Sign Document for HR Later

It has happened to me twice, at the same company!When I was in high school, I needed a summer and weekend job. I was 15 at the time. I lived in a very small town and agricultural operations were the main employers. I applied at the local seed company, and was hired for the summer, where work went well. I was kept on for weekends after school started again.One weekend, I was working with a concrete crew (we poured for various things at the farm). We were pouring a patio for the house next to the house of the founder. The crew consisted of four people. We mixed the concrete at the location, then poured it.We ran out of supplies, and we had to go back to the main office to get more. There was only room in the pickup truck for three people, so I was left at the site to wait the 20–30 minutes it required to get the supplies. The founder stepped out of his house and saw me just sitting there, so he pushed a wheelbarrow full of boards with nails in them over to me, handed me a claw hammer, and instructed me to pull the nails. No problem. I started diligently pulling nails until the other three came back. I divided the wheelbarrow up into three areas; boards with nails in them, boards with nails removed, and nails that had been pulled.As soon as the crew came back, the founder came over, pushed the wheelbarrow back to his back yard, and dumped the entire load, boards with nails, boards without nails, and nails, into an incinerator and burned the entire mess. I walked over to him and said, “Why you old son of a bitch! I quit!” He hired me again the next summer and didn’t pull any more shenanigans on me.The second time, I had been working as a full time employee at the same company in sales, then brought back into the home office to work with the president of the company. I was a trouble shooter for the operation. Due to various factors, some people were laid off. I was told that my brother-in-law was going to be one of them, and I was to take over his job, along with my other responsibilities. I refused to let my job interfere with family relationships, and quit on the spot. There were no real hard feelings on their side nor mine, I just couldn’t do that.I’m not sure my brother-in-law was ever aware of why I quit. They kept him on in the job.

When I was in high school I had a reputation as a technology guy, in a not so great neighborhood high school where they bused in more wealthy kids I was the kid from the wrong side of the tracks but I was great with computers well one day I’m sitting in the hallway and someone who I know but don’t talk to (effectively the same could be said for about 99% of my high school class.) asked if I could take a look at his phone. So I said sure judging from the phone it was water damage and possibly a shot battery so I offered to fix his phone for 10 bucks + parts. Anyway, long story short after picking up a replacement battery disassembling the phone and drying it out with a heat gun and putting the new battery in the phone came to life and in these days phones didn’t have lock pins unless you really dug down into the settings to find them. So his phone is open and I’m going through the menus checking to make sure everything works, called my phone, sent a text message etc. So I was going to send a MMS (Multi Media Message) because at the time I was a bit more naive about technology I though they all got sent out on different signals which meant multiple antennas. So I grabbed a quick picture of my dog with his phone and I was going to attach it when I found out he had a “Photo List” it was pretty inclusive of all the girls (and some teachers) he found attractive. Apparently he either waited around trying to snap low res flip phone pictures of them or trolled their myspace pages and uploaded it to his phone. Needless to say I never mentioned it to him, he was kind of a loner like me who just floated through high school knowing everyone but not being friends with any of them.

NO! When I started nursing in 1974 after 3.5 yrs of college, I made a whopping 3.53 USD/ hr. For this I had to know every drug that could have any effect, I had no computer, so I had a resource book and a pharmacist if I couldn't figure it out. Computers have helped immensely and the hard work of many nurses has achieved the compensation we receive today. Is it adequate? It is unlikely that with factual side by side comparisons with other professions that the compensation would be found adequate whether you are in the middle of rural America making 50K or on the West coast pulling in 90K. I have made in my record year, 120K. For this, I worked 2 separate jobs of 3–12s and 2–8s, took call and side jobbed in a personal consulting business I ran. So, I had no other life, but I successfully crossed the 100K mark. Wouldn't repeat it, wasn't worth it except to have achieved that goal. Personally, I hoped they would come up with a real system of calibrating nurse worth and compensating accordingly. There are nurses I have worked with that 5.99 an hour would be more than adequate for the amount and types of work they accomplish in a shift. Most that stay in the field and perform as they should are worth minimally 120K with the usual Eros received in other professions and additional compensation dependent on area and shift they work. I can't disagree with the starting salary for new grads either; nursing is a very demanding occupation physically and mentally and the toll on the individual along with the hours that are expected can have an adverse effect on personal relationships. Plus, regulations often carry over into your personal life. So, even though you are not at work, there is an invasion of your private life that can directly affect your ability to practice. Often, the decision makers for nurses and the refs that control them, are made by persons who never touched a patient after clinical, have no desire to do so, but feel their educational level makes them superior and grants them the ability to make the best decisions for all of us.

