What To Do When It's Time To Say Goodbye- Part 3

My final bit of advice pertains to anyone leaving a job for any reason. It can be summed up as follows: "Don't burn bridges". This means you are nice (or at least professional). You never know what the future may hold in terms of interactions with your former company and coworkers. Also, turn in your company property. Last year we had two people to whom we sent certified letters in an attempt to get back what was ours. One worked, the other didn't. We could have taken the person to small claims court, but it wasn't worth it. If it's not yours, keeping is stealing. Give it back!

What To Do When It's Time To Say Goodbye- Part 2

In my previous column, I listed things you should do if you are involuntarily separated from your job. Now onto a happier scenario. Let's say you've found your dream job. It's exactly what you want to do, the hours are perfect, the pay is extraordinary, the benefits fantastic, and the commute a breeze. I realize you're probably ready at this point to dance into your boss's office and say "Nah, nah, na, nah-nah. I'm OUT of here". You can do that, but I'd advise doing so only in your head.

Here are things that would actually be advisable:
1. Do not give notice until everything from your new gig is in place.
That means you have an offer letter and they have all the things they need (transcript, drug test, background screen,etc.). You want to make sure the only thing between you and your new job is appropriate notice to your current employer.

2. Give appropriate notice to your current employer.
Each company is different as to what this constitutes. Check out your handbook or ask around to find out what it is for your workplace. A minimum for most jobs is 2 weeks. Now, how long is 2 weeks? No, this is not a trick question. It is 14 days. That means resigning on Monday with your last day a week from Friday is NOT sufficient notice. In addition to being common courtesy, lack of proper notice can have negative consequences. Some companies will make you ineligible for rehire. You might not ever want to go back there, but remember two things. 1. Situations can change 2. This is sometimes asked of former employers by prospective ones. There may be other negative results from lack of notice. For example, at my company, you are not paid any remaining vacation or personal time if you don't give two weeks notice.

3. Choose your last day carefully
Of course, after reading #2 above, you are going to give at least the minimum required notice. But choose your last day wisely. Two examples from my company.

Example #1
Our insurance ends the last day of the month. If you quit on March 31, your coverage ceases that day. If your last day is April 1, you have coverage until April 30. Depending on when your eligibility starts at you new job, you might want to consider moving your last day out a few days.

Example #2
Last year I wrote about one of our former sales people who was demanding his leftover vacation time though he was not eligible as he hadn't been there a year. What I didn't mention then is that he also gave up his bonus (potentially several thousand dollars) because he resigned just before the end of the eligibility period. And yes, he whined about this too. However, had he been a nice guy and ASKED, I could have told him what to do. First, put in for vacation for the days between when he planned on leaving and the end of the period. Once that's approved, THEN give notice with his last day being his last vacation day requested. He would have been paid for his days, gotten his bonus, AND started his new job while on vacation. Yes, this can be done. One of my friends did it when she resigned. And yes, she might have had some friendly HR advice from me. You could also do this if you're trying to make your insurance last longer. Now the company might try to cancel your vacation after you give notice, but I know we wouldn't as once it's approved, it's approved.
 

What To Do When It's Time To Say Goodbye- Part 1

Eventually we all come to a point where it is time to say goodbye to our present job. Based on my experiences in the HR arena, I'm going to give you some tips on things to do when that time arrives for you.

This three part series focuses on advice for 3 different scenarios:
1. When you are leaving involuntarily
2. When you are leaving voluntarily
3. Advice applicable to both scenarios

I'll start with with a situation I hope you don't yourself it- you are being involuntarily separated from your job. This could be through some fault of your own (your aren't performing up to par, you miss work too much, etc.) or something over which you have zero control (your manager is a nutcase, your whole division is being eliminated, etc.) Either way, this is unlikely to be fun for you. But you must make the best of a bad situation.

Things to do if think this might happen to you
1. Get you resume in tip top shape. You should always have a current resume ready to go, but if you've slacked, due it now.
2. Put the word out to your personal and professional network that you are looking for a position. This is the way many, many jobs are filled, and being recommended by an employee (a good one) helps you rise toward the top of the stack.
3. Make an assessment of your financial situation. If your job is potentially in jeopardy, it is not the time to spend lots of money on non-necessities. Batten down the hatches, and prepare your financial ship for a possible storm.
4. Explore your health insurance options. If you are married and your spouse has insurance available through his/her place of work, start there. If you do lose your job, your spouse will be able to add you immediately regardless of the time of year as this is a qualifying event. If this is too high or not an option, look into the individual market. You want to make sure what you are quoted is "creditable coverage". This is key. You can google for full details, but basically it keeps  you covered for preexisting conditions when you transition to another plan.

If this does happen to you
1. Do not sign ANY paperwork that looks like a lawyer wrote it without having your own lawyer review it. If it was important enough for the company to spend the money to have a lawyer prepare it, you need to be very careful and protect your own interests. See if your EAP has legal referrals for free or no charge. If not, ask around for recommendations. Negotiate up front how long it should take and what you'll be charged. Most agreements shouldn't take long at all to review. I'm continually amazed at people who sign severance agreements on the spot. Unless you're a legal expert, don't.
2. File for unemployment the day you are let go. Even if you don't think you're eligible, file anyway. The worst that can happen is that you'll be denied.
2. If you are offered severance, ask for more. The worst they'll tell you is "no".
3. See if your company will pay for your COBRA coverage. Again, the worst possible outcome is they'll say "no". If they do, find out when your coverage ends. Compare what you'll pay for COBRA versus the information you obtained from #4 above and arrange coverage ASAP. You don't want to go without.
4. Ramp up your job search efforts. Find someone to be your job hunt mentor. This person can help keep you focused and motivated.
5. Realize this too shall pass. You will make it through.

