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Discussion on: How do you stand up to these issues at work?

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ferricoxide profile image
Thomas H Jones II

What I've found is that companies that care about talent-retention don't do many of the things you're complaining about. These are companies that figure "throwing more, cheap, replaceable bodies at a problem is easier." Measured quarter-to-quarter, it's probably an ok strategy. When qualitatively measured over time... There's a reason that there are also companies that focus on keeping their people happy.

You have to figure out what you are and what you want to be, then find the company that best aligns to that. Sometimes, you have to "pay dues" to make what you are better align with what you want to be. Until then your options may be limited. The only way to know, however, is to explore your options.

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arximughal profile image
Muhammad Arslan Aslam

Well, my company seems to do talent-retention, but they are only words.
I've been offered paid extra hours one too many times, but they never seem to pay it!

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Thomas H Jones II

I'm probably too used to contractor-land. We typically have to fill out time-sheets, usually broken down by customer/project, so that customers can be billed. Side-effect is is that every hour worked is auditable ...and, therefore, both you and your employer know "person 'X' should be getting paid for 'Y' hours this week/month".

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arximughal profile image
Muhammad Arslan Aslam

I suggested that we should be using some kind of time tracking app, may be Toggl. But it's never been done!
Though, I do track my personal time 😛

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ferricoxide profile image
Thomas H Jones II

If you're already using tools like git or Slack, you already have time-tracking capabilities available.

  • With git, your commit-history is also time-tracking
  • With Slack (and a few other chat tools), you can use webhooks or other integration-methods to aggregate your usage of other tools into a "time-keeping" channel.
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arximughal profile image
Muhammad Arslan Aslam

Yes. And a lot of other options are available too. And free ones too!
They just don't wanna log time, for some reason 🤔

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Thomas H Jones II

Gee... "Wonder why". Not to get too dramatic or too far off topic, but, someone might want to drop an anonymous note to the HR and/or payroll departments pointing out that several companies have lost litigation around uncompensated time and that failure to set up formal time-tracking didn't insulate them from having to pay claims for back-wages and legal costs. That info like commit-history and the like exists simply makes it easier for developers to prove that the financial liability/obligation exists (actually, I wouldn't be surprised if some jurisdictions don't eventually start placing some tools' time-history capabilities under existing data-retention mandates).

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Muhammad Arslan Aslam

That'd be great. But unfortunately, IT industry is not yet that strong in my country 😞
A huge number of such companies exist and they don't even pay their employees via cheque or bank account, just straight cash and authorities have absolutely no idea what goes in those companies! 😢

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Muhammad Arslan Aslam

When I got my firs job, my salary got delayed, like 10 days. I was a bit worried and needy at that time. But also afraid to ask my boss and when I asked my boss on the 11th day, he said he had completely "forgotten about me".
Now this is the kind of thing that should not happen. But unfortunately it is the sad reality of industry in my country.

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Thomas H Jones II

Oof. Yeah. As anti-labor as the laws in the US tend to be when compared to some countries, the laws aren't nearly as stacked in the employers' favor as they are in other parts of the world.

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Andrea Pavoni

Here in Italy, the average time to get paid starts from “30 days forward”, when you’re lucky.
The worst client (a VERY famous italian fashion brand), took 13 (yes, I wrote thirteen!) months to pay the bill. And even if we have barely decent laws about it, the reality is sadly different.

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Thomas H Jones II

In the US:

  • If you're on a W2 basis ("salaried"), it's decently-common for employers to have a "first check held" policy. Inconvenient if you wanted to take a break between jobs. Freaking awful if you moved to a job with a "once-a-month" pay-schedule and had no meaningful savings (or PTO cashout) left from a prior job. On the plus side, if your prior employer was a "first check held" employer, it generally means you have one more check after you do the final walk out the door.
  • If you're working on a 1099 basis (pure contractor or B2B), things are a lot more hit-or-miss on when you can expect compensation to arrive. While 13 months would be quite unusual (bean-counters hate carrying things across to the next fiscal-period - especially if the term in longer than a fiscal-year), 1-3 months behind wouldn't be unexpected. If you're pure 1099 with multiple contracts/customers, you might have multiple payment terms to deal with. Makes managing personal finances "fun".
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Muhammad Arslan Aslam

I don't think we have a "first check held" policy here. One to three months notice prior resignation is a common thing though!

Even though I had an "at will" sort of contract with this company, I had to notify them before I leave, at least a month prior to my resignation.

In my previous job, when I resigned, I did file a notice and stuff! But they never paid me my last salary. So, that's a pretty common thing (I hope it doesn't happen this time)!

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Thomas H Jones II

I don't think we have a "first check held" policy here. One to three months notice prior resignation is a common thing though!

Oof. In the US, two weeks is customary. However, in the technology field, it's not unusual to find that, the day you submit your resignation is the day they walk you out the door. This is especially so if you have privileged access to anything.

The whole basis for "notice" is the idea that you're doing them the courtesy of letting them hire someone in before you leave (so as to reduce the impact of that departure). That said, given the timetables behind finding suitable replacements (and the prior not about treatment of personnel with privileged access), that custom is starting to fade in some places.

But they never paid me my last salary. So, that's a pretty common thing (I hope it doesn't happen this time)!

Oof... In the US, an employer doing that with anything approaching regularity would set them up for a non-trivial penalty via litigative loss.