Arriving early and doing nothing is viewed more favorably than staying late and working assiduously. It’s unfair, but it’s only the first boot of real life to kick you in the ass.HR and the ethics hotline don’t exist as a resource to you; they exist to cover management’s ass. I’ve worked for bosses who have used racial slurs, homophobic epithets, threatened and intimidated staff, used drugs in the office, and misappropriated their expense credits, but they were never so much as suspended. I almost lost my job for marking a sale as closed when I got verbal confirmation from my client (with my manager on the phone), only to get the actual signed documents a few days later.Always, always, ALWAYS document and organize files of communication between you and your superiors and you and problem clients. Did I say always? Discrepancies (read lies) in accounts of your interactions from either of these parties is a fast track to being escorted out of the building. Nothing shuts up a lying SOB like a time-stamped email with the intro, “Per my email on July 15, I mentioned….”Always keep a pulse on the job market. At least twice a year apply for jobs in your industry to get a sense on what your skills trade for in the open market and to sharpen your interviewing skills. It’s also a great habit to be in the orbit of recruiters because they operate within a tight-knit ecosystem, network with, and know one another. If you’re not a great fit for one role, and they like you, they’ll refer you to a friend or colleague looking to fill another role as a courtesy.Even if you’re not interested in a role that they may signNow you for, always try to recommend or refer qualified candidates to recruiters. This pays dividends down the road.Be wise as a serpent, yet as humble as a dove. Many people advise against making friends, but I would advise that you make them believe that you’re a friend. Being too cold and stoic in the office will make your colleagues withhold gossip, news, and politics from you that may be actionable. You can be friendly without being friends. Whatever your line is, find it and stick to it.Never get comfortable. I had a former colleague who never placed photos of his family or accomplishments in his cube and I asked him why. He said he is always prepared to walk out of the building with the items on his person at a moment’s notice. Speaking from experience, there’s nothing more humiliating or anxiety-inducing than taking the security assisted walk of shame with all of your belongings in a box and colleagues peeking above their cubes like prairie dogs to watch you walk the green mile. Work is a place where you should be as productive as possible; your family, spouse, hobbies, religion, proclivities, and creature comforts shouldn’t occupy the work space.Your manager is NOT to be trusted with personal information. Whether your mom has cancer, wife left you, your kids are suspended from school, or you’re late on the rent, these aren’t the people to share your most vulnerable moments with for two reasons; 1. They don’t have the power to do anything about them, and 2. They are more likely to report this things up the chain of command to use against you should it ever become convenient as a manipulation tactic. I know this oversimplifies things for the truly empathic, and supportive managers out there, but for the sake of generalities, let’s leave those 8 people out of this and err on the side of caution.Use your lunch hour as an opportunity to network with people within different departments to grow your customer base. Every employee has internal and external customers, and it will behoove you to learn how to cater to them. If you’re in sales, take someone in Dev Ops, Professional Services, R&D, or Customer Experience to lunch. You’ll learn all the horrible things sales people do that make their job a living hell, so you won’t perpetuate that. You’ll also forge some great individual relationships for emergencies when you need to phone a friend.Stay away from the office complainer. Every office has at least one, and he/she is a cancer on your outlook and productivity. Regardless of how valid their complaints are about the quality of the snacks, the scheduled All Hands meetings, the increased co-pays on the new insurance for annual enrollment, the way management is trying to screw us with the new Comp Plan, etc., the best thing to do is to keep your exposure to this individual AT. A. MINIMUM.Become a Subject Matter Expert in at least one or more topics within your department. This makes you indispensable among your peers and management, because they don’t want to(or can’t do) do the job of training the whole staff or answering all their questions.Volunteer to headline new products or services, and you’ll become more visible with leadership and ahead of the curve when those products/services become mandatory.Make your career decisions for the people who will attend your funeral one day; not the people in that office. Days, or even hours after your death, someone will be posting a requisition for your position, and your duties will fall on the shoulders of another. Make sure you spend your strategic decisions improving the quality of time with the people who will be crying at your funeral. This puts a whole lot of unnecessary office bullshit into perspective.If you’re in the US, talk to your colleagues about your salary. Corporations benefit from dwindling unions and individual, rather than collective bargaining by negotiating salary and compensation on an individual basis. Men, this is our opportunity to gain solidarity with women who work equally to ensure that they’re paid equally. White folks, this is an opportunity to ensure Black folks, Hispanics, and Natives are paid equally. This isn’t a zero-sum equation; corporations make enough money to pay us all equally. They have the luxury of not doing so. Hold their feet to the fire, or have them risk losing the war of retention.Be kind. Especially to the people who least deserve it. 9 times out of 10, they’re fighting prodigious personal battles, and the only place they can funnel their energy is at work. Be gentle, but don’t be a doormat either.Bring your authentic self to work. I’ve seen introverts, extroverts, flashy dressers, frumpy dressers, those gifted with supreme elocution, and those with the longest, strongest Southern drawl succeed in business, which proves one thing. Success doesn’t care how you show up; just that you show up. I wish you the best of luck on your journey!

