Securitas Security Services U.S.A. \ F/S/S John Flores How to be Screwed, Blued, and Tatooed by your boss and your NEW Employer/company Wailuku Hawaii
I signed on with Securitas 9/2/06. I passed all the tests of course, without much concern. I was to be assigned to a place I will call "the site". I was told that it was a "really nice" apartment complex, a prime assignment, and it was implied that I was very lucky. Incidentally, my wife also joined the company on the same day, and recieved the same assignment.
We showed up to training on our first day, and after four hours of training we went home and my wife broke down crying. The neighborhood freaked her out; the screaming, out-of-control, demanding-money-from-us kids freaked her out; and honestly I was concerned about her working by herself until midnight in that neighborhood considering the facts that (1) the trainer pointed out the numerous issues with drugs (including the three different "ice houses"), and (2)the numerous events of domestic disputes and violence.
Also, we were shown the site once (on one round within 4 hours) and we felt utterly lost and confused since the post orders claimed we were supposed to do these rounds every hour. My wife asked for a different assignment and never returned to the site as a security guard.
I showed up for my second day of training on time and prepared, and guess what? No one was there to train me. The site supervisor, who had trained us the day before, pulled a no-show. No one knew how to find her. She was scheduled to be working that day, she just chose not to show up. This proved to be a pattern with her -- no call, no show, for days. A no-call-no-show is supposed to mean instantaneous termination. But they didn't fire her. In fact they offered her a raise.
She did eventually decide to quit, but has rejoined the company and resigned from it repeatedly, and once was hired by the office book-keeper and told that she could have my position. It was also rumoured that she had been using illicit substances while on duty. She absolutely admitted to drinking while on the job to me. One of the residents would bring her cocktails.
During our first day of training it was clear that she was on friendly terms with some of the residents, one of whom provided her with lunch while we were there. She knew all the kids by name and yelled at them frequently. She was clearly well-known by everyone and sociable with some of the residents. She's related to four residents at the site.
After the supervisor quit, I became a de-facto supervisor simply due to the fact that after working at the site for a month I had the most experience there. Another pattern surfaced: whenever we had a good guard come on post, who followed instructions and knew how to handle him/herself, that guard quickly disappeared to a better site. I trained numerous guards who were there for only a few weeks and then disappeared. (I have trained over 75 total in the last year, five in the first month of my employment, this on a site that only has one guard on duty each night for a total of 88 hours a week.)
Many of the people hired and trained thoroughly by me also seemed to be incapable of following a few simple rules no matter HOW MANY TIMES I explained them. They continuously sat inside the residents' recreation center, soaking up air conditioning. We ARE NOT ALLOWED to "hang out" in the rec center AT ALL, let alone EVER turn on the air conditioning for ANY reason. When they got busted, they would just smile and laugh it off and be back at it again as soon as they thought no one we watching. I do not have firing authority, and my supervisor (who does have firing authoritiy) refuses to act. If they aren't sleeping in front of the air conditioner in the rec center, they are sleeping in their cars. This is also NOT ALLOWED.
Somehow, though, these are the guards who manage to hold on to their positions at the site the longest. The rarely do their rounds, and half the time if they do, the "do" them in their cars, which of course can only cover a small fraction of the site. This is totally against the rules.
Sometime in early 2007, I was officially promoted to site supervisor, given a white shirt with a lot of shiny stuff to pin on, and given a whopping $1 per hour raise. I was told that I was one of Securitas's most valuable employees in the state, and that I had gotten promoted to site supervisor more quickly than anyone ever had, and that my performance was examplary.
I continued to work hard. In the beginning, the site was a heavy-action place. Police had to be called several times a week for domestic disputes and other issues. One night I told one of the residents to slow down in the parking lot, and he got out of his truck and repeatedly tried to punch me in the face. He was inebriated and I'm quick, so he never made contact, but not for lack of trying.
This is not the only physical threat that I have been given. Several people, after being ticketed or asked to keep the noise down or slow down in the parking lot have threatened to "find me out of uniform", assuring me that "this is a small place" and they would find me sooner or later.
I have been threatened numerous times with beatings and even death. I do not carry any weapon -- we are not allowed to carry any weapons at this site. I have on several occasions been afraid for my safety and terrified of going to work because of threats I have recieved.
