Illinois

I have spent a great deal of time going through this site and have to agree with 99% of the complaints. As a recent former employee I disagree that the techs are not trained properly. We all were properly trained at the branch I worked in. The problem is the policy of getting new customers at the expense of old ones.  We were expected and ordered to work late nights and weekends. Myself and several others put in over 72 hours per week.  This policy will cause service to suffer no matter what industry you’re in. We (techs) at this branch still tried to do the utmost for our customers on our routes. This is where my problems started. See, I was fired for getting injured. It was two days until the end of the month and the push was on. All acounts had to be satisfied regardless of customers’ wants. I was doing an outside treatment (I was unable to contact customer), and I tripped over their kids toys in the weeds and fell off a 4-foot retaining wall and landed on my side on still more toys. I hurt but finished out the month.  On the next Monday (the new month), I was unable to finish the day.  I had to cancel the appiontments I had and head to the doctor.  The pain increased so bad that I was unable to fully push the brakes in the sevice truck.  I had to idle home from another town. I followed the rules and notified the office.  It took a week of tests and 4 specialists to find the extent of my injuries.  I now have a hiatal herniea and torn ab. muscles (inoperable).  If they go in and operate, they say I will not be able to lift anything heavier that a gallon of milk. But if it heals on its own, I might gain back some of the streagth. My branch manager (while still under doctor’s care) announces to the company during a meeting that I was terminated for missing work. I was not told by the manager for three more weeks and was repeatedly lied to by the office. If it wasn’t for several coworkers calling me (everyone in the meeting), I would not have found out until I tried to return to work. I also learned that the Illinois at-will law that was designed to protect workers actually protects the company. I am unable to sue for wrongful termination, but I am suing for workers’ comp. They never let me file with the office saying I didn’t qualify for short-term disability. The way they treated me has opened the eyes of the other techs. They are leaving as soon as they can.  Many have already quit. This (naturally) isn’t going to help the service in this branch. Three more techsare about to leave and join the four of us.

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