I am a daycare teacher at a USA State licensed center. We serve approximately 50 children.
I always make a distinction between the center director, a woman I adore who treats the center as a community service, and the owner.
The owner would be flattered to be compared to Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk.
Any similarities the owner shares with them is entirely in the derogatory.
And after 5 6 years I am at my limit, and am very close to risking the owner’s wrath on all the staff by calling our state licensing for what I believe is a violation.
This asshole is trying to get us to do laundry every other day.
I repeat: We serve ~50 preschoolers edit toddlers and babies.
I will give details below the cut, but here’s the data gathering.
Should I sic my state government on my job’s owner for being a cheapskate?
Ma’am, why haven’t you brought the wrath of the heavens on him before?????
Yes, this is the breaking point, you need to be able to clean things!!!
Too much of a risk of retaliation. Make it come from another source.
It’s ridiculous, and won’t save him money, but it’s not a licensing concern.
You’re exaggerating, this is a business, he’s justified.
Voting ended onJun 20, 2024
Context about the owner, henceforth “the asshole,” below “cut” two.
We used to have two washers and two dryers here at the daycare center.
About a year ago (I can’t remember the exact date), one completely broke down.
The asshole implied he would repair/replace it, and we should just use the one for the time being.
And, of course, left this alone long enough that we were stuck with just one dryer.
When we started complaining the other dryer was acting up, we were basically given rules for how to dry stuff so we didn’t “damage” it.
Two weeks ago, it gave up the ghost.
Since then, the asshole has had us wash the laundry every other day, and he takes it to a local laundromat to dry after we close.
Because when the repair guy checked the two dryers, neither were worth salvaging and both were 20+ years old.
And, apparently, he’s been telling people that went we do get a “new” 🙄 dryer we will still be expected to just do laundry “every other day.”
Since we are currently running out of wash cloths and bibs for babies and toddlers, he’s “offering” to buy more to make up the difference.
Which just… This asshole does not understand basic physics, does he????????
The only way to reduce the load on the washer and dryer is to use less cleaning stuff, not “use” it less often.
And we’re a fucking daycare center for babies, toddlers and preschoolers- we fucking need to fucking clean!!!!
We need to sanitize soft toys, especially for our babies! They chew on stuff! That’s their job!!!
We need to clean up spit up, spilt spaghetti sauce, and preschool boys missing the toilet!!!!!!
That’s the business you’re in!!!
….
Fucking asshole wouldn’t pull this on his wife’s center, I bet….. And they have fewer children….
Oh, and one of the built-in drawers in the preschool room had the front broken off two months ago. It’s still not fixed, it still slides out if a kid tries, and the broken particle board is covered up by painter tape.
This will be mentioned if I call licensing.
Anyway, the asshole - who is CFO, head of HR 😓, and makes himself responsible for all of maintenance (see above drawer issue) and purchasing supplies, also:
Says staff can’t keep rolls of garbage bags in the rooms, because then “he can’t tell when he needs to restock.” Staff are expected to grab new bags from the supply closet after cleaning.
Despite blaming staff for not being able to keep us stocked on basics, can’t manage to keep the canned veggies etc. reasonable for longer than 4 months at a stretch.
Remodeled our director’s office, without taking any of her concerns or suggestions into account. He knocked out a wall to combine two small offices, which turned out looking nice but we really wish we had an extra private room that doesn’t encroach on my director. Oh, and I know that at least half the work was done by his friends who are not in construction etc.
When he had the carpets replaced, the only company that would work with him would only do it during business hours, so we had to shuffle kids and have all the floor work done while kids were in the center. See below for why.
That’s what I remember since the start of 2024, I have more from previous years.
More background Part 2:
I’ve worked with this asshole’s series of centers for 5 edit 6 years. To my understanding, I’m the second longest employee to work for the family that’s not a family member or significant other.
The asshole (husband) doesn’t seem to think the fact he can’t keep staff for a center that’s run almost a decade and a half is a problem.
Which makes sense…
The asshole is also a licensed contractor who has to go outside the tri-city area to get plumbing and duct work done, because no one local will work with said asshole.
There are (currently) two centers under the owners, a husband and wife team. The wife’s in charge of the “main” center (the one that hemorrhages staff the most) and they purchased my current center almost five years ago when the previous owner/director retired.
I started working at a now-closed hole in a wall for the owners; getting moved over to this center and director was the best thing to happen to me, who was struggling with PTSD from a previous job (and getting re-traumatized by negligent staff at said center).
The current director started working for the old director as a college student, and is amazing. There are staff here at this center who have worked multiple decades under the previous owner.
The only reasons all the staff here continue working is the director, and honestly loving our kids and families.
