Author Topic: Wife Gave Office a 90-day Review/2 Weeks Notice  (Read 8065 times)

Chris Pascale

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Wife Gave Office a 90-day Review/2 Weeks Notice
« on: October 02, 2019, 07:53:57 AM »
My wife was hired to be an executive assistant, or so she was told. Turns out, she is the lone admin person for 77 people. She tried teleworking, but people complained she wasn't there to change out toner.

Her manager let her know she had a 90-day review coming up, to which she said, "I'm teleworking that day," and they said she had to come in to sign the review. So, she gave 2 weeks notice.

They immediately went into panic mode, said that they would hire another admin person, give her every other Monday off, every Friday for telework without complaint, and a 5% pay increase. She said she'd think about it, and is now using up her sick time.

Car Jack

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Re: Wife Gave Office a 90-day Review/2 Weeks Notice
« Reply #1 on: October 02, 2019, 08:12:58 AM »
I gather this is the last company in North America who employs admins. 

Kris

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Re: Wife Gave Office a 90-day Review/2 Weeks Notice
« Reply #2 on: October 02, 2019, 08:36:35 AM »
I gather this is the last company in North America who employs admins.

???

The large medical device company my husband worked for employs admins. And my stepdaughter works for a rather large multinational technology company based out of Redmond, WA... as an admin.

Mississippi Mudstache

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Re: Wife Gave Office a 90-day Review/2 Weeks Notice
« Reply #3 on: October 02, 2019, 09:28:20 AM »
I've worked for companies as small as 6 employees and as large as 10,000 employees. All of them had admins. The only company who I've worked for who didn't employ admins is mine...because I'm a one-man business.

Chris, congrats to your wife on being in a position of strength in this negotiation. I hope it works out well for you guys, whatever the outcome.

fuzzy math

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Re: Wife Gave Office a 90-day Review/2 Weeks Notice
« Reply #4 on: October 02, 2019, 11:04:24 AM »
Bluff called!!!

I hope she gets whatever it is she wants out of it (pay + treatment, or leaving)

Chris Pascale

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Re: Wife Gave Office a 90-day Review/2 Weeks Notice
« Reply #5 on: October 02, 2019, 11:19:11 AM »
Thanks, guys. I was very happy that she felt secure enough to do this.

mm1970

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Re: Wife Gave Office a 90-day Review/2 Weeks Notice
« Reply #6 on: October 02, 2019, 06:02:44 PM »
I gather this is the last company in North America who employs admins.

???

The large medical device company my husband worked for employs admins. And my stepdaughter works for a rather large multinational technology company based out of Redmond, WA... as an admin.

I think many engineering startup companies just eliminate them to cut costs and make everyone else figure it all out on their own.  Can I tell you about my months of having to do FedEx for 10 people?  I mean, I'm a senior engineer for crying out loud!

Change your own toner, ship your own stuff, answer your own phone, make your own travel plans....

Plina

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Re: Wife Gave Office a 90-day Review/2 Weeks Notice
« Reply #7 on: October 06, 2019, 07:46:56 AM »
I gather this is the last company in North America who employs admins.

???

The large medical device company my husband worked for employs admins. And my stepdaughter works for a rather large multinational technology company based out of Redmond, WA... as an admin.

I think many engineering startup companies just eliminate them to cut costs and make everyone else figure it all out on their own.  Can I tell you about my months of having to do FedEx for 10 people?  I mean, I'm a senior engineer for crying out loud!

Change your own toner, ship your own stuff, answer your own phone, make your own travel plans....

It is such a stupid way to try to save costs to skip admin. I have worked with secretaries or admins and if they are good you can significantly increase your efficiency by delegating a lot of stuff to them. Why let people that have the double of the salary to spend time booking trips, copying etc. In my current company I have spent time copying costing clients 200 usd per hour.

Maenad

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Re: Wife Gave Office a 90-day Review/2 Weeks Notice
« Reply #8 on: October 06, 2019, 08:00:58 AM »
I gather this is the last company in North America who employs admins.

