Today I am thankful for my intuition.
As of last Friday, I no longer have a "day job" with health insurance and other benefits.
I still have the paycheck and the benefits. I'll have that for another six weeks. I'll get a severance check in June.
I can live off of my savings for a few months.
I'll be okay.
I still have my hypnosis business. For the most part, every penny I make goes right back into the business. I may have to stop doing that because I need to pay my bills.
I could collect child support but I fear doing that will trigger a resurgence of the stalking, so I'll mull that over before taking action. The kids are entitled to $940 a month. That should go to their education, not the bills, so I feel I can take my time to collect it.
It's bizarre not having to go anywhere during the day. I spend my time networking and cleaning up the mess my ex left in the basement. It's depressing.
It is the mess in the basement that cost me my job.
*******************************
I worked for a fortune 500 company teaching sales skills to licensed insurance agents. On February 15th, 119 of the 132 member staff were fired.
I survived the layoff. At first I counted myself lucky until they told me that I needed to work from home, pay for the installation of high speed broadband cable into a room that could only be used for my job.
They wanted me to sell health insurance again. As part of the deal, they would no longer pay me the commissions I previously earned when I was in sales. I typically earned $1,000 a month in commissions.
I had to be happy with my hourly rate.
The entire office had to be paperless. I couldn't have a printer, a shredder and I would not be allowed to have filing cabinets in the vicinity of the office.
They wanted me to pay for certain kinds of office furniture and the costs were crazy. I have an office, in a professional building, set up for high speed cable. The former tenant was in IT. My office has everything.
I was told I couldn't work from an office building. It had to be a room in my house. The area had to be paperless.
I'm still trying to clean up my ex's mess. There is a lot of crap in the basement. I couldn't promise a paperless environment. I'm still trying to mitigate the mold in the basement bathroom.
My boss wanted access to my home for impromptu inspections. Besides, I promised my spare room to an abused teenager. It's a refuge for her when her father gets a little too pushy.
I declined to keep my job. They offered me three months pay to leave. I took the package but wound up staying a few weeks because my boss panicked at the thought of my leaving.
I wound up losing two weeks severance because they used it to pay me for the two weeks I stayed at work.
I'm lucky.
****************************************
My last day was March 31st.
On Monday, my former department was sold to a cheap outfit known for illegally classifying at home workers as independent contractors to skirt payroll taxes. At least, that's the story I'm finding on Glassdoor.
Some of my remaining colleagues were fired on Thursday. Others had their hours drastically cut, even after paying to have the cable installed, paying for the furniture and a few of them actually moved to accommodate the employer's demands.
This will push them below minimum wage. This is a violation of Federal Wage and Hour law.
I'm worried for my former colleagues.
They tell me they wished they had followed my lead and taken the deal. The new employer isn't as generous.
My intuition said things were only going to get worse. I needed to get out.
Sadly, the HR lady who was so kind to me, helped me deal with the stalking, helped me take the day off to go to court and leave that job with my dignity (she arranged for me to stay to help my boss and still get my severance)......she may have been one of those let go yesterday. The IT guy who helped me understand cyber-security was let go.
It's heartbreaking. It really is.
****************************************
Now I read the Denver Business Journal. My company promised that "a number" of the people laid off would have other jobs offered to them.
That number would be ZERO.
Sigh....
Don't ya love corporate spin?
At least they were truthful. Zero is a number!
This entire debacle has me thinking about the ethics of corporate ownership. My business is a registered corporation. I'm thinking that I need to find a mission statement and to come up with more ways to serve the community.
I guess my former employer is giving me one final lesson.
****************************************
I'm spending my days consoling my former colleagues.
They are in a lot of pain. They didn't see it coming.
It breaks my heart.
I may have played along if I could have cleaned up the basement fast enough to meet my employer's demands.
I didn't have enough time.
I'm still trying to clean up that damn mess.
Maybe I'm lucky I escaped before things became much worse.
****************************************
I have a prediction. What do you want to bet that this company will offer the former colleagues they fired the opportunity to come back as independent contractors?
I'm waiting.....
Someone asked if I'd be willing to come back and work from home.
My answer was no. As a business owner, you can ask your employees to do a number of dysfunctional things in your building.
Don't bring your dysfunctional behavior into my home.
Prohibiting paper is fairly dysfunctional. They claim it is so no one writes down a client's private information.
Um......you can write it on a white board and copy it elsewhere. You can take a picture of it. You can write it on your skin....there are so many ways to steal from another.
I can't see how not having paper in your home will prevent the problem.
The company seems a bit short sighted. I have a granddaughter. Kids use paper.
I left.
I won't go back.
**************************************
So, I'm looking for a volunteer opportunity that isn't set in stone. I need to find something part-time that will let me look for work. I need it to be open ended so I can leave it to start another job.
Sitting at home is incredibly boring.
It's weird.
I've got to stay busy....
busy....busy....busy.....
or else I go insane.
May you find something useful to fill your time with joy and peace.
Love ya lots,
S.
Next day edit: Okay, I saw an ad for my former job this morning. It was to work in an office rather than home. In a cow town 65 miles north of Denver. They pay is four dollars an hour less than I made (without the commissions). They new jobs don't offer commission.
If I wanted to move to Greeley, I'd have a job. There's a company that's been courting me for a counseling position for nine years now. I'd certainly make better money with that company.
I'm happy they're not going the independent contractor route. Still, the pay is too low for someone that has to hold licenses in eight or more states.
sigh.....
I wonder if any of my former colleagues will jump on the offer?
Here's hoping they find the perfect opportunity for their needs.
