retail sales associate

youth specialist

senior office specialist

social worker

examiner

State of Utah

After 10 minutes on my first day as a new UOSH Compliance Officer, I could feel the oppressive atmosphere generated by the UOSH Division Chief who was a former lawyer with no real world experience in OSHA compliance investigations and lacked management skills.  After two days, I started looking for another job. Some issues encountered are, but not limited to, the following;
1. No state UOSH Field Operating Manual (FOM) as required by Federal OSHA. The FOM is how internal operations are to be conducted within the UOSH division. Federal OSHA inspected UOSH back in December 2015 and made this a high level finding. Only then did the UOSH Division Chief make it a priority.
2. No written training program for new Safety Compliance Officers, again, a requirement by Federal OSHA. Offered examples of other state OSHA training programs but was ignored.
3. Asked, on two separate occasions, for a written performance plan from my supervisors so I knew what expectations were of me. Never did receive one. One employee confessed he had not received a performance plan or appraisal in the last 3 years.
4. False accusations were made against me by a fellow employee and never given the opportunity to counter them with management. All other Compliance Officers were great to work with.
5. Micromanagement from the UOSH Division Chief, e-mailing employees directly about issues and not going through the employee’s immediate supervisor. Isn’t that what supervisors are paid to do, take care of employee issues?
6. UOSH Division Chief caught on several occasions viewing security cameras when certain female employees were walking through the wall ways.
7. Requirement to e-mail supervisor upon entering work with time of arrival and work plan for the day and again, e-mail supervisor at the end of the day with departure time and work completed.
8. Several internal changes were suggested, but ignored, that would benefit all with not more than an hours’ worth of effort.
9. UOSH Division Chief spent unknown tax dollars on an Excel spreadsheet to help the Office Manager track compliance fines. However, the Office Manager had to get someone to help him modify the spreadsheet format so that he could actually use it. When the Office Manager explained to the Division Chief that he could not use the spreadsheet. The reason given was, “You never included me in the design phase as the information input sequence is not the same as the process we use for fine collections.” This happened after I informed the Division Chief that he has an employee who is an Excel master in house and could be used to his advantage.
10. Each compliance inspection is treated the same for employee completion rates. However, management refused to take into consideration the magnitude of various inspections and adjust the completion rates accordingly. Federal OSHA does, why can’t UOSH?

The brightest and most motivated people soon realize that, regarding management, the Peter Principle is in full effect and soon leave public service for the private sector. It is my understanding that UOSH has had turn-over of 12 employees within the last 2 years.

The comments about Utah being a great state to work for are not true, at least in the UOSH Division.

I started working here because it allowed me to influence and teach the at-risk youth. But the detention center has changed drastically since the State took over. 

The facility is UNSAFE! We found contraband like cigarettes, lighters, cell phones, screw drivers, and usually the staff never discovered them, the kids brag about having them while being released and give up the contraband. I would see youth come in on felonies such as assault, aggravated burglary, possession of a firearm, and sometimes murder. These youth were released home after a couple of days in the detention facility, which is very dangerous for the community. We had one resident break a light and use the shards to try and assault the staff, but was released home later that day nonetheless.  

The youth in the facility have the potential to be very dangerous and will act out if they don’t get their way. You have to be an emotionally strong person to work here with all the verbal/emotional and sometimes physical abuse you get from the youth. My coworkers would avoid conflict with them rather than holding them accountable for their disrespectful manor. The youth run the sections and the staff are more like the inmates. There is no “correction” involved in this facility. The kids just hang out until they are released. Typical days would include school, gym, video games + card games, movies, and then bed. Occasionally we had physical altercations between youth but they were not held accountable and did not receive a consequence. They were allowed to watch movies and eat pizza, chips, candy, and soda's with the group the same night.    

We were short staffed almost every day and the supervisors don’t offer much help, they spend most of the shift sitting in the main hall talking to each other and refuse to work in the sections. They take two hour lunches but us floor staff are not allowed to take any breaks except to use the bathroom. When we do have an altercation between kids and the staff break up the fight, they are written up for going hands-on on the youth and are intensely investigated after. This causes the staff to refrain from going hands on which in turn creates unsafe situations for both staff and residents. Within 2 weeks we had one resident assault 3 staff and we were not allowed to press charges against him because our APD did not permit it.

