Simply Security

I am so glad to have finally left this company!

What they promote via their out of date website totally contradict in reality how they treat their guards!

They love to take the cheapest options out no matter what...when they gave most of us redundancy cheapest option out and no matter how many times their hr manager lenka h** was asked in meetings with each of us given those redundancy letters, she couldn't give us a straight or honest answer! She's actually a big reason why not one of us guards trusted anything that came out of simply security office...cos of her condescending bias attitude, her lies! Her actual incompetence to do her job properly! For someone in her position she has only managed to demonstrate 3 things - lack of people skills her definite lack of experience in security industry...plus her total lack of knowledge of new zealand employment laws!

I definitely feel sorry for those guards still under Simply Security...get out now while you still have what's left of your dignity, self esteem before the likes of lenka sucks that outta you or Diane also manages to stuff up your pays as well!

Im not a staff member or client of simply security, just a concerned citizen and business owner who was for a time considering utilising the services of this company as one of my closest friends worked for them and gave me rave reviews.....that was then, this is now.

My friend worked for simply for many years and was one of their longest serving employees, only recently was he made redundant after the contract he worked for was not renewed and taken on by another company.

For several years my friend worked at this project, though the pay wasnt that of a rocket scientist he was earning a reasonable wage (above minimum), he put in 120% sometimes workin six days a week. He was well liked by his coworkers and clients and forged friendships which are now lifelong. Back then simply security had an excellent gentleman as an operations controller who if their was something that couldnt be agreed upon simple negotiations would mean staff and this guy could meet halfway on the issue - a win/win situation, everybody was happy.

Then in 2014....it all changed

This gentleman left and things started falling apart. The company employed an HR person and now it would be unethical to name names but things at simply security started to get bad from that persons arrival on.

Little subtle annoying things such as ringing them into work while on annual leave at first quickly esculated into serious issues. My friend told me 1001 horror stories about the company, totally unprofessional and illegal issues such as negating to inform an employee weather or not leave had been approved or declined, lying to staff over issues, backstabbing them and taking bad about them behind their back, breaches of every labour law imaginable such as ignoring requests for essential equipment to do the job safely and with proficiency, making staff work up to 18-19 hour shifts during major events.

My friend applied for a position within the company and was lied to over the outcome - my friend is a straight up honest person who expects nothing but 110% honesty in everything and he literally went into a rage when told "we have sufficient cover for the positions" yet that job was short staffed ever since. And whats worse is that my friend, a stern man is unfortunatley the sort that finds it very hard to forgive especially when lied to by his managers.

It got so bad that i heard horror stories of staff being called into work when they where lying on their death beds in hospital...something that was confirmed after speaking with several other simply guards including one whom had this happen to them directly.

Who would think that after all these years the minimum wage would catch up to my friends rate of pay leaving him, a very senior guard on minimum wage in the end? For two weeks once he was paid below the new minimum wage and was given the excuse "the payroll system only accomodated to new employees" sounds like a load of BS to me.

Before he was so condescendingly shafted they even refused to pay his public holiday rates which is in breach of new zealand law.

All these things my friend has told me has been confirmed by other simply staff who had the same thing happen to them and bear in mind they hire alot of indian migrants on student visas people who are vulnerable to exploitation has they have no knowledge of their rights.

Also my friends health has deteriorated - once he was an outgoing happy and healthy person, now hes irritable, grumpy, snappy, sarcastic and very cynical if not anti social, hes gone as far as picking fights with people in the street, i once had to calm him down after he challenged somebody to a punch up because they refused to apologize for nearly bumping into him in the street, he now has an explosive temper aggravated by his poor treatment by his managers, a temper that he takes with him everywhere from the car to the shops and street.

Furthermore ive seen many simply guards, rude, angry and downright hostile when ive tried to speak to them, i dont blame them cos i see why.

I am disgusted with the way this company treats its workers and i feel for those still left at simply i wouldnt even recommend my worst enemy work there.

Let me start by saying that my heart goes out to those who are under the employment of this company.

I'm not a consumer or a client however I have worked for this company for a long time. I read the previous review and I couldn't agree more with it, coming to this company was one of the worst mistakes ive made in my life. Ive been nothing but a loyal worker for years and have been walked all over and treated like dirt. However it wasnt always like this and at the start it used to be a good company.

On the 3rd of june I recieved my redundancy letter from simply security, they didnt even bother to tell me in person they just sent me a letter and thats that. Simply security knew that they had lost the contract around feburary but decided to deny it and told us to stop spreading rumors or we will be in trouble. Long story short they weren't rumors and were indeed fact.

I have decided I have nothing to lose so I will share my experience with the company.

One would think that after years of loyal hard work you would be off minimum wage, well I've been with the company for a while now and I am still earning minimum wage.

There appears to be a major disconnect between management (the office) and the us the security guards in the end we are left to pick up the pieces for managements mistakes. That can mean anything from working 14 hour shifts through to having your days off taken away from you. Simply claims that we are doing them a favour but its a one way street.

There is a culture within the office where lying to workers has become common place. Promised mc donalds, movie tickets, vouchers etc. for filling in shifts only to never get it seems to be a common occurance.

HR at the company used to be good but once Lenka H** came along it completely changed. She lies through her teeth to the workers, back dates offical company letters so that changes are made effective immediately, breachs employment laws and the list goes on. They seem to get away with this behaviour because they hire alot of foreigners who are not well versed in employment law.

The company spams your phone without your consent and even after asking them to stop they continue to do so . They change the phone number after each text so that you cant block them. Sometimes texts wake me up at 4am on my days off and on top of that some days I recieved countless spam texts from simply.

Finally the contract is really bad. Ive never seen such a bad contract. It really is one sided as stated by the previous review. Trade restraints that stop me from doing security work for six months if I leave, clauses that provide protection for the company and not for you. For example if I am attacked and end up in hospital the company will accept no responsibility and I will have to pay for everything including medical expenses myself. There's also a month long notice period and if you leave before this period they take out money from your final pay for example if I had to leave 2 weeks early I would have to pay them for those 2 weeks that I did not attend.

The list really does go on and I could sit here all day listing all the things that this company has done wrong but that would make me appear as a jaded worker. To be honest with you I am pleased that I will finally escape this company and move on to greener pastures.

New Zealand based security company that treats it workers poorly and overcharges.

After being charged an arm and a leg, I found out the guard assigned to my business was earning minimum wage after jokingly asking him if he could wash the dishes since he must be getting paid a good wage.

On their website they claim to pay good wages to their workers but the guy they sent to me said he was on miminum wage so I spoke more with him and I was horrified by what I heard and over time I spoke with other guards and they all confirmed what the first guard said.

Low wages, bad management, workers being exploited and forced to work additional hours and as one guard told me the company says "it's all part of the security industry" or something along those lines. One sided employment contracts, one of the guards also mentioned how he was promised food and movie tickets for filling in shifts only to never recieve them.

As a buisness owner I am disgusted with this type of behavior and have since cancelled my contract and utilised the services of a more respectable company.