Epic FU money stories

[afuera]

I have an FU money story that happened about 2 months ago.

I've had the same professional engineering job since college.  I had about 4 different roles within the company and received pretty regular pay bumps and salary grade promotions and received a couple exceeding expectations performance reviews.   While I was young and kid-less, the job was manageable and I was well compensated so I was fairly content but I had one baby in 2021 and a second surprise baby in early 2022 and the job was quickly starting to not fit my lifestyle anymore.  When I got back from maternity leave in early 2022, my supervisor was talking about my work schedule for an upcoming turnaround (large unit outage requiring 24 hour engineering support) which would be 12 hour shifts with 1 fatigue day off every 7-12 days.  I worked one of these outages a couple years prior and while it sucked, it was manageable for the 2 months that the outage took.  I told him that I really couldn't see how I was going to work that schedule since I was still breastfeeding my 5 month old and my supply would definitely drop missing that many feedings.  Granted, he had just had a baby and his wife was pregnant with a second so I thought he would understand my situation.  Instead, he was not willing to compromise at all and just said "You will find a way to make it work".

Here is where the FU money comes in.  My husband had already quit his job to be a house spouse/SAHD so we still needed my income to pay the mortgage, buy diapers, etc.  But since we have been saving 60%-70% of our income for years and had $1MM in investments, I knew that I could take a pay cut to work less hours or a less demanding job and while I needed a job, I did not need this one!   I started applying to new jobs like crazy, probably 20 different applications within a month and was able to get pretty far in the interview process with a small little plant across the country but close to my family which is a huge bonus with two kids under 2.  I was mentally calculating how much of a pay cut I would take in order to leave my old job/situation but I ended up getting an offer for higher salary, better benefits, a huge relocation package and a signing bonus.  I accepted the offer and negotiated a start date about 6 weeks later.
The following Monday, two weeks before my outage schedule was supposed to start, I gave my supervisor two weeks’ notice. My exact words were "I found a way to make it work". His face just dropped and I could tell he was pissed but he didn't really say much.  He had my job posted internally the next day, trying to get someone to fill the position before the outage.

I cannot explain how blissful it was to have an entire month off work to focus on moving across the country while knowing that my old coworkers were working that horrendous schedule.  Now, my work life balance is so much better, I'm closer to family, and I'm getting better compensation.  I just got an email a couple weeks back that they posted my old position externally and the salary range on indeed/glassdoor was about $30K less than I was making.  Yea, good luck with that.

In the end my FU money bought me the confidence to look for a new job even if the pay was lower and it bought me a glorious month off of work to focus on time with my babies/moving and I couldn't be happier.

[zolotiyeruki]

Would it not be more profitable to wait for the hospital to terminate the employment and maybe provide severance, than to give notice ahead of time?

[By the River]

...
In the end my FU money bought me the confidence to look for a new job even if the pay was lower and it bought me a glorious month off of work to focus on time with my babies/moving and I couldn't be happier.

Great job using the FU money. 

[BikeFanatic]

The following Monday, two weeks before my outage schedule was supposed to start, I gave my supervisor two weeks’ notice. My exact words were "I found a way to make it work"

Afuera- wow that is epic!

[rockstache]

Afuera, you are a total badass. Congratulations on your new position and your new home and that awesome power move.

[fuzzy math]

I hope you linked this thread for the ex-twitter folks to come share with us.

fuzzy math, I continue to be astounded by the culture of abuse in clinical care settings. It doesn't make sense to me that there is a rampant culture of abuse in healthcare, but too many people have stories to indicate that it is.

Are you starting your new job around the same time they are planning to make you a contractor? I'd be tempted to tell the guy flying in "this is an interesting prospect. Thank you for talking this over with us and offering these contracts. I'll definitely think it over" rather than just telling him I'm gone. Why not drag it out?

By contracting it out, is their plan that you won't have benefits? If so, then I'd point out I am fully aware how much benefits are worth (likely you'd need something like a 25-50+% bump in pay to make it a level swap, depending upon your pay and current benefits.) Find out how much it would cost monthly just to keep your health insurance on Cobra, and at a minimum tack that onto your salary needs, but there are likely other benefits that are worth money you can compute. My own employer sends us an annual statement to point out our "real" pay if benefits are counted. Kind of obnoxious in a way, but also makes me aware that salary is only a part of my compensation.

I hope your next batch of colleagues know how to act!

Thanks everyone for the support and amusement over my situation!
I quoted you @Zamboni because I think you caught on to my situation the best. I'm going to try to answer some of the other questions / comments too.

