Employment Advice (2)

My Dear Princess and Dear Fellow,

As you know, Caro is currently involved in a dispute with her bosses. They are letting her go (to replace her with some minimum-wage graduate which is insulting enough).

But they are also - to her mind - treating her very badly on the way out. 

They way things tend to work at her company is that someone is made redundant and then put on immediate garden leave because they can't be trusted to steal clients or otherwise sabotage the system.

But not Caro. Because she is trustworthy and professional they insist on her working right up to her end date. 

"So I'm being penalised for being trustworthy and professional," she said, aghast.

The offered her a week's pay redundancy on account of she is a contractor. But as she pointed out, she's been working with them (as a contractor) for over six years now and has acquired permanent rights. 

They didn't like that. 

Probably the most insulting part is not the lack of equanimity - it's that they are pleading poverty. What Caro is asking for is a paltry sum (her actual pay is very low) and they could probably cover it with petty cash. 

But no. Apparently it would break the bank. Or cost the Director of the company one of his free expense lunches. Or something. 

I helped her rehearse what she was going to say the next time she spoke to them. This was to help her on account of she actually out loud told them to "get f***ed" when they spoke to her last. 

Now I am, as you all know, a consummate professional at managerial double-talk having experienced enough of it since 1990 to fill a skip. So I told her in a reassuring yet deeply patronising way that financial realities blah blah honouring the terms of the contract blah blah...

I was SO good.

I was SO good that she nearly bit my head clean off!!

Caro's argument is strong. Even without employment law being on her side* she has a strong moral case. She made this with great conviction and asked me (role-playing as Director) if he HONESTLY felt she was being treated fairly. 

I had a hard time answering.

I'm sure it will make next to no difference to the Director. He is, after all, an Eton-educated toff with no real concept of having to struggle to pay a bill. He will simply scratch his head, puzzled and wonder why Caro is being difficult. 

But at least she is having fun, making him thoroughly uncomfortable. 

As for me, I'm still licking my wounds. I don't envy THAT poor b*stard. 

S.

* I mean... it IS... but who can be bothered with lawyers and all that stuff when the actual redundancy amount is so low.