When Can I Start Not Working

Tuesday, January 26, 2010 | 0 Comments

I talked to HR at my soon-to-be new job today. She went over the basics such as hours I will be working, the time my shift starts and ends, my probationary period, wages...

Then she told me about my sick time - 5 hours every two weeks, personal holidays - 36hrs this first year, vacation - I can't even remember how much of that I get, and the mandated furloughs - I need to take 8 days in the next two years.

Then she asked when I would like to start.
Can I start not working now?!

But seriously, I can not figure out when I should start. I would love to start next week, but I also want to give two weeks notice. BUT, my boss is very unpredictable and reactive, so I'm afraid that there is a possibility that she might just fire me out of panic. I have thought that I could start now because I would still be able to make myself available for training for awhile -- but then I'm afraid that my new job might have a problem with moonlighting, even though I'm doing it right now for them. AND my boss is planning a vacation in a couple of weeks where she is supposed to go for a whole week. Right. She did the same thing last year though - started out as a 2 week vacation, then slowly whittled down to three days. And she wouldn't have even gone for those if I hadn't cornered her and forced her to go.

SO what I did is call HR at the soon-to-be new job and asked if it would be OK if I started right away at their job, but continued working at my old job for awhile just to get everything settled - since I'm not even sure how much more training I would have to do. She said that shouldn't be a problem, but that she'd need to contact my soon-to-be new boss to see if that would be a problem with her (I can't really see that being a problem - I've already talked to her about it, and I've worked both positions for their benefit many times in the past).

I'll find out this afternoon, and then I can talk to my boss.

Wish me luck!

2010 Whirlwind

Sunday, January 24, 2010 | 0 Comments

It's been a very busy time for me. Right before Thanksgiving I was asked by a past employer to interim for a position that had suddenly gone vacant. I knew that this was going to happen since a good friend of mine had held the position and had told me he was planning to move out of state to be with his girlfriend who had gone to grad school. I accepted the interim position and have been working my full-time business manager job during the day and serving as library supervisor at night (as well as running around trying to find renters for two vacant apartments!!).

Well, of course the job was open for hire, and they really wanted me to take it. In fact I had been offered the position two years ago, but ended up turning it down due to some major commitments I had made at my current job (switching wholesalers and getting Medicare accreditation); among other things going on in my life. But I wasn't going to turn it down twice. I've worked there on and off since 2001 and love all the people. I found out Friday afternoon that I got the job. So, I will be switching jobs soon. I go in on Tuesday to take care of the paperwork. I already do the job so there's not much in the way of training to take care of.

So, yay for me!

This really couldn't have come at a better time. My current boss has progressively been treating me more and more badly. She resents me for my capabilities and the work I do - even though she asks me to do it! I believe she is threatened by me - even though there is no way that I can take her job away! Instead of feeling really smart for having such a capable person to help her run her business, she has gotten to the point where she is undermining a good portion of what I need to do to get my job done and she is outright cutting me down almost every chance she gets. Not a healthy place to be, and I'm too old for bullshit.

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