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Is there a "Goons in HR" thread somewhere? I'd just be over the moon to read about the poo poo they have to go through, so I can maybe feel just the tiniest bit of sympathy for them.
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Feb 11, 2016 20:55
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| # ? May 14, 2024 23:40 |
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^^ mind boggling. Didn't realize you worked for a government agency, nothing is too stupid for govt. rules. The title doesn't mean much, the money does. I take it you're doing the work already? If you are, tell them you'd be happy to wait as long as they back-date your raise.
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Feb 11, 2016 21:01
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More phone poo poo pissing me off: Scheduled a work order with the telco for tomorrow at 4pm to cut our main DID over to new SIP trunks. Made extremely clear how important 4pm tomorrow was. They did the cutover at 11:30am, suddenly the receptionist's lync phone starts ringing off the hook, she hasn't been trained, doesn't know how it works, doesn't understand how to use the operator software. I had to scramble to put in some kludge route in our SBCs to send those calls to the old system. I thought our receptionist was going to stab me. awesome.  I'm a loving network and security guy, how did I inherit Lync?! I need a loving drink.
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Feb 11, 2016 21:03
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Japanese Dating Sim posted:I'm actually looking at the policy right now. They allow "reclassifications" on two dates, March 1 and September 1, and the deadline for when March 1 promotions can happen already passed. Some fiscal year budgeting BS. It may be pertinent that I work for a state government. That said, I don't doubt that with enough complaining it can be done before then, because I know of someone who got his around November. Yeah, but if it really mattered, the HR thing would go out the window. Suppose the CEO bumps some guy up to VP of Stupid poo poo, but 'misses' the deadline. Like hell either of them are just going to sit around feeling victims of HR. Your manager either doesn't care enough to make HR go away, or is just jerking you around.
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Feb 11, 2016 21:04
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DigitalMocking posted:^^ mind boggling. I'm always amazed by how Government works. A friend's dad was a police officer for a municipality. He was laid off in maybe 2012, and then got like a year of severance. When the year was up, he got his job back, and a promotion, plus there was some other $REASON and he got the raise back paid for five years all at once, plus a huge settlement for some backpay. They went from almost going to lose their house to being tremendously wealthy overnight.
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Feb 11, 2016 21:05
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Skandranon posted:Yeah, but if it really mattered, the HR thing would go out the window. Suppose the CEO bumps some guy up to VP of Stupid poo poo, but 'misses' the deadline. Like hell either of them are just going to sit around feeling victims of HR. Your manager either doesn't care enough to make HR go away, or is just jerking you around. No doubt, and it's the former. I can definitely blame him for that at least; like I said, were I him, I'd be on the phone until I was given confirmation that it was going to be done at a reasonable date. I can wait a couple of months for a raise. A raise 7 months from now is nothing more than a nice consolation prize if I'm still stuck here after a few months of job searching.
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Feb 11, 2016 21:12
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Japanese Dating Sim posted:WELL, today, I find out that the position change won't happen for another 7 months. This sort of thing is all complete bollocks though. It's a rule that HR made up, so they can break it. It's not a law of physics, or the actual law.
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Feb 11, 2016 21:34
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It's not even his fault, it's some HR policy that they can't get around (I have verified this for myself), so I'm not mad at him but I'm pretty much in the same place as I was before.
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Thanks Ants posted:This sort of thing is all complete bollocks though. It's a rule that HR made up, so they can break it. It's not a law of physics, or the actual law. My garbage consulting company of like five people did this all the time. Oh, our policy for meal expenses is that you can't expense breakfast at one place and then coffee at another. Your daily breakfast is $10 at one place. You can't get a bagel somewhere and then a Starbucks coffee. It has to be on one receipt. It's our policy. Me: What? You just invented the policy last week. It's not like anyone cares if I get a bagel and a coffee at two different places. Them: No, the IRS doesn't allow that, it's not us. me :eyeroll:
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Feb 11, 2016 21:41
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SIR FAT JONY IVES posted:Them: No, the IRS doesn't allow that, it's not us. This is a huge pet peeve of mine when someone pulls the appeal to authority card. At my last job I spent years dealing with ridiculous requirements because "the auditors said we have to do this". OK then, show it to me in writing. Oh you can't because it was made up.
