Author Topic: Epic FU money stories  (Read 2794834 times)

RyanAtTanagra

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3100 on: June 17, 2020, 01:53:57 PM »
"I remain committed to help you in a calm, polite, professional manner.   Let me know when you would like to begin."   And gently walk out the door.

Ooooh, I'm saving that one for future potential use.

solon

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3101 on: June 17, 2020, 01:55:19 PM »
"I remain committed to help you in a calm, polite, professional manner.   Let me know when you would like to begin."   And gently walk out the door.

Ooooh, I'm saving that one for future potential use.

This works great on children throwing a tantrum, too!

Freedomin5

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3102 on: June 17, 2020, 01:58:31 PM »
Just a small story...

For the past three days, my boss asked me to help out with a client facing role in a new process. I have several coworkers, but I got picked because I’m bilingual.  It turns out that it involves being shouted at for an hour by clients. The first day was bad as the kinks hadn’t been worked out. I was told that they were working on a new plan and Day 2 would be better. The second day was bad too. After Day 2, I was told that they were implementing a new plan and Day 3 would be better. Yesterday was the third day, and it was the worst day ever for the process. I was screamed at by an irate customer (whom I just tuned out after the first 10 seconds). So at the end of the day, I told my boss that I quit that particular role. I’m not going to lose my job over this small insubordination (because the other person doing this role also quit the role after yesterday), but FU money means that I don’t feel the need to do everything the higher ups ask of me, especially if it involves having nightmares afterwards and waking up at 2 AM and not being able to sleep again.


One way to disarm the screaming is to quietly say, "Sir.  Sir.  Sir.  Sir.   Sir.   Sir." and repeat until they stop screaming for a bit.

Then look them straight in the eye and say, "There are only two people in this conversation who care about what you need to have happen.  And one of them is about to lose interest."    Smile for one brief second.   That special smile that isn't a sunny smile, it's not a smirk, it's a FU smile that shows you don't need them, they need you.   And then say nothing more until they decide whether they want to be helped or they want to scream.   If they want to keep screaming, you pick up your stuff, with the comment, "I remain committed to help you in a calm, polite, professional manner.   Let me know when you would like to begin."   And gently walk out the door.

I was going to say that I’ll report back to let you know if that tactic is transferable to Chinese culture, but then I realized I can’t because I quit that role. :D

Plina

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3103 on: June 17, 2020, 02:09:03 PM »
Thank you everyone for the support. I will get back with an update when I get an offer. Today, the boss pretended that everything is normal so obviously it helps to know she might get rid of me. :-) Due to a holiday on friday, I expect her to get back to me next week.


Nice job. Thanks for the edit on the original post, it really did make the situation much easier to follow. The mustachian who started their own practice recently is @ReadySetMillionaire. It took me a while to remember, because RSM's not been posting as frequently lately. Maybe he'll see this bat signal, so I won't include any spoilers,  lol.

PM with any solo practice questions; I'll provide an update in my thread here soon.

Cheers!

Thanks for the offer, I will probably take you up on your offer when my road forwards is more clear.

I read your whole thread yesterday evening and got so many ideas from you and the others. I have been reading the E-myth for attorneys today.

Chris Pascale

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3104 on: June 17, 2020, 02:20:49 PM »
In the first chat we concluded that she didn’t have the same trust in me as previously and I concluded that it had also affected my trust for her.

So glad you were able to say this to her.

bbqbonelesswing

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3105 on: June 17, 2020, 02:37:38 PM »
One way to disarm the screaming is to quietly say, "Sir.  Sir.  Sir.  Sir.   Sir.   Sir." and repeat until they stop screaming for a bit.

Then look them straight in the eye and say, "There are only two people in this conversation who care about what you need to have happen.  And one of them is about to lose interest."    Smile for one brief second.   That special smile that isn't a sunny smile, it's not a smirk, it's a FU smile that shows you don't need them, they need you.   And then say nothing more until they decide whether they want to be helped or they want to scream.   If they want to keep screaming, you pick up your stuff, with the comment, "I remain committed to help you in a calm, polite, professional manner.   Let me know when you would like to begin."   And gently walk out the door.

Amen. I've been in customer-facing roles most of my career. Been yelled at a lot. I don't tolerate it- if you want to yell, I'm hanging up. There is no excuse for speaking to another person in that kind of manner. Thankfully I work for a company with the same values, and we are encouraged to fire customers (within reason) if they are costing us more than they're worth. But if you don't work for a company like that, it's always nice to have that FU money to fall back on. Otherwise being treated like that can really eat at you.

BicycleB

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3106 on: June 17, 2020, 08:12:30 PM »
Just a small story...

For the past three days, my boss asked me to help out with a client facing role in a new process. I have several coworkers, but I got picked because I’m bilingual.  It turns out that it involves being shouted at for an hour by clients. The first day was bad as the kinks hadn’t been worked out. I was told that they were working on a new plan and Day 2 would be better. The second day was bad too. After Day 2, I was told that they were implementing a new plan and Day 3 would be better. Yesterday was the third day, and it was the worst day ever for the process. I was screamed at by an irate customer (whom I just tuned out after the first 10 seconds). So at the end of the day, I told my boss that I quit that particular role. I’m not going to lose my job over this small insubordination (because the other person doing this role also quit the role after yesterday), but FU money means that I don’t feel the need to do everything the higher ups ask of me, especially if it involves having nightmares afterwards and waking up at 2 AM and not being able to sleep again.


