Spinoff from epic FU stories: FI allows generous/ethical acts at work

[Little Nell]

This is inspired by the FU stories by those who chose to quit instead of engaging in unethical behavior, or quit to save co-workers from pay cuts. Some times good acts go unnoticed or unrewarded. Tell your stories so that we can give you a cheer.

[Adventine]

Great thread idea! Posting to follow.

[iamlindoro]

I was a director at a company a few years ago that was going through some hard times.  The entire company took a pay cut to 90%, taking every other Friday as a furlough day.  Then, they told me to let go of my staff, all of whom were the sole breadwinners for their families.  I negotiated to put my own pay to 30%, keep everyone else working at 80%, and at least buy them the time they needed to find other places to land.

I didn't and don't have FU money, but I had been an MMM adherent for long enough to have put a little away and be able to take the hit.  It's never been about getting praise for it, and even those employees don't know about it to this day-- but I am at least proud of having done it (which I hope doesn't make me seem like I'm seeking attention for it).

[PFHC]

I was a director at a company a few years ago that was going through some hard times.  The entire company took a pay cut to 90%, taking every other Friday as a furlough day.  Then, they told me to let go of my staff, all of whom were the sole breadwinners for their families.  I negotiated to but my own pay to 30%, keep everyone else working at 80%, and at least buy them the time they needed to find other places to land.

I didn't and don't have FU money, but I had been an MMM adherent for long enough to have put a little away and be able to take the hit.  It's never been about getting praise for it, and even those employees don't know about it to this day-- but I am at least proud of having done it (which I hope doesn't make me seem like I'm seeking attention for it).

Well done, sir. Noble act indeed and deserving of the cheer.

[mohawkbrah]

I was a director at a company a few years ago that was going through some hard times.  The entire company took a pay cut to 90%, taking every other Friday as a furlough day.  Then, they told me to let go of my staff, all of whom were the sole breadwinners for their families.  I negotiated to put my own pay to 30%, keep everyone else working at 80%, and at least buy them the time they needed to find other places to land.

I didn't and don't have FU money, but I had been an MMM adherent for long enough to have put a little away and be able to take the hit.  It's never been about getting praise for it, and even those employees don't know about it to this day-- but I am at least proud of having done it (which I hope doesn't make me seem like I'm seeking attention for it).

this post made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside

[Sailor Sam]

During the govt furlough in 2013 the officers on my ship subsidies the net paychecks of several low rankers. We pooled cash, then used that to cut checks from the ship's store. The senior folks felt good, and the junior folks looked significantly less pinched and worried. To a man, they offered to return the money back once we got paid, but we refused.   

[zephyr911]

Does it count when a GS-13 slot comes open and I decide it's not worth the mental effort to fight for a new job and learn a bunch of new skills just to get a small raise for my remaining time as a fed? lol

I'm not even FI, but opening up this wide margin between income and "needs" has made it really easy to make choices based on other-than-financial criteria. I'm happy to step aside and let co-workers advance, while I contentedly save more than I spend and watch it pile up. I know this isn't my long-term future and I'd rather use any spare time and energy to think, learn, and strategize, than scrape for 10% more savings.

[act0fgod]

During the govt furlough in 2013 the officers on my ship subsidies the net paychecks of several low rankers. We pooled cash, then used that to cut checks from the ship's store. The senior folks felt good, and the junior folks looked significantly less pinched and worried. To a man, they offered to return the money back once we got paid, but we refused.   

I don't remember the govt furlough process impacting military pay at all.  I remember there being a specific provision during the govt shutdown ensuring the military was paid.  Am I wrong in this memory?

[Sailor Sam]

You are right that the military got paid for working during the shutdown. A special provision was passed to ensure the military got paid for showing up at work. The problem was the lack of civilian personnel in the payroll office. No one to calculate the checks and trigger the direct deposits.* So we missed the 15-Oct paycheck, but did get double paychecks on 31-Oct.

Because we refused the payback, the E-3 and below folks on the finest ship in America got 25 pay checks in 2013.

*Can't speak to DoD, but I believe they were the same way.