Common Scams in India:Scene 1: Aadhar mobile number update:Went to a private Aadhar e-seva kendra, filled form and was ready to submit. Assumed it’s going to be nominal charges for same. Lady said 300rs. I said bye bye.Went to e-seva kendra. This time all done. Lady asked for 50rs. I said I know its 25rs.She said “Sir we have to pay rent as well.”I said “As you are asking very less compared to others I will pay 50rs.”Felt bad about it later. Complained to UIDAI via twitter. Got reply that they will register an official complain and take necessary action.In addition to this its very common that these e-seva center charge anything between 100–300rs for new Aadhar registration(should be completely free) or update(nominal charge of 25rs). Saw it happening in one instance, raised my voice but no one supported. Seems everyone else was just wanted to get their work done and I was creating a nuisance.Scene 2: Mobile number portability:Went to Idea store. With commanding voice, I said “I am here for MNP”, as I was giving them a new customer. Got reply from lady “minimum recharge of 475rs will be needed for MNP”. I said “MNP charge is 19rs, what recharge I do after that is my choice”. But this lead to nothing. Left the store.Visited a local idea retailer. Inquired about MNP and he said 178rs minimum recharge. Didn’t want to argue again. Paid the money and left for home. Felt bad again, later complained to idea_cellular and TRAI via twitter. Still to receive a response.Even for mobile and Aadhar linking some retailers charge money, its supposed to be completely free.Scene 3: Flash Back - Last monthHad a bad mood and my train was about to leave. Thought some water could help. Went to stall and asked for two water bottles. Vendor asked for 40rs(20rs per bottle, MRP was 15rs). I became furious and scolded him left and right. Got my money back (10rs). Complained to local DRM via twitter. Got response that action will be taken and immediate fine of 500rs is charged to vendor.You see what I am trying to say, here in our country(not only our country) people always find a way to dig out money or more money by this means or another, many are aware of it but many just ignore it. I know I can’t be idealistic all the time but it disturbs me seeing people’s common lust for money around me.Call it a scam or whatever, but it’s part of our life, it’s more of a mindset and reflection of our ideologies.We might accept it, ignore it or fight against it.Sometimes it seems like endless cycle, because “We the people” always find innovative ways to scam each other.Take Care.PS. Purpose of this answer not to brag, but to make aware. What you do after that is up to you.****Made few corrections, Thanks for views, comments and upvotes, If this helps even 1% of who read, my effort was worth of something.********Corrected Aadhaar update charges as 25rs, uidai official twitter handle communicated 25+taxes hence the confusion. I would like to thank all who appreciated me in comments. Still you see I was not perfect during handling these situations, hoping to get better with that.********Update: Idea care responded, got call from manager of said idea store, he apologised and asked me to visit again. He said there are no charges for mnp and recharge is optional. I told him to mention this everytime time any customer comes for mnp rather then projecting a mandatory recharge. Also asked to make sure his team members follow that. I said I or any of my friends will be visiting store anytime and will complain again if same incident happens. Hope this is some kind of win.Got update regarding e-seva kendra complaint as well. “Fine is imposed and warning is issued.” Couldn't check personally but this is official reply.****