One way to disarm the screaming is to quietly say, "Sir.  Sir.  Sir.  Sir.   Sir.   Sir." and repeat until they stop screaming for a bit.

Then look them straight in the eye and say, "There are only two people in this conversation who care about what you need to have happen.  And one of them is about to lose interest."    Smile for one brief second.   That special smile that isn't a sunny smile, it's not a smirk, it's a FU smile that shows you don't need them, they need you.   And then say nothing more until they decide whether they want to be helped or they want to scream.   If they want to keep screaming, you pick up your stuff, with the comment, "I remain committed to help you in a calm, polite, professional manner.   Let me know when you would like to begin."   And gently walk out the door.

I was going to say that I’ll report back to let you know if that tactic is transferable to Chinese culture, but then I realized I can’t because I quit that role. :D

LOL

Freedomin5

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3107 on: June 19, 2020, 09:33:32 AM »
Just a small story...

For the past three days, my boss asked me to help out with a client facing role in a new process. I have several coworkers, but I got picked because I’m bilingual.  It turns out that it involves being shouted at for an hour by clients. The first day was bad as the kinks hadn’t been worked out. I was told that they were working on a new plan and Day 2 would be better. The second day was bad too. After Day 2, I was told that they were implementing a new plan and Day 3 would be better. Yesterday was the third day, and it was the worst day ever for the process. I was screamed at by an irate customer (whom I just tuned out after the first 10 seconds). So at the end of the day, I told my boss that I quit that particular role. I’m not going to lose my job over this small insubordination (because the other person doing this role also quit the role after yesterday), but FU money means that I don’t feel the need to do everything the higher ups ask of me, especially if it involves having nightmares afterwards and waking up at 2 AM and not being able to sleep again.


One way to disarm the screaming is to quietly say, "Sir.  Sir.  Sir.  Sir.   Sir.   Sir." and repeat until they stop screaming for a bit.

Then look them straight in the eye and say, "There are only two people in this conversation who care about what you need to have happen.  And one of them is about to lose interest."    Smile for one brief second.   That special smile that isn't a sunny smile, it's not a smirk, it's a FU smile that shows you don't need them, they need you.   And then say nothing more until they decide whether they want to be helped or they want to scream.   If they want to keep screaming, you pick up your stuff, with the comment, "I remain committed to help you in a calm, polite, professional manner.   Let me know when you would like to begin."   And gently walk out the door.

I was going to say that I’ll report back to let you know if that tactic is transferable to Chinese culture, but then I realized I can’t because I quit that role. :D

LOL

I’m happy to say that they ended up revamping the entire process so that no one needs to be subjected to that torture every again!

markbike528CBX

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3108 on: June 19, 2020, 04:32:44 PM »
Just a small story...

For the past three days, my boss asked me to help out with a client facing role in a new process. I have several coworkers, but I got picked because I’m bilingual.  It turns out that it involves being shouted at for an hour by clients. The first day was bad as the kinks hadn’t been worked out. I was told that they were working on a new plan and Day 2 would be better. The second day was bad too. After Day 2, I was told that they were implementing a new plan and Day 3 would be better. Yesterday was the third day, and it was the worst day ever for the process. I was screamed at by an irate customer (whom I just tuned out after the first 10 seconds). So at the end of the day, I told my boss that I quit that particular role. I’m not going to lose my job over this small insubordination (because the other person doing this role also quit the role after yesterday), but FU money means that I don’t feel the need to do everything the higher ups ask of me, especially if it involves having nightmares afterwards and waking up at 2 AM and not being able to sleep again.


One way to disarm the screaming is to quietly say, "Sir.  Sir.  Sir.  Sir.   Sir.   Sir." and repeat until they stop screaming for a bit.

Then look them straight in the eye and say, "There are only two people in this conversation who care about what you need to have happen.  And one of them is about to lose interest."    Smile for one brief second.   That special smile that isn't a sunny smile, it's not a smirk, it's a FU smile that shows you don't need them, they need you.   And then say nothing more until they decide whether they want to be helped or they want to scream.   If they want to keep screaming, you pick up your stuff, with the comment, "I remain committed to help you in a calm, polite, professional manner.   Let me know when you would like to begin."   And gently walk out the door.

I was going to say that I’ll report back to let you know if that tactic is transferable to Chinese culture, but then I realized I can’t because I quit that role. :D

LOL

I’m happy to say that they ended up revamping the entire process so that no one needs to be subjected to that torture every again!

The power of FU money (and some stones by your coworker who also said "enough").

fuzzy math

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3109 on: June 21, 2020, 10:15:28 AM »
Plina, looking forward to hearing the next steps this week! This is truly epic to witness as it happens.

Plina

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3110 on: June 22, 2020, 11:15:15 AM »
In the first chat we concluded that she didn’t have the same trust in me as previously and I concluded that it had also affected my trust for her.

So glad you were able to say this to her.

I was pretty pissed at her and I knew there was not much she could do legally.



Plina, looking forward to hearing the next steps this week! This is truly epic to witness as it happens.

Thanks! Today, in our daily meeting that was concluded in about 5 minutes, she wanted to talk about "the other issue". She had come to the conclusion that if I didn't  want to quit she could terminate my employment either due to "personal reasons" or due to "lack of work". I would be excused from working during my notice period of three months and I would also get some additional months of salary. Personal reasons is out of question as it is used if the employee have screwed up in some way and it would also punish me if I want to have unemployment benefits and insurance. I am not going to take the shit for this. Lack of work is an interesting excuse as we have recently hired people and you have a right to be rehired if there is a need to hire within a certain period. They have prepped everything for hiring a couple of more people. But as an employer you don't really have to show the lack of work. So either she had googled the options and taken the first response or her HR-advisor is really bad.