I think maybe what Car Jack was saying is that she should just leave for somewhere that treats her better instead of engaging in what could become a long, drawn-out, constant battle to be treated fairly by this particular employer.

Chris Pascale

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Re: Wife Gave Office a 90-day Review/2 Weeks Notice
« Reply #9 on: October 06, 2019, 07:19:05 PM »
I gather this is the last company in North America who employs admins.

I think maybe what Car Jack was saying is that she should just leave for somewhere that treats her better instead of engaging in what could become a long, drawn-out, constant battle to be treated fairly by this particular employer.

As in, "probably many other places for her skill set." Agreed.

She's giving them a chance to come her way a bit, but has started looking at other opportunities. Also, she's talking about taking 6 weeks between gigs, which I think would be great.

FamilyGuy

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Re: Wife Gave Office a 90-day Review/2 Weeks Notice
« Reply #10 on: October 10, 2019, 01:15:01 PM »
Her manager let her know she had a 90-day review coming up, to which she said, "I'm teleworking that day," and they said she had to come in to sign the review. So, she gave 2 weeks notice.

They immediately went into panic mode, said that they would hire another admin person, give her every other Monday off, every Friday for telework without complaint, and a 5% pay increase. She said she'd think about it, and is now using up her sick time.
This is awesome.

EscapedApe

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Re: Wife Gave Office a 90-day Review/2 Weeks Notice
« Reply #11 on: October 17, 2019, 09:31:22 AM »
So, she gave 2 weeks notice.

They immediately went into panic mode, said that they would hire another admin person, give her every other Monday off, every Friday for telework without complaint, and a 5% pay increase. She said she'd think about it, and is now using up her sick time.

LOL owned. Well done.

G-dog

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Re: Wife Gave Office a 90-day Review/2 Weeks Notice
« Reply #12 on: October 17, 2019, 10:55:46 AM »
@Chris Pascale - any update??  I think the 2 week notice is up.

EngagedToFIRE

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Re: Wife Gave Office a 90-day Review/2 Weeks Notice
« Reply #13 on: October 18, 2019, 07:06:00 AM »
"I'm not coming in, even for my review" - and this is during the probationary period! And now essentially abusing sick time to screw the company even more.  What kind of feckless company is this that they can't just hire a new admin and allow low level employees to walk all over them like this?  I don't blame your wife - go for it!  But jesus, I'd fire her on the spot and get someone better who will actually be in the office.  Your wife is a terrible employee, I just can't fathom why this company would put up with it.

hdatontodo

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Re: Wife Gave Office a 90-day Review/2 Weeks Notice
« Reply #14 on: October 18, 2019, 08:24:52 AM »
If she was hired for one thing and the job had a much larger set of responsibilities which required being in the office all the time, then she is right.

TomTX

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Re: Wife Gave Office a 90-day Review/2 Weeks Notice
« Reply #15 on: October 19, 2019, 06:11:30 PM »
[shit sandwich]

The job duties dumped on her were not consistent with the job offer she accepted. She doesn't want the duties, so refusing them is right.

Chris Pascale

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Re: Wife Gave Office a 90-day Review/2 Weeks Notice
« Reply #16 on: October 19, 2019, 11:11:40 PM »
@Chris Pascale - any update??  I think the 2 week notice is up.

They have come her way enough to keep her at least a bit longer, but she's got some applications out that will likely land her somewhere in the next couple months.
« Last Edit: October 19, 2019, 11:18:53 PM by Chris Pascale »

Chris Pascale

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Re: Wife Gave Office a 90-day Review/2 Weeks Notice
« Reply #17 on: October 19, 2019, 11:16:43 PM »
"I'm not coming in, even for my review" - and this is during the probationary period! And now essentially abusing sick time to screw the company even more.  What kind of feckless company is this that they can't just hire a new admin and allow low level employees to walk all over them like this?  I don't blame your wife - go for it!  But jesus, I'd fire her on the spot and get someone better who will actually be in the office.  Your wife is a terrible employee, I just can't fathom why this company would put up with it.

