Have You Worked In A Place Like This?
By HighReed1
@HighReed1 (1126)
United States
May 29, 2007 7:41pm CST
I used to work at a billing entity for medical offices and hospitals. I thought it would be great. The first 3 months were fine, but then the company got hateful.
The training was done poorly. There were probably many things I never did get trained to do. I had to have fellow co-workers help me get the information I needed.
We were told to schedule emergencies a week in advance. How are you supposed to do that? We would get written up if we didn't schedule them and had to call in. You only got 5 write-ups and you were fired.
The first supervisor may have known the computer but had no idea how we did our job. She had to fill in for someone who called in and had a fit that she had to sit on hold for 45 minutes. Welcome to our world!
The second supervisor knew the job but had no clue on being a supervisor. She lost all rapport with us and got especially hateful. She had trouble figuring the computer part out as well.
Our work was checked, our breaks were monitored, our e-mails were tracked (we didn't have outside email access), our calls were monitored. If you said anything that wasn't all hearts and flowers (even on break or at lunch) you got a nasty e-mail. It was like being in kindergarden again!
Then there were the unsafe working conditions. The company would not update the electrical wiring, so we could have 1 other thing plugged in at our desks besides the computer. Any more and we would cause a fire. Each desk had a power bar underneath to plug in to. Some desks couldn't have anything extra plugged in. I tried reporting it, but couldn't find anyone that cared.
So those of us that could quit did. One guy went to work in fast food. One went to work for a cruise line. One started a daycare. I am still looking for work but I don't regret leaving for one second.
How many of you have worked for a snakepit? Did you leave? I'd like to know I'm not the only one!
8 people like this
10 responses
@Riptide (2756)
• United States
30 May 07
Yup I worked in a snakepit, it's called k=mart lol. I was a departmnet manager and if I thought the cashiers had it bad, I got a nasty surprise after my promotion.
We had safety issues galore. Not a day went by where I didn't come home with cuts or bruises from falling boxes and the like.
We were told we are not to shop at Walmart and not to enter the store with a bag belonging to another store. Not to bring in sale flyers from other stores and so on.
Working until 11 pm at night and expected back at work 6 am the next day, bright eyed and bushy tailed.
And that was only the tip of the iceberg.
I didn't quit, but I was close to it, they fired me before I had a chance to walk. Mainly because I stood up to management, called the integrity hotline on them. Got one manager demoted and the store manager got fired after he fired me and the district manager got relocated.
So even though I got fired, I went out with a bang LMAO.
They (the left over managers)were trying to get me to come back a few months later, when all calmed down, but by then I already had the job I have now and which I love. So I basically told them, when hell freezes over.
You are not the only one and you did good in leaving. Jobs like this are not worth it, because they can cost you your health and sanity.
You will find something I'm sure :)
2 people like this
@HighReed1 (1126)
• United States
31 May 07
This job is definitely costing the workers their health. If you didn't have a heart problem before you started there, you did when you left! One girl started losing her hair and her stomach was such a mess she had trouble with jello.
I would have tried the office that we are supposed to report this stuff to, but the lady assigned to our company was tight with the evil big boss.
@browneyedgirl (1264)
• United States
30 May 07
I'm sure you're not the only one-in fact, I know you're not. Welcome to the wonderful world of mass production and high tech in this "age of information"...I do think that monitoring conversations-especially during break times-is a bit excessive. I think I would have walked too. Life's too short..and you were looking for a job when you found that one, right?
@HighReed1 (1126)
• United States
31 May 07
LOL... you sound just like my husband!
And yes, life Is too short to deal with this nonsense.
@hoghoney (3747)
• United States
30 May 07
As you know I worked 10 years in the Nursing field mostly in Nusring Homes and in home care for the elderly. I worked at this one Lane Place NH and I loved the residents there but some of the nurses that I worked with I just hated them. I would see some of the nurses and the C.N.A's doing crappy jobs with some of the more harder residents and it just made me so mad and some of the aids they would dry shave some of the men resident and I would tell them that is wrong and I am sure that it was hurting them. but I got tired of working with stupid people and I quit and went to a different NH. I always told the girls that the resident are still people even if they had no clue where they were or what was going on around them and that the residents life is in their hands when it was their shifts and you had to take care of them with the up most respect, but some just didnt care.