She also wondered if I wanted the union to do the negotiation, which I would have guessed was her preference due to her pained expression when I suggested that she would present me with a written proposal that I could consider and take to the union for review. The union has negotiators and lawyers that can negotiate on my behalf but after a talk with them I decided to go this route at least for now.

My guess is that she offers between 3-6 months plus the "no work" during the notice period, which would mean between 6-9 months of extra pay. I would guess that she doesn't want me to get back after my vacation in July-august but I will probably suggest that I work from home a week more to be able to do a nice handover to someone. But I will be prepping everything including a goodbye email to everyone in the projects that I am working in so I don't leave everything in a mess for them as the circle of people that work in the field is small and I don't want to burn any bridges. I have a bs reason for leaving and I would be pretty happy with getting paid for 6 months as I was prepared to resign and I haven't even worked 8 months in this place. I can live with that amount for more than a year without problems.

She is going to get back to me with a written proposal. As she is going on a three weeks vacation next Friday I would guess that she wants this to be finished before that but I am not in a hurry as I will go on a four week vacation in four weeks time. I would prefer that my notice period didn't start before august. The show goes on...
« Last Edit: June 22, 2020, 11:17:32 AM by Plina »

BicycleB

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3111 on: June 23, 2020, 01:14:10 PM »
Way to go @Plina, negotiating like a champ!

I love the way you keep checking your options, deciding the best path and then following it perfectly.

fuzzy math

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3112 on: June 23, 2020, 01:17:56 PM »
I still can't believe your boss is going to be allowed to waste so much company money getting rid of you just to save face on her end. If this ever comes out she will likely be fired over it.

I hope you can sneak by to your September goal date.

BNgarden

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3113 on: June 23, 2020, 02:19:26 PM »
I still can't believe your boss is going to be allowed to waste so much company money getting rid of you just to save face on her end. If this ever comes out she will likely be fired over it.

I hope you can sneak by to your September goal date.

^^^  I also can't believe she's going this route, and hope you get all you desire from a departure.

Plina

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3114 on: June 23, 2020, 11:25:00 PM »
I still can't believe your boss is going to be allowed to waste so much company money getting rid of you just to save face on her end. If this ever comes out she will likely be fired over it.

I hope you can sneak by to your September goal date.

^^^  I also can't believe she's going this route, and hope you get all you desire from a departure.

Because of some company specific reasons she can hide it in the current budget but there  will probably be a lot of talk when I don’t get back after the vacation. She is the CEO so my guess it she will hide it from the board. My story will probably be that I realised it was not the workplace for me so after a talk with my boss we decided that it was best if I ended it during the summer. Due to the difficulties to fire workers it is normal to be bought out if you want to get rid of people. CEO though, don’t have that protection. I don’t know how our board views it though.

I got an offer yesterday with the three months of no work during the notice period plus an extra month of pay. During those three months I would still be employed and receive all my benefits but excused from needing to work during 15/7 to 15/10. It also means that I don’t need to take out any vacation so I can get it payed out in october which is a half month of pay extra. Then I would get an additional months salary without the benefits. I have no limitations in accepting a new job during that period and even if I did I will still get everything.

I realised after some reflection that she can’t give me more than totally 5 months without it going over her limit of signing contracts. If it goes over that she have to take it to the board and then we get a lot of unknowns in to play. So I will tell her that I will sign the deal if I get 2 months salary in addition to the notice period. The offer was less then I hoped but ok according to the union due to my short employment at the company. I would  probably not get more if I would take it further and frankly I have already closed this door in my mind.

I talked to a career coach yesterday that was offered by my university for alumni and the talk made it pretty clear that it is not the place for me anyway so I will try to cut my losses. With 5 months of salary I can live up to a year and after those 5 months I could get unemployment benefits that would get me 80 % of my salary during 6 months and less thereafter during another 6 months. But if nothing REALLY interesting come up during the summer I will announce the launch of my own company in the end of august after using part of summer preparing that.
« Last Edit: June 23, 2020, 11:27:32 PM by Plina »

Dicey

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3115 on: June 23, 2020, 11:37:49 PM »
Wow! Way to go. @Plina! That's making lemonade out of lemons. Hopefully she agrees to your counter.

former player

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3116 on: June 24, 2020, 02:03:11 AM »
You sound as though you are completely on top of this.  Best of luck in the remaining negotiations although I don't think you need it - you are head and shoulders above the CEO.

lemanfan

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3117 on: June 24, 2020, 03:55:01 AM »
Way to go @Plina, negotiating like a champ!

I love the way you keep checking your options, deciding the best path and then following it perfectly.

I have to agree, well executed.  My guess is that we are living if not in the same country, then at least under very similar rules and culture of business, and your way of doing things is probably the best I've heard of so far in similar situations  :) 

NorthernMonkey

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3118 on: June 24, 2020, 06:26:31 AM »
5 months full pay seems a good deal. I'd accept and move on.

GreenToTheCore

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3119 on: June 24, 2020, 01:15:10 PM »
Way to go @Plina, negotiating like a champ!

I love the way you keep checking your options, deciding the best path and then following it perfectly.

I have to agree, well executed.  My guess is that we are living if not in the same country, then at least under very similar rules and culture of business, and your way of doing things is probably the best I've heard of so far in similar situations  :)

Piling on.
I am so impressed with and thankful that you're sharing your approach with us. Saving this in case I need an example to reference in the future...

