Dom.ru, or the experience of one friendly takeover
We worked for a small but proud regional telecom operator. They created a trade union without even knowing it: they united three departments and acted together against the management of the company. And, as it turned out, fines can be canceled, bonuses can be given not at the discretion of the director, but according to the decision of the work collective, wages can be raised not for everyone separately, but for everyone together. And a seven-hour working day is not such a pipe dream.
All good things come to an end. Our regional operator was absorbed by the federal Dom.ru. Of course, we were all promised good working conditions and job security. But as soon as Dom.ru took over the business processes, they began to call one by one and offer to resign of their own free will. But the bosses didn’t take into account: our team was really friendly, and we were friends, including with the lawyers of our firm. Colleagues explained: “do not sign a resignation letter of your own free will, demand everything required by law payments” Having found a job, colleagues quit by agreement of the parties, receiving at least an amount equal to the income for the last three months. Particularly stubborn comrades managed to negotiate a six-month salary as compensation.
It was especially hard for our colleague in charge of the warehouse. We had to hold the defense alone in the warehouse, which they tried to remove without taking inventory and without filling out papers. When the warehouse was nevertheless removed without the consent of the storekeeper, the employee was persuaded to sign the inventory papers retroactively. But, having received the answer “I work according to the company’s regulatory documents and the laws of the Russian Federation,” the branch director himself signed the warehouse inventory documents.
When re-registering us at Dom.ru, we were told about the rules for career growth in the holding. It was necessary to move to the lowest levels in the corporate hierarchy. If we prove our qualifications and loyalty to the company, there will be an increase, but only by one step. All this splendor was decorated with a poster in the form of two rockets: a branch and the Perm central office. The stand was called the “toilet rocket”; it hung opposite the entrance to the toilet. Applications were prepared for us at our own request, where we asked to be transferred from the positions of engineers to the positions of technicians with a reduction in salary, since there were simply no similar positions for us in the branch. We unanimously refused to fly on a “outhouse rocket” and get to already obtained positions from scratch and demanded that we be registered directly with the central Perm company. According to personnel officers, it was absolutely impossible to do this. Here again, friendship with the legal department came in handy: Article 74 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation states that working conditions cannot be unilaterally worsened, for this there is a special process – the employer is obliged to notify the employee in writing no later than two months in advance, and is obliged to give work that the employee can perform taking into account his state of health, if any. We settled in safely. Even in pre-Covid times, we mastered the remote work format: the main staff of the department is in Perm, and we work in the regional office.
Work was in full swing. From the guys from the branch we learned how Dom.ru is sensitive to material values. Twice a year, all employees are gathered in a special place, where everyone puts all material assets in a personal bag, seals it and leaves it in the warehouse. Then they call you one by one, and you, like a naughty schoolboy in the presence of the entire teaching staff, make excuses that everything is fine with you and you don’t need to be fined. Humiliating! How surprised we were when we learned that in Perm inventory is easy and relaxed. They inspected my workplace: the PC was in place, the monitor was in place. That's all! It was normal to work in the Perm office. The salary was increased only after the offer. But this is not a problem, the friendly team from the old company helped out here too: going to each other for offers is even fun. But they didn’t pay for processing. It took a long time to do anything. We are remote, the team is not as friendly as before. And yet I found a way out. After a couple of years of turnover in the department, I became indispensable on the project. And at some point, to the IT director’s phrase “we need to work overtime,” the answer came from me: “You need it – please work on the weekend, and I’ll go on a picnic with my family.” It was a shock for the director. And I concluded for myself: became a bus factor – demand better working conditions!
After going through moral pressure and threats, I received the right to pay for overtime. My next requirement was to pay for overtime not only for myself, but also for those who would work with me in the team. And then the rule spread to neighboring departments and divisions. It was not possible to create such a friendly team as in a small operator, but even in a huge holding company you can help your colleagues. I have fond memories of this stage of my career.
Unfortunately, the curse of material values overtook me at the most unexpected moment. The pandemic began, and we were forced to work remotely one day. The office was closed, we were not allowed to work. While we were away, in the best traditions of Dom.ru, an inventory was carried out, where they found out that expensive office phones had disappeared en masse from remote workers. We were called to the accounting department, demanded to sign the inventory reports and compensate the company for losses. They refused to sign the documents, because signing documents is our right, not our obligation! The chief accountant and director of the branch were given an ultimatum by our friendly team of remote workers: we give you 24 hours to search for equipment; Tomorrow we will return and call the police to file reports of stolen phones. We explained to management that We bear full financial responsibility only in cases of: intentional actions; acting while intoxicated; within the framework of a criminal or administrative case. By evening the phones were found. As it turned out, they were put away in a warehouse so as not to be lost. They apologized to us, the ill-fated phones were put into storage. I carefully keep the transfer documents to this day.
The adventures with material assets did not end even after dismissal. Bearing in mind Dom.ru’s reverent attitude towards material assets, I saved all the acts, all the inventory records. For insurance purposes, when I left, I took a document from the branch director and chief accountant stating that I didn’t owe them anything. And then a year later they call me from the warehouse and tell me in a menacing voice that as a result of the annual inventory, a shortage of my office phone was discovered, I urgently need to come and pay its cost. I recommended that the warehouse employee send me a pre-trial claim on the company’s letterhead with the signature of the responsible employee and the company’s seal. I promised to classify further calls as extortion and file a complaint with the police. I received a letter without signatures or seals, just a requirement to appear at the specified address and deposit funds. The letter went into the trash bin. Six months later, the collectors called, rude, boorish guys. The proposal to file a claim in court caused them confusion. The guys were embarrassed and timidly confirmed their readiness to take everything into the legal realm.
This is how my story of relationship with Dom.ru ended. Make friends with colleagues, stand up for your rightstake a break before signing documents and carefully collect the papers!