1 person likes this
@HighReed1 (1126)
• United States
31 May 07
I couldn't work in a NH very long. I hate it when people are mean to the residents. Just because the mind isn't here doesn't mean they can't feel pain or discomfort!
@onabreak2 (1161)
• United States
30 May 07
That sounds like a terrible place to work. I worked in a doctors office for 10 years and I can tell you that if someone called in with a true emergency I told them to call 911. If it was a medical emergency that could be handled at the office and something they would not later be sent to the hospital for then they would be a same day appointment and in most cases just come in now. Especially babies. Babies with ear infections and other things that needed to be seen for right away were told to come in. Common sense has to prevail by the person that is scheduling. And if a medical office did what you are saying I am surprised they were not sued for malpractice where the patients were involved. As far as unsafe work environment we have osha here and one call is all it would have taken to have the clinic inspected. If they have something like OSHA in your state then you should call and report them. We had inspections yearly by the fire department and everything had to be up to code.
1 person likes this
@HighReed1 (1126)
• United States
31 May 07
I think if this place would have been an actual doctor office or clinic, things would have been different. Doctors understand about emergencies or they wouldn't be on call and have answering services.
We have OSHA here, too. I called about 8 different offices, OSHA included. No one ever returned my calls. I don't think the fire department ever inspected this place. They never did while I was there.
@anonymili (3138)
•
30 May 07
Good on you for leaving, hope you find something suitable soon. My worst job was my last one, I managed a team of trainers working with long term unemployed people in London. More than 90% of the people who came through our doors had no intention of working, were working on the side or just too lazy to work, day in day out my colleagues used to get verbally abused and threatened with violence. When it got too much they would be hauled into my office and I had to make decisions whether or not to dismiss them. The company encouraged us not to dismiss people no matter how much they abused us and it was so hard trying to be civil to people who were screaming their heads off at you and threatening you with violence. When I was diagnosed with diabetes over 12 months ago my doctor advised me to change jobs or my health would deteriorate so I acted with my feet and got a new job working in an software development company. I've been here 10 months and don't regret for one minute changing jobs. I don't miss the "clients" I had to work with, I don't miss the snooty job centre staff who refused to take action against the most violent clients even when we had proof they were working on the side and I don't miss the company policy of keeping all the worst possible people on our books so as not to drop client numbers. UGH! What a horrid job, any sense of job satisfaction from placing a handful of people into jobs was always marred by the other huge majority who thought they could treat us like dirt all day and get away with it and said they didn't have to work as they were "entitled" to benefits for as long as they wanted them! It really made me laugh when clients came in wearing £200 designer jeans or had 4 mobile phones or the latest Gucci shoes or Prada handbag. I couldn't afford that stuff on my wages, how could they afford it on the dole? :)
1 person likes this
@HighReed1 (1126)
• United States
31 May 07
People like your deadbeat clients drive me nuts as well. In the US you can only get unemployment benefits for a set amount of time. The amount is based on what you made at your last jobs.
I was looking for work before I left this job. I have been faxing, e-mailing and interviewing like a fiend. There's no work in this county if you aren't licensed or 'know' someone so I have to look at bigger towns. Most companies in the bigger towns don't want to pay much. They have had hurricane refugees working for peanuts and they want to continue to pay peanuts. I can't afford to drive 60+ miles for peanuts.
