This is going to be loooong.
I previously worked for a small business - just the owner and 2 other part time staff for 9 years.
It was local, convenient and reasonably unstressful (or so I thought) when my home life was stressful and traumatic.
I left and got another job which I enjoyed but which I had to leave due to a huge life change with death of a close family member.
After my personal life settled down I approached my old manager after we had kept in touch (and she kept asking me to go back!) and asked if she needed some help on an ad hoc freelance business as I knew she had recently lost a member of staff. She enthusiastically agreed.
She's given me much less work than I expected. I'm back working with a colleague who is hugely insecure. She constantly talks to herself, slams desk drawers and flirts with clients and the only conversation we have is for her to tell me how good she is at her job. We are equally qualified. This colleague has had a terrible home life including long term abusive relationship which she refused to discuss when anyone would point out that she wasn't being treated well. Her only daughter sadly committed suicide as a teen a year or so after she finally split with the abusive boyfriend.
My boss has nearly been struck off by her professional body for incompetence - she received a significant fine. I was working there but only found out through a friend sending me an article from a national newspaper. The majority of phone calls to the office are clients complaining she hasn't done their work! It was bad before but it's awful now. The boss has some personal issues now but she has never put in procedures to ensure the final work is done (all done by her).
The boss makes it clear she has her favourite but it's not me. She tells me how we must keep my colleague happy. Colleague is never asked to get the coffee or run an errand like I am. She is always asked about her weekend whereas I'm just ignored.
Just documenting that above as made me see what an unprofessional situation I'm in.
Last week my colleague has got hold of my work (I assume authorised by my boss who rarely comes into the office nowadays) and was picking every detail apart. Questioning everything I had done on a clients work around 6 months ago so it's not possible for me to remember every detail.
When I sent my end of day email to the boss detailing my work completed, I also wrote a paragraph asking why my colleague was checking my work so thoroughly and questioning everything and if she needs me to work differently, please let me know.
I've also had to chase the boss for payment of my last invoice to which I've received no response.
Quite frankly I put up with this shit for too long before and I naively thought things would be different.
I do feel guilty though. Colleague has had a terrible time and I so feel for her losing her daughter and the boss just can't seem to sort herself out enough to actually run the business properly and I waited and waited before and I'm still waiting. I think I'm too nice and understanding but ultimately I'm not happy as I'm not being treated well. It's knocking my confidence and self esteem.
Needless to say there have been many other unhappy staff who have left over the years.
I suppose I'm just writing this to confirm that this situation is not a healthy one!