She transferred from another area in the organization, so the sick time was already built up.

She went in for the review, which then became part of her complaint - despite being approved to telework, they required her to commute in so she could sign her positive review in person, rather than do it the day before or after.

Prior to being there 90 days, they gave her a monetary award because of how much she had done in just 2 months.

She's an unusually good employee, but has learned to recognize when they want her to do the job of 2-3 people, which turned out to literally be the case. There had been 2 admin people, and they were checking out how it would be with 1.

Also, as mentioned, she was hired as though she'd be the top executive's assistant, not the office's full support staff.
« Last Edit: October 20, 2019, 12:24:52 AM by Chris Pascale »

EngagedToFIRE

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Re: Wife Gave Office a 90-day Review/2 Weeks Notice
« Reply #18 on: October 22, 2019, 05:20:32 PM »
"I'm not coming in, even for my review" - and this is during the probationary period! And now essentially abusing sick time to screw the company even more.  What kind of feckless company is this that they can't just hire a new admin and allow low level employees to walk all over them like this?  I don't blame your wife - go for it!  But jesus, I'd fire her on the spot and get someone better who will actually be in the office.  Your wife is a terrible employee, I just can't fathom why this company would put up with it.

She transferred from another area in the organization, so the sick time was already built up.

She went in for the review, which then became part of her complaint - despite being approved to telework, they required her to commute in so she could sign her positive review in person, rather than do it the day before or after.

Prior to being there 90 days, they gave her a monetary award because of how much she had done in just 2 months.

She's an unusually good employee, but has learned to recognize when they want her to do the job of 2-3 people, which turned out to literally be the case. There had been 2 admin people, and they were checking out how it would be with 1.

Also, as mentioned, she was hired as though she'd be the top executive's assistant, not the office's full support staff.

This makes a big difference, if she was an existing employee.  I read it as initial 90 day probationary period.  Though I still think abusing sick time is pretty lousy.  Appreciate you clarifying anyways, because it didn't come off this way at all in your original post.  I can see that she definitely has some justification for her behavior.  Note that I'm a business owner, so my bias is from that perspective. :)

EngagedToFIRE

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Re: Wife Gave Office a 90-day Review/2 Weeks Notice
« Reply #19 on: October 22, 2019, 05:25:06 PM »
[shit sandwich]

The job duties dumped on her were not consistent with the job offer she accepted. She doesn't want the duties, so refusing them is right.

This is why I don't hire people for specific duties, per se.  I pay people for their time.  Within reason, whatever they are asked to do during that time is reasonable.  So refusing to do what you are asked to do is obvious grounds for termination.  Obviously that is within reason.  If I hire someone to do customer service then demand they scrub toilets, I understand.  But if I hire someone for customer service and ask that they handle some assembly or shipping work, refusing to do that would obviously be a termination.  I'm not sure how I feel about the situation with the posters wife.  If it's salary, for a certain amount of hours, is she unhappy that she is working too hard?  If she is on salary and given more work than can be reasonably done within that time period, I understand.  But if she is still just working her hours, then what does it matter if the duties and job changes?

TomTX

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Re: Wife Gave Office a 90-day Review/2 Weeks Notice
« Reply #20 on: October 23, 2019, 07:26:19 PM »
[shit sandwich]

The job duties dumped on her were not consistent with the job offer she accepted. She doesn't want the duties, so refusing them is right.

This is why I don't hire people for specific duties, per se.  I pay people for their time.  Within reason, whatever they are asked to do during that time is reasonable.  So refusing to do what you are asked to do is obvious grounds for termination.  Obviously that is within reason.  If I hire someone to do customer service then demand they scrub toilets, I understand.  But if I hire someone for customer service and ask that they handle some assembly or shipping work, refusing to do that would obviously be a termination.  I'm not sure how I feel about the situation with the posters wife.  If it's salary, for a certain amount of hours, is she unhappy that she is working too hard?  If she is on salary and given more work than can be reasonably done within that time period, I understand.  But if she is still just working her hours, then what does it matter if the duties and job changes?