Plina

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3120 on: June 24, 2020, 03:07:17 PM »
Way to go @Plina, negotiating like a champ!

I love the way you keep checking your options, deciding the best path and then following it perfectly.

I have to agree, well executed.  My guess is that we are living if not in the same country, then at least under very similar rules and culture of business, and your way of doing things is probably the best I've heard of so far in similar situations  :)

Thanks for the encouragement everybody!

@lemanfan - We live in the same country.

We have reached an agreement and I got my 5 months! I was looking at the tax implications this morning and realized that the final payments of vacation time and two months of salaries would be taxed with 54 %. Ouch! In the end the tax will not be higher than normally if I don't start a new job. I will get it back as a tax refund but I took that knowledge to my boss and told that more than half of my pay would disappear in taxes so I would not receive even close as much as I would normally. Instead I would receive about 2/3 after tax of what I would receive normally. So I suggested that we would make it two months of pay so I would receive about 1,5 or little less of my normal pay.  She did some mental calculations and probably came to the conclusion that was within here signing limit and we had a deal.

I also got included some extra time that is normally included in my pay so that was about two more days of pay. We concluded the deal with a discussion about the non disclosure part that was a bit unclear and I happened to suggest a broader circle that would get knowledge of the deal than in the suggestion, as in the whole company. She got the wording clarified and suggested that we should keep the original version were only we have the knowledge of the agreement because she doesn't want to set a precedent within the company (that if you piss of the boss you get paid to leave). I agreed to her version because I also want to keep the agreement secret for outsiders. I prefer that they wonder or think that I have the financial means to not give a shit and leave because it was not a good fit. Officially, we will tell that we have come to a mutual agreement that the role was not a good fit for me and I will leave now before we go into a new phase in the company. Were she added that was even the truth. Not quite my view of the things but .... :)

That was followed by a really strange conversation as I suggested that the signing could be made digitally so that we could tell the news to my colleagues on Friday before some of them go on vacation. The paper thing would take some days as it would need to be sent by post as we work from home. She saw a problem with that because the signing software had been transfered to a colleague (after I pissed her off) and she didn't want her to know about it. To which I concluded that the colleague would be the one to make the payments, as that and other financial stuff is her responsibility, so she would get the knowledge anyway. So hopefully tomorrow I will get the agreement for signing.

I have 14 workdays left so during that time I will be transferring all my projects to someone else and writing a paper as a goodbye gift to a group that I am part of. I promised to deliver it before I went on vacation. Unfortunately, I will not be able to take part of the discussion of the paper. I am also co-heading a group with a couple of subgroups so my co-head will get a nasty surprise when he is back from his vacation. I have been the figurehead of the group as I have done most of the admin and held most of the meetings. I have also had my fingers in someway in most of pots in the company so I think someone is going to need to use a lot more external lawyers in the future or hire a new lawyer. In my field it is not that easy, as there are not enough senior lawyers. I also need to give back my computer, phone and keys before the end of August. I will be out of town until the middle of august or maybe longer so it was not practical to do it before if I don't send them in. She thought it would be good to have a farewell party in august for me (if that is what I want) and I could hand over the stuff then.

The countdown has started...
« Last Edit: June 24, 2020, 03:14:17 PM by Plina »

okits

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3121 on: June 24, 2020, 03:18:05 PM »
Congratulations, @Plina .  I agree with others that you handled this very shrewdly.  I hope it wasn't too stressful for you.

Dicey

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3122 on: June 24, 2020, 04:14:25 PM »
What a journey this has turned into. I can't wait to hear what happens next. I hope you use your time off well and when you're ready, land a great new job. I believe that word will seep out that you made a moral stand and others will come searching for you.

Plina

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3123 on: June 24, 2020, 11:18:35 PM »
Congratulations, @Plina .  I agree with others that you handled this very shrewdly.  I hope it wasn't too stressful for you.

Thanks, @okits. It has actually been pretty amusing. The reason I have been able to look at this from a more amused perspective is that I have FU-money and don’t feel that my actions would put my financial life in jeopardy. I am realy grateful that I don’t live paycheck to paycheck because then I doubt that I would see it amusing in the same way.

What a journey this has turned into. I can't wait to hear what happens next. I hope you use your time off well and when you're ready, land a great new job. I believe that word will seep out that you made a moral stand and others will come searching for you.

Thanks @Dicey! I will take the rest of july off and spend it with family. Thereafter I will start the preparations for my own company if nothing really interesting has come up.

Plina

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3124 on: June 26, 2020, 11:30:14 AM »
The agreement was signed yesterday and my colleagues got the news today. My boss told that I am leaving and that we have come to a mutual agreement that I will work my last day the 14 th of july. I hand over my stuff in August and we will have a goodbyeevent. Not any happy faces among the colleagues. We have had our first meeting about the upcoming handovers to those that are to take over my duties. I will start spreading the news about my departure.

I asked the colleague that I am closest if the boss had said anything as she called immediately after the announcement. According to her the boss had not told anything even though she had openly asked if anything had happened due to the strange mood that has been in some of the meetings. The boss had not given any reply.

11 days left to freedom...

AlanStache

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3125 on: June 26, 2020, 11:37:50 AM »
The agreement was signed yesterday and my colleagues got the news today. My boss told that I am leaving and that we have come to a mutual agreement that I will work my last day the 14 th of july. I hand over my stuff in August and we will have a goodbyeevent. Not any happy faces among the colleagues. We have had our first meeting about the upcoming handovers to those that are to take over my duties. I will start spreading the news about my departure.

