Employee Reviews
(Winged ratings measure job satisfaction on scale of 1 to 5)
Anonymous shared this review of Ashwood Gifts Ltd on Aug 16th, 2018
"Personally I would suggest most people, let alone women, to avoid working at this organisation. Ashwood Gifts Ltd is run by a family of Christians from the Plymouth Brethren/Exclusive Brethren community, who are very insular as part of their core nature. Research the PBs before accepting a position in this organisation to check that you know what you're letting yourself in for.
At the time I worked there, three women worked in the same office as me. The co-founder's sister showed plenty of signs of being unhappy; her aunt seemed to have resigned herself to being seen as a lesser person; one of the warehouse workers was the designated 'tea-lady'. Outside of the office I physically worked in there was also the younger co-founder's wife, with whom I had a limited amount of contact, who did not respond to my efforts to say hello and introduce myself but was very quick to point out any mistakes I made.
Regarding mistakes, I started the job feeling confident that I would do well, however I received minimal training. At first I took this to mean that I was doing a good job, but later it became apparent that most of the workers in the office did not want to interact with me (as I said, the Plymouth Brethren are worth researching before you commit to a job like this. Notably, PBs tend to discourage one-another from talking to non-PBs. This extended to training me properly).
There is more that I could say here. This workplace offers a budget for free lunches but refuse to sit with you at lunchtime; they are overall very sensitive to anything even vaguely approaching colourful language; communication within the organisation leaves a lot to be desired (especially for outsiders like me. I once received an Instant Message between two of Ashwood's family members talking negatively about me, and I although I reported this to the co-founders, the reaction and any kind of satisfying resolution was very much lacking. Plus, when I handed my notice in, I waited for the co-founder to inform the rest of the team. When this was not mentioned in any group email or team huddle I asked when he was going to announce my leaving to the group. He told me he already had. I'd simply been left out of it)."
Are women & men treated equally?
"No"
Does the CEO support gender diversity?
"No"
One thing Ashwood Gifts Ltd can improve?
"Other"
Position or Department
Accounts Administrator, Administrative
Recent Salary
$0-$25k
Level of Flexibility
1
2
3
4
5
"To say that they are a little bit flexible is technically true but admittedly unhelpful: my working contract stated that I must dress modestly and was disallowed from wearing trousers. Since I feel more comfortable in trousers I asked, when I joined, to wear them and they accepted this. However, I am sure that I have already hinted enough that there are serious core issues with the way this company views and treats women, and I believe these need to be addressed but are unlikely to be.
In addition, despite my job being administrative and the industry the company traded in being fairly full of late-starters (many of our customers opened at 10 or 11am, and even then seasonally,), the co-founders' religious beliefs supported starting work very early in the morning. My initial contract was for me to start work at 7am. Due to circumstances at home I was unable to accept a start quite so early so re-contracted for 7.30am. They accepted this.
It may also be worth noting that this company had me working for as many hours as they could. Just because I started at 7.30am it didn't mean I got to leave early. I left a while ago but my leaving time was 5.30pm."
Did you take Maternity leave?
"No"
Would you recommend Ashwood Gifts Ltd to other women?
"No"
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