After a year there (nine months was the record for the site), I have the site largely under control. It has become a quieter, safer neighborhood and many of the residents give me the credit for that. I am extremely diligent and responsive. I truly enjoy helping people.
My immediate supervisor, I'll call him Uncle Nepo, treated me very well for months. He made me feel good about working for Securitas and honored to work with him.
Several months ago, problems developed with the overnight shift on weekends. I usually work 4pm - midnight. The midnight-8am shift, which exists only on Saturday and Sunday, was not keeping control of the site to the residents' satisfaction. I consulted with Nepo, and suggested that I take the overnight shift for a few weeks to try to get things smoothed out. This took some rearranging of people's schedules, and also allowed one employee who worked at Southpointe only on Wednesday nights to have a couple of nights off, which he wanted. Nepo agreed that this was a good idea, and we discussed this almost every day for three weeks. So I proceeded to make the arrangements and work the overnight shifts for a couple of weeks.
Suddenly Nepo was accusing me of not communicating with him, of changing the schedule without authorization, and various other nefarious doings. I reminded him that we had discussed this, and even after he admitted recalling the discussion and authorizing the change, he continued to blame me for not having proper authorization for the shifting of schedules because his supervisor was never notified by him of the changes.
Our working relationship deteriorated very suddenly. I called our area supervisor and explained my side of the story, feeling that my perspective was not being represented to her by Nepo. Nepo made it clear that he did not appreciate me contacting her, and our working relationship deteriorated further. I feel that he was trying to pass blame onto me for something that he did not correctly follow through on, and when I refused to accept the blame that I did not deserve I suddenly became his worst enemy.
Since then, things have gone badly downhill. Many of the residents and board members of the site have been wanting to do away with the services of Securitas for some time, and hire an in-house security officer. This change was actually authorized by the board in October of 2006. This has caused tension with the guards, as any mistake is paraded as an example as to why the change should be made. I have explained this situation to Nepo, but he does not understand the precariousness of our position here. I have been told repeatedly by residents and board members that the only reason Securitas is still at the site is because of me.
Several months ago a new guard came on duty, who happens to be a cousin of Nepo. This guard constantly stays in his car while on duty, is frequently seen sleeping there, has been seen by numerous people smoking marijuana while on duty, is often unavailable when someone calls the patrol phone -- and he is still working here, despite being reported numerous times to Nepo.
A few weeks ago vandals spay painted over 17 cars on the property as well as numerous fences, signs, and other areas while he was on duty. The police responded. No one knew he was there. No one could find him. He never answered his phone. It is possible that the phone may have been forwarded to the resident manager at the time, so that part may not have been his fault, but it is policy that if police are on the property the guard is supposed to respond to the situation immediately and report it.
Lately, one of the board members has decided that she doesn't like me. I believe it began with an alleged dog-attack. I was speaking with a resident, and I was holding her dog for her briefly, on a leash. This board member walked by, behind a short fence, and the dog barked at her. The board member reported that the dog was off a leash and tried to attack her. I reported what I had seen, and refused to site the owner of the dog since her dog was, in fact, on a leash as required.
Since then, this board member called Nepo and reported to him that I have not been doing my job. That I have become lazy and unresponsive since I "got that white shirt". Nepo has threatened my job because of her allegations. Suddenly he is parking nearby while I'm at work, spying on me frequently. I know he's there because I am alert and doing my rounds, but he seems to think that I don't know. He has accused me of not being at my post -- I am always at my post, or on rounds. He talked to me one day and basically said that if I didn't start doing my job, I would be terminated. I was blown away. I work my BUTT off at this site and follow every procedure to the letter at all times. Perhaps fortunately, I had to retrain his cousin the next day, and Nepo came to supervise the retraining.
After I had gone over every single thing that needs to be done every day, and after I explained how I did everything, Nepo actually had to apologize to me. He said, "I had no idea". Of course he didn't. He listened to ONE pi**ed-off woman who did not get her way and is trying to get me fired, instead of to the many, many, residents who express their appreciation to me frequently, who go up to my wife in Walmart to tell her how grateful they are that I am on the site.
