So a slight speedbump in the road to Hammerfall 2.0.
On Friday, it was confirmed to me that in fact our Personal Time Off (PTO) would not be paid out to us at our departure. Currently, between what I have accrued to date and what I will accrue, I will have 126.7 hours plus 8 hours of a single floating holiday.
These, to paraphrase a very famous scene and meme - were not the PTO updates I was looking for.
Apparently embedded within the notification act in New Home is the comment that vacation earned by employees is generally considered to travel with employees, but can be tempered by employer discretion (underlines mine). In this case, our employer has apparently discressed (Discreted? Not sure what the past verb tense is here) that everyone's PTO is better used by the company than by the individual employee to do something like, say cushion the blow in the event there was no severance package...which there was not.
To say this was a bit of an unexpected setback on Friday is the understatement of a week that had a fair amount of them.
I had been planning on using that money to buffer June in the event that nothing had changed - which it likely would not. Now I have to plan to spend that time before I leave - Like Hades am I going to offer them anything that I am rightly owed.
So now begins the great assessment of time slots. The company will now get 3.5 of my last 7 weeks.
I suppose that I did not need any sort of indicator up to this point that there had suddenly become a vast gulf between what management had been proclaiming and what they were actually implementing. But this is the straw that has broken even my back.
What incentive could possibly induce myself or anyone else to look at the company as something that we are deeply concerned about anymore? Literally, I need this company to last 7 weeks. There is nothing else to invest in for the future there - because there is not a future there. There is literally only a number of people that remain that I actually care about. Even the project I spent the last 2.5 years is no more of interest to me. In the event it is successful I will have no vested interest in it; it was simply a product I used to work upon once upon a time.
It is not often that I state I will be watching with an active interest for a failure, but I think even slowly-riled me has finally hit a wall.
The sudden lack of nearly free money has crashed more than a few tech companies in the past few months.
ReplyDeleteI do hope they manage to honor your last payments they owe you.
Hemmingway had something to say about bankruptcy.
In Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel The Sun Also Rises, he writes the following passage:
"How did you go bankrupt?" Bill asked.
"Two ways," Mike said. "Gradually and then suddenly."
This is colloquially known as Hemingway’s Law of Motion and it is frighteningly applicable to distressed projects. The macroeconomist Dr. Rudiger Dornbusch also touches on this aspect in an interview on Mexico’s economic crises in the 1990’s: “The crisis takes a much longer time coming than you think, and then it happens much faster than you would have thought,…”
The rest of the Linked in article is interesting but driving using the rear view mirror is seldom useful.
Easter lunch had a successful family Realtor Bob, there. What Bob DIDN'T say at lunch was more telling than the subtle clues of his family tightening their belts over the past 3-6 months. The subtle "I'm doing great", chatter about a profitable year and so on...MISSING.
Not that Bob bragged per say. He has more class than that, but the quiet listener gets more data than the chatterbox. There is probably a Stoic quote for that :-).
As Bob is in mixed Reality, Medical office space, retail, warehouses, as well as apartments that bodes poorly for the cheerleaders of MSN.
I'm concerned that the Bond Market (Far bigger than the Stock Market) is going to see a serious rate shock with real defaults.
Bank Holiday anybody?
Michael - The Hemingway quote I have heard before; I had no idea it was an actual "law".
DeleteInteresting data point (and yes, the Stoics do talk about the value of listening more than speaking). Commercial realty (I was in it at one time) is an especially hard market in a down market. Just from my own observations, more and more signs for "Space for Lease" are going up. It does not bode well - and some of what one reads about office space vacancies (looking at you, San Francisco) will, I suspect, be replicated in all venues shortly.
If you could, educate me on the connection between the bond market and real estate. I think I get it, but am not sure.
Some companies sell stock, some sell bonds, some both. Often these bonds are for expansion, BUYING Office Real Estate or R&D money and such.
DeleteCompanies often buy back bonds and reissue them with NEW Bonds BUT the Era of Free Money is DONE, it's all done—finito , Hasta Lavista baby.
SO, near Zero % bonds must be replaced with more realistic interest rates... What does that DO to the already distressed Businesses Cash Flow.
Investment Grade Bonds are supposed to be SAFE BORING stuff. When they come DUE you get your initial money back AND the Coupon interest.