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Feb 11, 2016 21:45
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mewse posted:This is a huge pet peeve of mine when someone pulls the appeal to authority card. At my last job I spent years dealing with ridiculous requirements because "the auditors said we have to do this". OK then, show it to me in writing. Oh you can't because it was made up. This guy's favorite thing was "it's the same way at my wife's company." His wife worked for a decently large sized medical technology firm, so he took every policy they had and just applied it to our five man company. He also wouldn't give us a per diem when we travel, instead made us do like a max reimbursement of $65, since "the IRS doesn't allow us to give you per diem." Meanwhile every other company on earth does per diem when you travel. Eventually after traveling tons of times, and fighting with him every time, I'd just go to a grocery store and purchase three visa gift cards each day $10, $15. and $40, since breakfast lunch and dinner each had their own limits, and had to be separate receipts.
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Feb 11, 2016 21:54
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SIR FAT JONY IVES posted:Eventually after traveling tons of times, and fighting with him every time, I'd just go to a grocery store and purchase three visa gift cards each day $10, $15. and $40, since breakfast lunch and dinner each had their own limits, and had to be separate receipts. You have the weirdest stories.
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Feb 11, 2016 21:56
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mewse posted:You have the weirdest stories. I know, I almost don't know what to do with my current job, at a well functioning organization. EDIT: I've posted so many, I forget which ones and I don't want to repeat, but I basically had 7 years at that company and every day was a new adventure.
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Feb 11, 2016 22:55
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mewse posted:This is a huge pet peeve of mine when someone pulls the appeal to authority card. At my last job I spent years dealing with ridiculous requirements because "the auditors said we have to do this". OK then, show it to me in writing. Oh you can't because it was made up. We have an auditor at my office that loves to flag our processes as violating some SOX thing but whenever we ask her for documentation she just stops responding our emails. A few days later some boss of a boss of a boss will send us a notice that our processes are changing to be "more SOX compliant". I got sick of it and found where she stores her SOX controls and read through them all. It was several pages of word salad. She would take three paragraphs to say something simple like "a manager needs to approve things". Apparently SOX requires that when an employee is terminated we have to turn off all their permissions to all systems in under 24 hours, then have a second employee verify the work was done, then their manager needs to go and verify that the second employee verified it. Okay.
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Feb 12, 2016 00:45
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SIR FAT JONY IVES posted:I know, I almost don't know what to do with my current job, at a well functioning organization. Write a book.
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Feb 12, 2016 02:33
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SIR FAT JONY IVES posted:This guy's favorite thing was "it's the same way at my wife's company." His wife worked for a decently large sized medical technology firm, so he took every policy they had and just applied it to our five man company. He also wouldn't give us a per diem when we travel, instead made us do like a max reimbursement of $65, since "the IRS doesn't allow us to give you per diem." Meanwhile every other company on earth does per diem when you travel. I actually enjoy our max reimbursement instead of a per diem. Since I travel all around Asia for work this encourages me to taste a lot of the local cuisines. However getting receipts from street food vendors is a whole different challenge.
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Feb 12, 2016 03:40
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Why in 2016 does fax still exist? It's the most troubleshooting for us for the least benefit. I guess I have to wait for people to die.
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Feb 12, 2016 06:07
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Zapf Dingbat posted:I guess I have to wait for people to die. Or do you? .... 
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Feb 12, 2016 06:41
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Zapf Dingbat posted:Why in 2016 does fax still exist? It's the most troubleshooting for us for the least benefit. I guess I have to wait for people to die. Inertia. If you think it's bad here then let me tell you about Japan. quote:A decade ago, he tried to modernize his family-run company, which delivers traditional bento lunchboxes, by taking orders online. Sales quickly plummeted. Pour out a 40 for the woefully underpaid Japanese IT guys who have to support a nation that is still utterly reliant on fax, and probably will be until the heat death of the universe. Also: quote:Even Japan’s largest yakuza crime syndicate, the Kobe-based Yamaguchi-gumi, has used faxes to send notifications of expulsion to members, the police say. Sheep fucked around with this message at 09:57 on Feb 12, 2016 |
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Feb 12, 2016 09:53
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Zapf Dingbat posted:Why in 2016 does fax still exist? It's the most troubleshooting for us for the least benefit. I guess I have to wait for people to die. As a printer install tech, I can assure you one of the most popular options for our machines is a fax board. From MFP to desktop printers. I hate fax, and anyone who says, "Oh, but it's secure, and convenient, and etc."
