A few years back, I was alid off from a fairly well-paying job, making something like $75,000/yr. I was then unemployed for over a year, and when I finally found a new job, it was for much less than I'd been making. Namely, $18/hr. But the contract was for six months and I figured I could tough it out for that long (despite the fact that it was about the same money I was getting from the state in unemployment insurance). My six months came up and my contracting agency told me that it was actually for a year, so I wouldn't be getting a raise then, since their contract was for a year. I kicked up a stink and managed to finagle $20/hr out of them. But that's okay, as when that additional six months was up, I'd get a bigger raise. It's still better than being unemployed, after all.

So now that six months is up and they told me that I'd be getting $26.50 an hour. Which is not very much for an experienced Unix admin. I was not happy about it, but it was something. Really, it was a 30% raise, so it was hard to complain.

But then they called me back yesterday and told me that they'd made a mistake, that the company contracting me gave them a sum of money and she'd based my salary on that, but that the company wanted to give me a 15% raise, so she had to take back some of that raise, and now I'd be making $25/hr.

Now, I'm not expecting that I'll be able to make $75k after such an economic downturn, but now they're obviously screwing me -- they were okay with giving me $26.50/hr, but they changed their minds, meaning that they're now getting the same money but giving me less of it. In addition, a guy that they hired six weeks ago that's also a Unix admin, and one not nearly as experienced as I am, is making $35/hr. Keep in mind that until they hired him, I was their only Unix admin, and if I left, they'd be out in the cold. No one here even understood Unix at all, so it was nearly impossible to document things.

What do you guys think I should do? My at-work manager seems to be friendly and has told me stuff before that, at least, implies that he'd like to help me with this stuff.

I'm not even sure what I'm asking. I may just be venting, as, right now, I'm on the verge of furious.

So, anyway, any advice?

Tell them it's not worth your while to work for that amount, and that you'll have to quit as soon as you find a new job.

The problem with that tack is that finding a new job might well take me over a year, just like it did last time. The job market here is poor and I still don't have the money to move. And they're likely to know that I'll have a hard time finding a job.

At the same time, I'm considering just being unemployed again. It's like a slap in the face.

I have no advice, but I can tell you I'd be really steamed in your position. Especially the part about being paid less simply because of when you got hired. Is there any way to transition to working for the company rather than the agency?

There's more to it than simply when I got hired. And it rolls back to the contracting agency being incompetent again. Honestly, I don't understand it fully, otherwise I'd tell you about it.

The job is actually with the State of North Carolina's Department of Transportation. Virtually all of the IT people are contractors because the state's pay scales are prehistoric. In order to pay a reasonable wage to IT people, they'd have to be listed as managers, and, apparently, people with manager in their job descriptions really have to be managers. Of course, that doesn't really apply to me, since I'm not making a reasonable wage.

Again, though, I'm not blind to the fact that I am employed and that I did get a 30% raise, even if it was then amended to 25%. It's just that it's still not commensurate with what I think I ought to be getting paid.

The problem with that tack is that finding a new job might well take me over a year, just like it did last time.

Even still, I would start to search actively for a new job, AND I would wouldn't keep it a secret from my current employers. You could let it "slip" in conversations you have with your boss, so that he knows you aren't joking. If he truely values you, he'll give you the raise you deserve. If he doesn't, you can quit if/when you find a new job.
I doubt that your boss would fire you over this, seeing it's unlikely he'll find somebody else who will do your work for a less or equal amount of money. (like you said, you're underpaid as a Unix admin)

Is there another contractor who works with the state? Maybe you can change your agency but keep your job?

Ever consider relocating? Seriously.... I'm in Northern VA and while the job market here is still tough... Unix admins... good ones are hard to come by....

Okay, here's the story with respect to why I got paid next to nothing to begin with.

Apparently, the state has these job categories for contractors. Once a year (or something like that), contracting agencies are asked to bid on those categories. This allows them to supply contractors to the state. It does not allow them to have exclusive contracts, though. Basically, it just means that the agencies are then locked into the range that they bid for each category.

Problem one is that the categories are undescriptive and incomplete. For example, my job as a Unix sysadmin was listed as ``Desktop Support''. And, to be honest, it may be the best category for it.