Due to being short staffed most time off requests are denied and I had to go into work sick many times despite having a doctor’s note. I had a family member pass away and had to prove to the company that she was a blood relative before I was allowed to take the day off for her funeral.

There was no job security since you technically work for the state, they are allowed to transfer you wherever they think is best. A few of my other coworkers were transferred to facilities that were in Saint George or Roosevelt (keeping in mind we currently work in Salt Lake City)- forcing them to either quit or move to said location.  I showed up to work sometimes to discover that I was being sent to work in a different facility 45 minutes away. Leaving me with a 2 hour commute home.

Overall I loved working with the youth but due to lack of respect of management and the unsafe environment I had to leave.

Starting off is ok your raise the first year is decent. From there it goes down hill. The more years you have in you notice that the focus is on replacements and not retention. They raise the starting wages but yours will be stagnant. You’ll hope for the once a year 2% cost of living. Some years it was nothing or as low as 1%. 

Management has no training so it’s random on if you have any that are invested. The mentality is be grateful for your job as though they are doing you a favor instead of seeing it as a mutual relationship where you provide a service in turn for compensation. 

Knowledge experience and degrees don’t promote. Who you are related to, friends with will promote faster than anything else. Benefits are great but the longer you are there you notice every year the costs go up, every year they cover less and you have higher deductibles. The raises being a small 2% are then worthless. 

They are full of people who only say yes. And do not have any constructive feedback. If asked and you provide any you have a good chance of then getting a target on your back and then manager tries to search and find anything they can. 

Work load is overwhelming. With little to no gratitude. Lots of leave and time off but it then puts you behind and stats are not adjusted. In DWS there is a very very high turn around. The environment is very toxic where people hate each other. Little to no tolerance for other and agencies have issues with each other. No focus or effort on a team mentality. It’s a very catty environment. 

A lot of nepotism and favoritism. If you can get in with the right people things will go well and you will get promoted if not your stuck and will watch as new hires make what you make after their first year. The governor has a mentality where he only wants to help those who live in a rural area. Remote work is now only really offered for those who live away from the Wasatch front or St. George. 

Micromanaging is rampant. Expect to be babysat. They focus more and try to find flaws and faults. If none are found they act as though they are not managing and try to look harder and closer. 

Stats and “expectation” are skewed. You will benefit more from not helping people and rushing and ending calls instead of being thorough. When your work is scrutinized it’s random on if there are issues. The people who look over it change and it depends on their preference on if it’s a mistake or not. 

They do social gatherings occasionally but the only people who can make it and network are management due to clearly them not having enough to do. All the while they tell the quickly rotating workers to do more with less time. 

I worked under the supervision of 3 trial attorneys and was responsible for trial preparation preparing exhibits, identifying witnesses, collecting discovery documents, preparing legal documents, interviewing witnesses, meeting calendar deadlines and attorneys calendars.  I also worked as the case manager for Administrative Hearings, preparing for hearings, collecting supporting documents, interviewing witnesses, preparing witness and exhibit lists and working with supporting agencies to support the legal position of the state and our clients

I learned great organizational skills and the importance of multi-tasking as many times, trials for different attorneys would overlap each other.

This job required each team member to work together under strict time restraints and each member of the legal team carried a huge amount of responsibility to insure trial readiness.

I worked in the Child Protection Division which consisted of very sensitive subject matter and confidentiality was of the utmost importance.  

The hardest and the most enjoyable part of the job was the protection of the children in our community and preserving the family unit whenever possible.

Unlike the private sector which, by necessity, responds to industry changes and consumer demands in order to remain viable and profitable,  I have learned that government entities are more... resistant to change or progress. 

There are many levels between the decision makers and the reality of the daily operations and personnel who serve the customers. With each level of authority there is an intrinsic time buffer, territorial politics, statutory limitations and communication difficulties which adds to the delayed ability to serve the ever changing customer needs. 

There are also no incentives in place to perform at a higher level so the natural tendency to perform at the lowest possible level is pervasive throughout the organization. The brightest and most motivated people who would be of value to a private sector organization soon realize the lack of opportunity for merit advancement or recognition and soon leave public service for the private sector.

This unfortunate reality creates an extremely high turnover ratio.  Wonderful job security for HR professionals, but the drain on the system to hire, train and then have to soon replace those same hires is inefficient and very costly to the taxpayers.

