Update: The employer has finally decided to stop hiding and address the worker’s demands. They admit they owe the wages, but are now arguing that they will not pay the full amount because of some far fetched, BS reasons. It’s still wage theft to us, even if it has a discount… We are glad this campaign is now reaching the next steps. Keep an eye on our website and socials for more case updates, or even better join one of our meetings!
After working for two weeks in a known franchise restaurant in Hulst, Jan was left without a contract and no pay. The ex-employer has ghosted him completely, ignoring calls, emails, and messages. And the best part? This “aspiring entrepreneur” is on vacation in Dubai, while Jan struggles to afford groceries and rent! We guess taking selfies while riding camels is more important…
Jan decided to fight back, and contacted Horeca United to get support in starting his own campaign against the ex-employer. Since then, we have tried many times to reach out and discuss how Jan can receive his long-overdue compensation, but the employer is still ignoring the demands. It is now time to escalate, and take the next steps in this campaign.
It is shockingly common in this industry for bosses to send contracts long after employees have started regular work, or not at all. This adds even further to the precarious situation of workers and makes it even more difficult for us to hold our bosses to the rock-bottom standards that the law demands. Horeca bosses can already legally screw us over with zero-hour contracts that give them all the power they need to refuse us work if we do not follow along with their bullshit…
No amount of unpaid wages is too small to fight for, no injustice too small to stand up and fight, and Jan’s boss is going to see what it looks like when workers come together to show the power in our solidarity.
We have interviewed Jan about his case, where he shares his story in his own words. Give it a read, and contact us to help support this campaign!
Questions:
– Can you briefly introduce yourself?
My name is Jan and I come from Poland. For the last 2 years in Poland it was very hard for me to find a decent job where I felt respected and fairly compensated. I came here to Netherlands to dig myself out from this financially difficult situation and find a job.
My story is not very original or uncommon – the job market in Poland is very difficult and a lot of people are looking for opportunities in wealthier EU countries where compensation for so called unskilled jobs allows you to make enough money to make ends meet and live relatively comfortable life, which is not possible in Poland.
— How long did you work for this establishment?
For two weeks .
— What was the atmosphere like at the job for the shifts you worked? (How was the relationship between employees and bosses?)
The atmosphere during the shifts was ok at the beginning, the owner seemed nice, the other employee I worked with seemed to have a good relationship with the boss and she was nice to me too.
What quickly became a big red flag for me though was that communication with the boss outside working hours (when obviously we could communicate directly) was very difficult because she didn’t respond to my text messages or phone calls (or she was replying or calling back after 2-3 days) and the contract that I asked for and was promised to get remained a promise. It was never given to me.
More problems arose during the second week when the co-owner was supposed to do the delivery but was running late and asked us to do the delivery for him (there was just 2 of us). What was becaming stressful for me as well was that there was always something missing in our supplies (it was not our job to take care of the supplies) and the colleague at work was very often forced to run to the supermarket to buy whatever was missing that day.
— How did the communication go regarding planning shifts?
The communication was difficult because my ex-boss didn’t reply nor call me back for many days.
— How did the communication go regarding payment? (When did you realise that they were not going to pay you?)
When I worked there I was told that we get payed on the 10th of each month. After we mutually agreed that I’m not going to work there I was promised (when she eventually called me back after many many attempts to reach her via text messages and phone calls) I was promised I will be payed – that was on the 12th of March.
I made A LOT of attempts to contact her (both via text messages and by calling her). Due to the working hours in two work places where I’m now employed, I couldn’t visit the place myself (also I wasn’t sure she’ll be there) and frankly even when I could go there, I felt too emotional, angry and stressed to face her or her husband alone. She effectively ghosted me and after more than one week of trying to contact her it became clear that she doesn’t intend to pay me.
— How has the insecurity of work and payment affected your (personal) life?
It made me feel disrespected to put it mildly. For sure it wasn’t the first time when this kind of situation happened to me – actually it happened in other place where I worked when I came here to Netherlands and I similarly had to make many attempts to contact this ex-employer and eventually got a tantrum response only when I mentioned legal steps that I was considering to take. Fortunately it worked in that case and I got the money. In this case this method didn’t work.
I’m 40 and unfortunately I have too many stories like this to tell. It feels so degrading to be treated like this. The fact that you actually have to ask for the contract so many times. Asking to be payed on time. It happened in almost every job that I had and I’m not talking about horeca jobs only. It’s almost a default practice of treating employees. Of course this humiliating treatment of employees is much more common when you do horeca jobs. I feel that bad treatment of employees is in general a huge problem and it’s being way too often normalized to the tune of grind culture. It’s so very depressing that very often horrible employers are excused even by the exlpoited employees themeselves. I think it proves how brainwashed our society is and to what degree so many people internalized capitalist hustle culture.
— How does it feel to team up with other workers and to take the issue into your own hands?
It feels wonderful to have support of workers who decide to take action. I feel touched by the amount of help and engagement from members of Horeca United. I suppose it’s a kind of silver lining in this distressing situation – it’s amazing to get such awesome support, to feel a true solidarity and understanding from people who unfortunately had to go through similar situations. As I mentioned I felt too overwhelmed by emotions to face this problem alone and now when I have the help of other workers, I’m confident that together by joining our individual efforts we’ll manage to apply enough pressure to get what we want – it wouldn’t be possible if I didn’t have this “safety net” of people who support me and who have a lot of experience and expertise in dealing with this type abuses and pathologies.
— What would you say to other people facing work and payment insecurity due to the exploitative practices of bosses?
I would tell them to always assume the worse when dealing with employers – it sounds somber but unfortunately it’s the only sensible approach. Take screenshots of text messages (include information about the hours you worked in these text messages – try to communicate via text messages as much as possible because it’s easier to document them), record phone calls you have with your employer, take photos of yourself in the workplace doing the job – in short gather evidence that proves that you worked in a given place. Also insist on being given a contract (I did that and still wasn’t given any but you always have to persistently try). Employers take advantage of the fact that many people looking for work are in a desperate situation and will work anyways even without contract – it’s horrible but we have to pressure them (I know I will do it more persistently next time).
Most importantly though – look for support of groups like Horeca United. You don’t need to pay any membership fees. What you gain is an awesome help of people who understand your problems very well so you will feel safer, you’ll feel that together you have much more power and you’ll be able to help other people who find themselves in similar position. Workers united will never be defeated.
— How can the readers of this article support you?
I’m already getting loads of help from Horeca United. I think we’ll all benefit if we can learn from this story. For me the key takeaway is to look for support of a grass-root workers union immediately after such thing happens.
It’s not directly supportive to me, but I guess in the long run it will be beneficial to everyone – we should all talk about such pathologies with our colleagues at work and our friends. I strongly feel that working people, especially those who are unfairly called “unskilled workers” (and who were hypocritically called “essential workers” during the peak of corona virus pandemic and then suddenly everybody switched back to this bullshit notion of “unskilled labour”), who are so commonly treated like machines not humans, should all get much, much more vocal, or when necessary loud, and express a firm objection when faced with any kind of abuse or pathological treatment at work.
If we suppress our anger and don’t turn it into a collective effort to counter this inhumane treatment, we’ll just make the problem more common and normalized and we’ll be left boiling inside from anger or even worse – we’ll make it a norm to misdirect this anger inwards and think we deserve such horrible treatment. We can’t let this happen.