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Annual job review today: When is it OK to speak up about being underpaid?
HanoiBoi:
--- Quote from: javeryh on March 18, 2010, 03:18:19 pm ---Wow that's a crazy story Fordman.
yeah, I'm busy at work. I generally work from 8:30 - 7 (year round, no vacations) but it is not unusual for me to be in the office until 10pm or later. I carry a blackberry and work weekends, etc. Since I'm salaried, the actual hours don't matter as much. They did almost exactly what I thought they were going to do - no raise but now I can receive a "bonus" next March which would make the total compensation equal to what I was making before the first 15% cut - if I'm still employed here. Big if since they are letting people go left and right. I'm not happy.
--- End quote ---
'No vacations' meaning you don't get them, or you don't take them? Aside from monetary compensation, you could negotiate for vacation days and a general better quality of life.
When you ask for a raise and get the 'trust me, I fought for you' cookie cutter response from your boss, even if you don't get that raise, the information, delivery and body language from your boss can tell you a lot. You'll know if they are really fighting for you or if they are completely BS'ing you. That info should help you decide whether to 'keep doing what you're doing' and working til 10pm every night, or to ease back on your availability and make time for yourself. There is life outside of work, right? Your bosses know that, even if they don't let on.
On the contrary, though, I did have a boss that you couldn't beat to work if you tried. He also felt the need to work late, even when it was not absolutely necessary in the company's eyes. After I saw this for a couple years, I then saw him bumming pretty bad when he went through a divorce.
javeryh:
--- Quote from: HanoiBoi on March 19, 2010, 11:25:30 am ---'No vacations' meaning you don't get them, or you don't take them? Aside from monetary compensation, you could negotiate for vacation days and a general better quality of life.
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No vacations meaning I'm not really allowed to take them (believe me, I want to). 2 years ago everyone used to get 4 weeks vacation. They then did away with vacation altogether and changed the policy to "as long as you can bill 2250 hours you can take as much vacation as you want" which is almost impossible to do. To give you an idea, I've been out of school for going on 7 years and I've never hit 2250 hours billed (big difference from hours in the office). So basically, this policy translates into "no vacation". No one (other than the senior bosses) takes vacation anymore.
--- Quote from: HanoiBoi on March 19, 2010, 11:25:30 am ---When you ask for a raise and get the 'trust me, I fought for you' cookie cutter response from your boss, even if you don't get that raise, the information, delivery and body language from your boss can tell you a lot. You'll know if they are really fighting for you or if they are completely BS'ing you. That info should help you decide whether to 'keep doing what you're doing' and working til 10pm every night, or to ease back on your availability and make time for yourself. There is life outside of work, right? Your bosses know that, even if they don't let on.
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I totally agree. They were just kind of shrugging their shoulders and really had no satisfactory responses to my questions. They couldn't even answer "how did you determine my salary?" which is pathetic.
--- Quote from: HanoiBoi on March 19, 2010, 11:25:30 am ---On the contrary, though, I did have a boss that you couldn't beat to work if you tried. He also felt the need to work late, even when it was not absolutely necessary in the company's eyes. After I saw this for a couple years, I then saw him bumming pretty bad when he went through a divorce.
--- End quote ---
This is the head of my office exactly. He is at his desk every morning without fail by 7AM and stays most nights past 7PM. He also treats Saturdays like any other day of the week - in at 7AM. His family must hate him.
shmokes:
--- Quote from: javeryh on March 19, 2010, 03:37:30 pm ---
"as long as you can bill 2250 hours you can take as much vacation as you want" which is almost impossible to do . . . . big difference from hours in the office
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I thought only big law firms had billable hour requirements like that. Anyway, there was one guy at the firm where I interned last summer who worked like a maniac. One morning I got to work early (7:30am) because I had stuff I needed to do and I rode the elevator up with him as he happened to arrive at the same time. When I got to my desk I saw that he had sent me an email just before leaving the office at 3 am. And it was totally not a crunch time. ---maternal-smurf--- just worked all the time. But the associate for whom I worked most of the time told me he used to be even worse and that two years previous he was sort of reprimanded for billing over 3000 hours in a year. The firm told him that they appreciate hard work, but that kind of work was unhealthy. 3000 hours.
javeryh:
--- Quote from: shmokes on March 19, 2010, 04:17:00 pm ---I thought only big law firms had billable hour requirements like that.
--- End quote ---
Bingo.
I know people that work like that and I really feel sorry for them.
JeepMonkey:
I couldn't imagine working in an environment like that.
I work for an employee owned engineering and construction firm with 3000 employees. Just about all of our profit at the end of the year is given back in bonuses (immediate) or stock and cash (retirement). And the bonus are disptributed well, not all at the top with a few crumbs for the regular folk.
Reviews are with your supervisor directly. Everything is based on a 1 - 5 point scale and all scores are discussed individually.
This is the only company I have known, so to hear companies acting like yours just sounds terrible.
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