How To Tell If You Are Being Exploited At Work

Hello, everyone! Welcome back to Kyrabe Stories. Today, we have a special guest post from P.A. Raymond on ways to avoid being exploited at work. Please make sure to connect with him on LinkedIn or check out his upcoming videos on Mevue!

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When you start in a new job, it is hard to see if it’s going to be an exploitative one until you really get the feel of it. After all, we rarely pick jobs that from the beginning seem to be a problem to our mental or physical health. However, as time passes, we get to notice things that raise some minor or major alarms in our minds. Are they a distress signal for us to notice that we are being exploited? Should we ignore them dismissively? This article aims to help you spot those things on your job that might be asking for more than you are supposed to allow your employers to ask you.

Contracts must be read.

Last time you checked, you signed in for a job. Your obligations were explained to you and you probably signed a contract, one that you were supposed to read. And we hope you did because there was a clear list of all your limits, obligations, benefits and all of the sort. However, you might find some employers asking you to go over your contract’s parameters as some sort of sacrifice and without nothing but mere words.

At this point, it is important to reveal the first thing you should know when there’s a contract. Law pays no attention to anything that isn’t written and signed by both parties. This means that you cannot make claims that aren’t a violation of your contract. So yes, contracts are there to protect you. To do so, not even you should break their parameters. 

Know the meaning of a favor.

Imagine this – you’re finishing up your shift for the day. Your boss stops you on your leave and politely asks, “Do you mind coming 15 minutes earlier tomorrow?” Now then, this favor can be done. Maybe the boss needs to have a talk with you. Maybe you need to cover a coworker who is on a personal errand and you might need this favor later. This makes you think you are obligated to fulfill this favor. Yet, if this favor repeats itself four times, you’ve given out one free hour of work. Suppose you work from Monday to Friday, and you perform this “favor” every day. You peacefully surrendered 5 hours of work in a month. How much do you make an hour? 

If you are going to do this favor, which is away from your duties, try to notice if it repeats itself too much. Then politely ask about the duration of this favor. Try to exchange it for something of equal value like, “Can I leave 15 minutes earlier then?” If the response is negative, then there’s inequity. Therefore, you should stick to your contract for you won’t be compensated for your lost time. 

Spot the wolf under the sheep clothing.

This is quite important because we tend to think that only tyrannical looking bosses are the ones who can exploit you beyond your limits. In fact, the most dangerous cases of exploiting bosses are those who mask their pseudo-slavery in a shade of compliments and support. 

Think of a job that doesn’t even suffice for your eating (I really hope you never go through one of those). You tell this to your boss and he or she act as if they understand you and even offer you some help. They decide to give you a small bonus that serves you to have a snack before you clock in. The problem is solved, right? 

Not really, if the solution is just temporary or insufficient and makes you depend more than before on your employer, you might want to consider if this is a real help or a way to buy your will in order to prevent further complaints. Now, I am not saying that there aren’t legitimate employers who indeed help their employees in a given situation. What I am saying is that you should keep your eyes peeled to spot the difference. Remember, slow suffering is still suffering. 

They won’t stop doing something until you complain.

It happens a lot. They know they are breaking the rules but once you go to the boss’ office to state your claim, he says he’s sorry and then everything is over. This is no problem if it happens once. If it keeps happening, it means that your employer is trying to find gaps and is just drawing back when you notice. You will have to constantly check things that you shouldn’t be paying attention to on a daily basis, making your workload harder in the process. 

Like a salary reduction that comes out of nowhere, if you spot it they will call it back, but if you don’t notice they will let it happen and they will try more. This has the additional burden of having your trust under the constant pressure of the question, “What are they up to?” 

Plenty of punishment but no reward.

This is related to what we already discussed, and it is a clear signal of an unfair business relationship. Your employers ask you a favor; you comply and nothing happens. Literally nothing, besides a thank you. You ask for a favor, it gets denied and nothing else happens. Then your employer asks for a favor and you say no. Your boss then decides that you take too much time having lunch or going to the bathroom or anything that silently chastises you for saying no to his request. If this happens, there’s no doubt you weren’t asked a favor, you were actually ordered something politely. 

What do I do then?

Please note that we are not telling you to quit straight away. There are so many variables that it would be reckless to give such advice immediately. We recommend you to be alert. Being exploited at your job is not healthy, and trying to convince yourself that you can endure it is even worse. If you are being exploited, try to speak out, see how the situation evolves and then act accordingly. Remember, every situation at work must be addressed with brains before heart. 

Special thanks again to our guest writer, P.A. Raymond, for this post on ways to avoid exploitation at work!

Now let’s hear from you!

There are plenty of people for whom it will straight up suck to work for. When I worked Technical Support, my hours were cut to where someone working full-time with minimum wage made more than I did. Then I got fired the day I placed in a two-week notice.

Have you ever been exploited at work? How did you handle it? What other advice can you provide for other readers? Please share your stories in the comments below.

And as always, remember to just live your life one story at a time.

Take care,

Kyndall Bennett from Kyrabe Stories

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