I asked the colleague that I am closest if the boss had said anything as she called immediately after the announcement. According to her the boss had not told anything even though she had openly asked if anything had happened due to the strange mood that has been in some of the meetings. The boss had not given any reply.

11 days left to freedom...

Awesome!  Not sure where you are in the world but I think a Hawaiian shirt would be appropriate last day attire.  Dont forget to slick work electronics of personal stuff.

Plina

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3126 on: June 26, 2020, 12:13:53 PM »
The agreement was signed yesterday and my colleagues got the news today. My boss told that I am leaving and that we have come to a mutual agreement that I will work my last day the 14 th of july. I hand over my stuff in August and we will have a goodbyeevent. Not any happy faces among the colleagues. We have had our first meeting about the upcoming handovers to those that are to take over my duties. I will start spreading the news about my departure.

I asked the colleague that I am closest if the boss had said anything as she called immediately after the announcement. According to her the boss had not told anything even though she had openly asked if anything had happened due to the strange mood that has been in some of the meetings. The boss had not given any reply.

11 days left to freedom...

Awesome!  Not sure where you are in the world but I think a Hawaiian shirt would be appropriate last day attire.  Dont forget to slick work electronics of personal stuff.

The last workday will be from home but I will probably put on flipflops when I go in to hand over the electronics in August. To buy an hawaiian shirt for one occasion would be unmustachian.  ;-)

I always leave empty electronics when I leave. I also wipe the phone and set the phone to original settings. The cleaning process has started.


BicycleB

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3127 on: June 26, 2020, 05:59:05 PM »
Way to go, Plina!

talltexan

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3128 on: July 01, 2020, 08:13:25 AM »
I don't know if they're open in your area, but I've had pretty good success building out a Hawaiian shirt collection with some pieces in the single-digit range by checking out thrift shops.

When I realized my previous job would be ending, I started wearing Hawaiian shirts into the office every day, and made it three consecutive weeks without a repeat. I'd encourage you to buck up and spend $6-$9 to add the Hawaiian shirt to your look when you turn in your electronics.

Plina

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3129 on: July 01, 2020, 10:02:20 AM »
I don't know if they're open in your area, but I've had pretty good success building out a Hawaiian shirt collection with some pieces in the single-digit range by checking out thrift shops.

When I realized my previous job would be ending, I started wearing Hawaiian shirts into the office every day, and made it three consecutive weeks without a repeat. I'd encourage you to buck up and spend $6-$9 to add the Hawaiian shirt to your look when you turn in your electronics.

Stores are open but I don’t actually know if you would find Hawaiian shirts there. They feel more like a masquerade stuff here and for males. I will skip that part. ;-)

I have been baffling people today as I have emailed a couple people in a project that I am taking part in that I will leave in the middle of july. One of them gratulated me for my new position and wondered if she could ask were I was going. I felt pretty bad for her when I emailed her back that I didn’t have a new workplace lined up but I would take the summer to figure out the next step. I told her and her colleague that I would probably go back to consulting. They are working in one of our owner companies and I know the guy left his previous employer due to some disagreement and started his own consulting company and now has some kind of consulting agreement with the owner company.

I also told another acquitance that I lunch with regularly and whose legal services my company has been buying, that I would leave the company. I just told her that the work was not for me and she told me that I seamed really optimistic about leaving although I had nothing lined up. :-) I know they have been recruting a couple of months ago so I wanted to put it out there that I was looking for something else in consulting.

It is interesting how you can send out a message, without actually saying that much. :-) To leave a company in the middle of a pandemic and economic downturn without anything else... and by being positive about that...

I have been toying with a business plan and a name for a new company but that I am only sharing that with some people fairly close to me.


Plina

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3130 on: July 01, 2020, 10:53:57 AM »
Update: I happened to check my workphone before I was going to put it away and I had received an email from the acquitance that I had a lunch with today. She had told her boss that I was on the market for a new job and that we had a really nice collaboration. So they would really like to talk with me about my plans for the future as they are recruiting. I happened to mention during our lunch that I was not interested to work in a firm that thought work was life so she mentioned that they were open for working full- or parttime and they had no problem if you wanted to work from home extensively.

I will have a chat with them and see what comes up. They are the best in the field at what they do as well as nice so they would be one of few companies that could derail my plans for a company of my own at least for a while. It would take my game to the next level.

former player

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3131 on: July 01, 2020, 12:24:13 PM »
Awesome.

RyanAtTanagra

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3132 on: July 01, 2020, 12:39:39 PM »
I happened to mention during our lunch that I was not interested to work in a firm that thought work was life so she mentioned that they were open for working full- or parttime and they had no problem if you wanted to work from home extensively.

Hell yea.  Cheers for being in a position to demand what you want.  That ability is priceless.

mm1970

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3133 on: July 01, 2020, 12:41:12 PM »
Sweet!

alcon835

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3134 on: July 01, 2020, 01:14:19 PM »
Update: I happened to check my workphone before I was going to put it away and I had received an email from the acquitance that I had a lunch with today. She had told her boss that I was on the market for a new job and that we had a really nice collaboration. So they would really like to talk with me about my plans for the future as they are recruiting. I happened to mention during our lunch that I was not interested to work in a firm that thought work was life so she mentioned that they were open for working full- or parttime and they had no problem if you wanted to work from home extensively.

I will have a chat with them and see what comes up. They are the best in the field at what they do as well as nice so they would be one of few companies that could derail my plans for a company of my own at least for a while. It would take my game to the next level.

