This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/LazyAd5441 on 2024-07-04 10:11:25+00:00.

This is a story from my first job as a paperboy at 13. Even at a young age I was always a bit of a nightmare to manage. As soon as there was any show of any unfair treatment I have always made it my mission to know all the regulations and work only within them. If an employer shows no flexibility to me they sure as hell aren’t getting any back from me.

On the the story, it was a great first job. My round started just round the corner from my house and a small loop left my last delivery 3 doors down from my home. There were usually no complaints about time I used to show up just after 7 pack my bags and all the papers were delivered by 7:45 even on the busiest day.

We had a new manager start at the shop and apparently there were some people complaining that there papers were not delivered early enough. We were told we had to be in the shop for 6:30 going forwards. In the UK there are regulations on when a child is allowed to work and given this new change and how it was a deterrent to my life I started to research to see if anything could be done. I found out 2 things.

Firstly minors could not work before 7am and secondly you could not deduct money from wages for mistakes (something that was happening regularly every time there was a customer complaint).

Armed with this information I told the manager what he was proposing and his current way of running the deliveries was illegal and he needed to come up with a better plan. I am not sure he liked being told this by a 13 year old so he fired me immediately.

The newsagents in question was a national chain so I wrote to their head office detailing the situation and what I intended to do next.

I stated that they were not following child labour laws and I would report to the relevant agency. I pointed out it wasn’t a great look that when this was brought to their attention I was fired and nothing changed.

I stated that I intended to raise a legal claim for unfair dismissal based on the nature of my dismissal.

I also gave them notice of my intent to go to the press to see if they felt there was a story to a national brand ignoring child labour laws and dismissing someone who brought that to their attention.

I asked for a response in 30 days or I would start to make the appropriate arrangements. Well it took 2 weeks before I was asked to come into a meeting with my ex branch manager and his boss. I took my dad as a witness but he encouraged me to lead the meeting.

There was some backpedaling. They stated they had made changes. We were now expecting in at 6:45 to do the sorting before going on our deliveries at 7:00. They had given everyone a pay rise and a bonus which would be paid weekly if no mistakes were made. They offered me my job back. I refused. I told them while the pay situation seemed fair they were still asking people to come in before 7am and this was against the law. I stated if they didn’t want me to take this further they needed us to be there at 7am and they could get our bags ready for delivery or we could be there at 7 and be out for delivery at 7:15. The choice was theirs but their interpretation of the law was wrong and I wouldn’t back down on my actions unless changes were made.

They agreed to my points and then as part of my job be re offered there was a confidentiality clause. I stated I was not comfortable with this and if this was to buy my silence from approaching the press there would be a cost attached to it.

In the end I got my job back 20% raise for everyone working the same job and a weekly bonus on top. A strict 7am start time and to top it all £500 to sign the confidentially clause.

Moral of the story make sure whoever you are trying to fuck over isn’t a petty little shit who is willing to put more time and effort into ruining you than he is at school.