They used false “help wanted” ads to fire their own employees that were looking for a new job.I worked for a lead generation service which sold qualified lists of homeowners (and their telephone numbers) to financial advisers. Then, they sold those same financial advisers a telemarketing service that would call those homeowners and arrange appointments with them. There is so much that is “shady” about this company that it is impossible to bring up one questionable act without first explaining several previous questionable or downright illegal acts. (UPDATE: if you want more details about how bad it was to work for this place, check out John Hursey's answer to What is the most ridiculous reason for which you have been fired?)After a particularly horrifying series of events right around the holiday season, I decided to begin looking for a new job. I got on craigslist, and I found several positions in customer service and data entry that were available right in my city. I sent them a quick email with my resume attached, and waited for a response.The next day I was called into the President’s office. He invited me to sit down. His mother (the vice president of the company) was standing behind him. He asked me if I was happy working for him.Luckily for me, I knew this was a trap of some kind and answered honestly. I told him that I was interested in having more free time with a more flexible schedule and that it would be impossible to do so with my current job, so I was in the process of looking for something else. I also told him that I had informed my direct supervisor of my intentions last week, and that I would give the company adequate warning—at least two weeks notice—before I quit.He and his mother looked at each other. Well, he said, it turns out that one of the companies I had applied to was the very same company I worked for now. I thought that was odd, because I don’t have any intellectual disabilities or mental impairments that would indicate I would apply to the same company that I currently worked for. Nevertheless, I told him that I suppose this was good news, since perhaps I could simply transfer to whatever this open position was and still maintain my employment with his company while working the schedule that was most convenient for myself.Not so fast. It turned out there wasn’t any positions available in those departments. Their strategy was to entice applicants with positions in data entry and customer service and then during the interview inform them that those positions had been filled; those applicants were then offered much less pay and schedule flexibility as a salesman. In addition, current employees that applied for these jobs were summarily fired for being “disloyal.”A month later I was terminated, for reasons I still do not fully understand. I applied for unemployment, and when I explained the series of events leading to my termination the lady at the unemployment office literally scoffed at me and told me that my story was unbelievable. She even called me personally at home to tell me that the company was contesting my unemployment filing and that she expected me to lose the arbitration process.The day of the hearing I got a phone call from the same lady, in tears. She apologized profusely for how she had treated me. She had just completed a five-minute interaction with the president and his mother, confirming not only my story but also her worst fears about humanity in general.

This happened when I was working in Gurgaon, India in one of the so called ‘biggest companies of their field’. Since this issue is related to a big brand, I would rather go anonymous so that the fuss does not build up.This company was a great workplace, constantly growing and hiring people. And then came a time when we had no place for new comers to sit, and hence the company needed a new (or a bigger) workplace to sit. Considering that the company had various separate departments, many of which were independent of each other, it was a logical decision to build and additional work place in the same compound which had ample free space.But then, the upper management lobbied for a completely ‘new and big’ building where whole of the new company would sit together at the same place. But this seemed illogical. Needless to say, the decision was accepted unanimously to build a ‘bigger and new’ work place.The construction started, and from the very first day, the construction contractor looked as he was clueless of the work. Even the most ‘noob’ person could make out that the material used were sub standard and and process used was more of a short-cut based.And then came the Diwali festival. For those who do not know, this is the biggest festival in North India. It was never a norm in the company to get gifts from the suppliers or contractors, at any level or for any person.But this norm was broken this year. Every single person, who was associated with planning, execution, acquisitions, purchases or by any single way with this ‘New building’ project got big boxes of gifts from the contractor. And that too, openly.! Shamelessly, they accepted it too. Of course there were gossips and jokes, but no one minded a bit.The project had exceeded the initial budgeting by around 40% and to compensate for the ‘losses’, the company would deduct the salary of the employees. YES, SALARY CUT.!The employees protested, nothing came out. They took the bitter pill, and accepted it.FAST FORWARD 8 months from the festival:The building was completed finally, and the day for moving in came. Before that day, none of us ‘low level guys’ had any access to the premises. And the first thing we observed when we went there was the sub standard furniture, the poor quality of doors and windows, and the ‘barely clinging to life’ air conditioning. The month of July in North India and imagining it without a proper A/C is like imagining being tortured in a prison.Needless to say, the construction had been delayed by around 4 months, but that was quite normal if you consider the normal timeframes in India for such projects. But the damage was done.!But then, bad things dont last for long. Withing weeks of moving in, the furniture started breaking. Within a month, the main door wouldn’t open without a hard effort and then within 3 months, the building had serious cracks in it. YES, CRACKS in a 6 month old building..!! And then, an earthquake just made things worse, which left the cracks so wide that you could put your ‘Pinky Finger’ in some of them.And then came the September rains. First heavy rain, and the whole floor was flooded. Where did the water come from? EVERYWHERE. the AC ducts were dripping, the light were raining and we were ankle deep on the whole floor. And yes, this floor was not on ground but the second floor.!Everything was a mess, but no remorse or shame on the faces of the project team at all. The contractor was called multiple times, every time he would send his men, do the puncture-repair stuff and that’s it…!!I left that company after about a year after the rain episode. But to this day, my former colleagues discuss this. Nothing came out of any inquiries, and the company since then has gone literally down. So many people have left that now they can actually fit in the old premises, which otherwise has been left vacant and unused.For me, this has been the biggest scandal that I have ever seen in a workplace. Anyone who read might have realized how much the contractor and project team would have made out of it. What surprises me the most is that it happened in a private company, and not even the stake holders paid any serious attention to it..

