Employer underpaid student worker for months — until a perfectly timed resignation shut the business down

Employers often don't realize the hard work that employees put in to meet deadlines until it's too late. A student (u/alspics) working at a newspaper delivery job realized it only after they quit, leaving the business to spiral downward. Years later, the person shared the story on Reddit on December 16.

The student had to clock in around 5 a.m. by picking up a delivery van from the shop owner's residence. From there, they had to drive to the shop and sort out hundreds of different newspapers and magazines from multiple printers. "It wasn't a great job, and you couldn't make errors, or there would be angry phone calls from shops or people who missed out on an order," the author explained. What made it more challenging was that they had to finish all the work within a short period of time.

Next, the person had to deliver newspapers to the corner stores first, and then to individual homes. Despite working hard, the shop owner underpaid them about 2 hours for every shift. The person insisted that they get paid correctly, but the shop owner never listened. In fact, the owner now wanted the person to wash the van using their own money. "I didn't wash that van once, as I doubted I'd get reimbursed. I was already pretty angry about the money I was missing. He rang me after I left on Sunday and told me off about the van not being washed. That was the last straw for me," the person explained. The student didn't quit on the spot; rather, they waited for the perfect moment. Instead of arriving on time, the person deliberately stayed at home until the corner stores complained.

The shop owner called the person and confronted them about missing their shift. The student, however, responded by firmly saying they wouldn't show up at work no matter what. "I gave him about 10 seconds to process it, then told him to delete my number," the person wrote. Four months later, the shop closed permanently. "I hope that I've played a small part in that by letting his reputation get ruined. But that's the most satisfying way I've ever left a job," they said. 

There has been an increase in workers complaining about being underpaid, especially in America. A survey found that 70% say that their pay is too low, considering the amount of work they do. Moreover, it was revealed that more than half (54%) of Americans who feel they are underpaid say that they aren't even able to pay their bills with their salaries.

Meanwhile, reacting to the Reddit post, u/nefariousnesssweet70 commented, "You should know that if you kept track of the shortened hours, you could go to a labor lawyer. They love this stuff. You should find out if you still have recourse." u/appleblossom1962 wrote, "Good for you. When an employer begins to short or not pay their employees, you know that there are money problems. I hope you’re able to find something better and quickly." u/foxdangerous9092 said, "Good for you! There are way too many shi**y people like this who treat their employees terribly."

u/hotrodhomebody recalled, "Nicely played. Reminds me of a job that I had; I didn’t always get paid on time, and unlike the boss, I was a responsible individual and was going to honor all of my commitments. The day I quit and decided to just give them the keys without any advanced notice, he wanted to lecture me about ethics. I simply hit him back by telling him that, without paying his employees on time, he was the last person to educate me about ethics."

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