Perhaps This Is Part of the Problem?

I was reading the current issue of Money magazine this weekend, and the following stat blew my mind- 46.4% of U.S. taxpayers pay NO federal income tax. What? Is this some kind of joke? Now I understand that certain people have incomes too low to pay (according to the article, 15% of this group makes less then $20,000). But that still leaves a lot of other people who aren't paying in. To put it another way, each person paying federal taxes like me is essentially paying for him or herself and someone else. Does anyone think this mayhaps be part of our deficit problem?

Safety People- You Might Not Always Like Us, But You Need Us - UPDATE

Almost exactly a year ago I wrote this post about the lack of fall protection on reroofing job in my neighborhood. Fast forward to last week. My boss and I were attending our state's safety conference. After one of the sessions a guy comes up to us and says "You all are from X (city name?)"  (Our location was printed on our name tags). We confirmed that we were. He said "I'm an OSHA compliance offer and I work from my home in Z county" (two counties over from us). At this point my boss and I neither one really want to talk to him anymore. Let's face it, no one WANTS an OSHA inspection. He then says "I'm Compliance for Construction. You didn't want to talk to me did you?" He had a great sense of humor about it, and I'm sure he gets that reaction a lot. Since he wasn't the compliance person for our industry, we chatted. In the course of the conversation it was revealed that he'd been sent out to inspect the roofers based on the anonymous compliant I'd filed with my pictures.

Here's a copy of my e-mail to OSHA:

Mike,

Here are the pictures I promised.

Summary of info:

Photos taken 3/17/11 about 5:30 PM

Location: XXX Building owned by (My City) Housing Authority XXX-XXX-XXXX. Building is on (My Street) near the intersection of Main ST.

Contractor: (Unsafe Roofer Company Name)

I later saw them working on the very top of the building, at least 35' above the ground. They also were still working at 8:30 last night in the dark with no additional lights. This whole situation is EXTREMELY dangerous. I appreicate your looking into this matter, and I would like to be informed of any actions taken if at all possible.

Thank you.

The result of the inspection? The company was fined $18,000. They even told the inspector that a lady had been out taking pictures and said she was going to call OSHA! And yet they never protected their people properly. Duh! The OSHA person also said another compliance officer cited the same company again later for similar issues to the tune of $42,000. Hopefully they've gotten the message.

This goes to show that a picture can be worth a thousand words. In my case, each picture was worth $3000.

It All Makes Sense Now- UPDATE

Today as I was preparing to leave, my coworker took a phone call. What got me was not her words, but the faces she was making. I knew her tale was going to be good. And it was. Last fall I wrote this column about one of our employees who quit suddenly. Guess who was on the phone today, 4 short months later? Yep. He said he'd hit a rough patch and needed a job with steady hours. Oh, you mean the kind you had here? He wanted to know if he submitted a resume if it would be considered. My coworker said that he'd have to check with his former supervisor or our boss, the HR manager.  I told my coworker the heartache he had must have been overcome by his need to eat. I personally wouldn't rehire him, but who knows what will come of it. If more developments occur, I'll keep you updated.

Farewell to Flooring

A few months ago my landlord's son (about my age) became a part owner and moved into the building. As part of his move-in, he removed the kitchen tile (not bad) and the hideous blue living room carpet. Some time after that my landlord was talking to me about this, and he said if I was willing to sign a lease extension, they'd do the same for my apartment. I said no way. I'm hoping to buy a house very soon, and I'm not giving up my current month to month status. Not too long after this, he said he wanted to do it anyway. In addition to being ugly, it was really starting to show wear.

Wednesday night I moved everything I could out of these two rooms into the bedrooms so they could demo the floor on the next day. Here's what it looked like when I was done:

When I got home Thursday most of the big furniture had been moved, and the floor were being torn out. I felt like I was living in an episode of "Hoarders". The bedrooms were crammed with stuff. I was talking to my mom from the spare bedroom. In there with me was my stove, washer, and dryer. Visual clutter drives me crazy, so this was quite stressful for me.

The floor was laid Friday. I stayed with my mom and brother that night. Today they installed the trim, and I got to come home. Here's what I saw:



 

Worth feeling like I was on hoarders, having to pack and unpack everything, being displaced from my house for a day, and one major reaming of the landlord's son on Tuesday? Absolutely.

Epic Egg Salad

Last week I found myself awash in eggs. My mom's coworker's granddaughter has started raising chickens. She sells the eggs for $1 a dozen, as cheap or cheaper than you'd find at the grocery store. And they are SO much better. The chickens are free range, meaning they walk around outside eating bugs and doing other chicken things. The yolks from this type are chickens are a gorgeous orange-yellow color. After seeing them, you'll never want another store bought egg.

I already had over half a dozen that I had gotten not too long ago, but my mom now had even more. I couldn't pass them up since they are so good. I decided it was time to try an egg salad recipe I'd gotten some time ago from one of Joanne Fluke's Hannah Swensen mysteries. Here's what the finished product looked like:

Notice how yellow the yolks are. And how did it taste? Best. Egg salad. Ever.

How to speak HR- UPDATE

It seems my previous article on how to speak HR was dead on except for why the guy got fired. Some people make you feel so much smarter just by their stupidity.

12 most memorable interview blunders

My boss sent this article to me. Good stuff. My personal favorites? #6 & #12