Edit: clarity

[Rezdent]

I was a director at a company a few years ago that was going through some hard times.  The entire company took a pay cut to 90%, taking every other Friday as a furlough day.  Then, they told me to let go of my staff, all of whom were the sole breadwinners for their families.  I negotiated to put my own pay to 30%, keep everyone else working at 80%, and at least buy them the time they needed to find other places to land.

I didn't and don't have FU money, but I had been an MMM adherent for long enough to have put a little away and be able to take the hit.  It's never been about getting praise for it, and even those employees don't know about it to this day-- but I am at least proud of having done it (which I hope doesn't make me seem like I'm seeking attention for it).

Bravo.
Maybe I know you (or at least a kindred spirit).

Worked at a company once that told a director to slash some outrageous percentage (something like 30%) from the labor costs, it would have slashed more than half of the frontline staff, who made minimum wage.

He put together a complicated plan of shuffling hours here, there, everywhere.  Decrease this, increase that, move these hours to there and back again.

Buried inside this plan, he eliminated his own director position, and somehow increased the number of staff hours at the lowest rungs.
Plan approved.
Golden parachute deployed, he retired as a hero to all the staff.

Man, I WISH to have seen the look on the VP when they realized what just happened, or to have just been able to shake his hand before he bailed. It happened so fast, and poof he was gone.

It's been years, and I think of him often.  I sincerely hope that he is on a beach somewhere right now.

[Dicey]

Mine didn't happen at work, but they were for people that I had worked with, does that count? One was hospitalized with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and worried about paying her rent. I sent her two month's rent plus grocery money. Sadly, she did not live to need the second month's rent, but I'm glad she wasn't worried about it at the end. And no, I didn't ask her family for the remainder. I kind of liked that she had a little something left over to give her favorite nephew. This was way before Fi or RE, but I was saving for it and she needed it more than I did.

Someone who had been the most awesome customer service rep ever had lost her job after I retired (unrelated, except that it was a miserable company). We were friends and I depended on her help in my working days, so we stayed in touch even after I was gone. As a result of having time on her hands, a lot of buried memories surfaced and she was having a hard time, with no ready prospects for employment. I was able to send her some cash to tide her over. Later she repaid me by flying out and taking care of my parents as they approached the end of their lives and was with my mom until the very end. (I care for my MIL who has Alzheimer's and my parents lived 400 miles away. It was such a relief to know she was there for them when I couldn't be.) Later, I added her to my cell phone plan and bought her a smartphone. Adding her to the plan actually lowered my monthly bill slightly and I love knowing she never has to worry about paying a phone bill.

As I write this, I am sure I've posted these stories elsewhere on the forum. It's worth repeating that it's awesome to have enough savings to help others even if you haven't met your FIRE goals yet. It also bears repeating that neither of these people were moochers or deadbeats. Your BIL who won't get a job? Fuggedaboutit.

[Jakejake]

I've got one that involves the entire staff where I work, though it was years ago and most of them have since moved on. We work at a small school, and midsemester, we got news that the governor was slashing state funding. This is after all the teachers have been in the classrooms for a while, courses are underway, all of a sudden we were in a very very bad position. We found out the plan was to cut one teaching hour a day out of our schedules, and cut our pay accordingly. Bad for us, but worse for the students who were going to have classes dropped mid semester, and maybe be able to fit another overcrowded section into their schedule - but maybe not. It was going to be a massive crapfest to try to clean it up without impacting the kids.

The teachers met privately, then we had the big meeting where the poor budget guy from the county had to come give us the news, and officially tell us what we already knew. We did a reverse strike, telling him we understood we didn't have a choice about the pay cut, but we refused to cut our hours, and every one of us taught one class for free for the rest of the school year. When we told him what we were going to do, budget dude broke down and started crying - he'd never seen a teaching staff react like that, and especially not down to the last man. 