Getting an FU story in real time is the best! Thank you for your story, your ongoing interactions, and your updates!

AMandM

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3135 on: July 01, 2020, 04:49:00 PM »
Getting an FU story in real time is the best! Thank you for your story, your ongoing interactions, and your updates!

This. I am loving this story!

Plina

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3136 on: July 08, 2020, 07:25:50 AM »
I had a really interesting Teams-meeting with the owner of the law firm and my acquintance. The owner started basically the meeting with "it is so nice that you are leaving your current employer" in the meaning that now we might be able to hire you. Then she asked why I was leaving and I gave the bad fit speech and also told that I was not in agreement with my boss and when I told that we had come to a disagreement related to legal administrative rules that I could not bend due to being a lawyer she just said "well done Plina". Then the issue of me quitting was out of the world. Our meeting was supposed to be one hour and it ended up being almost two hours of laughter. No talk about references or that other stuff when you don't know the people before hand. I have come in to contact with the owner in my work and in different work related occasions.

I like what the firm stands for and their focus on quality and not being as formal as some firms. Some benefits will not be as good as working for a larger company but that I can live with. They have a person going on maternity leave in the fall so I would have work immediately. We talked preliminary about starting the first of September, which would give me a 6 week vacation before starting. We have not talked about the salary yet but we will have a new chat on Friday. The biggest downside so far is that their office is in the other end of the town but I would only need to go into the office 1-2 days during the week and there was also talk about moving the office to a more central location. It is about 30 minutes bike ride to the office.

So if we can agree on the salary I will have a new job in September. This means that I reduced my time to fire with at least between 6-8 months without taking account my new salary. The funny thing is that most of the people will now believe (if this goes through) that I used my current position to trade myself up to a new and even better position.


Raenia

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3137 on: July 08, 2020, 08:00:47 AM »
I had a really interesting Teams-meeting with the owner of the law firm and my acquintance. The owner started basically the meeting with "it is so nice that you are leaving your current employer" in the meaning that now we might be able to hire you. Then she asked why I was leaving and I gave the bad fit speech and also told that I was not in agreement with my boss and when I told that we had come to a disagreement related to legal administrative rules that I could not bend due to being a lawyer she just said "well done Plina". Then the issue of me quitting was out of the world. Our meeting was supposed to be one hour and it ended up being almost two hours of laughter. No talk about references or that other stuff when you don't know the people before hand. I have come in to contact with the owner in my work and in different work related occasions.

I like what the firm stands for and their focus on quality and not being as formal as some firms. Some benefits will not be as good as working for a larger company but that I can live with. They have a person going on maternity leave in the fall so I would have work immediately. We talked preliminary about starting the first of September, which would give me a 6 week vacation before starting. We have not talked about the salary yet but we will have a new chat on Friday. The biggest downside so far is that their office is in the other end of the town but I would only need to go into the office 1-2 days during the week and there was also talk about moving the office to a more central location. It is about 30 minutes bike ride to the office.

So if we can agree on the salary I will have a new job in September. This means that I reduced my time to fire with at least between 6-8 months without taking account my new salary. The funny thing is that most of the people will now believe (if this goes through) that I used my current position to trade myself up to a new and even better position.

Good for you, that sounds wonderful!  And hey, in a way you could say you did leverage your old position to trade up - you used your old job to display your commitment to moral/legal action, and that helped you get the new job :)

zolotiyeruki

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3138 on: July 08, 2020, 09:09:00 AM »
I like what the firm stands for and their focus on quality and not being as formal as some firms. Some benefits will not be as good as working for a larger company but that I can live with. They have a person going on maternity leave in the fall so I would have work immediately. We talked preliminary about starting the first of September, which would give me a 6 week vacation before starting. We have not talked about the salary yet but we will have a new chat on Friday. The biggest downside so far is that their office is in the other end of the town but I would only need to go into the office 1-2 days during the week and there was also talk about moving the office to a more central location. It is about 30 minutes bike ride to the office.
That sounds fantastic, and I hope it works out for you.

One word of caution--I would advise you to not consider the potential office move when deciding whether to work for the new company.  Plans change all the time, and it's far more likely that their office will stay where it is.  I've learned from too many experiences that it's wiser to plan on what is, rather than on what a future (or current) employer says what might come.

