What are my options?

[deleted111]

Note: This could be a long one.

Right, I know BCF probably isn't the best place to ask - BUT.

A few facts about myself: I'm 19 years old and an "apprentice" customer services administrator working for a very large company I'll not name.

I'm struggling. I'm not an author and I don't know where to start.

Basically, I'm treated (or is that treat?) like sh*t.

I'm on apprentice wages for my work. Which is £2.50 per hour. I earn £400 a month.

The office I work in is bitchy and horrible. I'm sick of the way I'm spoken down to, the constant threats, the stupid unnecessary tantrums thrown around the office, the low morale, every f*cking week...

I have a female boss, she treats me like I'm a steaming dog turd she's stood in.

We have two parts to our office, My desk and a shared desk with 3 occupants.

I deal with administration, they deal with another unrelated task.

Recently I've found myself doing my job AND theirs and tonight my boss told me I'm to be doing it more often.

Sorry, but I'm on £400 a month and they're above minimum wage and do a sh*tload less than I do?!?!

NOW, I wouldn't mind this, but my apprenticeship assessor is never anywhere to be seen, I have until November to finish my Level 3 and I've seen the woman probably all of 3 times. She never answers the phone, nobody can put me through to her when I ring up, she never comes out to see me to give me work to do or carry out observations. So, basically, f*ck all of my apprenticeship has actually been done and I'm trying everything in my power to complete it.

It's gotten to the point where I want out. I'm struggling to live off £400 a month as I pay my way at home and have commitments. I work about 40 hours a week, sometimes more, I work rostered weekends, and I'm treated like I'm nothing.

Only the other day I heard "When ***** goes on maternity leave, Steve'll cover her job and we'll get another cheap bitch to replace him"

I've been applying for new jobs for months and months. Today I had my second interview at a new place and they told me they'd call me back by 6pm if successful - damn it.

I've got a tight chest when I wake up every morning, I have probably 5 black outs a week. I suffer from stress related hair loss and over the past few months it's come back and I'm losing hair at a rate of knots, again. I've got high blood pressure, a ridiculous heart rate, the list goes on


I'm sick to the back teeth and don't know what my options are!!

Rant over, I guess.

Sorry for the long one

Cheers...

Steve.

[Handsome]

Can you not speak to the Assessors Boss and explain the lack of support and the fact she never shows or answers her phone or left messages, might give them all a kick up the arse...

As for the job have you given HR a ring to explain the situation with your boss, I'd try having a word with her before you go over her head though otherwise you're biting yourself in the arse...

Can you not move on and continue your course elsewhere ?...
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[deleted111]

Not tried dealing with anyone above my assessor to be honest.

Tried talking to my boss and I've asked her to lay off the insults and the threats and everything. It never stops. It gets worse week by week.

INB4 office banter, it f*cking isn't.

Directly above my boss is the BP, I have tried to speak to him but whenever he's in the office the boss is around him like a fly & sh*t.

The only conclusion I have come to is:

- Find new job and sack the NVQ off as a lost cause.

I hate it and I'm struggling alot. I always go above and beyond, I do everything I can and more.

I swear I'm on the verge of another breakdown

[Handsome]

[deleted111]

I'd love to continue the course, definitely. My only concern lies in that I have until November to have it finished and haven't been supplied with the necessary stuff to crack on and plough through it.

I feel as if I'm fighting a losing battle every day.

I can't even get time off to get a doctor's appointment now.

I guess I'll try HR tomorrow after trying to get a word in edgeways with Trunchbull.

[Mondeo Man]

If this is a genuine grievance (and not in your head: i.e. taking office banter too personal) then you've a case.

I'd put something in writing to hr and your bosses boss. I would, though, forewarn the offending parties to cut it out or that's what you'll be doing.

[Handsome]

So go on the defensive and take charge, if you have until November to complete the course I'd be on the phone speaking to someone higher than the assessor to reiterate the points you've made here, even more so with being on a deadline...

Book a Doctors appointment and phone in sick on the day, you'll find your imediate boss understand the way you feel and are treated and she knows you could go to the Doctors and get a sick note for stress and get months off, but she's not going to let you do that now is she, she and her minions would have to do a bit then...

Think forward...
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Previous Bikes...Honda NSR 125 RR...Kawasaki Zephyr 550...Suzuki SV 1000 S...Yamaha FZ8...Current Bike...Suzuki GSX-R 750...

[Nexus Icon]

[deleted111]

Cheers Lads...

Mr Ford family car, it is a genuine grievance.

I see what you're saying, Adam & Nex. I'll ring the quacks in the morning and see if they can get me an appointment either tomorrow morning first thing or next week. I can ring in sick (bo*locks to their "outstanding sick record" of nobody ever having a day off), and have done with it.

It's a joke. It's now 8pm, feels like I only left work half an hour ago, I'll be back before I know it .

They even laugh at my bikes because they're rubbish, but it's all I can justify running on what I earn. I hate the immaturity and unprofessionalism (if that's a real word?) It's definitely about time I said something, and take it further than I already have.

Feel like deaaaath.

[temeluchus]

If its making you feel depressed and ill I'd jack it in, you only live once.
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Some shite cruiser. Now with guns and FREEDOM!

[N cee thirty]

[deleted111]

Rob & Temelongname, I concur - but needing the money is what's stopped me just upping sticks. I need something to fall back on and that's why I'm still there, I'm looking for other opportunities .



Struggling to see my monitor now - just gonna go get a cuppa and chill for a little while.

[benc]

Get the doctor to sign you off work because of work related stress then say off until the end of your apprenticeship. You'll have all the extra time to look for a new job while being paid still. And they wont want to risk getting rid of you if there a big company as it wouldn't look good in a tribunal or going for unfair dismissal.