My benefits ending is kick in the pants that finally convinced me to leave. Without completely doxxing myself I work for an institution where the benefits (pension, tuition for family, super cheap insurance, 457b etc) make up a HUGE portion of my compensation. Its why I've kept licking the turd lollipop that has been my entire job. Jim Bob's Fly By Night Contracting Co will absolutely not be able to come even near the benefits package.

There is absolutely an element of stalling to try to confuse everyone more. I'm going to bring a super long list of questions for this guy so he has to go back and do his homework. It will also serve as a warning to him that the institution has not been forthright and has not provided him nearly the details he needs to be able to manage the account.
My coworker who is leaving is going to tell him he's taking the employment contract to his lawyer. That will kill at least a week. The goal is for it to be mid December, have administration get upset that the contract is still pending, and have them ask us what our plans are / why the hold up. The answer to them then is basically parroting what my manager said "I'm sorry but you've told me to talk to the contractor about all matters of employment starting in January" and "I really don't feel comfortable discussing or having you interfere in my private employment details with contractor at this time."

Administration ASSUMES its a given that the contract will go through. They ASSUME we will all come on as employees. Any attempts on my end to discuss what might happen if it doesn't go through in January have been ignored by the hospital. The contractor did give me solid advice to sign up for health insurance through the hospital in January on the chance that he doesn't take over Jan 1 and wouldn't therefore be able to provide me insurance. He at least has a small idea that this process could be difficult, as evidenced by "I'm going to fly out and get you all on board before I sign the contract". I bet the hospital thinks that even if we don't sign on that this guy will provide service. They have no idea that its impossible and therefore no idea that the contract cannot go through. That's why their "I'm sorry none of this is my problem in January" talk is going to come back to bite them.

The hospital has not officially given me layoff paperwork because the contract is not signed. I have not given notice yet because I currently don't have anyone to give notice to. If it remains under hospital control in January, I will then provide 30 days notice. But at this point my employer has told me they're not the ones responsible for me in January.  Why would I notify the hospital if they have basically told me that they're not my chain of command for 2023? Unfortunately with things going down how I envision them happening, I won't be laid off because I'll be forced to provide notice in mid December after the contract falls through. But I'm not going to tell them a single thing until they ask me repeatedly and then tell me the contractor has backed out. 

[fuzzy math]

@afuera Congrats lady! Its wonderful that you ended up with so much more (quality of life, pay) after being willing to accept much less to just get out of that situation.

[Dicey]

Congratulations @afuera!

@fuzzy math, I'm getting the popcorn ready...this is gonna be good!

[Captain FIRE]

The hospital has not officially given me layoff paperwork because the contract is not signed. I have not given notice yet because I currently don't have anyone to give notice to. If it remains under hospital control in January, I will then provide 30 days notice. But at this point my employer has told me they're not the ones responsible for me in January.  Why would I notify the hospital if they have basically told me that they're not my chain of command for 2023?

I am enjoying the popcorn.  When you say you have been "basically told", is this crystal clear and in writing?  I do want to caution that unless they've given you official notice of the change, you likely do need* to give them notice if they don't give you formal notice first, even if you are not quite sure to whom it should be.  (I would think to your current boss though.)

When does the new job start? They are giving a generous transition time to you if in January.

*I use need loosely.  In an at will employment state, you aren't legally obligated to do so, but it's a very strong custom for not burning bridges.  (Although they might consider you to have burnt a bridge here anyways.)

[BicycleB]

...he was not willing to compromise at all and just said "You will find a way to make it work".

...two weeks before my outage schedule was supposed to start, I gave my supervisor two weeks’ notice. My exact words were "I found a way to make it work". His face just dropped...

In the end my FU money bought me the confidence to look for a new job even if the pay was lower and it bought me a glorious month off of work to focus on time with my babies/moving and I couldn't be happier.

LOL!!!!!!! @afuera, that's golden.

[chrisgermany]

@fuzzy math : Right now you and the hospital are in contract.
 This situation remains as is, unless one side gives notice and the notice period has passed OR you and the hospital agree to end your employmen on a certain date.
I would want to make sure that I am not in contract with 2 employers on Jan. 1st.

[Shane]

Congratulations, afuera! That's exactly what FU money is for.

[Shane]

@fuzzy math : Right now you and the hospital are in contract.
 This situation remains as is, unless one side gives notice and the notice period has passed OR you and the hospital agree to end your employmen on a certain date.
I would want to make sure that I am not in contract with 2 employers on Jan. 1st.