When Businesses CANNOT repay those Bonds, that's a Default and really BAD NEWS for both the Company and the Banks Holding those funds. Remember SVD Bank that recently folded?
As Banks are incestuously intertwined with "derivatives" THATS where "Too Important to FAIL Banks are declared.
When the word gets out some investment grade Bonds defaulted there will be a "Run on the Bond Market" to get SOMETHING before the rest get weird.
The last time that happened (as the 2008 market was Resurrected by Massive FED Cash) happened around Oct 29, 1929.
I think your historian enough to recognize the beginning of the Great Depression. BTW it was not just American, the Whole World had the Bad Money Flu.
Thank you Michael. That is helpful, and in a different way is what I understand happened at Silicon Valley Bank (old bonds at lower interest levels could not keep up).
DeleteDerivatives I understand not at all.
I do think we are slipping into something new. Time to dust off Amity Shlaes' The Forgotten Man and relearn my German Weimar Republic history to remind myself what is coming.
Normally when new bonds come out at a Higher rate the Older Bonds have to sell at a DISCOUNT. Why buy the old if the new pays better?
DeleteThe Cash Reserves of all the banks are T-Bills as the LACK of overseas buyers made the Fed ENFORCE the Banks buying them. The FED's steady increase of the interest rates is eroding their cash reserves.
Sadly, the FED DECIDED to HONOR the OLD T-Bills at FULL VALUE plus the interest coupon to SAVE the Banks.
Our Tax dollars at work PLUS massive Inflation is baked into the cake.
Inflation the Stealth Tax. Hyperinflation the Weimar 2.0 social-economic disease.
Have you read the Richest man in Weimar Germany?
https://www.wealthplaybook.ca/post/who-was-hugo-the-inflation-king-of-1920-s-germany-stinnes
Well worth reading.
Also, the Alpha Strategy?
In essence make a list of what you use in a week, Month, Year. Items you will buy despite the price, like toilet paper, canned green beans and so on.
Now before your paper dollars evaporate or WORSE get Bank Holidayed into the NEW Dollar at the Government's rate of exchange (like what happened in Venezuela with the New Bolivar, then two years later the Strong Bolivar) BUY that year's supply and store then in a cool dry place.
Do NOT go into debt doing so.
Always have the coin of the kingdom to PAY YOUR TAXES.
A lot of what we "Know" about the Great Depression is fairy tales. Some human kindness, but plenty of man's desperate often base-evil behaviors.
My study of my Grandparents experiences with Weimar Germany and the American Great Depression a lot of families were forced to choose what family home to keep and let the rest go as to PAY TAXES on the "saved" home.
Grandparents took care of the children and kept an eye on the home as people would steal the laundry off the clothesline. Kids' played by picking berries, doing chores for eggs and fishing for dinner.
Better than the whole family one by one being made homeless and on the road. Plenty of families suffered and died on the road after their homes were sold on the Courthouse Steps to Bankers PROTECTED by Sheriffs for unpaid debts and TAXES.
And I suspect far worse given the violent social unrest we are suffering from even today.
Distressing news TB, talk about kicking someone when they're down but can't say I'm surprised.
ReplyDeleteNylon12, it was distressing. PTO/Vacation earned is one of those almost holy grails in the industry (if we have any such thing). In theory it is a selling point for what is a lot of thankless work. The fact that they broke the social contract nature of it - while legally they have the right to do so - tells me more about how they ultimately viewed their employees than anything else.
DeleteThe bland indifference to the impact is what is the most maddening.
That is set back, but am not surprised that the company decided to handle it in that manner. Many companies figure if the employee hasn't used that time yet, they really didn't need it in the 1st place. Like Social Security benefits which are kept by the government if the donor expires before they begin drawing from their life's contributions towards it. I'm sure the survivor's family could have used that.
ReplyDeleteThe "funny" thing (funny now anyway) is that I had already submitted all my vacation for three weeks in June, so it was in the hopper that I was going to use it. And while it is a setback, at least the matter is clear now and we can plan accordingly.
DeleteThe Social Security issue bothers me as well - if you put into it, you or your survivors should get the value, just as with any other retirement benefit.