Mustachianchlud

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3139 on: July 08, 2020, 09:36:55 AM »
MY FU money came in handy at a moment 25 years ago, where I was hired as the credit manager of a regional branch of a national copier company that was floundering - and that was why they needed me, because they could not keep up with the receivables.  The credit department was so overworked, that I would get 80-90 messages per day with NEW problems for my staff of 6 to address, on top of the previous day's, such that by friday I had over 400 messages that I could not return, after spending all week working on last week's 400 problems.  Management was patient, and I was making progress, hiring 4 temps, getting the staff humming as a team, and collecting more money each week, reducing receivables outstanding by 15% in the second month, 25% by the third month on the job, etc.  A real pressure cooker environment.  In month 4 the CFO leaves, leaving me the 2nd highest financial executive in the region, after the comptroller, who has no idea how I do my job.  Then the company hires a general manager VP with no credit experience - fun ensues.  Without any research or understanding of the business situation, he calls a meeting of the department heads and gives a speech to "lay down the law" - including "as of now, all bonuses are cancelled" - so I raise my hand and ask the question:  " Does that include bonuses that are legal obligations under a properly approved employment contract between myself and the company?"   Steam comes out of his ears....and then the HR head confirms in front of the entire management staff that, yes, I am the only one with an employment contract that obligates the company to pay me bonuses if certain targets are met (and I am ahead of those targets already) for the next 2 years....   Then he goes on ... "All vacation time or days off are cancelled for the indefinite future"    I raise my hand:  "I have a day off Friday which was approved months ago by your predecessor for me to participate as best man in a wedding. It is out of town (250 miles away) and I cannot be here Friday"  His response:  "YOU WILL BE IN THE OFFICE THAT FRIDAY"  My response:  "Sorry but that is not possible. I will be out that day"   Steam comes out of his ears again... and he storms out.  After the wedding, I come in bright an early Monday to find he calls me into his office and suspends me.  I am to return to my office and sit there doing nothing.  I read the paper all day, and the next and the next.  The Comptroller is told to do my job too, on top of his own.  The Comptroller begs me to help him handle the weekly conference call with the main office CFO and Credit Manager  who grills him on our progress ... and I answer all their questions.  By the next week, I am reinstated in the job.  But the finances worsen to the point that within a few more months, the situation is hopeless, and I am let go with the comptroller, and the VP, and the region is shut down.  Soon after the entire company files for bankruptcy.  But thanks to my employment contract, and my FU money, I had a helluva fun time pissing off the jerk VP, and became a bit legendary among the company staff - many of whom keep in touch.

Plina

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3140 on: July 08, 2020, 10:00:58 AM »
I like what the firm stands for and their focus on quality and not being as formal as some firms. Some benefits will not be as good as working for a larger company but that I can live with. They have a person going on maternity leave in the fall so I would have work immediately. We talked preliminary about starting the first of September, which would give me a 6 week vacation before starting. We have not talked about the salary yet but we will have a new chat on Friday. The biggest downside so far is that their office is in the other end of the town but I would only need to go into the office 1-2 days during the week and there was also talk about moving the office to a more central location. It is about 30 minutes bike ride to the office.
That sounds fantastic, and I hope it works out for you.

One word of caution--I would advise you to not consider the potential office move when deciding whether to work for the new company.  Plans change all the time, and it's far more likely that their office will stay where it is.  I've learned from too many experiences that it's wiser to plan on what is, rather than on what a future (or current) employer says what might come.

Thanks!

I agree with you about the office move. I don’t count with that in my considerations. If they don’t move and I like working there I am prepared to move closer to the office. It is not a big thing to bike there twice a week. The head office is in another city and it would be me and another person working in here so it would not be a major thing to move us as they are renting offices in an office hotel.



So if we can agree on the salary I will have a new job in September. This means that I reduced my time to fire with at least between 6-8 months without taking account my new salary. The funny thing is that most of the people will now believe (if this goes through) that I used my current position to trade myself up to a new and even better position.

Good for you, that sounds wonderful!  And hey, in a way you could say you did leverage your old position to trade up - you used your old job to display your commitment to moral/legal action, and that helped you get the new job :)

That is a good point but because most of the people will not know that happened they will draw some other conclusion. :-)

Dicey

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3141 on: July 08, 2020, 11:50:48 AM »
Fingers crossed for a good outcome, @Plina! I agree with @Raenia's characterization 100%.

And thanks for the new story @Mustachianchlud. Welcome to the forum!

Much Fishing to Do

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3142 on: July 08, 2020, 11:59:59 AM »
Then he goes on ... "All vacation time or days off are cancelled for the indefinite future"    I raise my hand:  "I have a day off Friday which was approved months ago by your predecessor for me to participate as best man in a wedding. It is out of town (250 miles away) and I cannot be here Friday"  His response:  "YOU WILL BE IN THE OFFICE THAT FRIDAY"  My response:  "Sorry but that is not possible. I will be out that day"   Steam comes out of his ears again... and he storms out.

This reminds me of a great FU moment I experienced long ago.  Someone was needing a day off (for a pretty serious reason) when we were swamped to make a deadline.  The boss told them in front of everyone "no, you cannot take Weds off"...they replied "You misunderstand, I wasn't asking if I could take Weds off, I was asking if I can come back to work on Thurs after I take Weds off...."  ;-)

mm1970

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3143 on: July 08, 2020, 12:10:17 PM »
Then he goes on ... "All vacation time or days off are cancelled for the indefinite future"    I raise my hand:  "I have a day off Friday which was approved months ago by your predecessor for me to participate as best man in a wedding. It is out of town (250 miles away) and I cannot be here Friday"  His response:  "YOU WILL BE IN THE OFFICE THAT FRIDAY"  My response:  "Sorry but that is not possible. I will be out that day"   Steam comes out of his ears again... and he storms out.

This reminds me of a great FU moment I experienced long ago.  Someone was needing a day off (for a pretty serious reason) when we were swamped to make a deadline.  The boss told them in front of everyone "no, you cannot take Weds off"...they replied "You misunderstand, I wasn't asking if I could take Weds off, I was asking if I can come back to work on Thurs after I take Weds off...."  ;-)
This made me giggle.

Dicey

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3144 on: July 08, 2020, 12:50:58 PM »
Then he goes on ... "All vacation time or days off are cancelled for the indefinite future"    I raise my hand:  "I have a day off Friday which was approved months ago by your predecessor for me to participate as best man in a wedding. It is out of town (250 miles away) and I cannot be here Friday"  His response:  "YOU WILL BE IN THE OFFICE THAT FRIDAY"  My response:  "Sorry but that is not possible. I will be out that day"   Steam comes out of his ears again... and he storms out.