@KissThis (3003)
• United States
30 May 07
I worked in a place similar to this for 2 years. The first few months I loved my job. I didn't get the greatest training but it wasn't that hard to teach myself what I wasn't shown. I handled most of the way I got treated by ignoring the things that were going on around me. Then the company I worked for decided to change some of their policies. I had to write down when I was leaving for my breaks and lunch then have another employee verify what I was saying. If one of my children's schools called to let me know that they were ill and needed to be picked up then I not only got in trouble for having a personal phone call but also because I needed to leave. Both counted as a point against me. If I carried my own cell phone on me so that the school could get a hold of me that way I also got a point against me. If I needed a certain day off then I had to request it a month in advance and wasn't guaranteed the day off. This past October my daughter had to have a pacemaker replacement. When I told my boss that they needed to do this as soon as possible because the battery was about to do she tried to tell me I would have to request the time off. Luckily someone else told me that it was illegal for them to do that. I knew that after they pulled that stunt that I had to get out of there.
1 person likes this
@HighReed1 (1126)
• United States
31 May 07
Good for you for leaving!
This place really couldn't say much about short personal calls occaisionally on your cell. The supervisors were on theirs all the time.
We had to also request personal days a month ahead of time. If the supervisor was mad at you, you didn't get your day.
@KrazyKlingon (5005)
• United States
8 Jun 07
I'm thinking ... UNION! UNION! UNION! If a union is in place, things would usually get cleaned up almost immediately. Especially if it was a decent-sized company & all the regular employess joined.
If the guy was doing better in fast food, it shows how bad the conditions were there.
The unsafe wiring is a fire code violation. If reported, & a fire marshall makes a surprise visit for inspection ... OUCHIE! The faulty wiring would surely be a citation. These fire marshalls do not fool around.
@HighReed1 (1126)
• United States
9 Jun 07
Problem is finding someone who cares enough to do their job and check this place. I'll bet their certificate of occupancy isn't even up-to-date!
@Tweety2035 (662)
• United States
31 May 07
i hate to say it but i can relate.the last job i was at the supervisor had no idea how to do her job and she hated when you would correct her on something.she had her favorites and her snitches that did and told on you they even would make up stuff.but in the end i don't regret leaving for one second.and to make things even better the company finally closed her office.
@HighReed1 (1126)
• United States
31 May 07
I'm glad that you got out of there.
Too bad my company didn't close, but they cover many of the cardiologists and several dozen other kinds of offices. I can't see those offices giving up their billing office because they treat people in this manner.
@breepeace (3014)
• Canada
17 Jun 07
Hey.. I think I got your job! ;) Just kidding.
I do administrative, but a lot of the things you describe are 100% what I'm experiencing -- the monitoring, lack of training, the silly protocol, supervisors who can't provide help.
I have a job interview on Monday, so I'm crossing my fingers, because this is too much for me to handle!
@breepeace (3014)
• Canada
17 Jun 07
Well, I already suffered from an ulcer, which may or may not be bleeding now. I'm not sure and am taking great pains to take care of my body to make it stop before I have to go see a doctor and get prescribed medication.
And I recently developed alopecia, which some people suspect may be stress-related.
I believe it's already happening, my friend. :)
@HighReed1 (1126)
• United States
17 Jun 07
I wish you luck with the interview. I hope you get a new job before you end up with health conditions. All of us in my department ended up with heart conditions we didn't have before.
Again, fingers crossed...:)
1 person likes this
@miamilady (4910)
• United States
8 Jun 07
Fortunately, I've never worked in such bad conditions all at once. I have had a few of those experiences, but not to that degree. One observation that I did make over the years is this...The more desperately you need your job, the worse you will be treated. It might not have made a difference there in how they treated employees, but as you said, the ones that could quit did. In some companies, if you give off the vibe that you are there because you choose to be and you will leave if you are mistreated they won't mistreat you. I've seen the ones who "need" the job treated more poorly than the ones who choose to be there. Good luck in finding you next job. Take care.
@HighReed1 (1126)
• United States
9 Jun 07
I'm glad you never had that kind of work environment. I never knew places like that existed before. Working in clinics and doctor offices spoiled me, I guess.
I thought the same thing about acting like you need the job. The big bosses knew I didn't HAVE to have the job, yet they were still snakes.