What you may be missing, Chris, is that in the US most workers don't have a contract. Almost all employees here are engaged in what's called, "at will employment." This means employers are under no obligation to continue to employ anyone. They can fire any worker, at any time, for any reason (aside from provable discrimination based on race, religion, etc), or for no reason at all. The other side of that coin is that employees are totally free to quit their jobs at any time, for any reason, or for no reason at all. Generally, there's a custom that employees are expected to give employers 2 weeks notice if they intend to quit, but this is in no way legally enforceable. It's just a custom. Otoh, employers regularly fire employees with zero notice, and that's totally legal, as well.

[chrisgermany]

@Shane:
Thanks, indeed this is a missing piece for me.

[Zamboni]

Congrats, afuera! Well done indeed!

I'm not going to tell them a single thing until they ask me repeatedly and then tell me the contractor has backed out.

fuzzy math: My suggestion here would be that you are super duper nice to the owner of the contract company when he visits. Warn him gently as you can, but be nice. Maybe he will follow up to let you know whether he decided to sign the contract? You can always give him your contact info and ask him to do that. I think it's a good idea to give him a lot of questions (perhaps even a written list of questions) so he knows what he is getting into.

Let him also know what you calculated your salary requirements need to be given the anticipated drop in the level of benefits, but be super nice to him. Not at all his fault that the current admin is idiots.

I work for a similar employer. In calculating your elevated pay requirements given any drop in benefits, please don't forget to include your current employer's paid time off (vacation, sick time, holidays, personal days) as contractors may or may not have paid time off. I found my employer's statement of the benefits that paid to me last year! Not including paid days off, and not including social security (which I'm assume any employer would have to pay on my behalf) they say my benefits cost them about $44,000 last year. That's a lot of money! It will be quite a lot more this year because I'm taking advantage of family educational benefits that weren't used before. Gotta add it ALL up!

If you have a new job lined up, then wait as long as you can to give notice. Once you give notice, they might try to treat you even worse. Unfortunately I've seen that happen. I know my employer has a written policy that requires 30 days notice "to be eligible for rehire." Up to you whether or not you care about that. I do know that my friend who hires nurses only calls references to ask for dates of employment and to ask if the person is eligible for rehire. In my case, I doubt any future employer would ever ask that particular question due to my different field, so I am less inclined to care.

[Simpli-Fi]

I have an FU money story that happened about 2 months ago.

"I found a way to make it work". His face just dropped and I could tell he was pissed

AaaaaaaaaHAHAHAHA!  this was a great read; congrats

[LightTripper]

"I found a way to make it work".

What a beautiful beautiful mic-drop moment.  Thank you so much for sharing!  If you could bottle and sell that catharsis you'd never need to work again!

[fuzzy math]

The hospital has not officially given me layoff paperwork because the contract is not signed. I have not given notice yet because I currently don't have anyone to give notice to. If it remains under hospital control in January, I will then provide 30 days notice. But at this point my employer has told me they're not the ones responsible for me in January.  Why would I notify the hospital if they have basically told me that they're not my chain of command for 2023?

I am enjoying the popcorn.  When you say you have been "basically told", is this crystal clear and in writing?  I do want to caution that unless they've given you official notice of the change, you likely do need* to give them notice if they don't give you formal notice first, even if you are not quite sure to whom it should be.  (I would think to your current boss though.)

When does the new job start? They are giving a generous transition time to you if in January.

*I use need loosely.  In an at will employment state, you aren't legally obligated to do so, but it's a very strong custom for not burning bridges.  (Although they might consider you to have burnt a bridge here anyways.)

They and Employee relations have given me a summary of things known so far and intentions to have these changes occur with tentative dates. However since its not final there's nothing.

Everything I've said here is that I intend to give notice if they are still my employer. However if they don't intend to be my employer they may find it out through the contract owner when the contract owner tries to pressure me into signing on with him. I am possibly willing to work 1-3 weeks for him in January but its equally likely that he will not want the hassle of hiring me for that time frame. It is also somewhat dependent on what my other departing coworker does.
I start no later than Feb 13. Possibly it will be moved up if I don't have or don't want to work here during that time. Lots of moving pieces, my entire family will be moving.

[fuzzy math]

Congrats, afuera! Well done indeed!