This reminds me of a great FU moment I experienced long ago.  Someone was needing a day off (for a pretty serious reason) when we were swamped to make a deadline.  The boss told them in front of everyone "no, you cannot take Weds off"...they replied "You misunderstand, I wasn't asking if I could take Weds off, I was asking if I can come back to work on Thurs after I take Weds off...."  ;-)
This made me giggle.
Me, too. What was the response from the boss?

zolotiyeruki

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3145 on: July 08, 2020, 02:08:31 PM »
Then he goes on ... "All vacation time or days off are cancelled for the indefinite future"    I raise my hand:  "I have a day off Friday which was approved months ago by your predecessor for me to participate as best man in a wedding. It is out of town (250 miles away) and I cannot be here Friday"  His response:  "YOU WILL BE IN THE OFFICE THAT FRIDAY"  My response:  "Sorry but that is not possible. I will be out that day"   Steam comes out of his ears again... and he storms out.

This reminds me of a great FU moment I experienced long ago.  Someone was needing a day off (for a pretty serious reason) when we were swamped to make a deadline.  The boss told them in front of everyone "no, you cannot take Weds off"...they replied "You misunderstand, I wasn't asking if I could take Weds off, I was asking if I can come back to work on Thurs after I take Weds off...."  ;-)
Wow, that takes guts to say something like that!  I would love to know what the boss's face looked like in response.

Plina

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3146 on: July 08, 2020, 02:26:52 PM »
Then he goes on ... "All vacation time or days off are cancelled for the indefinite future"    I raise my hand:  "I have a day off Friday which was approved months ago by your predecessor for me to participate as best man in a wedding. It is out of town (250 miles away) and I cannot be here Friday"  His response:  "YOU WILL BE IN THE OFFICE THAT FRIDAY"  My response:  "Sorry but that is not possible. I will be out that day"   Steam comes out of his ears again... and he storms out.

I can't even imagine someone saying that and surviving as as boss here. As a boss you have to special reasons to deny someone 4 weeks of vacation during summer, such as a pandemic for example. The hospitals seems to have problems solving the summer vacations every year so they end up paying a lot of extra to their employees so that they will postpone parts of their vacation too a later date or to take extra shifts.


alcon835

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3147 on: July 08, 2020, 07:15:25 PM »
MY FU money came in handy at a moment 25 years ago, where I was hired as the credit manager of a regional branch of a national copier company that was floundering - and that was why they needed me, because they could not keep up with the receivables.  The credit department was so overworked, that I would get 80-90 messages per day with NEW problems for my staff of 6 to address, on top of the previous day's, such that by friday I had over 400 messages that I could not return, after spending all week working on last week's 400 problems.  Management was patient, and I was making progress, hiring 4 temps, getting the staff humming as a team, and collecting more money each week, reducing receivables outstanding by 15% in the second month, 25% by the third month on the job, etc.  A real pressure cooker environment.  In month 4 the CFO leaves, leaving me the 2nd highest financial executive in the region, after the comptroller, who has no idea how I do my job.  Then the company hires a general manager VP with no credit experience - fun ensues.  Without any research or understanding of the business situation, he calls a meeting of the department heads and gives a speech to "lay down the law" - including "as of now, all bonuses are cancelled" - so I raise my hand and ask the question:  " Does that include bonuses that are legal obligations under a properly approved employment contract between myself and the company?"   Steam comes out of his ears....and then the HR head confirms in front of the entire management staff that, yes, I am the only one with an employment contract that obligates the company to pay me bonuses if certain targets are met (and I am ahead of those targets already) for the next 2 years....   Then he goes on ... "All vacation time or days off are cancelled for the indefinite future"    I raise my hand:  "I have a day off Friday which was approved months ago by your predecessor for me to participate as best man in a wedding. It is out of town (250 miles away) and I cannot be here Friday"  His response:  "YOU WILL BE IN THE OFFICE THAT FRIDAY"  My response:  "Sorry but that is not possible. I will be out that day"   Steam comes out of his ears again... and he storms out.  After the wedding, I come in bright an early Monday to find he calls me into his office and suspends me.  I am to return to my office and sit there doing nothing.  I read the paper all day, and the next and the next.  The Comptroller is told to do my job too, on top of his own.  The Comptroller begs me to help him handle the weekly conference call with the main office CFO and Credit Manager  who grills him on our progress ... and I answer all their questions.  By the next week, I am reinstated in the job.  But the finances worsen to the point that within a few more months, the situation is hopeless, and I am let go with the comptroller, and the VP, and the region is shut down.  Soon after the entire company files for bankruptcy.  But thanks to my employment contract, and my FU money, I had a helluva fun time pissing off the jerk VP, and became a bit legendary among the company staff - many of whom keep in touch.

Wow, I get that times can be tough and an organization needs to ask a lot from people, but taking away bonuses and eliminating vacation? That's a recipe for demoralization and a failure to meet your goals.

Model96

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3148 on: July 08, 2020, 07:57:28 PM »
I love my FU money, I used it a few times but my best was when I actually FIREd at the end of my yearly job review. I humoured my slimy supervisor the whole way through and gave him my resignation notice at the end......I'll treasure the look on his face forever :)

alcon835

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #3149 on: July 08, 2020, 08:22:11 PM »
I love my FU money, I used it a few times but my best was when I actually FIREd at the end of my yearly job review. I humoured my slimy supervisor the whole way through and gave him my resignation notice at the end......I'll treasure the look on his face forever :)

You gotta give us more than that! lol

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!