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Feb 12, 2016 13:20
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There is a mountain of precedent behind the enforceability of faxed signature. Wait for people to die.
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Feb 12, 2016 13:24
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Llab posted:"Oh, but it's secure"
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Feb 12, 2016 13:29
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Sprechensiesexy posted:I actually enjoy our max reimbursement instead of a per diem. Since I travel all around Asia for work this encourages me to taste a lot of the local cuisines. However getting receipts from street food vendors is a whole different challenge. Per diem is better in every case. If you don't spend the max each day it's money in your pocket. The other way and its money left on the table.
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Feb 12, 2016 13:51
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SIR FAT JONY IVES posted:Per diem is better in every case. If you don't spend the max each day it's money in your pocket. The other way and its money left on the table. My last job had me do some traveling (worked out to maybe 7 days in a month?) and in the middle of it they changed from a flat $25 a day per diem to something like $10 for breakfast (if the hotel you were in didn't have breakfast), $10 for lunch and $20 for dinner. I forget the exact numbers, but it was something like that. The amount increased a little, but it was reimbursement and a giant pain in the rear end. It seems like a lot more work for everyone involved. I had to keep all of my receipts and fill out an expense report, then some accounting jerk had to scrutinize it, usually ask a few questions about it, and I'm sure do other stuff. As opposed to paying a flat rate per day. Of course, when they were paying the flat rate, they only gave the full amount if you were out past like 8pm or something (which I always considered bullshit) --which the accounting jerks always questioned.
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Feb 12, 2016 14:48
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myron cope posted:My last job had me do some traveling (worked out to maybe 7 days in a month?) and in the middle of it they changed from a flat $25 a day per diem to something like $10 for breakfast (if the hotel you were in didn't have breakfast), $10 for lunch and $20 for dinner. I forget the exact numbers, but it was something like that. The amount increased a little, but it was reimbursement and a giant pain in the rear end. I'm blown away they make you guys submit receipts for anything under $75. Of course, most of our expense reporting is automated (even receipts are scans uploaded to the expense report site) and a real person only eyeballs it if it gets flagged for suspicious activity. Usually, it's a notification that takes you to a summary that says "everything was submitted correctly. Approve Y/N?"
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Feb 12, 2016 14:58
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I don't know what US tax laws are like but in the UK reimbursing expenses is tax free but a flat rate could be considered a taxable benefit and need to have income tax on it.
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Feb 12, 2016 15:07
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myron cope posted:My last job had me do some traveling (worked out to maybe 7 days in a month?) and in the middle of it they changed from a flat $25 a day per diem to something like $10 for breakfast (if the hotel you were in didn't have breakfast), $10 for lunch and $20 for dinner. I forget the exact numbers, but it was something like that. The amount increased a little, but it was reimbursement and a giant pain in the rear end. We don't have a per diem or any formal limits, just the requirement to bring all receipts and the admonishment to be reasonable with company resources. I'm lazy so I usually just keep receipts for dinner (which tends to be pricier). We also can't get reimbursed for booze, which is reasonable but a bummer.
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Feb 12, 2016 15:32
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Foxtrot_13 posted:I don't know what US tax laws are like but in the UK reimbursing expenses is tax free but a flat rate could be considered a taxable benefit and need to have income tax on it. In the US I get a flat $7 breakfast, $10 lunch, $20 dinner reimbursement with no taxing.
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Feb 12, 2016 16:05
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captkirk posted:We also can't get reimbursed for booze, which is reasonable but a bummer. Non-itemized receipts 
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Feb 12, 2016 16:08
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So I reconfigured our backup system to exclude media files, along with a few other small changes, and announced it. I wrote it as clearly as I could, without any jargon to be found. This is actually something that I'm very good at, and I've been complemented on it multiple times by users and supervisors. Queue two emails requesting that I explain it "in plain English." I don't know why, but that cliche just really did it for me. Lady it is in plain English, I'm sorry I can't use metaphors involving blocks and toy cars to explain that we won't back up pictures of your cat any more.  In 5 minutes I'll reply back politely and she'll never know... 
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Feb 12, 2016 17:03
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Send her the same document but in the email say "here is a revised version with less technical jargon". She probably didn't even look at it.