Unless I am missing something, why not take the 3.5 weeks off in the coming 7 weeks? Do something else that might increase your future worth instead. I'm sure every state is different, but I also pre-applied for unemployment benefits so on my last day of work, I just called the hotline and said I made zero dollars that first week and received a little compensation. Not enough to live on for sure but certainly enough to eat on, at least back then.
ReplyDeleteGenerally I have found these sorts of splittings are always messy, mostly because both sides are full of emotion and concerned about money.
Ed, that is what is likely going to happen. I am going to speak with my soon to be former manager today (How I hate writing that phrase - he was the best of managers) about likely what that would look like (and check with The Ravishing Mrs. TB of course), but my thought is to take the next two month's worth of my week's visit at The Ranch off to both focus on doing future thinking and planning as well as to pick The Cowboy's brain on how to do certain things - for example, TB the Elder owned a tractor: How the heck does it work? I do not know.
DeleteThose weeks will also include the Friday off for hikes with The Outdoorsman (pre-planned).
If the plan works out, I will also take the last 4.5 days of my last week off, leaving a half day to allow me to turn in my computer and visit with coworkers.
The unemployment pre-application is a good idea and I will do so.
I have never been through a messy layoff before, so at least I can add this to the "life experience" tool box.
I'm with Ed; sounds like "vacation" is in order.
ReplyDeleteSbrgirl, that appears to be the plan now (as noted in my response to Ed above). Part of me, some residual part of me, still feels like I should "work" instead. I need to find a way to calm that side of me down.
DeleteI used to get nagging, sanctimonious lectures from people about the virtues of the Company Man that went in early, stayed late and worked hard. Or how we should look at employers through rose coloured glasses and try to sympathize with him a bit. When somebody went through stuff like this…it was just business, nothing personal, and people should just shut up and deal with it and move on.
ReplyDeleteI just zip my lip now. Often the people talking like that have never been exposed to treatment like this, and have no idea of what it’s actually like. Or they are hucksters and shysters that think all is fair in love, war and business.
Glen - Thankfully I had not made the mistake to buying into "Company as King" for many years; I long ago learned that the company would take 102% of your time and effort when it suited them and then let you go without a second thought when it suited them. I have to keep pulling my emotion out of it and just keep repeating "It is just business. It is just business" - on both sides, not just theirs. They will get the value they are paying for during the next 7 weeks, including me now being completely out of pocket for half of that time.
DeleteRecently, I spoke with an older co-worker about the idea of the Company Man. Being nearly my father's age, he was able to experience a similar phenomenon during one of his former jobs, where as I have never encountered the idea outside of tales of How Things Used to Be. It seems to me that, in the days when the Company Man was prevalent, it came with the expectation that The Company would look out for you in turn, and they did more often than not. But the culture, both in and out of the workplace at large, has shifted, and now the though that The Company sees its workers as anything more than names on a ledger is, if not dismissed, then met with outright scorn, especially in the younger echelon of the workforce. They've been told time and again that the systems are irrevocably damaged, and often see the leadership mimicking Nero, focusing on the sanctity of the play while the blaze rages on the horizon.
DeleteFor what it's worth, my Company has been attempting to push such feel-good services as its own mental wellness programs and financial advisors, and has recently started building its own credit union; I have any such e-mails routed into the trash immediately, as I only trust them to handle my money once, as paychecks. Perhaps I am overreacting, but the idea seems a hair's breadth away from the Company Stores of old.
P_P - My maternal grandfather and TB the Elder were both company men (for the same company, as it happened) and both did exactly as you suggest: they looked out for the company and the company looked out for them. It has become an ugly loop now: too often companies see individuals as line items to be used and discarded (Exhibit A: Me), too often employees see the company as being their to meet their perceived needs and social aspirations instead of accomplishing tasks to generate revenue for the company.
DeleteI think what you suggest is true of the largest of companies that can afford it; others (such as my former employer) aspired to such greatness but ran aground on the rocks of financial reality - as many others will.
I voluntarily left a company in April 2011. I was told I would not be paid my four weeks of unused vacation. I then quoted the page and paragraph of the company handbook that stated "All vacation time is earned for the year on January 1st." That meant I could take the entire month of January off if I wanted. I explained that if I "earned" something but haven't used it, I am owed it. My former manager said he'd have to look into it. The only response I ever received was the check for four weeks pay. Paying my time off was way cheaper than the legal and court fees they were going to incur.
