the woman up and say I think she’s a disgusting excuse of a human who is bullying a teenager and not even paying her. I’m fucking furious. Dd says she doesn’t want any conflict and will just carry on working until the end of the summer and then tell them she needs to stop,work to concentrate on a levels.

I’m certainly planning on reporting them to whoever cares about minimum wage breaches.

HMRC will make sure they pay money so you can report them anyway

Workers rights is that you must have half hour break after 5 hours worked. Not one hour for every hour worked! To find the correct information, google 'contract of employment. It will take you to 'gov.uk' and 'acas.org/contracts.
Also, an employer must give you a statement of earnings, i.e. payslip. To terminate a workers employment, the disciplinary procedure has to be applied. Any disciplinary procedure has to be documented either in the workers contract, or other documents applicable to the job. Like a staff handbook as a contract of employment doesn't have to be written down. You can find this on Gov.UK.
Gov.UK list workers rights for those under 18 years, including the minimum wage currently £4.20.

When I was a union rep, I used Gov.UK and asac.org.UK/contracts to win many cases.
You have clear case of unfair dismissal to take to an industrial tribunal. The court, if found in your favor, would also award you costs to outset the initial costs of court fee.

I hope my advice has been of assistance?

OOOPS, should have read Not one hour for every four hours worked! Like a misinformed person posted......

Here is another angle to approach this problem from as it sound like they don't comply with this licence either.
www.gov.uk/animal-boarding-establishment-licence

The first to contact here is asac. They will be able to explain what employers can and can't do. If she was employed as self employed, different ball game. But still has workers rights. Although not like a paid employee.
Should you wish to take this further i.e. a claim for unpaid wages, acas will assist. Once a case has been lodged to an industrial tribunal, it has to go via acas first. Acas gets in touch with the claimant, and case worker is assigned. If no agreement can be reached between the claimant and employer, then its up to the claimant to to take court action. There are some law firms that specialise in employment law. Might be worth contacting one?

Bear in mind that even if the kennel try to claim your daughter is self employed she probably wouldn’t be treat as such by hmrc because she is solely working for these people and I would say they would challenge this discription with the employer

Well she hasn’t gone into work today. But has texted her boss to say she’s sick rather than tell her the truth. She’s currently in bed crying.

I’m glad she’s decided not to go back and when she gets up we need to have a chat. I’m certainly going to report them. Whether or not I go down and try to get any wages for her is up to dd.

Your poor dd. I’d say to her when she joins you that you’d give the same advice to a friend. I think you’re right to report.

Poor dd. I can see my dd being similar.

I would tell dd that sge won't ever see this woman again and that her opinion of dd doesn't matter. But it does matter that she doesnt exploit young people going forwards. So you are asking for her wages. Raise an invoice for her and give it to the woman and also send it by email. If you don't have an email address send it via her business fb as a private message with the implicit threat that you will post it on her main page if she doesn't pay up.

With regards to the poor care provided to the animals you should have an animal division at your local council. Will be called something like Animal Welfare or Animal Regulations. Report your concerns to them and possibly RSPCA.

Go in there and tear the boss a new arsehole. I'd never normally suggest that but this woman is a psycho.

I hope you also report the owner to the RSPCA too. Your DD is clearly concerned for the animals welfare and by reporting on this matter too will prove to your DD you have listened.

You know you and your daughter seem very blasé about the poor conditions these animals are being subjected to. I think it's for the best she doesn't work there any longer as she seems to lack any empathy for these poor creatures, and would rather be a bit wet and not "make a fuss". I would report them for cruelty rather than worry about a few quid.

My first job was as a waiter. The owner’s son used to stand under the open tread stairs to look up my skirt when I went to the stores. Horrible place. I left after 3 weeks.

My own DDs waitressed at a local hotel for their first ‘Saturday ‘ jobs. I was never happy about the hours they worked and got fed up of picking them up after midnight on school nights, but got told to keep out of it. If it had been as bad as the situation your DD is facing I would have got involved. Eventually my youngest got a job with Pizza Hut who were horrified when she went to sort out coffees for customers on the espresso machine- she was 17 and was told this was illegal. Also her shifts always finished by 10.30 and they sent her home in a taxi. She was paid well and they had a good tips policy. Both my DDs learned a lot from seeing the difference between good and bad employers and are very good at standing up for their rights now.

Keep encouraging your DD to apply for other jobs. Her great attitude and work ethnic will show and she’ll understand once she gets a job with a good employer why you got involved with this last one.