Working at the State was a bit of a change for me. I became a little bit lost in the beauracracy of the office. This IT organization is only about 5 years old. They are slowly transitioning out of a model that suites a smaller organization. They need a new and clearly defined vision and structure to be more effective organized. 

Because of the age of the organization and the folks who have come to lead it, DTS has a hard time effectively delivering on its statutory goals. There is infighting between two key groups: Development and the PMO office. Developers appear to have too many bosses and this leads them to often be frustrated with changing demands. Resource management is controlled by Development managers and the Engineering Directors. 

Conflict of interests: Development managers manage pooled resources, and yet they also run projects just like the 5 staffed project managers. In this structure, new project managers may often find themselves getting shorted on required resources.

I really enjoy my team and the support we can provide to each other on a daily basis.

Training is ongoing as changes in policy and procedure are constant to better serve the families we work with and simplify work processes.

Downside is pay does not match education requirement. I made almost as much per hour for a company that only required a high school diploma versus a bachelor's degree.  The cost of living is high in the valley and many of my co workers rent or live with family members.

The state also discourages overtime pay. So even if I am on call and complete hours worked on call I am encouraged to flex my time during the normal work week rather than get paid the overtime I earned. Some of my hours worked on call will go on my check as excess or comp time. 

Health insurance is ok and there are options to choose from. Cost can be high for premium and deductibles. When hourly rate paid to employee is low it can be prohibitive to use. 

As employees in human services we were told we would get pay raises more consistent with what our colleagues make in other states however due to Covid 19 these raises were put on hold. The turnover rate is high in this field due to low pay, high expectation and demand, and burnout. 



Typical day is meet with clients, write court report, solve issues and concerns. do home visits, follow up with clients on their court order, staff cases with your supervisor, more home visits, follow up on UA's, find kinship if possible, answer email, phone calls and texts and attend court hearings. 

My previous and current supervisor they were awesome to work with. I appreciate their feedback on how to connect and engage with parents even it's hard. My colleagues that I worked with some of the knowledgeable people I worked with. Maybe it's because they're all social worker. I was the only one in the office who had a different major. 

The hardest part of this job is seeing parents not wanting to follow court order to reunify with their child/ren. 

The most enjoyable part of this job is engaging with my clients by helping them set goals to reunify with their child/ren. To see a loving grandparent sacrifice even more to care for their grandchildren. Having colleagues understand what you're going through and being a listening ear so you can vent. Another enjoyable thing about this job is the support of other supervisors, front office staff and the nurses in your building.

On a typical day I would start off checking the printers. Then answer any phone calls that came in, check the calendar for meetings. I would do my assigned duties as well as any requests that would come in. There could be scanning, faxing, converting documents for staff, creating forms or PowerPoints, receiving cash and/or checks and processing those, take inventory of supplies and order what was needed, order any items requested, assist with any meetings, and book rooms for meetings.
I have learned a lot about how to be a secretary and to use the equipment needed. Management is wonderful and the majority of the co-workers are super to work with. The hardest part of the job has become the minutes as I have hearing loss and hearing what the soft-spoken people are saying if difficult, hopefully my new hearing aids will help with that. The most enjoyable part of the job is the attitude of the co-workers and the commitment that everyone has towards helping the public and making help for them possible and available.

I would start my day ready to work. I fully enjoyed the work and the great Judges at 5th District Court.  I learned a lot about Utah law and enjoyed serving the public. 
Management was almost always a negative. Management sticks together, are secretive, and hands all promotions to their friends. In the past year, someone with 4-5 years with the court was given the top management position over people who had been with the court much longer, and that person turned around and double promoted a friend they had worked with somewhere else.  That person had been with the court 4 years. These people were simply not qualified to deal with treating employees in a positive, fair manner, or even respecting employees who had been there longer than them. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Retail sales associate 53 salaries reported	$17.90 per hour
Youth specialist 66 salaries reported	$24.21 per hour
Senior office specialist 38 salaries reported	$19.79 per hour
Social worker 33 salaries reported	$25.05 per hour
Examiner 31 salaries reported	$50.79 per hour

Working at State of Utah: Company Overview and Reviews

State of Utah

State of Utah Ratings

Popular jobs at State of Utah

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected