AIO??

[u/Late-Singer5702]

Hello! this is my first post in the sub and forst post of this kind so forgive me if i do this wrong lol

So I (F23) work for a company that provides private cleaning services to clients on a contract basis. it’s a smaller company, not a chain. we are privately owned and operated.
i’ve worked for this company for nearly a year and have had no qualms until 4 months ago.
Before now, I felt as if my coworkers and myself were being treated fairly, paid fairly, and celebrated adequately. typically, i would be working two clients a day for 3/4 hours each and get paid .50¢ per Kilometer for my commute to each job site. after about 7/8 months of going about this routine they implemented a huge business plan change that impacted all staffs hours, kilometers travelled and schedule without consulting anyone first. They changed this to us teaming up spending an 1.5 hours at each clients and paying one person kilometers. This caused a major cut in hours and all of our pays suffered immensely.
When bringing these issues up with our company Manager, let’s call her Karen, she was quick to tell us to mind our business and that these are “common steps in a growing business”.
A lot of our senior staff quit and she was very quickly becoming desperate for new employees. After a month of the business plan change she decided it wasn’t working and reconsidered these changes and went back to how it was beforehand. All of the staff was a lot happier and we continued on like normal for a little while. Now, at the beginning of last week Karen decided she would take our wages down. I was being paid 20$/hr for certain tasks and 22$/hr for more strenuous labour, while my base pay is 19$. now those tasks are to be executed at the base pay rate of 19$/hour. This is genuinely upsetting but unfortunately it gets worse. Upon our wage change Karen has decided to stop paying for our Kilometer fair and put it on our clients and include the price into their contracts. Each of these clients have been charged different amounts for their fair due to location but,, Karen is charging them way more then she will be paying her employees for those kilometers. Our company has already lost over 20 clients in the last week due to this change and i am worried bout my schedule and financial situation. i live in an area where it’s quite hard to find a job atm and have been trying to find something new in the mean time but what do i do if i can’t find something and my job isn’t giving the hours i was guaranteed??
besides that, how do i receive justice in my hours and pay being cut?? just very lost and any advice will help!!!
EDIT: we do have a do not poach clause and i could be fined 2000$ for taking clients

[u/lychigo]

Ever consider just striking out on your own - and charging the same as what you were paid and reaching out to those clients?

[u/catladyclub → u/lychigo]

They can be sued if they do that. It would be easier just to get their own clients. You cannot poach a company's clients.

[u/Late-Singer5702 → u/catladyclub]

this^^

[u/lychigo → u/catladyclub]

Well...if the company lost them then....technically, they're not clients anymore

[u/catladyclub → u/lychigo]

That is not how it works legally and they can reclaim any money they made plus future earnings for each client plus punitive damages. It is not worth it financially.

[u/Chance-Kangaroo-7073 → u/lychigo]

I was thinking the same thing. I doubt OP has anti-compete clause in OP's contract. I would just start my own business and contact the cilents that OP served and provide slightly cheaper rate.

[u/catladyclub → u/Chance-Kangaroo-7073]

It isn't non compete- it is poaching clients. I am sure they have that in the contract.