[smalllife]

Following for the warm fuzzies. Not caring about career consequences has meant that I've tried to speak up instead of just taking it; which has had some benefits but not as much as I'd like. Hopefully I'll have a story to tell in the future :-)

[midweststache]

I've got one that involves the entire staff where I work, though it was years ago and most of them have since moved on. We work at a small school, and midsemester, we got news that the governor was slashing state funding. This is after all the teachers have been in the classrooms for a while, courses are underway, all of a sudden we were in a very very bad position. We found out the plan was to cut one teaching hour a day out of our schedules, and cut our pay accordingly. Bad for us, but worse for the students who were going to have classes dropped mid semester, and maybe be able to fit another overcrowded section into their schedule - but maybe not. It was going to be a massive crapfest to try to clean it up without impacting the kids.

The teachers met privately, then we had the big meeting where the poor budget guy from the county had to come give us the news, and officially tell us what we already knew. We did a reverse strike, telling him we understood we didn't have a choice about the pay cut, but we refused to cut our hours, and every one of us taught one class for free for the rest of the school year. When we told him what we were going to do, budget dude broke down and started crying - he'd never seen a teaching staff react like that, and especially not down to the last man.

I'm sure you heard it from a thousand parents and students, but once more (with feeling): thank you.

I hope the district came back the following year with retroactive pay or at least a schedule that allowed you all to continue teaching full days. And if they didn't, I hope you all and every single parent and student (and community member) in that district went on strike.

Nothing irks me more than when a budget is balanced at the expense of students. These are our future teachers, business leaders, doctors, nurses, pharmacists, policy makers, military service men and women, etc., and teachers give and give and give to make sure they're as prepared as possible for their futures. The lack of financial, administrative, and structural support for many school districts is obscene.

#endrant

[Blatant]

Fantastic thread. Thank you.

[Songbird]

I love this thread.  Thank you so much for starting it. 

[SwordGuy]

Fellow at work lost his job.  I felt he didn't get a fair deal so I hired him to do some work at my house for a non-trivial amount.  He needed the money and didn't have to feel like it was charity, as he was performing a service for me.

Didn't mention it to the boss at work, though.

[happy]

This thread is making me happy :)

[iamlindoro]

This thread is making me happy :)

One might argue you already were...

[obstinate]

I don't have a story, but I will observe that if you don't feel you need more money or to be promoted, it's easier to allow other people to win. Sometimes there are two courses, one of which will benefit you, and one of which will benefit someone else, without either being particularly better than the other in any other way. If you do not need more money, you can take the course that will benefit another.

At my workplace, the work of a manager is sometimes referred to as the Game of Thrones, because of its similarity to the books. There are sometimes red weddings. I don't want to be the cause of one, and since my ambition is simply to keep showing up and kicking ass, without expanding my power or influence in the company, I can be sure that I will never need to.

[stripey]

Thanks for the positive thread, guys! It's nice to hear stories about people using their financial confidence (even when short of FI) to help the people about them :)

[crispy]

This thread is making me happy :)

One might argue you already were...

Your comment made me happy!

[Chris22]

I've got one that involves the entire staff where I work, though it was years ago and most of them have since moved on. We work at a small school, and midsemester, we got news that the governor was slashing state funding. This is after all the teachers have been in the classrooms for a while, courses are underway, all of a sudden we were in a very very bad position. We found out the plan was to cut one teaching hour a day out of our schedules, and cut our pay accordingly. Bad for us, but worse for the students who were going to have classes dropped mid semester, and maybe be able to fit another overcrowded section into their schedule - but maybe not. It was going to be a massive crapfest to try to clean it up without impacting the kids.

The teachers met privately, then we had the big meeting where the poor budget guy from the county had to come give us the news, and officially tell us what we already knew. We did a reverse strike, telling him we understood we didn't have a choice about the pay cut, but we refused to cut our hours, and every one of us taught one class for free for the rest of the school year. When we told him what we were going to do, budget dude broke down and started crying - he'd never seen a teaching staff react like that, and especially not down to the last man.

I'm sure you heard it from a thousand parents and students, but once more (with feeling): thank you.

I hope the district came back the following year with retroactive pay or at least a schedule that allowed you all to continue teaching full days. And if they didn't, I hope you all and every single parent and student (and community member) in that district went on strike.