ReplyDeleteGood luck.
Thank you for sharing the story G_D. Unfortunately my legal position is a bit less enforceable here (see above for the nature of "discretion").
DeleteAssuming I do find another job in the field, I will definitely revisit how I handle and plan my vacation very differently.
As to the tractor, they are little different than a standard transmission car. They move a lot slower and the power bands are usually marked on the tach (older models). Depending on what you are doing, you manage the engine speed then the ground speed. If you are bush hogging, you want the shredder to spin (rpm) where it's supposed to and adjust your ground speed based on what you are cutting by choosing the right gear. When I was learning to bush hog, I just stayed on the tractor if the shredder was spinning. Getting hacked to death wasn't an option. Some tractors don't disconnect the PTO with the clutch. I think for Ford 8N was like that. So even if you killed the engine, if it was in gear, the momentum of the blade would drive the tractor till it spun down. YIKES!!!!
ReplyDeleteIf you are cultivating and go too fast, you can bury your tender plants with the dirt that the plow is pushing. Or you can get misaligned and tear up a lot of crop before you get lined back up. And that quote, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God” is very accurate. You can't adjust your direction when looking back at what you've done.
As to vacation, take it, use that time to prep for what you are aware of and don't look back. You didn't break the trust, so they shouldn't have word one to say about the lack of coordination and odd timing. It takes strong character to deliver a good days work when the good will is wadded up and thrown away. I know you will quit yourself like a man. 1Cor16:13
This is a newer (20 years?) old Kubota, although we have the old 8N Ford as well. I can drive a standard, so hopefully that will be relatively the same.
DeleteI did check with my boss today and he seems fine with my plan - essentially my last two weeks will be "work free" and all my work re-assignments will have to take place before then. I reassured him all will be in place.
I think it is beginning to dawn on folks just what they hath wrought.
As this may be the time of decision as to weather the move to the ranch is going to come to actual fruition and in some area's the real estate market is still hot. But inflation, increasing interest rates and an up-coming election could start the RE market plummeting. Are you better staying or moving should probably indicate where you are job hunting. Ran across this bit of info https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/fierce-biotech-layoff-tracker-2023.
ReplyDeleteIt may very well be. The link has actually been updated in Biopharm Dive: 60 different companies, mostly small, have had layoffs. I presume that larger companies will do so as well in advance of what they see coming.
DeleteIn terms of job hunting, it is either remote or hybrid - but even in that hybrid model, that likely means living close to or commuting in some of the highest cost locations in the US.
Our house is holding some value, but off easily by 20% from its highs.
I don't remember the decade that "Good ole Boys" of Business faded out, but I do know they were replaced with soulless, mememe, narcissistic, Satanic, meat sacks.
ReplyDeleteI quit working for soulless corporations in 1981, when I quit the shipyards and went self employed. I still worked for an ass hole, but I could deal with him.
T_M, I am not sure either, but I think it was around the 1980's or 1990's. We certainly to not seem to have gained by the replacement.
DeleteFor years I have tried to tell myself, and people who report to me, that if you delude yourself into thinking the company cares about you, you are setting yourself up for major disappointment. You might have a manager or co-workers who care about you (as I do about the folks I manage, and many of my peers), but much above that, you are a commodity, a number, a small part of the biggest expense a company has -- people. Try as I might, however, I still take things personally; it's hard not to.
ReplyDeletePraying for you, TB, that there will be a soft landing out there for you, and you'll eventually look back secure in the knowledge this was for the best. For now, as I said in a previous post here, it sucks. I think it's completely OK to acknowledge that and, of course, to take every single minute of your PTO time.
Thank you Bob. Your understanding mirrors my own (people care; the business does not.
DeletePerhaps I am having an issue simply because I am struggling to actually acknowledge that I feel as hurt about this as I do. Layoffs happen; what does not have to happen is the way that this one was carried out.
Fortunately (for me, anyway), I have overcome whatever resistance I had and will be putting in my PTO requests today.
Sorry to read this, TB. Lots of good input here. I will pray for the Lord to guide you.
ReplyDeleteBe safe and God bless you all.
Thank you Linda. I really do have some of the best commenters on the InterWeb.
DeleteI will write of it later this week, but God is here. Manifestly.
I'm so sorry to read this latest, blow, TB.
ReplyDelete