One night I did get a horrible migraine. I get "classic" migraines and sometimes need to go to the hospital. I had to leave work early, it was an honest emergency. I notified the acting manager and other people, and a resident helped me to pack my belongings to leave. I admit that I was in a lot of pain, not very lucid, and probably should not have even been driving and I did something very embarrassing -- I forgot to call Nepo.
As soon as I got home I realized this, and asked my wife to call and explain. I knew that I was almost incoherent with my speech slurred and unable to focus on a single thought for very long. Also, as soon as I got home I had taken serious painkillers and was NOT lucid. My wife was distraught when she saw me, and started crying. She was terrified to realize that I had driven in that condition. She called Nepo and tried to explain.
The next day I was called into the office and nearly suspended. I admitted freely that I had screwed up, and apologized very sincerely. But I have to point out that MANY MANY times other guards disappear from work, are not on site when they are supposed to be, pull no-call-no-shows, and are simply accepted back to work as if nothing ever happened. I messed up ONCE and was threatened with a major suspension. When I pointed this out, the suspension was removed.
But back at work, I am being harrassed by the board member who claims to have been attacked by the dog. Tonight, she was taking notes on every single thing I did all night. That doesn't worry me much, I'm not doing anything wrong, but I feel deeply offended and feel that I am being harrassed. I was so angry that I was shaking when I spoke to my wife about it on the phone. I wanted to cry.
A couple of nights ago I came into the area of town where the site is to visit family (who live nearby) with my wife, and saw Nepo and his cousin (the guard) hanging out together at a gas station parking lot. I said "hi" and went on my way. The next night I found out that Nepo came to the site in the middle of the night and spent an hour making sure that I was not there. I believe this came about because I had made it a habit, as supervisor, to sometimes stop by late at night (unnanounced) to check on the overnight guards. I had told Nepo about this previously, and he was fine with it.
Recently he found out that I had been there and read me the riot act for doing that. He said that I had to inform him before I go and get authorization to do my job every time I was there, otherwise I am never allowed to be on the site. Okay, if that's policy, fine -- but could he not have told me that sooner?!
I am being subjected to constant harrassment now. My boss is spying on me to a ridiculous degree -- but clearly can't catch me doing anything wrong because there's nothing to catch. The board member I mentioned was "put in charge of keeping an eye on the guards" by him -- nice move, Nepo, since she's one of the most vocal supporters of getting rid of Securitas. She is also notorious among the guards and resident manager for lying about other residents to get them in trouble or fined. Pages have been ripped from my logbook by parties unknown, making it appear as if I was not recording my actions. If you look really good you can see the rips. Reports I have written have disappeared.
I don't know how much more of this I can take. My wife is as supportive as she can be, but even she is reduced to tears when she sees how upset I am over some of the harrassing things that are happening to me, and how they affect me.
I have been accused of playing favorites to residents who are friendly with me and being overly harsh to others. I have been accused of babysitting teenagers (i.e., over 15-years old) while on duty, and extorting money from them. I can't even bring myself to justify this with a response. There was an ongoing joke that I was "babysitting" when all the kids were hanging out at the park, which is also my post. Maybe that's where some of it comes from. And if anything, I may be a little harsher with people who try to take advantage of my acquaintance with them than I am with people that I hardly know.
The only reason I am still working for Securitas at the site is because I honestly care about the residents there. I have come to know many of them personally and I know that they depend on me and am grateful for my work. It feels good when I can help them. I don't want to abandon them.
But I don't know how much more I can take.
Stephan
Notaspacia, Kansas
U.S.A.
4 Updates & Rebuttals
Dman7
Cleveland,Ohio,
U.S.A.
Coorporate culture
#5UPDATE Employee
Wed, May 13, 2009
First of all I have lived on Maui before. It is truly No Ka Oi. I will say I still work for Securitas USA myself. You really should not make your superiors feel like they are beneath you. We as human beings often like to brag about ourselves. Give the person over you the opportunity to shine. If they have a bigger position than you, the burden is more on their shoulders.
Third, treat business as a casual affair. Do not ever get attached to any of your associates, this includes the clientel on your post. They will forget all about you when you leave. They pay for your services. Your coworkers' opinions do not count, just as your opinion of them does not count.
