Hi guys,
Remember me? Yeah. Well, stuff ain't going too well in my life for the moment. The reason for that is pretty simple: my employer is giving me and my French colleague a really hard time leaving the job.
We were offered a contract of 1 year when we started. We were assigned as journalists and so we were glad to sign the document. During that year, however, we have not been given the chance to actually be journalists. If we wrote one text a month, it's going to be a lot. Instead of that we were asked to do almost administrative work, like changing phone numbers on the intranet or scanning a couple of documents, begging projectmanagers to contact us when they needed something written and so on. That took up about 80% of our task. I'm okay with doing things that you don't like during your job, but when you are working as a journalist, I expect that 80% of your job is filled with actually writing texts and 20% other stuff, not the other way around. My colleague thinks just the same thing.
Anyway, it's December now and only 30 more days seperate us from the end of this contract, and we were like "Alright, just 30 more days and we can leave this shithole and look for something that suits us much better."
Think again. My boss found out that this was our intention and now he's saying that we can't just do that. He's going to offer us a new contract (for doing exactly the same thing as now) for another year or even for indefinite time, and if we do not sign it, he says we are not going to be able to qualify for an unemployment benefit (dole) during the weeks or months that we are between jobs.
In fact, the big boss here wants us to sign a letter that states that we do not want to sign a new contract. That that is our decision.
Now, my colleague and me aren't as stupid as they think. It's pretty obvious that such a letter would mean the same thing as handing in your resignation, but the big boss goes: "No, no, no, you'll still get your C4 with stated as reason: end of contract, the only reason I want you to sign such a document is that you can't go to a lawyer or whatever, say that we didn't tell you in time that it was the end of your contract and ask us for some sort of compensation."
Now, I don't know how these big chiefs think, but the above scenario of going to a lawyer was like the last thing that came to our minds. We were well aware that we were able to work there for a year and that after that, we would be without a job. Was it possible that there would follow a new contract for another year? Sure, but they never guaranteed that, so the two of us always thought: when December is over, we're out of here.
I'm not working in the private sector, mind you, where such tactics are commonly used so the employer would not have to pay a dime for someone's dole. No, I'm working for the government and it completely stuns me to find out that these practices are used here as well.
Anyway, neither one of us is a member of a union, but we'll be doing that within the next couple of days, because we obviously need the back-up. So far, we've contacted a couple of people who are well-informed in these matters (people from unions, jurists) and all of these people are saying the same thing: do not sign anything. We weren't planning to anyway, though, but this shit is seriously fucking up good ol' wishy-washy alec's internal wiring, I tell you. I'm one ball of stress for the moment, because now that the big chiefs know, the atmosphere here is totally ruined and December might just become the most fucked up month for me this year.
Now you all know why I went berserk in the religion thread: I'm just not thinking at full capacity anymore (meaning: God still does not exist, but for the moment, I am far to weak to get into the whole thing
), my mind is constantly preoccupied with this delicate matter at work, more so since my colleague has taken a couple of days off and the big bosses seem to think that this is the time to get me to join their side. The pressure is building up, trust me. I'm eating bad, I'm sleeping horribly and I'm constantly sweating (hands especially) which is something I always seem to have when I'm overstressed.
That also means that I do not have the strength to think about funny Fallout-inspired cartoons for the moment, nor do I have the right hands to draw them (sweat ruins everything - try moving a brush fluently across a page when your hands are moist, it doesn't work, and it's depressing me).
So, anyway, now you know. If this things ends well, you'll be seeing new work soon, but if it doesn't, it could take some time before I'm adjusted again. My stomach feels like a gigantic ulcer. Work sucks, brethren, not always, but when it does, it's like a leech biting its teeth into the very core of your existence, harassing you 7/7, 24/24. It's horrible. I hope this affair ends well for both my colleague and me.
See you guys, and thanks for listening (well, reading)...
-- alec, not feeling so good actually
P.S. I will still visit the site, though, probably might even post now and then, but do not expect me to be overly active on these boards until this matter is resolved.
