Horrible boss

S

SomeRandomer

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A female friend moved to Dublin from abroad last September to take a job with a small company in the publishing industry. The company has been around a long time and would be well known in the industry, but it's really just one main guy (who's over 70) plus a couple of employees in the US and various interns coming and going over time.

The boss rents a house in the city year round and stays there when he's in town, usually 3 or 4 times per year for a few weeks at a time. He said to my friend that she could stay in the house when she moved to Dublin, so she assumed the job included accommodation which was a bonus.

It turns out that the boss is, well, difficult to say the least. He seems to enjoy playing staff off against each other, sends angry emails at all hours of the day and night, is rude and difficult a lot of the time etc.

Anyway he's been in Dublin for the past couple of weeks and my friend had a gutful of his behaviour, and yesterday morning snapped at him when he said they have to meet and discuss a report being late. (She just said it would be ready in a couple of hours and didn't want to discuss it).

So this morning he told her there's someone visiting Dublin for the weekend and that she'll have to vacate her room while this person is there. She was obviously shocked and said she doesn't have anywhere else to go, and he replied that her having a room there is a luxury and it's not his problem.

I checked her contract and it doesn't mention accommodation being included in the job, so just wondering what she can do and if she has any legal rights?

(She can't quit yet as she needs the income and it would take a while to get another job, plus it's her first job and would need a reference etc. Also her employment contract is "fixed term" and ends on February 27th this year, so if she causes trouble then she's afraid they won't renew her contract.)
 
so just wondering what she can do
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- sleep on your sofa for two nights?

and if she has any legal rights
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- lots of legal rights, but not in relation to this accommodation. She is there as a 'guest' and so he can ask her to leave at any time.

yesterday morning snapped at him when he said they have to meet and discuss a report being late. ...............didn't want to discuss it).
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I'm afraid you don't get to say that to the boss.
 
i have to admit this person doesnt fit the bill of a " horrible boss " , in my book , horrible bosses dont provide free accommodation to staff

even he isnt the nicest person in the world , i cant see how your friend has any grounds for action here
 
This has to be a wind-up, you seriously think she has been hard done by. 5 months accommodation without paying a cent, maybe gas/elect thrown in and ... Ah here, cop on.
 
Wow tough crowd ;)

Unfortunately I don't live in Dublin otherwise she could stay with me.

The boss has done many other not nice things which are too numerous to mention. I'm thinking he also has an ulterior motive offering the room in that he needs someone to manage the house when he's not there, such as organise mail, bins, bills etc.

My point is that my friend moved from abroad without knowing anyone in Dublin, and was told that she wouldn't need to look for accommodation as she could live in his house. Her salary is pretty low and reflects the fact that she has accommodation. We all know how expensive hotels etc are in Dublin, and to be told out of the blue that she needs to vacate her room with only a few days notice is pretty cruel in my book.
 
Not all hotels in Dublin are expensive, you can certainly find reasonably ok ones from €50 a night.

Probably best for her to sort out her own long term accommodation.
 
SomeRandomer said:
Wow tough crowd ;)

Unfortunately I don't live in Dublin otherwise she could stay with me.

The boss has done many other not nice things which are too numerous to mention. I'm thinking he also has an ulterior motive offering the room in that he needs someone to manage the house when he's not there, such as organise mail, bins, bills etc.

My point is that my friend moved from abroad without knowing anyone in Dublin, and was told that she wouldn't need to look for accommodation as she could live in his house. Her salary is pretty low and reflects the fact that she has accommodation. We all know how expensive hotels etc are in Dublin, and to be told out of the blue that she needs to vacate her room with only a few days notice is pretty cruel in my book.
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I'm sure if you asked 99% of the renting population to do these jobs for free accommodation they would snap your hand off.

As this is your friends first job I would tell her to toughen up and get on with it. In a role with subordinates if someone spoke to me the way your friend spoke to him in relation to the late report I would not stand for it.

Tell her if she is not comfortable with her living arrangements to move out.
 
Two sides to every story as they say.

My read is that both parties were probably very naive, they should have clarified the situation fully in writing in advance. There's a good chance the boss didn't expect your friend to stay there indefinitely, if he was open to a long-term lodger, why would he turn down the ~€1000 or so a month he could very easily get from someone else without the complications of the working relationship? Some companies will typically offer assistance with initial accommodation to those moving from abroad, but it's generally a short-term thing. The only way the salary could reflect provision of accommodation is if that was specified in the contract. There are many low salaries in publishing in Dublin where it could be argued they would not allow someone to cover the current rental market prices in the city centre.

So where they are now? As Thirsty states, your friend is a guest in the boss's house, and has no entitlements whatsoever. If the boss asks that they vacate, they must do so. They really should find their own accommodation for the sake of their own sanity and the working relationship with their boss. Snapping at the boss when they ask about a piece of work that is late is unacceptable, and in most companies repeated instances of such behaviour will lead to the door.
 
If she is on small wages and has no accommodation. She should consider changing jobs, look up cheap hostels etc for time being. Otherwise maybe return home to family.
 
In fairness the small wages are probably small as the room is counted. The friend should start emailing the guy with a full summary of the deal she has on accommodation, as she sees it, to create an evidence trail. She should reasonably explain the issue and her concerns. Stick to writing. Formalise the arrangement as much as she can. She seems in a very vulnerable position and I would be worried for her too. All her stuff is in the room presumably. Doesn’t sound like a job she should stay in but while in it she should proceed with caution, act reasonably, document the deal. This seems close to bullying and I am surprised at the lack of empathy on the thread.

Just because it seems a good deal to get lodging as an employment term doesn’t entitle someone to deprive the person of a home at short notice and if she is right, and it’s because she stood up to demanding behaviour it is worrying because it seems vindictive.
 
DeeKie said:
In fairness the small wages are probably small as the room is counted.
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We have no way of knowing that. We don't even know whether the offer for accommodation came before or after the initial job offer or salary negotiation. There are plenty of small wages jobs advertising in publishing roles that wouldn't. We don't have anywhere near enough information to get to a probability.
 
Leo said:
We have no way of knowing that. We don't even know whether the offer for accommodation came before or after the initial job offer or salary negotiation. There are plenty of small wages jobs advertising in publishing roles that wouldn't. We don't have anywhere near enough information to get to a probability.
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As Leo said we don't know
The poster said her boss said staying there is a Luxury the poster also said he rents it all year round so he has a place to stay when he comes to Dublin ,
If I was the poster I would have put her up for the weekend,
The boss did say he had someone there for the weekend,
 
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