Okay, Im 19 yrs old, 7weeks pregnant and I work as a receptionist at a realestate.
My boss is very strick and manipulative, she is always in the office in her backroom private office, everyday 9am -5pm expect mondays ( they are her days off ) She and her husband privately own the particular realestate I work for.
She is very controlling, more so than any other boss I have ever worked for. She has a T.V her private office that she shares with her husband and a camera out in the front of the realestate where I and the sales consultants work. And she has is on all the time listening into our conversations, even when she says that she only puts in on incase someone comes it. She will listen in on private conversations in the office and then ask personal questions to myself and other people in the office, regarding the conversations she was just listening in on. She also goes onto all the computers and looks up browsing history, any files we have on the computers and through our work emails. BUT she also has a program that allows her to access whatever passwords we type to get onto our private emails and facebook ect, ( which she has expressed she doesnt mind if we use them ) and she will go into our private emails and facebook and follow conversations on the chat. She also goes onto the main printer and does a history print up of EVERYTHING that anybody prints off. Which i find is a bit extreme. She will even go through our rubbish bins! She constantly asks everyone for information on other employees which I don’t appreciate in the slightest. She is also very tight with money for anything from adverts to go into the newspaper to updating realestate programs online.
She and her husband also smoke in their office, so I have been limiting myself from going in there to often, because she keep all the doors shut and they are very heavy smokers, but I still have to go in there at least 5 times a day.
She is a very VERY smart woman and is very controlling, so I know that when I tell her I’m pregnant she won’t fire me on the spot, but she will nit pick on everything I do, that wont have bothered her in the past and I’m scared I will eventually be let go.
My partner has a full time job, but I am only on 3days a week, and I’m scared at how much we will struggle if i do get let go.
My mother who used to work as a sales consultant in the same realestate office was once asked if I was pregnant, and when she respond no, my boss said, ‘ good, because I wont have anyone who is pregnant working here’. (this was a good 6mnths ago. ) Ive only been working here since early Feb this year. My mum got so fed up with their behavour that she left last month and they still havnt paid her for a fortnight of work, annual leave or her sick pay. So I’m scared that I wont get any paid maternity leave, and also if they fire me I wont be able to claim paid maternity leave from the government, and my partner wont be able to support myself, our baby and everything on just his pay alone.
My mum says that as soon as my boss finds out, I will be on borrowed time.
Please I don’t know what to do!
Of course you know what to do. You need to find another job.
If the job is as miserable and unpleasant as you have described, it stands to reason that you would want another position any way. If you have a reason to believe your boss is going to start laying the foundation to fire you once she learns you are pregnant you have an even bigger motivation to find a new job.
but I haven’t told my mum yet, and she gets very touchy about these things – sort of, "So you don’t like living with your mother????" to quote direct