I have a secret informant at work, and it sounds absolutely silly, but it's my groundskeeper. Might as well dork out and call him "Willie". When New Boss is in town, she always brings one of the maintenance guys from her home property with her, so he can help out around here and do things that Willie can't do.
The thing is, though, Visiting Handyman (VH) is always around New Boss, and knows way more than I do about the secrets and information going on at home office. And luckily for me, despite his beard and good ole boy charm, VH is a chatty Cathy who can't keep anything to himself. So while they're working together on projects, VH always tells Willie about stuff that even I don't know about. And I work for the fucking company, while Willie is a temp, for chrissake!
(Pushing aside resentment that a handyman gets more information that I do....) What no one seems to realize, though, is that Willie and I have developed quite a rapport over the last 7 months of his assignment here. Seeing as we're the only ones here most of the time-- and we're talking roughly 4 days a week, people-- we've HAD to learn to get along and depend on one another. So as soon as New Boss and VH leave, Willie pulls me aside and tells me everything he's been told. I love men who can gossip.
The news today ain't so great. Apparently, the buyers asked New Boss how much money I make, and in an attempt to help me out a bit, she inflated my salary a smidgen to give me some bargaining room. It completely backfired. The "word on the street" is that the buyers feel that my salary is too high (hah!) and so they won't be asking me to stay on. So, it looks like July 25th will be my last day as a gainfully employed person.
I know it's "not done" to talk about money, but I'm going to do it anyway. I make crap money, completely crap. I fall into the category of Americans who are 2 missed paychecks away from poverty. So it's completely astounding to me that the buyers think my salary-- even only slightly inflated-- is too much. And when you add in the fact that I know from my brief conversations with them that they would be greatly increasing my duties and responsibilities were I to be retained by them, I am again dumbfounded. I really wonder what kind of a pittance salary they had in mind for someone in my position.
Oh, and to add insult to injury, the buyers don't even have health insurance. What the fuck?!? That's the one redeeming quality of my current job: I don't make any money, but it's at least compensated for by the fact that the company fully pays for health and dental insurance for its employees. No infertility coverage, of course, as you know from previous rants, but I'll take crappy insurance over NO insurance any day.
So, no health insurance/benefits package, ridiculously low salary, greater responsibilities, and they expect to pay someone less that what I make now. The really sad thing about it is, they won't have a problem hiring someone, because it's just that crappy of a job market here. The Pollyanna in me thinks I should stay positive, and hope that they make me an offer, even if it's a crappy offer, because a job right now is worth two in the bush. The snarly realist in me is already wondering how much you can get in unemployment benefits, and how long my bank account will survive if it takes a while to find something decent.
I'm thinking of putting up a happy, jolly ticker to countdown my days until unemployment and poverty. Maybe something with rainbows and butterflies. What do you think?
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4 comments:
I can't believe the crap you are having to deal with. No one has officially told you anything about your employment status once the deal is done. Then to find out that they think you're already "over paid" is a slap in the face when you know that more responsibilities are coming. Grrr..I'm getting upset and it has nothing to do with me.
I would be looking for another job while holding out a little hope that you'll not only be able to keep this job but get a raise and insurance to boot.
Lots of luck during all this. Sending you some (((hugs)))
{{{{{Kim}}}}} Do an RFP (request for proposal) for yourself: time on the job, skills, specific events you've handled outside your initial role, etc. Use www.salary.com to show them what is a fair wage. Ask! You don't ask = you definately won't get.
Debbe
That SUCKS. Really sucks.
Unemployment...equally sucks. I spent part of my summer last year on it. The lo down. You have to be "let go" you can't quit...so if they offer you a position I don't know if you can "turn it down" and still qualify. Something to look into. There is a 2 week waiting period before you can even file your first claim...so you are talking a MONTH w/out pay. Oh, and that is about 60% of your salary. Now you can decide if you want taxes taken out or not. If not you are responsible for them in April.
See...sucks. Blah. Whomever came up w/the TTC thing while stressed out about everything else in life sucks too. Hmf.
That really does sound like the new company is very poorly managed. Granted when a new company comes in they often bring their own staff but to have the manager either discuss with the handyman or in front of the handyman so that he can then tell someone else you work with is extremely unprofessional. Works to your advantage but still unprofessional. I agree with previous post, you should research what a standard wage is and go to them. Not that that's an easy thing to do. Good luck with whatever happens.
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