Friday 4 March 2016

No job for a gentleman, of means or otherwise

During a brief period of unemployment in the early 1970s, I would greatly look forward to the weekends like ordinary working people. I didn't have to feel guilty you see.

So it's Friday today, and the manager is very quiet. I'm not surprised - he has to account for his whereabouts and activities EVERY HALF AN HOUR. I'm not kidding, he has A4 sheets of paper with the day marked out on a grid, divided into half hour sections. 16 columns which have to be filled in, otherwise he does not get paid. This is no job for a gentleman.

Now you know why I am glad I did not get a retainer for this place, and why I am starting to look for other baskets in which to put my eggs.

32 comments:

  1. Charlie - are you still coming here every so often to see how the old place is getting on? You would not want to be there these days.

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  2. It seems you went about this the smart way; what a horrid environment!

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  3. That activity sheet is worse than how often the lavatories are cleaned in a public convenience.

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  4. Is this the same job you were so happy about some months ago? I cant seem to follow. Sorry.

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    1. I am not surprised - neither can I. You would not believe the change for the worse in the last year - a bunch of frightened and angry people all stabbing each other in the back. The changes in the last 3 weeks are more than I am willing to put up with.

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  5. And I was frustrated at our newly created time sheets that require us to merely say we were present that day.

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    1. Yes - I would not even clock in, though I do when I sign in with Security. The thing is, nobody looks at the list!

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  6. Nor was it a gentleman who devised that insulting, patronising, time-wasting system. They should be ashamed of themselves, and tick a box every half hour to reconfirm their shame.

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    1. If you don't allude to psychopathy in your C.V. you will not get the job. The world is run by functioning psychopaths.

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  7. This sounds almost the next thing to slave labour Tom.

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    1. Except they get paid - and guard their jobs with venom.

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  8. That sounds awful. I thought my bosses were micro-managing jerks, but what you've described takes the cake! Does he have to record the number of minutes he spends in the loo relieving himself, too?

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  9. I have to account for my time in units of 6 minutes.

    Going to the Loo is charged to the client who has 'pissed me off' the most that day.

    I call it Karma.

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    1. Shame you can't piss on them and charge them direct.

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  10. Back when I worked in a large law firm, I was required to keep track of my time in 15 minute increments, and attribute that time at the appropriate client, for purposes of billing those clients. Of course, it was possible to take care of more than one client during fifteen minutes.

    The other odd bit was that my particular clients were billed not by the hours spent but according the the dollar size of the deal. Some small deals could actually take as much time than the multi-million dollar ones.

    I kept my time billing notes in a diary book, which was given to my secretary who entered the time and client numbers into a computerized billing system. All quite time consuming...we had to just choose how to attribute those minutes somehow. Not being able to attribute each fifteen minutes to some client was frowned upon.

    I surely don't miss that routine.

    Best wishes.

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    1. I now have to submit a purchase order number with each invoice. These numbers are issued by the people who wish me gone, and I charge about 4 times as much per hour as they earn. Not a good system for me.

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    2. I had to do the same thing when working in a tax office. You had to account for any work in 15 minute increments. All clients and activities had numbered codes. The system was called LEA (Leistungserfassung), and it drove everybody to nearly rip their hair out.

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    3. I bet you had to call tax-payers 'customers' as well.

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    4. It was a private tax office. When I ignorantly said customers, I was told that we have 'clients'. Booo!

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  11. We even have to prove by filling out time-sheets and other statistics that we are rightly in the room we work in! (Square meters!) Sometimes I believe we are living in the world of The Little Prince's merchant.

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    1. Oh to be a statue covered in pigeon shit. I am the one who cleans it off.

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  12. I am so sad the job on the hill is going bust, and hope new baskets turn up quickly. You are glower when put out. I bet the manager is, too.

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    1. You always understand, Joanne. Nail on the head.

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  13. Egads - regarding writing down what you do every half-hour - I have only seen that happening when someone is on the hot seat, so the supervisors can cover their butts. Esp when that employee is in a union.

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  14. Must be something in the water. I've had an incredibly infuriating work week, and I think it's only the beginning of a not-very-nice season. The project is slated to run clear through to August. Don't know if I can pace myself to make it through until the end.

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  15. Not sure why, but this reminds me of a harlot who looks at her watch.

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