That's right...screwed again. I wonder out loud why I stay with the company I work for. They consistently find a way to screw employees out of benefits they promise.
I am a 10 year guy. Put in my time; good and bad. As a reward for that, I get a 5 week sabbatical for my troubles. Very cool. Every employee gets the same deal. You pay half with your time off bank...the company matches it. That's it. Simple. A great vacation opportunity that costs you only 100 hours of time out of your bank.
I am also an expat. Part of that package includes a 3 week 'home vacation'. Whereas the company flips the bill for the family to fly back to our home location during that time. The time off is taken out of the bank of time...usually ends up being around 100 hours. In my view...these are two completely separate things. One being part of an expat 'contract'...the other as a general rule of thumb for any 10 yr employee.
According to all the company manuals that I find on our intranet sites, my assumptions appear correct. Until now.
Until I set up my sabbatical with the full intent of paying for the travel expenses of this, only to use home vacation later on (around Christmas). In fact, I have already booked all hotels and cut tickets for the flights for the sabbatical. I battled for the best prices I could get on all of it...weeks of negotiating...all in an attempt to get a first class trip at budget prices. Now I am told...I only get 5 weeks holiday and that I must use my home vacation allowance to cover the costs. With the current trip...there is no way I would use up my home vacation budget...thus, handing back a big chunk of dough to the company that should be mine.
The reason? Because this is the way we've done it for years.
Uhhhh...but its not written down in the policy manuals?!? If I am paying for the travel...and I am taking the time bank (that I have earned), doesn't it venture that I can do what I want?
No...this is the way its been.
Never ASS-U-ME anything.
So...I am now in the process of seeing if my flight tickets can be canceled (they've been cut at a very, very special rate) and that I can back out of all my hotel and car rental arrangements without too much damage. The one hotel arrangement that worries me is we reserved a room for 2 weeks using frequent guest points. I hope I get those points back!!
We are also in the process of trying to figure out where to go...with 3 weeks notice. Yes...this sabbatical was taking place the first of July. No pressure at all. If we had known we were getting the budget for this trip, we would have taken our first choice for this trip...Greece. But, since I was under the assumption I had to pay for everything on a sabbatical, I backed out of it because of the expense (the Euro to USD is brutal).
Then...I need to figure out what to do about all of this. Do I go higher in the food-chain of the corporation to lodge my complaints? Or, do I just let it lie and make like a good little employee and not make waves.
The damage is done with me. After destroying my confidence 4 years ago with a hair-brained decision to send me back to the USA into a job I never wanted...I had slowly regained a little trust in the company that has taken pretty good care of me. Gone.
Fool me once...shame on you. Fool me twice...shame on me.
Expatriate jobs are a funny thing. The jobs are incredibly rewarding. FAR better than anything you would find in the USA. You can work directly with people, product and process in no other way. The pay is OK...not phenomenal. The package has slowly been whittled away to a shell of what it was when I first moved to Chiner in 1996. What's left?
I do this job for the rewards of the job...not necessarily the financial end. Why am I risking my family's safety and security in a world that is rife with terror and dangers for Americans? Why do I live in a country that continues to stifle speech and censor the internet and television? Why do I live in a country that subjects my children to pollution and environmental disasters that are beyond comprehension? Why do I work for a company that doesn't seem to recognize these issues and try and ease these burdens in order to maintain a healthy and happy workforce? Why...Why...Why
Does this all sound like Whine...Whine...Whine?? Probably...but, there comes a time when you just need to bitch. And this is my time.
Thank you for allowing the rant. I should get over this in a couple days...but its going to be damn difficult making all these phone calls to cancel reservations at countless hotels...and to break the promises I have made. Well, I guess those don't make any difference to anyone, anyway...do they?
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