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I worked at Savvy Civils & Plumbing for four months, and it was honestly a frustrating experience from start to finish. The communication was poor, and the workload was overwhelming. The working hours were officially from 7 AM to 5 PM, but in reality, you’re never truly off. You’d still get calls from technicians and clients after hours. On top of that, they expect you to work every second weekend, which is not the problem. The problem was that in the interview process, I was told we could work from home. I did for the first month, but then all of a sudden, the 'boss' didn’t want us working from home anymore due to work not being up to date from previous employees. This is one of many inconsistencies.

On top of working every second weekend, we also worked public holidays. Yes, we took turns for who worked which public holiday, but still, no overtime was paid for the public holidays that we worked in the office from 7 to 5.

My hours were also not truly from 7-5. I would still get calls from clients and technicians throughout the evening, long after I was supposed to be done with my day. One example that really stands out: I had a client call me at midnight, claiming an emergency. I sent a technician to help, and after waiting for him to get to the client in Roodepoort, he arrived only to find the client wasn’t answering their phone. I had to send him back, wasting his time and mine.

What really gets under my skin, though, is that even after I left, they still owe me money – it’s been three months. It is the principle of things. It’s clear that they don’t value their employees or keep their word. They love to make jokes about the people who’ve left, but the problem isn’t with the employees. Savvy Civils & Plumbing needs to take a hard look at their own practices because they’re the ones who are dishonest and unprofessional.