[Ginger]

Okay, so... here comes a super long ass post about work.

I do in-home care for an agency that I will not name. I've been working for them since February. They gave me the impression that they had good hours for me, but I got shit for hours the first 4 months working for them, and I'm still getting shit hours. One month, I made barely under $200. I've been telling them for the past 2 months that I'll be moving, looking for work, etc. Here's the interesting part: That's when they started giving me more hours. It's like I was put on their backburner until they realized they needed me to keep working for them.

Now that my car has taken a brief crap on me, my freaking supervisor actually picked me up this morning to drive me to a new client's house. Since my car won't be fixed for a long while, my supervisor told my client's family that I live just a few miles away. That's when they offered to give me rides, to and from their house for the scheduled shifts, and that was when my supervisor gave out the location of my personal residence. I'd be okay with all of this, except I'M TRYING TO QUIT, and they WON'T let me!!! On our way back to my house after the 4-hour shift was done, I tried telling her I didn't feel comfortable working with that client, yet she was still being pushy as hell. I tried coming up with any and all possible excuses to get out of taking on another client when my car isn't working, but nothing I said helped my situation at all. She keeps telling me that she needs a MONTH'S notice before I quit.

I have another job lined up that is literally less than 2 miles from my house, so I can walk there if need be. And it pays 3 dollars more an hour.

I'm fucking trapped working for a company that is draining my own wallet, and exhausted trying to quit. I need some personal advice. Has anyone else been in this kind of situation before?

[Gozed]

That sounds like a major lawsuit waiting to happen on their part. One, giving out an employee's personal information without their permission, and saying you have to have a month's notice? Uuuuh, most the time a notice is only to give the company time to find a replacement, and looks good if you want to work for that company again in the future. I'm not familiar with the laws in your state, but that really sounds illegal.
I'd just stop showing up one day, unless you are salary or get paid ahead of actually providing services, they have nothing to keep you there.

[Ginger]

You make good points. I'm not in it to file any lawsuits, I just seriously want out. I get paid bi-weekly, so I could just stop answering their phone calls and stop showing up. But I'm too nice to do that to anyone, regardless of what they've done to me. I figured I'd just call them after I know for sure I'll get hired at this other place and put in my resignation. I really need to keep working if I want to keep having any kind of income. I'll be sure to thank them for employing me though.

[Yokuutsu]

Unless it's in your contract and you're not in the United States, you can quit whenever you want.

Just saying. But at least they're giving you hours now? (I know it isn't what you want, but it's better than some places where you're jsut on call whenever)

[Ginger]

Hours are nice, but my point is, I have a much better and more sensible job offer right now, but I can't take it because my current job isn't letting me quit, and they want me to give a month's notice before I do quit.

[Coda]

I am not a lawyer, and this post does not construe legal advice, only personal advice.

They CAN'T force you to stay working for them. That would be slavery, or at least indentured servitude, both of which are illegal in the US (and I imagine most other developed countries).

Look at your contract. (Yes, you have one.) Look at what the severance terms are -- it should specifically say in the contract what they are and aren't allowed to do if you violate it. If you can deal with the penalties listed there, you can just quit. Odds are, the only penalties listed in the contract that they can actually levy against you are termination (what are they going to say, "you can't quit, you're fired"?) and MAYBE garnishment of wages (which is potentially illegal depending on the specific circumstances).

Keep your eyes open for other sleazy behavior they might pull -- in some states, it's illegal to withhold your final paycheck or to deduct from it to cover debts owed to the company. (I had a former employer pull this stunt. I took them to court over it. On one issue, they settled before it went before the judge; in another issue, they didn't even bother showing up in the courtroom and I won the case.) If anything they do seems fishy, look into it!

Now, one thing they CAN do if you quit is to deny you unemployment benefits. Of course, if you have another job lined up, this doesn't really matter.

[Hermes]

Coda's post should honestly be the last post. He is correct on all fronts. I actually went through a similar ordeal to this, Gingy

[Den]

Ginger, I'm bringing some advice from RetailHellUnderground. Document. Document. DOCUMENT. Write down times, dates, names, and every detail you can think of. Make copies and store the copies in a secure place. Every incident. Every time.

If all else fails, report 'em to the BBB or the equivalent if you're not in the states.

[Ginger]

I did it. I talked to my supervisor's supervisor last week and put my two week notice in, and told them I wasn't able to work during that time and they said it was alright. So now I can go for a different job in North Dakota and still use this place as a work reference. I'm pretty relieved.

Thanks everyone for your insight. <3

[Coda]

Congratulations on getting out of a bad situation :)

[Ginger]

Thanks, Coda! I found your information to be quite helpful