I'm not going to tell them a single thing until they ask me repeatedly and then tell me the contractor has backed out.

fuzzy math: My suggestion here would be that you are super duper nice to the owner of the contract company when he visits. Warn him gently as you can, but be nice. Maybe he will follow up to let you know whether he decided to sign the contract? You can always give him your contact info and ask him to do that. I think it's a good idea to give him a lot of questions (perhaps even a written list of questions) so he knows what he is getting into.

Let him also know what you calculated your salary requirements need to be given the anticipated drop in the level of benefits, but be super nice to him. Not at all his fault that the current admin is idiots.

I work for a similar employer. In calculating your elevated pay requirements given any drop in benefits, please don't forget to include your current employer's paid time off (vacation, sick time, holidays, personal days) as contractors may or may not have paid time off. I found my employer's statement of the benefits that paid to me last year! Not including paid days off, and not including social security (which I'm assume any employer would have to pay on my behalf) they say my benefits cost them about $44,000 last year. That's a lot of money! It will be quite a lot more this year because I'm taking advantage of family educational benefits that weren't used before. Gotta add it ALL up!

If you have a new job lined up, then wait as long as you can to give notice. Once you give notice, they might try to treat you even worse. Unfortunately I've seen that happen. I know my employer has a written policy that requires 30 days notice "to be eligible for rehire." Up to you whether or not you care about that. I do know that my friend who hires nurses only calls references to ask for dates of employment and to ask if the person is eligible for rehire. In my case, I doubt any future employer would ever ask that particular question due to my different field, so I am less inclined to care.

Yes there's potentially an option to do locums coverage for him someday. I don't intend to destroy him in the process. I hope he will walk away thinking he dodged a bullet. At the same time, he's ghosted all of us and hasn't even contacted us again to confirm that he's coming on the 30th. He said he wanted to hear everything about the contract, but hasn't called us since the original date we all called him over a month ago. If he's courting us, its sure a weird way to show it.

[Zamboni]

fuzzy math, I'm trying to follow what your current employer thinks is going to happen. If they hire an outside contractor company to cover your position, then you will no longer be their employee. Are they thinking that they will terminate your employment and you will just willingly move to this new company? Without any sort of severance? Does your employer, which sounds large, normally give severance pay to employees they lay off? They would pay you unused vacation & sick time upon termination of your employment with them, right?

Because that is what they are doing: they are telling you that you to anticipate being laid off as of the end of this year, which is only a month away at this point. I think it's reasonable to ask these questions, perhaps with an HR person rather than your bosses, who sound like bozos.

[Gremlin]

The hospital has not officially given me layoff paperwork because the contract is not signed. I have not given notice yet because I currently don't have anyone to give notice to. If it remains under hospital control in January, I will then provide 30 days notice. But at this point my employer has told me they're not the ones responsible for me in January.  Why would I notify the hospital if they have basically told me that they're not my chain of command for 2023?

I am enjoying the popcorn.  When you say you have been "basically told", is this crystal clear and in writing?  I do want to caution that unless they've given you official notice of the change, you likely do need* to give them notice if they don't give you formal notice first, even if you are not quite sure to whom it should be.  (I would think to your current boss though.)

When does the new job start? They are giving a generous transition time to you if in January.

*I use need loosely.  In an at will employment state, you aren't legally obligated to do so, but it's a very strong custom for not burning bridges.  (Although they might consider you to have burnt a bridge here anyways.)

They and Employee relations have given me a summary of things known so far and intentions to have these changes occur with tentative dates. However since its not final there's nothing.

Everything I've said here is that I intend to give notice if they are still my employer. However if they don't intend to be my employer they may find it out through the contract owner when the contract owner tries to pressure me into signing on with him. I am possibly willing to work 1-3 weeks for him in January but its equally likely that he will not want the hassle of hiring me for that time frame. It is also somewhat dependent on what my other departing coworker does.
I start no later than Feb 13. Possibly it will be moved up if I don't have or don't want to work here during that time. Lots of moving pieces, my entire family will be moving.

Unless you have an issue with cashflow yourself, my guess is that this will cause you a fair bit of angst.  You'd have to jump through hoops with the contract owner for all of, at most, 3 weeks of income. 

[TomTX]

I hope you linked this thread for the ex-twitter folks to come share with us.

fuzzy math, I continue to be astounded by the culture of abuse in clinical care settings. It doesn't make sense to me that there is a rampant culture of abuse in healthcare, but too many people have stories to indicate that it is.

Are you starting your new job around the same time they are planning to make you a contractor? I'd be tempted to tell the guy flying in "this is an interesting prospect. Thank you for talking this over with us and offering these contracts. I'll definitely think it over" rather than just telling him I'm gone. Why not drag it out?