Love,
S.
As of last Friday, I no longer have a "day job" with health insurance and other benefits.
I still have the paycheck and the benefits. I'll have that for another six weeks. I'll get a severance check in June.
I can live off of my savings for a few months.
I'll be okay.
I still have my hypnosis business. For the most part, every penny I make goes right back into the business. I may have to stop doing that because I need to pay my bills.
I could collect child support but I fear doing that will trigger a resurgence of the stalking, so I'll mull that over before taking action. The kids are entitled to $940 a month. That should go to their education, not the bills, so I feel I can take my time to collect it.
It's bizarre not having to go anywhere during the day. I spend my time networking and cleaning up the mess my ex left in the basement. It's depressing.
It is the mess in the basement that cost me my job.
*******************************
I worked for a fortune 500 company teaching sales skills to licensed insurance agents. On February 15th, 119 of the 132 member staff were fired.
I survived the layoff. At first I counted myself lucky until they told me that I needed to work from home, pay for the installation of high speed broadband cable into a room that could only be used for my job.
They wanted me to sell health insurance again. As part of the deal, they would no longer pay me the commissions I previously earned when I was in sales. I typically earned $1,000 a month in commissions.
I had to be happy with my hourly rate.
The entire office had to be paperless. I couldn't have a printer, a shredder and I would not be allowed to have filing cabinets in the vicinity of the office.
They wanted me to pay for certain kinds of office furniture and the costs were crazy. I have an office, in a professional building, set up for high speed cable. The former tenant was in IT. My office has everything.
I was told I couldn't work from an office building. It had to be a room in my house. The area had to be paperless.
I'm still trying to clean up my ex's mess. There is a lot of crap in the basement. I couldn't promise a paperless environment. I'm still trying to mitigate the mold in the basement bathroom.
My boss wanted access to my home for impromptu inspections. Besides, I promised my spare room to an abused teenager. It's a refuge for her when her father gets a little too pushy.
I declined to keep my job. They offered me three months pay to leave. I took the package but wound up staying a few weeks because my boss panicked at the thought of my leaving.
I wound up losing two weeks severance because they used it to pay me for the two weeks I stayed at work.
I'm lucky.
****************************************
My last day was March 31st.
On Monday, my former department was sold to a cheap outfit known for illegally classifying at home workers as independent contractors to skirt payroll taxes. At least, that's the story I'm finding on Glassdoor.
Some of my remaining colleagues were fired on Thursday. Others had their hours drastically cut, even after paying to have the cable installed, paying for the furniture and a few of them actually moved to accommodate the employer's demands.
This will push them below minimum wage. This is a violation of Federal Wage and Hour law.
I'm worried for my former colleagues.
They tell me they wished they had followed my lead and taken the deal. The new employer isn't as generous.
My intuition said things were only going to get worse. I needed to get out.
Sadly, the HR lady who was so kind to me, helped me deal with the stalking, helped me take the day off to go to court and leave that job with my dignity (she arranged for me to stay to help my boss and still get my severance)......she may have been one of those let go yesterday. The IT guy who helped me understand cyber-security was let go.
It's heartbreaking. It really is.
****************************************
Now I read the Denver Business Journal. My company promised that "a number" of the people laid off would have other jobs offered to them.
That number would be ZERO.
Sigh....
Don't ya love corporate spin?
At least they were truthful. Zero is a number!
This entire debacle has me thinking about the ethics of corporate ownership. My business is a registered corporation. I'm thinking that I need to find a mission statement and to come up with more ways to serve the community.
I guess my former employer is giving me one final lesson.
****************************************
I'm spending my days consoling my former colleagues.
They are in a lot of pain. They didn't see it coming.
It breaks my heart.
I may have played along if I could have cleaned up the basement fast enough to meet my employer's demands.
I didn't have enough time.
I'm still trying to clean up that damn mess.
Maybe I'm lucky I escaped before things became much worse.
****************************************
I have a prediction. What do you want to bet that this company will offer the former colleagues they fired the opportunity to come back as independent contractors?
I'm waiting.....
Someone asked if I'd be willing to come back and work from home.
My answer was no. As a business owner, you can ask your employees to do a number of dysfunctional things in your building.
Don't bring your dysfunctional behavior into my home.
Prohibiting paper is fairly dysfunctional. They claim it is so no one writes down a client's private information.
Um......you can write it on a white board and copy it elsewhere. You can take a picture of it. You can write it on your skin....there are so many ways to steal from another.
I can't see how not having paper in your home will prevent the problem.
The company seems a bit short sighted. I have a granddaughter. Kids use paper.
I left.
I won't go back.
**************************************
So, I'm looking for a volunteer opportunity that isn't set in stone. I need to find something part-time that will let me look for work. I need it to be open ended so I can leave it to start another job.
Sitting at home is incredibly boring.
It's weird.
I've got to stay busy....
busy....busy....busy.....
or else I go insane.
May you find something useful to fill your time with joy and peace.
Love ya lots,
S.
Next day edit: Okay, I saw an ad for my former job this morning. It was to work in an office rather than home. In a cow town 65 miles north of Denver. They pay is four dollars an hour less than I made (without the commissions). They new jobs don't offer commission.
If I wanted to move to Greeley, I'd have a job. There's a company that's been courting me for a counseling position for nine years now. I'd certainly make better money with that company.
I'm happy they're not going the independent contractor route. Still, the pay is too low for someone that has to hold licenses in eight or more states.
sigh.....
I wonder if any of my former colleagues will jump on the offer?
Here's hoping they find the perfect opportunity for their needs.
Love,
S.