As projects go, this one is pretty good. We don't get a lot of meaningful interference from the firm -- there is a good argument to be made that the law firm and, apparently, the client don't really care much what we do -- the administrative horseshit is kept to a minimum, and, in general, the hours are good. Of course, there are downsides. The firm's project manager is a Jeckyl-and-Hyde combination of Capt. Queeg and Larry the Lounge Lizard. But manager personalities are something you have to live with and if he had better people skills or was a better manager, he wouldn't be here anyway, so there's that. The agency for which we are working is doing its best to take away everything it possibly can except for what the law requires, but that isn't unexpected or uncommon in the tough times the industry has been going through for the last five years. And since things are only getting worse in this industry, we can look forward to even more of these cost-cutting measures. So even in light of all that, warts and all, this project might not be the best one ever, but it beats the alternative, which is what too many temps are suffering through these days. (Unemployment, people.)
Having said all that, this is a tough time of year on most temp projects. The Thanksgiving-Christmas-New Year's holiday run might be a joyous time in most ways for most people, but for temps it is often nothing more than a serious cut in income. When the holidays fall in the middle of the week, as they do this year, it is especially bad. The firm that manages this project has really pounded us on holiday hours. Because firm employees get paid for holidays even if they don't work, the firm doesn't really think much about shutting us down for the holiday and the day before, whether it is Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year's. Even the firm's hourly employees get paid for the holiday, so by and large they appreciate the extra day off to celebrate the holidays.
For temps, it's a little different. We lose two days' pay and with it the chance to make any overtime, which is the only way this business is worth it. When that happens for three weeks out of the last five or six weeks in the year, it gets a little punishing. This is the first project I've ever been on when the day before Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve have been no-work situations. Those days are often sparsely attended, but you can tell who has a spouse with a good job and who does not based on who shows up.
Anyway, this week has been an interesting one at work, as attendance has been minimal. Most folks, I guess, decided to go somewhere for Christmas, or at least most of the week. I know some people worked Monday so they could take a sick day Thursday and/or Friday, thus circumventing company policy on sick days. In response to people taking sick days during weeks when they didn't actually work (vacation or whatever) the agency banned the practice, since the sick days the law in D.C. requires the agency to give aren't supposed to be just paid time off. The agency further restricted the use of sick days by instituting a policy that sick days could only bring your hours up to 40 -- if you worked more than 40 hours in a week, no sick day. Since we work 60 hours a week (or, at least, we can) the people who go for max overtime basically can't take sick days unless they also reduce their hours the other days so that their total with the sick day is only 40 for the week. It is a perverse incentive and no one in their right mind would forgo overtime just to take a sick day at straight time.
With holiday weeks like this, though, all bets are off. Once you can't hit 40 hours, if you have sick time accrued, there is no reason not to take it. Hell, it's the only time you can and not pay a penalty. So people are taking it. If you work 60 hours a week, you accrue a lot of sick time. Since this is the only time you can take it without penalty, there ain't nobody at work. Doubt there will be next week, either. And since the D.C. government just eliminated the part of the law that says an employee must be on the job a year before sick leave starts accruing -- it now accrues from day one -- you can bet there will be even fewer people at work next Christmas and New Year's weeks. Hell, the only reason I'm there is because I got slammed by the year-on-the-job requirement, as I only started in January.
Of course, by this time next year, I'm sure the agency will have figured out a way to fuck us out of this last remaining benefit, too. It will be interesting to see how they get around the law. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, kids!
No comments:
Post a Comment