My sons 20 and has just come out of his apprenticeship and now is a fully qualified plasterer (and a good one). His boss has been promising him proper wages as soon as his certificates come through. This week his paperwork arrived so he duly took them into work to get copied and a day later his boss has informed him that he is getting laid off on Friday.
Now his boss is a nasty little bastard and has constantly been pulling Ricks (my son) work on things like a window reveal being 1mm difference from one side to the other, a wall corner 2mm out over 3m that kind of thing. Asking him why he hasn't boarded a full house in 2 days, threatening to dock his wages if he has to put other people on a job to help him, not supplying him with a mixing whisk so he has to mix by hand. Making him buy his own buckets for mixing, Putting him in a school with the lights on a timer and expecting him to finish the job in the dark. Just basically winding him up and trying to make him walk. Fair play to Rick he's kept his head down been non confrontational and carrying on grafting his back out for a piss poor wage. (I'd of battered the guy with a 2 metre spirit level until he stopped twitching!)
I ve suggested he goes down to Citizens advice on friday and take all the printed evidence of his wage docks etc so they can give him professional advice on whether he can get some of the docked wages refunded and how he stands on a redundancy payment claim.
Rick obviously wants to cause this guy some grief and does have some dirt on him.
He owns and lives in a grade 2 listed building that he's renovated over the last couple of years. His internal walls have been boarded and skimmed instead of horse hair render, he's got 10 cubic of concrete in the floors and asbestos buried in his garden. I'm no expert on building regs but I'm pretty sure he's taken short cuts that are not within regulations.
His H & S on site is very poor, no toilets on site, all his vans are death traps and from what I ve heard his approach to a job with asbestos on site is appalling. A lot of the other trades that work for him have got kids and mortgages so don't complain as people who have suddenly find themselves laid off the reason being no work for you pal!
Is it worth all the hassle?
He probably wont get a reference anyway but I just see it as the big man against the little man and it will be a long drawn out saga not worth the effort.
He's going to struggle getting another job quickly before Xmas and the biggest stumbling block is he's not passed his driving test so that limits the area in which he can seek employment.
I feel really sorry for him and I am very angry, I ve spent the last couple of years seeing him come home from work exhausted and covered in shit after grafting his back out for a poor wage for this wanker and in return he lays him off right before Xmas. The best part is he has a guy who works for £100 a week (how he gets away with this I ve no idea?) and he has said to Rick if he is struggling he can offer him the same deal! WTF!
Is it time to get nasty?
