How can I safely quit this job?

• I will tell you my job: I live in near a mansion as a servant to a mentally unstable owner. I mostly work in the gardens where I mow the lawn and tend to the flowers. The owner has a vast garden and land so I work with four other gardeners. The job is good because in the winter I am free and allowed to go to my real house which is in the city. My boss has immense social and financial power so reporting him is not an option because he is well-connected and has much money thus leading to first class lawyers. Perhaps those who know British politicians very well you will know who he is if I say his name but I will not say because I know Yahoo! Answers likes to moderate the questions. I will just say he is not really a politician. Lately, he has had problems with me. I have been working for three years but I was never punished. He shouted at me two or three times but that was pretty much it. Most of the time I was ignored which was good considering his anger issues. However, last week, I was working to trim the hedges and he was not satisfied with the shape. I told him that the other gardener told me this is what you want. He brought the other gardener over and asked him about this but he lied and denied. The owner shouted at both of us and I told him I quit because I can find a job in the city and I don't this this vile behavior from you anymore. He then sent the other gardener away laughed and told me you can't quit. If you do, I will make sure you get a criminal record so no person hires you and are brought down to begging for money. He also told me that he paid me three times as much as he should and that work in the city will give me a worse pay. I was furious so just to make a point cut a bit of his hedge and told him that if I work here, I will not work well so it is better that he fires me. He said I was stuck in a corner. I had to either quit and be ruined by him or work for him and if I did not work well I would suffer punishment. He boxed me over the ear for cutting a bit of his hedge. He then told me to get to work and if I make another mistake again, I will be punished more. Is there any way I could quit without suffering his claims of ruining me. I don't know the law in the U.K (specifically England) very well so can he really do that? I just don't understand why he just does not fire me (sack me) and get a new worker. I will tell you why I am posting on Yahoo! Answers: I do not have a family who I can talk to about this and I will not tell my friends about this because I do not want to look weak. You must understand. The other workers are all rats so I cannot talk to them either. I think this is the best way to safely ask advice.

• Answer:

  Being in a dysfunctional employment relationship with someone powerful, capricious, and irrational is terrible, so you are far better out of it. Make sure you line up your options, so that when you go, you are out of there safely, and with somewhere else to go to. Arrange to move your home at the same time you move job. Ideally, and if you are careful, he should be unable to find out where you have moved to. There are always commercial investigators, but try to be as unnoticeable as possible between now, and when you leave. If you turn up without a P45 or P45 Tax Form, which he should give you, you may need to go onto emergency tax for the first few weeks, but then again, moving out of this situation was never going to be easy. Look for a job, interview, and line it all up with someone else before you quit. If you can get your next employer to understand that you are under a cloud with the current guy, and that even though an employer has to give an accurate reference about your absenteeism and competence, this may not be forthcoming. Save up holiday, so that when you quit (in writing) you have enough holiday accrued so that if he makes an issue of it, you can take four weeks holiday instead of having to work four weeks notice. Citizens Advice Bureaus can help you with things like Employment Rights and Industrial Tribunals if you want to go down that path. They take forever, are intended for reasonable people, and don't pay out as much as they cost in terms of time, effort, and worry. If this guy has money, and he is your boss, distance yourself into another job with as little friction as you can possible manage. Finally, start a journal of everything that happens, when and where it happened, what gets said, who was present, and how it made you feel. You never know when exact recall of events dates and times might come in handy. Keep a copy on line as well as a physical copy.