By contracting it out, is their plan that you won't have benefits? If so, then I'd point out I am fully aware how much benefits are worth (likely you'd need something like a 25-50+% bump in pay to make it a level swap, depending upon your pay and current benefits.) Find out how much it would cost monthly just to keep your health insurance on Cobra, and at a minimum tack that onto your salary needs, but there are likely other benefits that are worth money you can compute. My own employer sends us an annual statement to point out our "real" pay if benefits are counted. Kind of obnoxious in a way, but also makes me aware that salary is only a part of my compensation.

I hope your next batch of colleagues know how to act!

That's way too lowball. Contracting rates should be around 3x salary rates. Bare minimum of 2x.

[TomTX]

...he was not willing to compromise at all and just said "You will find a way to make it work".

...two weeks before my outage schedule was supposed to start, I gave my supervisor two weeks’ notice. My exact words were "I found a way to make it work". His face just dropped...

In the end my FU money bought me the confidence to look for a new job even if the pay was lower and it bought me a glorious month off of work to focus on time with my babies/moving and I couldn't be happier.

LOL!!!!!!! @afuera, that's golden.

Agreed. Awesome story.

[Frugal Lizard]

...he was not willing to compromise at all and just said "You will find a way to make it work".

...two weeks before my outage schedule was supposed to start, I gave my supervisor two weeks’ notice. My exact words were "I found a way to make it work". His face just dropped...

In the end my FU money bought me the confidence to look for a new job even if the pay was lower and it bought me a glorious month off of work to focus on time with my babies/moving and I couldn't be happier.

LOL!!!!!!! @afuera, that's golden.

Agreed. Awesome story.

two thumbs up!

[AO1FireTo]

...he was not willing to compromise at all and just said "You will find a way to make it work".

...two weeks before my outage schedule was supposed to start, I gave my supervisor two weeks’ notice. My exact words were "I found a way to make it work". His face just dropped...

In the end my FU money bought me the confidence to look for a new job even if the pay was lower and it bought me a glorious month off of work to focus on time with my babies/moving and I couldn't be happier.

LOL!!!!!!! @afuera, that's golden.

Agreed. Awesome story.

two thumbs up!

Awesome, this forum needs a like button!!!  Maybe we could make some customized MMM emojis :)

[bmjohnson35]

Great story afuera. Good for you!

fuzzy math: Assuming I do understand your situation, I don't understand how your employer hasn't provided some form of formal notice, with or without a severance package.  I have witnessed firsthand how arrogant and clueless management and HR can be, but this is at another level. I look forward to your updates.

P.S.  I can see how some of these stories can be confusing for non-US residents.  I worked for a huge company that operated in 60 countries and I was certainly amazed by the protections afforded employees/employers in other countries.  I remember having to sign off on training covering privacy protection laws for European employees despite the fact much of the protections didn't apply to the US employees.  The drug & alcohol policy was another huge difference from country to country.

[rpr]

@afuera -- That is a wonderful story.

[LennStar]

P.S.  I can see how some of these stories can be confusing for non-US residents.  I worked for a huge company that operated in 60 countries and I was certainly amazed by the protections afforded employees/employers in other countries.  I remember having to sign off on training covering privacy protection laws for European employees despite the fact much of the protections didn't apply to the US employees.  The drug & alcohol policy was another huge difference from country to country.

Yeah, some things are mind boggling for us socialists here ;)
In the case of privacy laws, practically everyone has to sign something and many get training, even if that is only a 1-hour test.
In your case your company was still bound to EU law since you did business here, though the rules often are lobbied to be relaxed. "Safe harbour" and such stuff, often declared unconstitutional here. Might also be a reason by Twitter will get either fined or shut down here in the near future.

[fuzzy math]

@bmjohnson35 and @Zamboni

What you've both said about it being reasonable to have notice by now is how things work in the real world, not bizarre-o-land. I've never been able to explain this place to anyone who doesn't work there and not have their jaws drop.

After I told my boss she had better involve employee relations in this, we did get the summary email CCed to employee relations. When I asked her about some of the wording in it, she told me it was because employee relations had told management they can't just verbally tell us we're losing our jobs, everything had to be documented. It would never have occurred to her otherwise.

Of course if I cared I'd be asking for updates, I'd be messaging employee relations saying how unfair this is and how I need updates to be able to plan my life. I tried telling them that at the beginning re: health insurance, but they DON'T CARE. Its like screaming into an abyss. The summary email makes it absolutely clear that there is no official news and if I were to call employee relations they'd just refer me back to the point that there's no date yet. Then my manager would say "of course its going for Jan 1".  I think silence in this situation is better because it allows them to think we've come to accept this and it keeps us off their radar. Makes the employee announcements in a few weeks all that much sweeter.