Fourth, you sound like you are Haole and that you work with all locals. As a Popolo, I know that they will never truly let their guard down against you. I had some issues with discrimination on the Aina myself. I am already used to being the minority so it didn't really upset me. You need to realize that they probably resent you having your position because you are Haole. It is good to have haters, this means you are doing something right.
Fifth, in coorporate culture you should fit in as much as possible. You are one grain of sand. The Japanese have a saying, Cut the tall trees. That means if you stand out from your peers on the job, you need to do as much as possible to blend in. If they are not working as hard, you need to also slack off. Even if that one woman is constantly trying to snitch on you. Or if your immediate supervisor is spying on you. Remember, if they cannot discipline everyone equally it is discrimination.
Chances are you look more articulate to the board members because you are Haole. You should really just go with it and push to be the in house guy when they make the move. Let your associates mess up, when things go wrong remind the board and Securitas that you are not in complete control. This will make them consider promoting you over you immediate supervisor. The client obviously doesn't feel Uncle Nepo is a professional fit for them.
As far as the guy smoking pot in his car is concerned. Securitas still drug tests. You should call 1 800 932 5378 and report this guy. Stay anonymous of course. Also, don't worry about Uncle Nepo not liking you. He never did. Obviously the man is prejudice against you, there is nothing you can do to change that.
Far as the people acting like they want to jump on you. Just let them throw the first punch. It is all down hill from that. If you are not the fighting type you can fall on the ground and sue the crap out of them. Or you can beat them up s****.> I am not a Supervisor, Manager, nor a fired employee. I am still employed with this company. With your immediate supervisor, Uncle Nepo I keep it strictly professional. I would not explain too much to him. If he is trying to protection his relative let him. Then use this against him. You have to be cunning.
I too have been disappointed with this companies practices, but the main thing is we are employed. Alot of people are not employed. If they don't care then you shouldn't either. That is why I am doing better. Just fit in with your corporate culture. We don't own this company so it is not our problem if it can't keep clients.
If all else fails start looking. Sometimes a fresh start is what you need. When you start over remember to stay low profile. Don't act smarter than your boss. In fact your job is to keep the boss's ego up. The more his or her ego stays inflated, the better it is for you. They will appreciate you more than the guy that does everything by the book.
Sincerely your Associate
DMAN 7
Joe
Austin,Texas,
U.S.A.
GET OUT WHILE YOU STILL CAN! SECURITY COMPANIES ARE WORSE THAN OTHER MINIMUM WAGE RIP-OFFS!
#5UPDATE EX-employee responds
Mon, April 14, 2008
How bad can it get, dude?
A LOT WORSE!
WORSE THAN ANYTHING YOU CAN IMAGINE!
Try getting PERMANENTLY disabled while you were on -duty and performing a job for them and then they were too cheap to take you to the ER like OSHA and Wage and Hour says you are supposed to be taken to the hospital...
TRY THAT IS SUPPOSED TO BE ILLEGAL FOR THEM TO OPERATE WITHOUT WORKER'S COMPENSATION AND TO WITHHOLD MONEY FROM YOUR CHECK BUT PUT INTO THEIR POCKETS AND NOT SENT IT ON TO SOCIAL SECURITY OR IRS OR WHEREVER IT IS SUPPOSED TO GO!
And that because you got disabled working for them that they filed for bankruptcy before you could bill them for any medical treatement and it was a year ebfore you could get to see a doctor and then only because the State paid for it.
And the person who was a co-owner of this company is now an operations manager for another company and screwing those employees over too. There is a constant parade of people in AND THEN A STAMPEDE OUT of there because of these BAD EMPLOYMENT POLICIES!
This dishonest, lying conveniently came back to Texas after the statute of limitations had run out for me to sue them for what they allowed to happen to me. They actually had some other lawsuits as well which is what brought them back but as good as they apparently lie, they apparently got out of those problems as well.
AND THEY LIE SO YOU CAN'T GET UNEMPLOYMENT AND PUT UP OTHER SECURITY COMPANY OWNERS TO HIRE YOU JUST LONG ENOUGH TO WHERE YOU ARE CHEATED OUT OF YOUR UNEMPLOYMENT AND THEN DROP YOU WITH ENTIRELY FALSE, LYING JOB REFERENCES FROM HELL!