Probably wont work but ive heard of it being done.
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zxr400 - zx7r

[deleted111]

[Clanger]

Have you got a Connexions office nearby? If yes, contact them and get help now.

If your Apprenticeship assessor is really not contactable, then you need to contact the company they work for, find out what is going on, tell them you need support now...either that or contact https://apprenticeships.org.uk/ direct. They should be able to assist...they should have helplines in place for all Apprentices, and they should also have a list of potential other training organisations who can undertake your training.

Don't give up. I know it doesn't seem like it's not working out for you just now...but you are in a learning situation, just not a very good one for you just now...you are at the very start of your working career, you do not want it on your CV that you are a quitter... you just need a new placement and possibly a new assessor, once you feel supported, I'm sure you will continue to enjoy your new vocation.
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Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter won't mind - Dr. Seuss

[deleted111]

Thanks for your input, Clanger. I'll set out to contact the relevant parties tomorrow.

Another thing that p*ssed me off is that I'm on £2.50 an hour yet I've already done Level 2. I'm on Level 3 on Level 2 wages. Supposed to be atleast minimum wage if I'm 19 and already been on the apprenticeship a year or something like that.

Meh.

I've just had a right moan and pulled myself together a bit now.














































It's still all a load of sh*t, though.

[deleted111]

Didn't see your reply Chris, sorry. Appears I've answered your question though,

[DanceLikeAMon...]

I have no idea what a customer services administrator does, but could you not get a job at McDonalds or the like to learn customer relationship skills with a better wage, whilst attending college in the evenings to get some formal business administrator qualifications?

A-levels and the like were never for me*, but I did a BTEC National Diploma at college many moons ago and that was partially academic but mainly hands on learning and was really enjoyable.


(*although since I became boring and old I've put myself through a part time degree)

[Frost]

Get a minimum wage job somewhere, less stress, hassle and better pay. Save up some cash and relax a bit then start doing some evening or part time education. Or just look for a decent job. Plenty of large companies will take people on at minimum wage to do admin work, and provided you do well you can work your way up.

[fatpies]

Is the qualification worth it though?

As said you only live once...

Here is an alternative you may not have thought of....

Are you a white person, no seriously are you caucasian? If you are then all of Southern Asia and the middle east is your oyster, (Korea, China, Japan, Taiwan require degrees for their work visas).

You can pretty much get a so so English teaching job based purely on your skin color its not exactly something you can do long term though but its a thought and it can get you out of your rut pretty damned quickly.

Hell there is a job in Dubai pays £900 a month (tax free and accommodation is paid for too) teaching English. The biggest qualification you have to have is be white.


Or go work at a drop zone, I know three which are hiring packers. To get your packing certificate you need to learn to pack (£30-£50). The course involves doing ten pack jobs, (pro/flat or my packing technique which is psychopacking - nobody dares jump my pack jobs) then a tangle test and inspection.

Then you can pack at dropzones, you get paid £3-5 per pack job. A slow pack job takes 30 minutes. Fast ones can be done in as little as 10 minutes my uber psychopack which skips three steps can be done in as little as 6 minutes (probably why nobody jumps them).
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"It's easy to attack and destroy an act of creation. It's a lot more difficult to perform one"

[Rogerborg]

You have two basic options:

1) Have a read about constructive dismissal. Note carefully that if you're being underpaid (£2.50 slave wages are indeed only applicable for the first year of your indentured servitude), that's automatically unfair.

Write it down, all of it, every single incident of abuse, every time you worked beyond your contract. Heck, make some up, they'll deny it all anyway.

File it with HR as a formal grievance. They have 28 days to respond, then you can take it to a tribunal.

Carry a recording device, record everything that's said to you, covertly or openly, your choice. Either it stops, or you get your evidence.

Try and adopt a cheery attitude. You'll be quids in. Let them know it, and be clear whose names you'll be naming when they have to write you a fat cheque.


2) Get out. Get out now. You're wasting your life. Anything is better than that. Why you're bothering to complete your servitude in an industry that's obviously full of nobbers is beyond me. Get out there and enjoy yourself while you're young.
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GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[fatpies]

[Bomberman]

[plugger147]

I don't think it'd be a good idea to chuck in the apprenticeship with a couple of months to go,go on the sick spend a few days writing everything down get it all clear in your head then figure out the best way to go with it. I'd be writing letters to hr,the aprenticeship place and hmrc.

If there's anyway of finishing out the last 2 months I'd look into it, preferably in another company or part of the company....
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Tristan the wrote: just whipped off my trousers to find a big bruise on my arse, caused by matt rear ending me...

[Mehty]

As an apprentice working 50 hours a week for £100/w I know your pain bud, although my work place doesn't sound quite as bad as yours.

The agency where my apprenticeship is going through tho - 7 months later and im STILL not enrolled, because they cannot get off their ass.
ANYWAYS

I wouldn't say quitting is the best way. Its the easier way but you'v done all this work. You might as well suck it up and get your qualification, and then head on to higher and more fruitfull jobs! To get hold of your apprenticeship contact, just spam them with calls, voice mails, and do the same for the college. You REALLY gotta spam them - lazy bastards

Like others have said - take a day off and think everything over. Fridays are good - long weekend! My boss's realised they where stressing me out and gave me it Then Tell your boss's how you feel, if she takes no notice take it higher again. Still if nothing, Go down the route off getting evidence, recording everything and putting in that thing that someone said

Worse case scenario, You walk out of your job - So no qualification/wages.
Best case - Qualification, wage (possibly a raise) and a slightly better working environment until you can find somewhere better!
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