studentdriver

So, at work, there has been a bit of a power struggle over the last couple of months regarding my payroll. It's somewhat arcane stuff (the following will be kinda confusing and meaningless unless you work for WM-- sorry, but I figure I'll write it out so that I can look back on this years from now and remember); I work for division 10, the division 10 district manager got the division 1 manager to agree to take on my payroll (as a sop for div 1 not having provided the pharmacy a div 1 cashier, as was required by the company, to ease pressure on us with the massive traffic we get with the $4 prescription program), switching my job codes from 10 to 1, while I'd continue working for 10. Problems: this was done without the knowledge of my own management chain, this opens up the possibility of div 1 managers "taking" me without any recourse for myself or div 10, this screws up the chain of command on which I've always relied to get job evaluations, schedule vacations, etc., the job code change alters my access to electronic resources, which will cause problems involving HIPAA compliance (or lack thereof)...

My division 10 boss, Diane, has been off for the last few weeks, recuperating from surgery. Last Friday, div 1 night manager Trina tells me "Hey, Katsuo (div 1 comanager) is coming in this morning to get with you about this job code thing..." I blanched. Without Diane there, I didn't have an advocate; we've been postponing the job code switch because of all of the unanswered questions and concerns we have, blah blah. 7 AM hit, Katsuo was stuck in the back firing someone, so I clocked out and hit the doors, hoping to wait for Diane's return the following Monday.

Monday, Diane's taking longer to recover than expected, so doesn't come in. Word through the grapevine was that Katsuo and Trina were pissed after they found I'd left that past Friday. So, I bit the bullet and waited for Katsuo that morning. We went to the back, and I tried to stall for more time ("yeah, we're concerned about vacation requests and such..."). Turned out that they weren't ready yet to do the job code switch, either, but had something else to tell me. Oh, goody...

Home office noticed (while researching this job code debacle) that I had never been traited for the 3rd-shift pay differentials. I remember when the differentials had been put in place years ago, $1 more an hour for 3rd-shifters in div 1, and I'd just sucked it up as a cost I had to pay in order to maintain my cushy div 10 position. Well, turns out I was supposed to have that differential. I got that differential. Retroactively.

I got a dollar-an-hour raise effective immediately. Nice. They also estimated that I'm due somewhere between $3000-6000, possibly even more, depending on how far back these differentials went. I don't recall, Katsuo thinks it was 3 years, but IIRC, it could stretch back 5 or 6 years. High end could go $12000.

Not sure when that check will be cut, how much it'll be, etc... but. Yeah. A nice windfall. I may take my first vacation, then, in nearly a decade. (Where? Possibly Weir Beach, New Hampshire. Swimming? Good. Old time beach-front entertainment resort? Good. World's largest classic arcade and museum? Heaven.) All with enough left over to get a laptop for school and have enough to cover the scholarship I'll miss out on in Spring...

After walking out of that little meeting in a daze and relating the tale, Tony said that I should go to church on Sunday. Which I doubt I'll do, but... it is kinda interesting how every year or two (especially at times that my finances are in question), a windfall of some sort occurs. The jury duty pay, the scholarships that kicked in right as my tax write-offs expired, the science scholarship that kicked in right as medical and vet bills killed the last of my savings, now this.

I fly without a net, yet something bounces me safely back up every time I start to fall...