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Feb 12, 2016 17:13
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Manslaughter posted:Send her the same document but in the email say "here is a revised version with less technical jargon". She probably didn't even look at it. Put a blank line between each sentence and increase the font by two points as well.
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Feb 12, 2016 17:15
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We no longer backing up pictures movies or music. You use company Box.com folder. We come do it for you. You happy. You shut up.
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Feb 12, 2016 17:19
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Manslaughter posted:Send her the same document but in the email say "here is a revised version with less technical jargon". She probably didn't even look at it. Nah, techno it up, and explain that plain english is much more accurate, and thank her for her attention to detail in this matter.
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Feb 12, 2016 17:21
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Japanese Dating Sim posted:We no longer backing up pictures movies or music. What about my pictures though? I have a lot on my computer, are they being backed up? Can I get a copy of the backups? As long as my music is still backed up I'm OK with using your combobox thing.
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Feb 12, 2016 17:21
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captkirk posted:We don't have a per diem or any formal limits, just the requirement to bring all receipts and the admonishment to be reasonable with company resources. I'm lazy so I usually just keep receipts for dinner (which tends to be pricier). We also can't get reimbursed for booze, which is reasonable but a bummer. My company sends me to Italy for a few weeks each year, and the per diem is 75 Euros. They put me up in a place that usually has a bedroom and a kitchen. Since they don't pay for my family's plane tickets, but we can cook all our meals, the per diem more than covers their tickets, as well as putting a nice sum in my pocket. It's a fantastic arrangement.
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Feb 12, 2016 17:27
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SIR FAT JONY IVES posted:My company sends me to Italy for a few weeks each year, and the per diem is 75 Euros. They put me up in a place that usually has a bedroom and a kitchen. Since they don't pay for my family's plane tickets, but we can cook all our meals, the per diem more than covers their tickets, as well as putting a nice sum in my pocket. It's a fantastic arrangement. That is amazing. And since it's Italy it would be basically impossible for them to not fund you having a few glasses of wine.
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Feb 12, 2016 17:28
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Japanese Dating Sim posted:So I reconfigured our backup system to exclude media files, along with a few other small changes, and announced it. I wrote it as clearly as I could, without any jargon to be found. This is actually something that I'm very good at, and I've been complemented on it multiple times by users and supervisors. An actual conversation I had with somebody who I am pretty sure has some kind of graduate degree: "What is that icon for? "Oh that's Windows Media Player." "What is that?" "It's just a media player that comes with Windows." "What is it though?" "It's just the built in media player, it comes with Windows." "Yes but what is media?" 
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Feb 12, 2016 17:32
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captkirk posted:That is amazing. And since it's Italy it would be basically impossible for them to not fund you having a few glasses of wine. Milan has a really nice custom, where all the restaurants have like a happy hour (appertivo) where for 7 or 8 euro you get a drink, and there's a little bar with finger foods. You aren't supposed to go and have a full dinner one drink, it's not polite, but you can go to a couple places, get a couple drinks and have a good light dinner and drinks for $15. I'd bring my kids too, and since they eat almost nothing, it's not a problem. Last time I went Milan alone, and the hotel had breakfast, and I ate super light, I put the entire per diem towards clothes shopping.
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Feb 12, 2016 17:42
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Manslaughter posted:Send her the same document but in the email say "here is a revised version with less technical jargon". She probably didn't even look at it. Used to work with an individual that was incapable of reading anything except the first line of an email. If you could cram all your instructions into that one line things were golden. If not? The only way to move forward was to head over to their desk and stand over their shoulder telling them what to do, step by step. Took me a little while to figure out, early on my emails were detailed and long, and I kept simplifying as I realized there was no point to it. The last straw was when I sent a message their query in the form of "yeah this is an easy thing to fix, here's the steps:\n\n1) <instructions>" and I got a response a few minutes later asking for clarification on what to do. From that point on it became a game to me, see how many instructions I could pack in those first 80 characters.
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Feb 12, 2016 17:49
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| # ? May 14, 2024 23:40 |
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poo poo pissing me off today: Telcos. Started the process to migrate a number from our PRI to SIP earlier this week. Still haven't signed the order or scheduled the work. Telco moved the number this morning at 8:10. We lost an hour's worth of calls and my ringer was off. So far today I've had my rear end chewed on by my boss, and our CEO. Great. gently caress you Integra.
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Feb 12, 2016 18:43
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