Remember me? Yeah. Well, stuff ain't going too well in my life for the moment. The reason for that is pretty simple: my employer is giving me and my French colleague a really hard time leaving the job.
We were offered a contract of 1 year when we started. We were assigned as journalists and so we were glad to sign the document. During that year, however, we have not been given the chance to actually be journalists. If we wrote one text a month, it's going to be a lot. Instead of that we were asked to do almost administrative work, like changing phone numbers on the intranet or scanning a couple of documents, begging projectmanagers to contact us when they needed something written and so on. That took up about 80% of our task. I'm okay with doing things that you don't like during your job, but when you are working as a journalist, I expect that 80% of your job is filled with actually writing texts and 20% other stuff, not the other way around. My colleague thinks just the same thing.
Anyway, it's December now and only 30 more days seperate us from the end of this contract, and we were like "Alright, just 30 more days and we can leave this shithole and look for something that suits us much better."
Think again. My boss found out that this was our intention and now he's saying that we can't just do that. He's going to offer us a new contract (for doing exactly the same thing as now) for another year or even for indefinite time, and if we do not sign it, he says we are not going to be able to qualify for an unemployment benefit (dole) during the weeks or months that we are between jobs.
In fact, the big boss here wants us to sign a letter that states that we do not want to sign a new contract. That that is our decision.
Now, my colleague and me aren't as stupid as they think. It's pretty obvious that such a letter would mean the same thing as handing in your resignation, but the big boss goes: "No, no, no, you'll still get your C4 with stated as reason: end of contract, the only reason I want you to sign such a document is that you can't go to a lawyer or whatever, say that we didn't tell you in time that it was the end of your contract and ask us for some sort of compensation."
Now, I don't know how these big chiefs think, but the above scenario of going to a lawyer was like the last thing that came to our minds. We were well aware that we were able to work there for a year and that after that, we would be without a job. Was it possible that there would follow a new contract for another year? Sure, but they never guaranteed that, so the two of us always thought: when December is over, we're out of here.
I'm not working in the private sector, mind you, where such tactics are commonly used so the employer would not have to pay a dime for someone's dole. No, I'm working for the government and it completely stuns me to find out that these practices are used here as well.
Anyway, neither one of us is a member of a union, but we'll be doing that within the next couple of days, because we obviously need the back-up. So far, we've contacted a couple of people who are well-informed in these matters (people from unions, jurists) and all of these people are saying the same thing: do not sign anything. We weren't planning to anyway, though, but this shit is seriously fucking up good ol' wishy-washy alec's internal wiring, I tell you. I'm one ball of stress for the moment, because now that the big chiefs know, the atmosphere here is totally ruined and December might just become the most fucked up month for me this year.
Now you all know why I went berserk in the religion thread: I'm just not thinking at full capacity anymore (meaning: God still does not exist, but for the moment, I am far to weak to get into the whole thing
), my mind is constantly preoccupied with this delicate matter at work, more so since my colleague has taken a couple of days off and the big bosses seem to think that this is the time to get me to join their side. The pressure is building up, trust me. I'm eating bad, I'm sleeping horribly and I'm constantly sweating (hands especially) which is something I always seem to have when I'm overstressed.That also means that I do not have the strength to think about funny Fallout-inspired cartoons for the moment, nor do I have the right hands to draw them (sweat ruins everything - try moving a brush fluently across a page when your hands are moist, it doesn't work, and it's depressing me).
So, anyway, now you know. If this things ends well, you'll be seeing new work soon, but if it doesn't, it could take some time before I'm adjusted again. My stomach feels like a gigantic ulcer. Work sucks, brethren, not always, but when it does, it's like a leech biting its teeth into the very core of your existence, harassing you 7/7, 24/24. It's horrible. I hope this affair ends well for both my colleague and me.
See you guys, and thanks for listening (well, reading)...
-- alec, not feeling so good actually
P.S. I will still visit the site, though, probably might even post now and then, but do not expect me to be overly active on these boards until this matter is resolved.