From reading the description she apparently was supposed to be able to do a fair amount of work from home, but people complained she wasn't in the office changing the printer toner and such (which wasn't part of the described duties)

I recently took a new position, and part of the deal agreed to before accepting was an early schedule and 2 days/week telecommute - in order to minimize the time I'm wasting commuting. If my duties were changed to prevent me from usually following that schedule, I'd be pretty pissed.

Occasional business needs are fine - I went into the office on a telecommute day this week voluntarily, and I ended up staying later than my normal departure time with an extra 45 minutes of traffic on top of that. It happens. But if it happens too much, we need a serious discussion about either fixing the schedule, or major increases in compensation.

EngagedToFIRE

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Re: Wife Gave Office a 90-day Review/2 Weeks Notice
« Reply #21 on: October 24, 2019, 03:08:07 PM »
[shit sandwich]

The job duties dumped on her were not consistent with the job offer she accepted. She doesn't want the duties, so refusing them is right.

This is why I don't hire people for specific duties, per se.  I pay people for their time.  Within reason, whatever they are asked to do during that time is reasonable.  So refusing to do what you are asked to do is obvious grounds for termination.  Obviously that is within reason.  If I hire someone to do customer service then demand they scrub toilets, I understand.  But if I hire someone for customer service and ask that they handle some assembly or shipping work, refusing to do that would obviously be a termination.  I'm not sure how I feel about the situation with the posters wife.  If it's salary, for a certain amount of hours, is she unhappy that she is working too hard?  If she is on salary and given more work than can be reasonably done within that time period, I understand.  But if she is still just working her hours, then what does it matter if the duties and job changes?

From reading the description she apparently was supposed to be able to do a fair amount of work from home, but people complained she wasn't in the office changing the printer toner and such (which wasn't part of the described duties)

I recently took a new position, and part of the deal agreed to before accepting was an early schedule and 2 days/week telecommute - in order to minimize the time I'm wasting commuting. If my duties were changed to prevent me from usually following that schedule, I'd be pretty pissed.

Occasional business needs are fine - I went into the office on a telecommute day this week voluntarily, and I ended up staying later than my normal departure time with an extra 45 minutes of traffic on top of that. It happens. But if it happens too much, we need a serious discussion about either fixing the schedule, or major increases in compensation.

I think "changing duties" that would require someone to commute to work instead of telecommute is unreasonable. So I'd agree with you.

Chris Pascale

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Re: Wife Gave Office a 90-day Review/2 Weeks Notice
« Reply #22 on: December 16, 2019, 01:49:35 PM »
FINAL UPDATE

Wife gave them 4 weeks notice. In the resignation letter she cited that it's because "of the reasons noted in [her] 90-day review."

They never bumped her up the 5% they said they would, and are allowed to offer as a retention incentive; in over 7 weeks they haven't even thought to post the opening for the other admin person they are budgeted for; and then tried to make her the person in charge of a Christmas party for about 200 people.....you know, because she's got the time/experience/passion-for/desire to plan a $15,000 event on short notice.

She leaves on Jan. 3, and will stay home for at least 2 months unless a particular opportunity comes in sooner.
« Last Edit: December 17, 2019, 09:36:27 PM by Chris Pascale »

EscapedApe

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Re: Wife Gave Office a 90-day Review/2 Weeks Notice
« Reply #23 on: December 18, 2019, 04:20:10 PM »
FINAL UPDATE

Wife gave them 4 weeks notice. In the resignation letter she cited that it's because "of the reasons noted in [her] 90-day review."

They never bumped her up the 5% they said they would, and are allowed to offer as a retention incentive; in over 7 weeks they haven't even thought to post the opening for the other admin person they are budgeted for; and then tried to make her the person in charge of a Christmas party for about 200 people.....you know, because she's got the time/experience/passion-for/desire to plan a $15,000 event on short notice.

She leaves on Jan. 3, and will stay home for at least 2 months unless a particular opportunity comes in sooner.

See you later alligator. Probably from the window of a more considerate employer.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!