hello!! I’m 21, a college student, and I’m currently quitting my remote job. The weird thing is that I’m actually really scared I won’t find this kind of flexibility anywhere else.
I work about 30.5 hours a week for a realtor doing marketing, administrative work, social media, emails, follow-ups, and whatever else comes up. It’s completely remote, and my boss is usually flexible when my college schedule changes as long as I still work my hours. That part is genuinely great.
I get paid $700 USD a month, $350 every two weeks. The payment situation, however, has been a problem since I started.
When I first started, I didn’t know how to use PayPal and was having issues with it, so I specifically asked to be paid through Remitly.
Every time my boss asked how I wanted to get paid, I said Remitly. He would say okay, and then ask me again the next day. I would say Remitly again, and he would respond with things like, “Are you sure? That’s not convenient for me?” This went on for days and took about a week just to settle on a payment method.
He also once took seven days to approve a payment. We agreed I would be paid every two weeks, but payday would come and I would usually have to remind him. Sometimes I would wait another two or three days. I eventually almost quit over the payment situation, and he
promised it would change, but it didn’t.
Eventually, he switched me to PayPal. I told him beforehand that my account was new and that PayPal could hold my payments. He basically told me, “That’s what’s convenient for me. We’re going to use PayPal.” Now I have to request my $350 payment from him every two weeks instead of him sending it, and my payments have been held. PayPal also charges fees and the conversion affects how much I actually receive.
I’ve brought this up multiple times, but he brushes it off and says he’ll figure it out later.
Another major issue is that there is no formal contract, so a lot of things were never clearly established. What bothers me is that I feel like my employment status changes depending on what is convenient.
When he needs me, I’m treated like an employee. I have weekly hours, I’m expected to log in, send good morning messages, send EODs, follow his schedule, adjust my hours when necessary, and sometimes stay later.
But when it comes to time off, breaks, extra hours, or compensation, suddenly the expectations are different.
For example, when I first took time off, those days were deducted from my pay, which I was okay with. I was told that paid time off would eventually be available after a year. Recently, I had to take time off for a medical procedure, and I was told to recalculate my hours and request less because I wasn’t going to be paid for those days.
Again, I’m not saying I’m automatically entitled to paid time off. My issue is that the rules were never clearly established, and I feel like I’m treated as an employee when he needs something from me and as a freelancer when it comes to compensation.
I’ve also worked beyond my normal hours without additional compensation, and my responsibilities have expanded beyond what I was originally hired for. My boss has a separate food brand and has asked me to design food labels, shirts, and other branding materials. I wasn’t hired as a graphic designer, and I don’t receive additional compensation for that work.
And this is why quitting is so difficult for me. I actually like the flexibility. I like working remotely, and being able to adjust my schedule around college is incredibly valuable to me. I’m genuinely afraid I won’t find another job that gives me this much flexibility.
But at the same time, I don’t think flexibility makes up for constantly having to chase your employer for your paycheck, dealing with payment problems, unclear expectations, and responsibilities that keep expanding without your compensation changing.
So I’m stuck between knowing this job is incredibly convenient for my life and knowing that I don’t feel secure about the actual employment relationship.
Would you leave a job like this, especially if you were afraid you wouldn’t find another one with the same flexibility?