Nothing irks me more than when a budget is balanced at the expense of students. These are our future teachers, business leaders, doctors, nurses, pharmacists, policy makers, military service men and women, etc., and teachers give and give and give to make sure they're as prepared as possible for their futures. The lack of financial, administrative, and structural support for many school districts is obscene.

#endrant

Not to hijack, but too often I see this go the other direction; instead of cutting fat in the program (administration, OH, etc), schools cut popular programs knowing that parents will step in, complain, and restore the budget to prior levels, etc.  The kids are used as a weapon. 

[humbleMouse]

When I worked as a fine dining server I was very good at budgeting and would be happy walking with $120 on any given night.  The other servers who worked there were all in tons of student loan debt, had kids, car payments, ect ect. 

Because I was good at saving I never had to be cutthroat and try to pounce on every table that walked through the door or fight for busier shifts.  This made for a much more relaxed work environment for me and allowed the people who needed the $$ more to get it!

[pbkmaine]

I decided to start to step away from my management job 3 years ago, gradually reducing my hours. I told our CEO that one of my coworkers would be great managing the practice, and I coached her on how to ask for it. She got the job, and has been wonderful. She has also been enthusiastically supportive of my continuing to work for the firm on a project basis. Huge win for both of us.

[mm1970]

I don't have a story, but I will observe that if you don't feel you need more money or to be promoted, it's easier to allow other people to win. Sometimes there are two courses, one of which will benefit you, and one of which will benefit someone else, without either being particularly better than the other in any other way. If you do not need more money, you can take the course that will benefit another.

At my workplace, the work of a manager is sometimes referred to as the Game of Thrones, because of its similarity to the books. There are sometimes red weddings. I don't want to be the cause of one, and since my ambition is simply to keep showing up and kicking ass, without expanding my power or influence in the company, I can be sure that I will never need to.

Yes, this is a good point.  Although I've found that often it means I end up doing shipping and receiving for other people. 

Anyway, as our company has been limping along, I've been looking for a new job.  A friend at another company told me about this opening.  I forwarded it to a coworker, and applied for it myself.

But I decided not to follow up on it, because I had a hunch.  And yeah, my coworker got the job.  He's the primary wage earner for his family, and our reorg at work basically left  him without anything to do.  He needed that job.  I do not.

[elgordorojo]

I was self employed, but worked during my off season at a car dealership selling and doing some back-up finance.  I took a trade and a buddy sold it a couple days later.  Based on the margin of the sale, he was quite excited to be receiving a nearly $1,000 commission from that sale alone...especially as he was a single father right before Christmas.  When they cut his commission receipt, it read $200.  He and I chatted about it and he wanted to just let it go because he needed the job.  I did not.  I went to the finance and sales managers and asked what happened.  They stammered around it and I quickly figured out that the finance manager had basically screwed the salesman out of the difference.  I called horseshit and told them they'd better fix it.  Later that day they "discovered an error" and cut the correct commission receipt.  My buddy was very relieved and excited.  I was let go the next day.  Only job I've ever gotten fired from and never felt better.

[secondcor521]

A few related items:

1.  I was a manager/leader at my company and earlier this year was being asked to do some things to my team members which I viewed as unethical.  Resigned my manager/leader role and went back to an individual contributor role.  They may still do those unethical things, but they won't have my help.

2.  Offered to take a cut in pay but they said not to worry about it (probably because I'm probably RE'ing in a few months and the HR paperwork isn't worth the hassle to them).

3.  I've already offered to be laid off if they have any lay offs between now and the time I RE.  Probably not going to happen, but I might be able to save someone's job.  This isn't really generous, though, because if this did happen I would hope for a better deal for myself than just resigning.

4.  I doubt I'll have input since I no longer have direct reports, but if they ask me about stock options awards this fall I'll be sure to ask them to award mine to someone else, since I probably won't be around to collect them and they'll just expire without having been exercised.  Again, no skin off my nose, but might as well.

[SwordGuy]

One of the nice benefits of our rental property business is that we can occasionally hire untrained, unskilled folks to do work for us.   We try to pick work that isn't that hard to learn but can still help them get ahead once they know how.

I work in IT so there aren't too many struggling folks around me at work.  (Those that are typically have no one to blame but themselves.)