Good morning team:

Following up regarding the information that was shared with each of you in early October about the anticipated transition of the XXX team & services from hospital to COMPANY
Based on our conversations to date, I understand and acknowledge that you may have concerns or feel anxious regarding the anticipated transition as there are still some unknowns – please know, we are working with COMPANY and with Employee Relations team to ensure a smooth transition.

Here’s a rundown of what we know as of early October:

COMPANY was informally awarded the RFP (Request for Proposal) to provide XXX services for hospital
As of early October, a contract was not officially signed
 
We are committed to regular informational meetings once more information is known (examples: timeline, effective date, salaries, benefits, etc.) . I encourage you to share your thoughts and concerns,  asking questions so we can ensure you have accurate information as we progress.

Thank you for your continued service to our patients.

[LennStar]

Oh yeah, the fake smile, whip in the back "thank you for..." makes this drop of non-information a LOT better ;)

I hope you have stocked up on your popcorn reserves, the trailers are awesome!

[AMandM]

I love how they acknowledge you may have concerns about the transition, but they clearly assume that you are going to work for the new COMPANY and that your concerns are merely about the details of how/when your salary and benefits will change.

[janibromma]

Thank you so much for sharing! I am so looking forward to see the outcome.

[2Birds1Stone]

...he was not willing to compromise at all and just said "You will find a way to make it work".

...two weeks before my outage schedule was supposed to start, I gave my supervisor two weeks’ notice. My exact words were "I found a way to make it work". His face just dropped...

In the end my FU money bought me the confidence to look for a new job even if the pay was lower and it bought me a glorious month off of work to focus on time with my babies/moving and I couldn't be happier.

LOL!!!!!!! @afuera, that's golden.

Agreed. Awesome story.

two thumbs up!

Awesome, this forum needs a like button!!!  Maybe we could make some customized MMM emojis :)

Fantastic indeed!

[Siebrie]

The international company I used to work for offered their key employees (the complete C-team, of course, and a few others) a bonus of a quarter to half their annual salary for staying on during transition times (mergers / take-overs) until at least 6 months after the deal was completed. Maybe you can negotiate something similar?

[mm1970]

...he was not willing to compromise at all and just said "You will find a way to make it work".

...two weeks before my outage schedule was supposed to start, I gave my supervisor two weeks’ notice. My exact words were "I found a way to make it work". His face just dropped...

In the end my FU money bought me the confidence to look for a new job even if the pay was lower and it bought me a glorious month off of work to focus on time with my babies/moving and I couldn't be happier.

LOL!!!!!!! @afuera, that's golden.

+1.  I am gobsmacked that someone (your boss) with a new baby + 1 on the way is able to compartmentalize like that.  Buh bye.

I'm going to get the popcorn ready for fuzzy...

[ysette9]

I have an FU money story that happened about 2 months ago.

I've had the same professional engineering job since college.  I had about 4 different roles within the company and received pretty regular pay bumps and salary grade promotions and received a couple exceeding expectations performance reviews.   While I was young and kid-less, the job was manageable and I was well compensated so I was fairly content but I had one baby in 2021 and a second surprise baby in early 2022 and the job was quickly starting to not fit my lifestyle anymore.  When I got back from maternity leave in early 2022, my supervisor was talking about my work schedule for an upcoming turnaround (large unit outage requiring 24 hour engineering support) which would be 12 hour shifts with 1 fatigue day off every 7-12 days.  I worked one of these outages a couple years prior and while it sucked, it was manageable for the 2 months that the outage took.  I told him that I really couldn't see how I was going to work that schedule since I was still breastfeeding my 5 month old and my supply would definitely drop missing that many feedings.  Granted, he had just had a baby and his wife was pregnant with a second so I thought he would understand my situation.  Instead, he was not willing to compromise at all and just said "You will find a way to make it work".