I don't think there's any cruelty as such to the animals. Dd feels the kennels are small but if they're licensed by the council (Which they are) they must meet requirements?

The two dogs in a kennel thing on changeover day isn't great but I guess it's for a few hours only. Is this normal practice does anyone know? I suspect it is because ive never had to pay for the day I pick up so other people must be paying and it being their drop off day.

Wow that's appalling.

All of it. But the pay? £25 for 8 hours, that's £3 per hour!

When I was 16 I earned £4.50 per hour and that was 15 years ago!

Dd feels the kennels are small but if they're licensed by the council (Which they are) they must meet requirements

The description you give suggests they don't. Unless the dogs have access to a run attached to their kennel, the kennel should be large enough to provide separate sleeping and activity areas. They clearly aren't if the entire kennel is taken up with a bed. I suspect they put on a show when the council inspects them by, for example, putting smaller beds in the small kennels and telling the council they only put small dogs in them. Then, when the council has gone, everything goes back to normal and you have dogs in a space that is too small. They need an unannounced visit from the council or the RSPCA so they can see what is really going on.

Oh, poor kid. It’s disgusting she’s been put in this position. It is beyond belief how some people treat teenage staff and animals.

Would she be up for doing her Saturday shift and taking photos of the condition the dogs are sometimes kept in? It would be good to have proof of that.

I think you need to make her understand that it’s really, really, wrong to let them get away with treating teenagers like this and that she has a moral responsibility to do something about it, or to allow you to without feeling you’ve betrayed her trust. She needs to understand that sometimes you HAVE to ‘create a fuss’ to not be walked over and to not allow more vulnerable people and animals to be treat badly.

People need to be made aware of how this kennels is treating the dogs.

They need reporting to any local vets, other boarding kennels and any regulatory bodies.

HMRC need to be made aware of how this kennels is treating teenagers.

Someone needs to be made aware about the lying, inaccurate reports about DD and other HR issues such as ‘teaching her a lesson’. Though I’m not sure who or how.

I hope DD can see this needs addressing, not ignoring.

I hope she gets a much better job soon. If she’s worrying about her ‘reputation’, tell her there are many, many people (like me) who would be MORE likely to employ her if she ‘sorted this out’ not less likely. I want to employ people with good standards and morals.

Well in that case I'll report to council and rspca as well. Thanks.

I’d definitely go in and kick arse. Also help her to find another job. That shows support of DD in two ways. Plus demonstrates importance of self respect.

I think there are genuine anti slavery laws to deal with these types of people. Involve the police if he wont pay your daughter. She cant go back. Yes- tear several new arseholes.

As far as the animals being kept 2 to a pen , contact your local council licensing department. As that's a contravention of their licence, if they do this god knows what else they are getting up to

I’d let her go in, but stress to her that if she feels ill treated again she should just walk out.
If she’s not getting paid anyway but cares about the animals at least she’s doing something she feels is morally right.

Report them whilst she’s still ‘employed’ then if they get a visit whilst she’s on shift they could possibly interview her.

Workers rights is that you must have half hour break after 5 hours worked. Not one hour for every hour worked!

Actually, neither is correct. Working time regulations state that you are entitled to a 20 minute break if you work 6 hours or more. For an under 18, it's a 30 minute break if you work 4.5 hours or more.

OP when I was in 6th form I worked in a boarding kennel who paid cash in hand to all under 18s to not run it through the books. It wasn't minimum wage then for me either but I wanted to work with dogs so put up with it. This kennel also had the doubled up cages of dogs that were not from the same house that was mentioned which I always thought was terrible. They also kept dogs in the small crates in the kitchen we they were overbooked so poor small dogs lived in crates stacked on top of each other the whole time they were there. When I had to miss a shift because of illness the manager got the handyman to call my house and tell me not to bother coming back. I think it's a terrible thing to say but lots of kennels seem to fall foul of this. Later on in my life I worked in rehoming and when a Great Dane was brought in the head employee banged hard on his cage screaming and shouting to freak him out. It's partly why I never went back into working in kennels :(

If I were your daughter, I’d go back into work for a day, and take as many photos and videos of the kennels as I could. Then I’d quit, report to ACAS/HMRC/Council/RSPCA and see what comes of it. I’d also make a fake profile, VPN my IP address and post all the incriminating evidence on their social media accounts. Maybe even send to local paper.