Widgets and work

[kitanzi]

Well, I have quite a little collection of widgets and awards from my temp agency, now. At various times I've gotten candy, sunflower seeds, a silver keychain, various gift certificates, and now a clear lucite star saying "Star Employee" which came with a moderately embarassing little speech in front of the people who sit near me.

The recognition is nice, but the gift certificates were nicer. A raise would be nicer yet, but I'm told that since this is a new contract (I was part of the very first batch they sent over here) and a national one, so Amy (my boss there) may or may not have her hands tied. Amy's a very nice person, but not very effective, so I think I'll just wait and see on that for the time being. She did confirm for me, though, that I've been there long enough to get paid holidays, which will be nice for Memorial Day and all that, but I knew that was coming. She also surprised me by mentioning that if I haven't qualified for a week's paid vacation yet, I must be right on the edge of it, which is great since I was already planning on taking a week off (unpaid) for attending ConCertino in July and visiting everyone I used to know when I lived up north, plus roughly another half week in October for OVFF, so this is very good news!

I still wish they'd make me permanent here, dammit, but as far as temp agencies go, this isn't a bad one. Seeing as I'm going on a year with them, and in this one assignment the whole time, I guess that's just as well! Actually, the flexibility I get in taking time off by being a temp is great for things like cons. I do pay for it by having lower pay than my coworkers (I'm fairly sure) and worse insurance (I'm very sure) and no paid sick days. If I'm getting paid now for holidays and vacation... well, it doesn't make it all up but it makes it a bit better. This will take consideration....

Comments

[djbp.livejournal.com]

Pity the rules over there aren't in line with the British laws.. Employment law seems to be a fair bit further along in europe.

[kitanzi.livejournal.com]

Really? How are they different, especially for temps? I admit, I never thought about it before.

[djbp.livejournal.com]

hmm... after a bit of thought it may not directly be the same as your situation, not sure who actually employs you, is it the agency or the workplace?

Quote from the DTI site:The Regulations prevent fixed term employees being treated less favourably than similar permanent employees, and limit the use of successive fixed term contracts

Under law here Agency staff and Temp staff are not the same.

[kitanzi.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure which I'd be.... I am, officially, an employee of the temp agency. The credit bureau simply has a contract with them for my work. (This is what gives me the great flexibility for time off - if I want time off, I tell the temp agency I won't be available on those days. They don't argue, they tell the credit bureau, and the credit bureau has no say in it. On the other hand, if I abuse that, the credit bureau would have the right to tell the agency they didn't want me any more. In fact, they could do that at any time for any or no reason, if they wanted to. It's a two edged sword.)

Initially I was told my contract would run until sometime last October - does that count as fixed term or not?

Bennies

[otherdeb.livejournal.com]

When I was last temping, I actually had better benefits than when I finally became permanent. I was surprised at this, but since I became permanent, Amex restructured the benefits program twice, each time becoming a bit worse. Also, these days it's becoming more and more the rule for temp agencies to give holiday and vacation pay after you have worked a certain number of hours.

And I really should start temping again, before it gets late and teh Unemployment runs out.

[autographedcat.livejournal.com]

Well, I already knew you were superb! Glad they're recognizing it too. *kiss*

Love you!

[duality.livejournal.com]

hmm..think the agency would be interested in hiring a guy who can type 110wpm?

Re:

[kitanzi.livejournal.com]

Quite likely! I don't know if there's a branch nearer to you, but if you call the Alpharetta location (770-752-9622) the woman who runs it is Amy, and she seems to think well enough of me that you could try name dropping if you want to. Might not help, but it couldn't hurt, and I can't recall if they have a referral program. If they do, I'd happily split any referral bounty 50/50.

Re:

[duality.livejournal.com]

right-o, forwarded to tall dark and geeky.

Re:

[kitanzi.livejournal.com]

let me know how it goes? :)

Re:

[duality.livejournal.com]

will do.....

A Stellar Performance

[(Anonymous)]

Well, I have quite a little collection of widgets and awards from my temp agency, now.
At various times I've gotten candy, sunflower seeds, a silver keychain, various gift
certificates, and now a clear lucite star saying "Star Employee".

Ain't she something? All this and you know what, too. Bravo!

Only a clear lucite star, not silver? Bummer. You deserve silver, imho.

Ann Onynous.

Re: A Stellar Performance

[kitanzi.livejournal.com]

I deserve lots of silver, like a RAISE. *G* But thanks!

[bardling.livejournal.com]

Yaya you! More improvement would be better, but this doesn't suck and in these times I'd even say it's a good step forward.

*hugs* Looking forward to seeing you at Concertino - and also planning to take a week or two round it to visit people :)

Re:

[kitanzi.livejournal.com]

I'm definitely looking forward to that! :) *hug*