Did I just get bit?
September 15, 2008 | bitterness,The Nugget
By karma? All of my office-related bitching may have caught up to me and snapped some jiggly flesh in its laughing jaws.
My position, which is grant-based and therefore temporary, tenuous and oh lordy, let me tell you, filled with lots of un-fun paperwork, ends at the close of September. We applied for a new grant and got it — whooppeee, you say, an extended position! Part-time! With benefits! How lucky are YOU? Well not very.
I’m not sure if it’s a manipulative attempt to oust me from my place of employment because…oh, I don’t know… I don’t hide my dislike for a certain higher up whose favorite office pasttime includes being manipulative and backstabby or if truly, well, whatever.
On Thursday, I learned that we scored a new grant from the same funding agency that funds the grant on which I currently work…same topic, some of the same goals, and more more work to do. Most of my colleagues assumed, as I did, that if we did receive this grant, I would close out the current grant and the transition to the new grant. Some came to me when they heard the news and cheered our good fortune! Yay! I felt relief.
Part-time work. Fair pay. Benefits. (Some) wonderful coworkers. A wonderfully sweet, interesting and smart new officemate to share eyerolls with. A new in-office building cafe with ridiculously delicious peanut butter cup cookies. Life was looking good.
I should have seen it coming. Duh.
I heard her coming, and that was bad enough. Into our office she wobbled. I wrongly assumed (again) she was there for the other woman in our office. Nope. For me. Uh-oh.
Down to her office we went. She wanted to talk about the new grant! End the sentence on an upswing! Even though you’re the angel of death!
I can’t remember many details but it seemed like in one big breath she told me that the new grant has some salary changes and I am being overpaid on my current grant…it was a mistake by the inner-agency which handles my paycheck… and this new salary would be xx amount of money, which, quick math I can do in a state of shock: 33% less money than I currently make.
So I sat there and nodded and mewed in all the right places and I’m not sure what else I did or said.
In my HEAD however, I was yelling. OVERPAID? EXCUSE ME? Did you just… yes, you did.
Back in my office, I went into zombie mode. The conversation, what I remembered, replayed in my head, and all of the comebacks and questions I could have said flooded my thoughts.
How could I have been overpaid for so long? Wouldn’t it have been more responsible if you’d have done something about it, say, as soon as this was discovered? When did you know and why wasn’t I informed? It seems like that’s the sort of thing that should have been rectified as soon as possible! And how is it, dear lady, possible that this overpayment (on the project I currently work on) is even true, since when I was hired a couple of years ago, I was hired for an entirely different grant and told the salary by YOU. And this overpayment (which you quoted me) continued from one grant to another…even though different governing agencies handled the grants. Geez. That’s a whole lot of bad management.
Gosh golly. Ok. Well, no thank you on the new opportunity. I really don’t feel like paying several hundred dollars a month to come to work.
So I’ll finish out my project. Considering I work part-time, the actual number of days I have left are few…and suddenly I have to spend all of this money left on the grant (or so I was told…even though I had been told previously that the “grant is out of money.”). Maybe she should take notes so she quits contradicting herself? Just a thought.
Today I received an email from her telling me to (start and) finish a report due at the end of the grant. I’ll do my best. I’ll also take this Thursday off, as I had planned, and plan to take next Thursday off, as I have vacation accrued and things I need to take care of … like looking into preschools and withdrawing the children from daycare.
This report she mentioned is due at the end of the year. I saw the request. End of the year. When I see her tomorrow, I’ll bet the bank she tells me it’s due at the end of this month. Deadlines and truths are flexible in her world. For me? Just my middle finger.
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September 15th, 2008 at 9:39 pm, Becca Says:
Geez, what a treat she must have been to work for. I am so sorry. That is just plain wrong. Middle finger is about the only satisfactory response I can think of right now.
September 15th, 2008 at 9:46 pm, Abby Says:
Holy crap – that is a whole new level…..glad you quit – heard you’re heading to Martha – Have fun!! Miss you!
September 15th, 2008 at 9:59 pm, Maria Says:
That just plain sucks. I am sorry that this has turned out so well. Plus, it sounds like she took her cues from “Office Space” about there being a glitch in accounting.
Just remember – you are AWESOME and you will be happier at whatever you choose to deo next.
September 15th, 2008 at 10:51 pm, La Turista Says:
Ok, since you’re on your way out of a job you don’t like, and I’ve just started a job I don’t like, I say we pack up the kids and hit the pageant circuit! Think of all the money we can wire back home to T-Bone and Mr. Squirrel, earned at the expense of our children’s innocence and ability to strike awkard poses in the Pro/Am modeling competition! I smell rhinestones!
September 15th, 2008 at 10:57 pm, Britt Says:
33%???
33 freakin’ % !!!!!
Dude!
May I take you out and buy you a drink?
September 15th, 2008 at 11:40 pm, Sallyacious Says:
You know, if the grant is being mismanaged, the recipient organization can get into boatloads of trouble, up to and including jeopardizing its 501(c)3 status. She needs to get her ducks in a row. And it sounds like you’re better off out of there anyway.
I’d put together the notes needed for the “Closing of the Grant” report and let somebody else do it. For 33% less than you’re making now. Either that, or be so damn thorough with the financials and the reconciling that all of the mismanagement can’t be ignored. (Or her lying lies are exposed.) But then, I believe in helping people to hang themselves when they’re already measuring out their own rope. (Her, not you.)
September 16th, 2008 at 4:28 am, Jeannette Says:
That sucks! She deserves a good kick in the a..
And you certainly deserve better than that job!
Hang in there, you’ll find something great next.
September 16th, 2008 at 7:30 am, jill Says:
jeez. sounds like who i used to work for. fabulous.
September 16th, 2008 at 8:26 am, liz Says:
and MY middle finger, too.
33% less (also: that you can do that kind of math in your head, you DESERVE more money)? and what sallyacious said… something about 501(c)3s and the blahblahblah… dude, I’D TELL ON THAT AWFUL BOSS LADY. what do you have to lose?
seems as though she’s given herself enough rope to hang herself, no? either mismanaging the grant or lying to her staff.
September 16th, 2008 at 8:32 am, Julie Says:
sounds like she’s trying to blame you for something she did wrong. she sucks. you don’t. good for you for hauling butt away, quickly.
September 16th, 2008 at 9:20 am, Operation Pink Herring Says:
Overpaid who? I am so, so sorry. This totally sucks, and honestly it makes me suspicious that your “overpayment” was discovered so soon after maternity leave. Or maybe I’m overly suspicious because of the blatant discrimination I have personally witnessed…. in any case, MIDDLE FINGERS ALL AROUND.
September 16th, 2008 at 10:07 am, Frema Says:
I love what Sallyacious said about gathering notes for the report and leaving it for the next person. If she mentions it, show her where she said it was originally due at the end of the year. Dude, there’s no reason you have to take this crap sitting down. And definitely take your vacation time, especially if they won’t pay you for the unused days.
Sounds like they have specific ideas for your position–probably hire it out to some new college grad who will jump through hoops for little pay. I’m sure they will eventually realize their mistake and miss you terribly. And good on them.
September 16th, 2008 at 10:24 am, Hollow Squirrel » And another thing… Says:
[...] « Did I just get bit? [...]
September 16th, 2008 at 5:16 pm, My Buddy Mimi Says:
How about paying you as a consultant so that you can finish that report after the end of the month? Maybe it depends on how badly they want to not write it themselves.