Here is where the FU money comes in.  My husband had already quit his job to be a house spouse/SAHD so we still needed my income to pay the mortgage, buy diapers, etc.  But since we have been saving 60%-70% of our income for years and had $1MM in investments, I knew that I could take a pay cut to work less hours or a less demanding job and while I needed a job, I did not need this one!   I started applying to new jobs like crazy, probably 20 different applications within a month and was able to get pretty far in the interview process with a small little plant across the country but close to my family which is a huge bonus with two kids under 2.  I was mentally calculating how much of a pay cut I would take in order to leave my old job/situation but I ended up getting an offer for higher salary, better benefits, a huge relocation package and a signing bonus.  I accepted the offer and negotiated a start date about 6 weeks later.
The following Monday, two weeks before my outage schedule was supposed to start, I gave my supervisor two weeks’ notice. My exact words were "I found a way to make it work". His face just dropped and I could tell he was pissed but he didn't really say much.  He had my job posted internally the next day, trying to get someone to fill the position before the outage.

I cannot explain how blissful it was to have an entire month off work to focus on moving across the country while knowing that my old coworkers were working that horrendous schedule.  Now, my work life balance is so much better, I'm closer to family, and I'm getting better compensation.  I just got an email a couple weeks back that they posted my old position externally and the salary range on indeed/glassdoor was about $30K less than I was making.  Yea, good luck with that.

In the end my FU money bought me the confidence to look for a new job even if the pay was lower and it bought me a glorious month off of work to focus on time with my babies/moving and I couldn't be happier.

“I found a way to make it work”

This is fucking awesome. I applaud you.

[markbike528CBX]

@fuzzy math : Right now you and the hospital are in contract.
 This situation remains as is, unless one side gives notice and the notice period has passed OR you and the hospital agree to end your employmen on a certain date.
I would want to make sure that I am not in contract with 2 employers on Jan. 1st.

What you may be missing, Chris, is that in the US most workers don't have a contract. Almost all employees here are engaged in what's called, "at will employment." This means employers are under no obligation to continue to employ anyone. They can fire any worker, at any time, for any reason (aside from provable discrimination based on race, religion, etc), or for no reason at all. The other side of that coin is that employees are totally free to quit their jobs at any time, for any reason, or for no reason at all. Generally, there's a custom that employees are expected to give employers 2 weeks notice if they intend to quit, but this is in no way legally enforceable. It's just a custom. Otoh, employers regularly fire employees with zero notice, and that's totally legal, as well.

Getting PAID twice might be OK.
https://www.schlockmercenary.com/2007-07-15

[TomTX]

The international company I used to work for offered their key employees (the complete C-team, of course, and a few others) a bonus of a quarter to half their annual salary for staying on during transition times (mergers / take-overs) until at least 6 months after the deal was completed. Maybe you can negotiate something similar?

Make sure there's a clause that the bonus is paid immediately if the company terminates you before the date of earning the bonus.

[RWTL]

The international company I used to work for offered their key employees (the complete C-team, of course, and a few others) a bonus of a quarter to half their annual salary for staying on during transition times (mergers / take-overs) until at least 6 months after the deal was completed. Maybe you can negotiate something similar?

This is really helpful.  I may need to use this as a reference soon.

[NorthernMonkey]

I've seen contracts like this, but they are often A LOT more than 3 months. 3 months would be considered the minimum.

I've seen 12 months pay for agreeing to stay for an 18 month transition period, payable as a lump at the end of the 18 month period.

[fuzzy math]

Well it happened yesterday, I quit! Gave 3 weeks notice so my last day is Dec 22. Now I just have to survive any weird attempts to sabotage or force me out the door.

Contracting company guy never showed up Weds, he texted one of us and let us know that his agreement with the hospital is still not finalized and therefore he was asked not to come until it was final. He did drop the bomb that if certain conditions weren't met by the hospital that he would back out of the contract.

Everything came to a head Weds night when I received a call from a physician friend warning me that my older befuddled coworker had had a patient care related accident and was loudly cursing and screaming my name telling everyone that it was my fault. I had been home for hours and had only tangentially touched the item he was using, others had touched it afterwards and he had 4 hours with this particular item to orient himself to it and prepare to use it on a patient. I'm being vague obviously due to the nature of my job and not wanting to get sued. But needless to say it is NOT my fault. It became very clear that this coworker has some hatred towards me and was trying to do the only thing he could think of to keep his license and his job. I spent the night in abject terror of what I was going to arrive to at work on Thurs and what attempts to sabotage me this coworker might employ in the future.

Was approached by a chief physician asking if we had the equipment needed to safely provide patient care on Thurs at the beginning of my shift. I let him know about the shortages we had, it devolved into an argument where he accused my team of trying to ration or refuse patient care based on not having supplies. I told him we were completely out of safety items needed to do our jobs properly. He asked me if it was comfort or safety keeping us from doing things. I stated that I was clinically able to do anything, but whether it was wise or not was another matter. I then asked him if that patient care related accident from the previous night was safety or comfort. I told him that my team hadn't felt support from our bosses in a long time, but that we had always leaned on him for back up and support but that this was the first time I felt I no longer had support from him.