It is my ambition to see private security guard contractors TIGHTLY CONTROLLED BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OR PUT OUT OF BUSINESS ENTIRELY --- ESPECIALLY THE FOREIGN OWNED ONES! I have a problem with FOREIGN-OWNED COMPANIES PUTTING WEAPONS IN THE HANDS OF WHOMSOEVER IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA -- a right that should only be allowed to AMERICAN CITIZENS AND PERMANENT RESIDENTS!
THERE CAN BE NO PROSTITUTES WITHOUT THE PIMPS WHO PUT THEM ON THE CORNER AND CUSTOMERS WHO ABUSE THEM...
R
Honolulu,Hawaii,
U.S.A.
Securitas a bad company? Nope - all minimum wage security companies are bad.
#5Consumer Suggestion
Wed, December 12, 2007
having worked security for over 10 years, not only have I heard hundreds of unfair stories of employee abuse, discrimination, favoritism, and so on... but I have had my own share of mishaps that were so absurd no other person outside the security business would even believe. I found a solution and it is listed below along with a few rants of my own:
I asked myself what I wanted in life and couldn't come up with a good answer, but I knew what I didn't want - and that was the constant abuse in security from supervisors as well as clients. I was a model security guard who could read and write well. I also had a sense of fairness and did things by the book. Surrounded by ignorant and crooked supervisors, I was always perceived as more of a threat than an asset because good people do the right thing while slackers do absolutely nothing.
After 10 years and 4 companies, I was promoted to field supervisor where I protected good guards and recommended the sleepers be fired when caught. For the first time, good guards began to see changes over a 6 moth period of time when I got rid of all the screw-ups and lent my support to the hard workers.
This worked well until eventually I stepped on a few toes (screw-up employees sometimes have relatives in the same company that protect them). The night security jobs frequently attracted the under-achievers with two jobs because the night shift offered the lure of being able to sleep on the job.
If I caught the sleepers first, I recommended they be terminated and 90% of the time (when not related to anyone else) it worked. If the client caught the sleepers first, then we would lose the contract and everyone on all shifts would be fire.
Then another low bidding security company would step in, and do worse (like bringing in wino's, drug addicts and crooks - making the sleepers seem almost angelic). This is a perpetual process that can go on for decades.
Yes, I worked for Securitas, the global security franchise - but only because they bought us out. First thing they did was reduce management to a bare minimum, branch managers began to cut corners like not firing bad employees (to save on hiring and training costs), they quit checking the Detex/Togo reports that document when rounds were made, quit issuing and repairing broken equipment, and finally abolished employee name plates and ID cards (this was always a no-no in security)! Finally, the capstone - illegal immigrants were hired for below minimum wage and background checks were scaled down to random, making security work very attractive to drug dealers - where else can a dope dealer hang out on a daily basis with a perfect cover and two incomes? The minimum wage they make of course is unimportant to them.
To avoid lawsuits, nobody was ever fired - just sent home and asked to wait for a call with a new schedule. Any supervisor who would dare to fire an employee was in deep trouble and asked never to do it again.
Now. How can you change such an idiot business where the company is as bad as some employee's? real simple. Give it up. But I found that there is a tendency to look for work in another security company because that's how people are (creatures of habbit). So I finally made my move:
I decided to get one more security job, this time as a guard on a swing shift and... go to college. I performed so well, I went back and got a masters degree and I am currently working on a PhD. I teach in a university already and make $60.00 an hour.
I thought I'd let someone else in on this "way out of modern day slavery" only to find out that what I initially thought was nothing more than disinformation and myths that could be cured by "enlightenment", turned out to be nothing more than a ploy to justify the lack of initiative, motivation and will power to change.
Here we are in a country where upwards mobility is still possible and most minimum wage earner seem to be satisfied with their miserable lives although they do a lot of complaining about how little they earn, how hard it is to make ends meet, how they need 2 or 3 jobs and so on. I don't want to hear it because "I've been there, done that and got the T-Shirt, OK"?
80% of all Americans are modern day slaves, 10% middle class and 10% upper level income. Today I belong to the 10% middle class and thats good enough for me. I have everything I need, all my debts are paid, I can afford extravagant luxuries from time to time. Most of all, I have time to spend with my family, church, volunteer in my community and tons of other things I never had time or money to do when I was a security guard/field supervisor.
