Latest / Prayer Before Work / $20 an Hour, No Benefits, and Your Boss Wants More - Prayer Before Work
Transcript
- C0676: You're making twenty dollars an hour with no benefits. And someone just asked you to work harder so the business can make more money. Well, my name is Sean, and welcome back to Prayer Before Work. This one was shared with me by a pharmacy tech, and and I think a lot of people are gonna recognize themselves in it. So the pharmacy where they work went through a big shakeup. the pharmacist they worked with was let go, kind of out of nowhere, supposedly over a lack of profit. But the new pharmacist is a family friend of the owner. And she's all about the bottom line. She's pushing the text to work harder and find ways to bring in more money. And this text question is pretty simple. I'm making $20 an hour. I'm working 45 hours a week with no benefits, no paid time off, and no sick days. Why am I expected to go above and beyond for profit? I'll never see. And that's a fair question. I don't think you should feel guilty for asking it, but Proverbs 22 9 says, Do you see any truly competent workers? They will serve kings rather than working for ordinary people. Here's what I notice in that verse. It doesn't say skilled workers make their bosses rich. It says skill takes the worker. Somewhere. The care and competence you build belongs to you. And it goes with you to the next job and the one after that. So maybe the real question isn't whether you owe this owner extra effort. It's who you want to be while you're there. So there's a difference between going above and beyond for somebody's profit margin and doing your work well because of who you are. Now you don't owe anyone unpaid heroics, but in a pharmacy, the people on the other side of the counter, they're sick, they're worried, and they're counting on you to get it right. So doing excellent work for them has nothing to do with the owner. And none of that means that you can't speak up about your pay. That's fair to ask, calmly and directly, what growth looks like here? What would it take to earn a raise or benefits or paid time off? And if the answer is nothing, well, that tells you something too. Looking for a place that values your skill is not being disloyal. It might be exactly where that skill is meant to take you. So let's pray. Lord, it's hard to give our best to people who don't seem to value it. But keep us from getting resentful and keep us from getting careless. Help us do our work well for the people who depend on it, even when the paycheck feels too small. And and Lord, give us the courage to ask for what's fair and the wisdom to know when it's time to move on. And remind us that you see our work and that our skill and our future are in your hands. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Now go make today count.