Made the split decision that I no longer shared any values with this organization and that I was at the risk of being sabotaged in the future. Decided I did not want to work at the end of the month when my accident prone coworker and I would be the only 2 people on the schedule. Walked to my office, called my husband and told him today was the day. He agreed. I called my other (reasonable coworker who is also going to quit), told him it was the day and coordinated dates with him because I would be dumping Christmas coverage on him if I quit. Then I wrote a 2 sentence email to my boss and bosses boss. Walked back to my work area and proceeded to do my job.

At some point the chief physician unknowingly walked into a meeting with the 2 level bosses and my (reasonable quitting) coworker. They were trying to discuss the void that I was creating by leaving and what to do about all of the supply issues I've been singlehandedly attempting to fix. Physician found out then and there "what??? fuzzy_math just quit??"  LOL. He knows exactly what led to my decision.

Needless to say he was a bit quiet when he returned to the area where we work. Bosses, this physician and others called a mandatory meeting with contracting company (who still hasn't signed an agreement) to try to figure out what to do about the loss of a person on a 3 member team. I did go speak to my immediate boss and let her know the reasons I was leaving. I said it was no longer a safe place to work and that I couldn't in good conscience stay as long as I'd intended to, but that I always would have quit in January. She let me know that she has told contracting company that they will need to investigate the problem coworker. I cannot imagine that company will sign the agreement at this point. Company will not have the staff and it would be his immediate job to figure out whether to fire the troublesome coworker after my reasonable coworker quits. Reasonable coworker has said he has the goal of getting to Dec 31 but he may quit sooner.

So I jumped the gun a bit, I'm not going to be drawing a paycheck for January, but everyone there knows I have my principles and I will not tolerate abuse or providing unsafe patient care. I consider it a win. Accident prone coworker doesn't know I've quit yet but he will find out one way or another today. I'm hoping to avoid fireworks there.

[Frugal Lizard]

@fuzzy math - Just wow.  What a sinking ship to get off of.

[Trifle]

+1.  Congrats on getting out @fuzzy math!  The next couple of weeks will likely be weird and uncomfortable, but you'll have a clean, fresh start in the new year to look forward to. 

Depending on the details of what your unreasonable coworker did, would it help to talk to Risk Management proactively, to cover yourself from blame as you exit?   

[Taran Wanderer]

Great job standing up for yourself. Thanks for sharing your story.

[Gronnie]

I'd be a little worried about if I leave then hospital won't have as much incentive to defend me if I somehow got dragged into litigation for the incident coworker is trying to blame you for.

Do you have your own insurance for that?

[fuzzy math]

I have multiple text messages and emails stating to bosses and physicians I have safety concerns. My coworker had a safety checklist he signed as part of a pre patient care routine. It will fall squarely on him. If the hospital were to be sued and their lawyers got a chance to speak to me they'd be horrified about the overall lack of safety and the hospital would be forced to settle. I am not a physician, my liability insurance is thru them and I also carry umbrella insurance. I am not listed anywhere on the patient care record so I'm not even sure how I'd be dragged into it.

[Dicey]

Wow, way to go @fuzzy math!

[Trifle]

I have multiple text messages and emails stating to bosses and physicians I have safety concerns. My coworker had a safety checklist he signed as part of a pre patient care routine. It will fall squarely on him. If the hospital were to be sued and their lawyers got a chance to speak to me they'd be horrified about the overall lack of safety and the hospital would be forced to settle. I am not a physician, my liability insurance is thru them and I also carry umbrella insurance. I am not listed anywhere on the patient care record so I'm not even sure how I'd be dragged into it.

Awesome!  Great job @fuzzy math.  Consider printing the emails and texts before you leave, if you think there is any chance on god's green earth you would need to talk about it afterwards.   You won't have access to their system after your last day. 

[Sandi_k]

@fuzzy math - good for you! So glad you have FU money and a supportive spouse - that sounds like a nightmare that you will be well rid of.

My mom was a CCU nurse and unit supervisor for many years; your stories would have broken her heart. Organizations in health care really do need to have some sort of professional ethics exhibited, even if they're out for the money, if they want to keep ethical staff. Epic fail on their part, and epic win on yours.

[mm1970]

Way to go, and wow, good time to completely bail and save yourself.