Education is a way out of the minimum wage slavery. It worked for me and it can work for everyone else. Here are some of the top 10 cop out excuses I'm sick of hearing:
1. I can't afford college. Myth buster: There is a thing called "Federal Financial Aid". half of it is a loan and the other half is a grant (doesn't have to be paid back).
2. How can I work full time AND go to college? Myth buster: The government knows that people who work and study full-time are less likely to graduate and pay back their student loan, so there is an extra amount of financial aid left over every semester which means you can scale down to part-time.
3. I don't have the "head" to study (My God, who brainwashes people from coast to coast to repeat the same exact cop-out excuses?). What you learn in college isn't necessarily more difficult than high school - it's just... more stuff focused on whatever your major is.
4. I probably don't qualify for a student loan (????). Myth buster: student loans were created for poor and middle class people. Rich people pay cash!
5. My credit is bad and I would probably be denied. Myth buster: credit reports are not checked because that would defeat the whole idea of educating the poor. It is assumed most poor and middle class people have some dings in their credit history so therefore, everyone gets approved.
6. Can I steal? Like enroll and then not go and cash in? Unbelievably, there are people who have asked me that too as if the U.S. government is so stupid not to have any safeguards in place. You never get a check from the government, the government pays the university directly and after tuition and books are paid for, your remaining share is sent to you when the university financial aid office is done.
7. I called one of those TV lenders that advertise college loans and they turned me down. Myth buster - don't borrow money for college from a conventional bank. They will check your credit. Borrow from the U.S. government - then they will either assign you a lender or let you pick one they work with. The job of the lender is to shut up and pay your colege expenses. The U.S. government guarantee's the loan. The U.S. government may ask for proof of income, assets and so on - but credit history is off-limits.
The only way someone can be turned down is if they were ever convicted of any drug crimes. This means if you are not a convicted drug offender, then you no longer have any excuses not to break out of poverty with a little hard work, persistence and commitment. The doors that will then open will surprise you. To quit security and go into some other minimum wage industry is not a solution, just a way to change routines.
This is how you fix security - you get yourself educated (high school doesn't count because every Tom d**k and Harry can get a high school diploma these days) and simply leave it! If you give security or any other minimum wage slave job the best of your years, work hard, behave ethically and diligently - expect to be stepped on because the majority of people in this business are bandits, abusers, butt-kissers, yes-men, and so on. One moment they praise you (because they need you), then as soon as they have a replacement, they make up a reason and get rid of you.
And if you lose sleep trying to figure out what you did wrong to deserve such treatment after giving your best - then you have a serious screw loose and college won't help. If you are such a person, you are damaged, and possibly beyond repair. There can only be hope if you see a counselor because you need to discover a thing called "self-worth". Then, and only then - you will be ready for college, and then freedom.
You can write all your nasty experiences in security on this site, but it won't serve any purpose unless you seek only to vent your anger. If you seek true freedom, then follow the golden advice I just gave everyone above. And when you quit security (or any other minimum wage job for that matter) don't expect a "going away party" because you are less valuable to them than the pseudo-cop uniform they make you wear.
They are so scared of lawsuits, they won't even allow you to carry mace for self defense because a lawsuit would cost them hundreds of thousands as opposed to the standard $5,000.00 life insurance they would have to pay your family if you got killed on the job by some armed lunatic. Now that you know how much they just don't care about you - get out!
Security
New York,New York,
U.S.A.
get out now and stop caring for others who don't give a s**t about you
#5UPDATE EX-employee responds
Sat, November 03, 2007
My friend,
Contract security is the worst occupation to work in. Don't be a fool. Security guards are really there to take the blame for others and pay the consequences. Those clients don't care if you get killed or become homeless. In that job you are replaceable with another person like a toy. Security guards are like prostitutes. The company gets welll paid and you end up with a small piece of the pie, and get pushed around by them. I used to work for Securitas for over six years before I finally got out of the contract security business. You will not profit from it and there is heavy nepotism. There are too many glass ceilings and glass walls for this job. Leave while you can. Give you're 2 weeks notice or you may wind up longer in this shitty job and, be stereotyped for better employment opportunities like many others.