Niche industry, all contracted staff, and none of us have been paid since the end of February due to “cash flow issues.” I was the only qualified office staff member, yet any technical advice I gave was ignored, twisted or argued against. Eventually the company ended up suspended over non compliances anyway.
The people management did listen to were overworked yes-men who were expected to answer calls after hours and work from home unpaid. Overtime was never claimable.
I was underpaid for my qualifications and constantly promised pay rises that never happened because there was “never enough money.” They were happy to use my qualifications when it benefited them, just not my actual knowledge.
I finally left because I literally couldn’t survive without wages. I’ve ended up in debt while being ignored by directors whenever I asked for updates.
The worst part is finding out one of the directors had apparently already been asking around about how to liquidate the company while continuing to trade under a new business, and how little money he could leave behind in the old company. Meanwhile staff are kept working unpaid for months and for the foreseeable.
I’ve now started legal proceedings. Weirdly, I never even saw them as the problem while I was there. It’s only after leaving that I’ve realised how unhealthy the whole environment actually was.