I'm in a club that has a fair number of folks who aren't all that well off financially.  We're not FI, but we've got enough FU money we can afford to help folks out with.  I'll find some job they can do and pay or trade them something they need.   It's varied from cash, to spare armour for a new sword fighter who couldn't afford their own, to paying to drive my car to another town so I didn't have to buy a ticket home (they had friends there).   

[paddedhat]

FIREd about two years ago, so not strictly a warm fuzzy on the job tale.  The wife and I have a long standing policy of taking "found" money and getting it to a place where it will do something good for somebody that needs it. Our definition of found money is anything that you didn't see coming. Unexpected gifts, tax refunds, a small battled won when an insurance company decides to stop screwing you, and sends you a check for something they should of paid for, long ago. Any cash you didn't know was coming, and obviously didn't need.

I recently busted my butt for about thirty hours while helping a friend tackle a big electrical project. I didn't want a dime for it, but he insisted and forced a check on me for $500. I cashed the check and the wife and I gave it to a couple we are friends with. He has MS, his girl friend has Spina Bifida. They are awaiting the completion of an attached apartment at his brother's home. His mom passed recently, and had been his primary caretaker, leaving him not only without a mom, but losing a caretaker and leaving him homeless.  Money is a big problem for the family at the moment, and they don't have enough to totally complete the project. The $500 will cover most of the cost of a new, ADA compliant electric range.

Nothing sweeter than helping somebody who really needs help and appreciates it.

[Vorpal]

I was self employed, but worked during my off season at a car dealership selling and doing some back-up finance.  I took a trade and a buddy sold it a couple days later.  Based on the margin of the sale, he was quite excited to be receiving a nearly $1,000 commission from that sale alone...especially as he was a single father right before Christmas.  When they cut his commission receipt, it read $200.  He and I chatted about it and he wanted to just let it go because he needed the job.  I did not.  I went to the finance and sales managers and asked what happened.  They stammered around it and I quickly figured out that the finance manager had basically screwed the salesman out of the difference.  I called horseshit and told them they'd better fix it.  Later that day they "discovered an error" and cut the correct commission receipt.  My buddy was very relieved and excited.  I was let go the next day.  Only job I've ever gotten fired from and never felt better.

This is the exact reason my dad quit selling cars back in the early 90's. Management screwed him out of a fat commission and he quit that day, never to return to the business. He was a really good salesman, too, frequently getting the top salesperson of the month.

[MustachianKentuckian]

I was a director at a company a few years ago that was going through some hard times.  The entire company took a pay cut to 90%, taking every other Friday as a furlough day.  Then, they told me to let go of my staff, all of whom were the sole breadwinners for their families.  I negotiated to put my own pay to 30%, keep everyone else working at 80%, and at least buy them the time they needed to find other places to land.

I didn't and don't have FU money, but I had been an MMM adherent for long enough to have put a little away and be able to take the hit.  It's never been about getting praise for it, and even those employees don't know about it to this day-- but I am at least proud of having done it (which I hope doesn't make me seem like I'm seeking attention for it).

Not to be melodramatic, but this world would be a better place if everyone had your heart and humility.  Thanks for sharing your story.

[gaja]

Anyway, as our company has been limping along, I've been looking for a new job.  A friend at another company told me about this opening.  I forwarded it to a coworker, and applied for it myself.

But I decided not to follow up on it, because I had a hunch.  And yeah, my coworker got the job.  He's the primary wage earner for his family, and our reorg at work basically left  him without anything to do.  He needed that job.  I do not.

I didn't have FU money, but I do have a FU education and resume. If I get unemployed, it usually takes me a couple of days to get a new job, and in the meantime I have a couple of things I do from home or by appointment (tourist guide, translating, stock photos, etc). So when I applied for a teachers position and found out a good collegue did the same, I basically went to the interview to give her a good reference. Quite funny to see their faces when I started talking about what an excellent candidate "my competition" was.

She got the job, I got a different and better job.

[Eurotexan]

Wow, you guys are really nice! Definitely a warm and fuzzy thread! I especially love the idea about doing something good with 'found money', I am going to adopt that strategy going forward. Thank you