The Worst Employer

Worst Sort of Employer 

by Wayne Fitzharris

Employment Advise for those working in Private Service. 

A few years ago, I was asked who my worst employer was and why. Rather than talk about myself, I remembered being asked for employment advise, which I was always happy to give, since I ran a recruitment company and employment law was second nature. 

One of the people who I had trained a few years ago went to work in the Middle East contacted me to ask how she could handle her difficult employer.

She told me her employer had been abusive and that her staff were treated in the same way. 

“Dear Wayne”, she wrote, “I've started a job working for the daughter of a Sheikah, who is married to a government official. During the last year I've been given incredible challenges, and I've managed to overcome them. The difficulty is that she mistreats and bullies not only me but the entire household staff, particularly the maids and if they make a mistake she deducts their entire salary. She's threatening and bullying and she's constantly shouting everybody at everybody. What is worse is, the staff that I manage, hardly speak a word of English and they have limited experience, so they need a lot of care and training, which I give them.

I try to fill in all the gaps in service, I do absolutely everything, and I work from morning to night. We do a lot of dinner parties and a lot of entertaining,and I must literally hit all the standards to the highest possible level because we have a lot of sophisticated with huge expectations. The sad thing is if I want to leave. I must repatriate myself at my own cost. I am also told that I must pay back my initial ticket and what's worse, the Sheika has taken my passport and won't give it back so, I cannot escape. Please advise me because I cannot take much more of this. I'm at tipping point”.

These types of situations are very common, not just in the Middle East. Young managers are often recruited as a solution to every household problem. They are often underpaid, challenged beyond their experience and punished financially if they do not come up to expectation. 

This was not just an example of a manager being out of her depth, but this was aggravated abuse. I later discovered that the Sheika was aware that her young manager might make a run for it, so she took away computer and phone access, luckily, the Sheika had not banished all phones and one of the household staff helped the young lady contact the outside world. 

I offered my advice and offered to help. I called the ladies embassy, and the embassy took care of the situation and repatriation was done immediately.   

This was a case of employment law being abused and luckily the embassy contacted the Dubai Employment commission, and the employer would probably have been fined for abusive threatening behaviour. The moral of the story is to never give your passport, its illegal for an employer to have property that belongs to your country. Secondly, always take advise on employment contracts before signing your life away. Take advice and ensure there is a repatriation policy in place in case the job does not work out and ensure your probation period provides enough protection in case the job was mis sold to you at interview. If you have had similar experiences either as an employee or employer, we would like to hear from you. Our advise is free and employment contracts can ensure you protect your self.