Get it all on Paper

This is a picture of all the paperwork I had to sign after starting a new contract with the same job I'd never stopped working at. I took the picture because my supervisor laid all the papers out on the table like this for me to sign. This is also the table I sat at to do my work. 

My next 10 hour day job started differently. It was supposed to be a part-time job, but they needed me more than initially expected. The difference between the two was nationwide corporate vs. a tiny local start-up. 

I tried to get things in a contract with the latter. I figured the job was professional and this wouldn't be a problem. Because of the level of work I did for the school, there was much talk about being added as a partner for the business. Because of this, I went above and beyond even more. As much as they allowed me.

During my next term, I signed a contract, but there was a lot not mentioned in the contract. There was also a lot of uncertainty in the less-than-ideal conditions we had that term (too many students in a too-small space). For various reasons the job was more difficult, and we never put the partnership on paper.

When the job became draining and physically difficult for me I asked for a personal health break. When I returned two weeks over my contract had changed and someone else was there to replace me. I wasn't asked if I was okay with this. I'd spent a significant period of my break working on the new job description they had given me just prior to the break and when I returned it was different again.

I tried to renegotiate and get on the same page with my pretend co-partners when I returned, but two weeks later I realized it would not happen and I decided I could no longer do the job. This was not the first time I'd worked a job with no contract that didn't fulfill its promise. Most jobs aren't at all what they seem and it takes time to see what it really is. My partner had it worse.

He made a similar move to mine. He left a large corporate business to join a small, local business. While I tried to ensure he negotiated a fair contract he didn't. 

He started the job to manage what seemed like a growing business with a great product. He was a huge fan. What he learned was that he couldn't even get the owner to sign or approve an employee handbook. His job was to drop the millions of balls that were never talked about in the hiring process.

His boss, like mine both, expressed desires to sell and close the business. His boss like mine hired or refused to fire people who were jeopardizing the business. His boss like mine spent a lot of time on the job, but very little doing the work. His boss like mine couldn't account for a lot of the money spent on the business, spent trivially but then skimped on important costs.

His boss like mine expected him to work and be at the business all hours of all days and dream, eat and breathe business. I've worked all kinds of jobs, many as an independent contractor, other times as an employee, sometimes as a general worker bee, more often as a leader, often self-led partner types. The most promising, casual, natural feeling jobs have consistently been the worse.

Whenever your boss treats you like a friend or family, you need to become a boss and make sure everything is abundantly clear and written on paper. That, or don't take that job. Your boss lacks boundaries and it will come back to bite you if you don't hold your boundaries as well.

My passion is economic sustainability, work/life flow and diverse communities for families, I'm even writing a book about it. If you appreciate this post and would like to read more from me consider following me or leaving a tip.