Ii was working in a very senior sales position for a company in Canada that exported to at least 15 countries.I had just come back from a couple of weeks overseas, seeing some of our European customers in several countries.My boss (not born in Canada) said:“Bengt, you have to go back to Sweden (!), I have a very important document for Mr. Johansson to sign.”“Why? - I just had a BBQ with him and his family in his back yard in Sweden?”“It is personal - you have to bring it yourself.”“No DHL, no post office, no UPS?”“Nope, you have to bring it and have it signed - then bring it back here.”He left for lunch. I looked over the sheet and saw some more similar documents on my boss’ deskandI left his office, picked up my stuff, called HR from the parking lot and said:“I resign, please send me my last paycheque in the mail.”They did, I got it in a week.My boss never called, never asked anything.What did I see?Agreements to pay kick-back to some of our customers.The company went bankrupt a year later, leaving 240 employees without a job.Back home, I called my pensionfund holders, found out that I had enough to retire and - I never worked a day again in my life. That was 15 years ago.I am still a happy retiree…and have traveled to another 22 countries since then.(True story.)

I worked as a cabinetry designer for a firm that was actually owned by a neighbor of mine that lived just a couple of houses down from me on our street. His wife also worked for the company and we all got along well. We were doing well and things were great, but my boss felt like he needed to get out of the office to schmooze existing clients and get more jobs in so he needed an “office manager” to help keep the office running efficiently. So, he hired William. William was a tyrant but sucked up to the boss so much that he was blind to what Wiliam was doing. William eliminated the “flex time” that we all had where we could pretty much come and go as we pleased as long as we got all our work done and made our hours for the week. We now had to clock in at exactly 8:30 a.m., we got exactly 1/2 hour for lunch and we had to clock out exactly at 5:00 p.m. There were no exceptions. I lived about 10 minutes from the office and used to routinely go home for lunch to save money. I now found that the 30-minute lunch was not doable. With Florida traffic, I couldn’t get home, get some lunch made, eat it and then get back within a half-hour. And it certainly wasn’t relaxing. Now William and the boss would go next door to the restaurant and spend well over an hour or two having their lunch, never clocking in or out and having a drink or two while they were at it. It was sickening and the whole staff knew things were going down-hill. The boss's wife was usually out drumming up new clients or working from home so she didn’t see any of what was going on.Well, things kept getting worse until I finally had enough. I wasn’t getting paid enough to deal with that jerk and life was just miserable. I decided that I would trust that God had something better in store for me. So, I went home for lunch one Friday and talked to my wife. I asked her if she was ok with me just quitting and looking for something new. She said that I was miserable there and she would totally support me looking elsewhere. So, I took about an hour and a half and wrote up a rather long resignation letter detailing the “issues” at the office and suggested some changes that needed to be made if the business was going to be able to continue because things were broken as they were. I printed out the letter and with a huge weight lifted off my shoulders I headed back to the office. William wasn’t there when I walked in but he arrived shortly thereafter as I was starting to pack up my things. He turned to me and shoved a project in my face and told me I need to have this done by the end of the day. I pushed it back to him and said, “Well, then I’m afraid YOU are going to have to do it because I’m out of here.” He said, “What???” I repeated, “You will have to do it then because I quit!” The other two designers in the room just clapped and cheered for me! William got beet red and turned back to his desk. He said, “Mike (the boss) is going to want to talk to you about this!” I told him that if Mike was available when I finished collecting my things then we could talk but when I was done I was walking out the door. Well, William made sure Mike was available and we both went in to talk to Mike.I handed my resignation letter to Mike and he took a couple of minutes to read through it. At the end, he turned to me and said, “Well, you are absolutely 100% correct in everything you said. I figure the damage is done and there is no way I can get you to change your mind, though.” I said no and told him I’ve never burned a bridge in my life and didn’t intend on doing that here but he needed to know what was going on and I wished him good luck. He shook my hand and I turned and walked out.I don’t know what went on after that as I never really looked back, but I do know that the company is no longer in business but I don’t know how/when it failed. I hope William learned a little bit of a lesson but who knows. I just know it felt really great to be able to tell him to basically do it himself when I left that day!