We are getting kind of bored here, and are itching for a change of scenery. We had planned to fly out on Tuesday to see some more of China, but because we had to apparently pick up our salary on Wednesday, we had to cancel our tickets. We then thought about renting a car on Tuesday and staying outside Beijing. "But," said A to F, "I bet Number 2 will send us an email on Wednesday morning saying we have to pick up our salary between 10 and 10:30, so that if we are not in Beijing, we won't get it." And hence we did not rent a car, but stayed home.
At 00:24 today, we received an email giving us that exact time window -- 10 to 10:30 -- to pick up our salary.
Either we are getting too good at looking inside Number 2's head. Or our apartment is bugged. Either way, this is disappointingly predictable.
We are not even happy about having received our final salary. Just tired and sick of all this.
One more week...
Showing posts with label paranoid. Show all posts
Showing posts with label paranoid. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Monday, August 2, 2010
It ain't over till the fat lady sings
As I think we may have mentioned, there seems to be some ambiguity about the payment of our final salary.
First, we had a major argument because the institute decided to ignore the fact that on August 1 we have worked here for 24 months, and insisted we should stay until August 31, and work 25 months for getting paid 24 months.
Then, this argument was miraculously resolved. In a meeting, Number 2 promised us to pay our last salary on August 2, and we would be allowed to leave after August 9. Following the advice of some friends, we emailed Number 2 a summary of our meeting.
Next, our university accounts got canceled (because, according to the university and us, our obligations here end on July 31, just not according to our institute). This happened despite us drawing attention numerous times to the fact that they would perhaps not be able to pay us after canceling our accounts. We pointed this out by email in May, in person in the meeting with Number 2, and again in an email to her minion two weeks ago.
After a phone call from Number 2 on Wednesday in which she said she could not transfer our salary now that our accounts were closed, we were kept in the dark for a few days.
Today we could not even enter our offices anymore, because our ID cards expired now that we have worked here for 24 months. We have visitor passes to get in. Since it is August 2, we sent Number 2 a friendly email reminding her of our agreed date for the payment of the last salary and saying that we assumed everything was OK since we had not heard anything.
We received a reply this evening. The dear Number 2 has been negotiating with HR and the financial department tirelessly on our behalf for three days. She will let us know on Wednesday where we can "pick up our salary".
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This is all very nice. We are glad that she seems to see no other choice but to pay us what they owe us. But unfortunately, there is another postdoc in the exact same situation as us. I don't think he made a big fuss as we did (although he did when he first arrived here and was told of the weird arrangement of postponing the payment cycle by one month). And he is leaving tomorrow...
First, we had a major argument because the institute decided to ignore the fact that on August 1 we have worked here for 24 months, and insisted we should stay until August 31, and work 25 months for getting paid 24 months.
Then, this argument was miraculously resolved. In a meeting, Number 2 promised us to pay our last salary on August 2, and we would be allowed to leave after August 9. Following the advice of some friends, we emailed Number 2 a summary of our meeting.
Next, our university accounts got canceled (because, according to the university and us, our obligations here end on July 31, just not according to our institute). This happened despite us drawing attention numerous times to the fact that they would perhaps not be able to pay us after canceling our accounts. We pointed this out by email in May, in person in the meeting with Number 2, and again in an email to her minion two weeks ago.
After a phone call from Number 2 on Wednesday in which she said she could not transfer our salary now that our accounts were closed, we were kept in the dark for a few days.
Today we could not even enter our offices anymore, because our ID cards expired now that we have worked here for 24 months. We have visitor passes to get in. Since it is August 2, we sent Number 2 a friendly email reminding her of our agreed date for the payment of the last salary and saying that we assumed everything was OK since we had not heard anything.
We received a reply this evening. The dear Number 2 has been negotiating with HR and the financial department tirelessly on our behalf for three days. She will let us know on Wednesday where we can "pick up our salary".
----------------
This is all very nice. We are glad that she seems to see no other choice but to pay us what they owe us. But unfortunately, there is another postdoc in the exact same situation as us. I don't think he made a big fuss as we did (although he did when he first arrived here and was told of the weird arrangement of postponing the payment cycle by one month). And he is leaving tomorrow...
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