Problem two is that my contracting agency way underbid each of those categories. For example, most of the chuckleheads who work here work for Keane. And these guys are often real chuckleheads. Their bid range for ``Desktop Support'' is $50-$150/hr. (This is how much the company gets paid; contractors get paid a portion of that.) My company, Sapphire, bid $30-$38/hr for the same category.

In deference to me, the state moved my job to a new category, LAN/WAN support, which is at $48-$60/hr, still not in the same category as the goobers around here, but closer.

You can look at all this information at the state's Supplemental Staffing Convenience Contract Instructions, including the bid rates.

At the same time, when I was hired, there was one other person they were considering, and he was apparently being bid a lot higher, and that may be the reason I have the job at all.

Is there another contractor who works with the state? Maybe you can change your agency but keep your job?

Part of my contract is that I can't work for the same employer directly after leaving the contracting agency without paying them some absurd amount of money. Even so, I've been considering it.

Even still, I would start to search actively for a new job, AND I would wouldn't keep it a secret from my current employers.

That's my current plan for this afternoon.

Ever consider relocating? Seriously.

Yes and no. I don't think that I've got the money to do it, and to be perfectly honest, I don't want to move at all, much less to NoVA.

Also, while I think I'm close to the top of the barrel down here (based on my experience working with others), I know I'm not elsewhere (based on my experience conversing online and at LISA), especially NoVA, where there's bound to be a glut anyway. Maybe not.

I'll consider it, I suppose. I just feel like I ought to be able to get more money out of my current employer, especially since I know other folks are making what seems to be a reasonable amount.

That goes without saying... the kind of money they are paying you is insulting for a Unix Admin.... Then again I'm not down with the job scene in NC.

As for being Top of the barrell... we have a unix admin here making probably 80 or 90k that well to be blunt, is a frickin moron I can't begin to explain the idiocy this lady brings to the plate in our weekly MIS meetings... So I'm sure your probably more equiped, and have more talent then 90 percent of the people occupying unix positions in this area.

Plus, there may be more people trying to fill positions, but there may also be more positions to fill. Then again, I know nothing about the NC situation.

Hell, some company should hire you to teach their employees proper grammar. I'm sure a lot of them need that

Wow.. You think YOU'RE getting screwed?

I'm working as a *nix admin *and* a DBA, and only making $42k/year. (~$20/hr) And that's after I raise I got last week. I REALLY need to find a better job.. Sheesh..

But, hey. I was able to afford my Mini and an Empeg. THat's all I care 'bout!

Me.

Well, that's about how much I'm making now, was making less than that six months ago, and all of that time, my only benefit was being provided with a way to get health insurance, not that they're paying for any portion of it.

Working as a full time programmer/*nix admin with a CS degree for ~35k/yr and I don't even get insurance coverage for my wife.

But, I like what I do, so it doesn't bother me that much.

Well I'm making a decent living as a programmer here, but for the last four months I've been surfing the web, making overlong posts, and generally trying look busy. There simply hasn't been any work for me to do, but my company doesn't want to pull me from my current contract so I had to just wait for some work to come along. Finally I got fed up (nothing longer than a day of doing nothing), posted my resume on Monster and "leaked" this information to my immediate supervisor. Surprise, surprise, he found some work for me to do and now I'm up to my elbows in jsp development and happy as a clam. So the "leaking intent to find another job" does work, though for me it was more work, not more money.

I detest Sapphire as a contracting agency - they only seem to care about their cut. They play the numbers game, throwing loads of resumes at a position in the hope that one sticks, without paying much regard to matching the resume to the position. As a result, whoever's doing the hiring has to read a bunch of crap. The final straw for me came after a couple of hours weeding through a stack of predominately useless resumes, only to then find a candidate with an identical job history to one of the first resumes. Copy'n'paste identical over several years. At that point I told my boss that I wasn't going to read another Sapphire-supplied resume as I couldn't trust them.
For a company of their size and history, they have no excuse for this behaviour. If _they_ made a mistake then _they_ should eat it, not force you to. Face it, that $1.50/hr is nothing compared to their revenue, and they can easily absorb it.
Furthermore, the company offered you $26.50/hr that you accepted. They have _no_ legal right to refuse you that now. Admittedly if it wasn't ever put in writing then you'd have a hard time proving it, and it possibly wouldn't be economical to go the legal route anyway.
Two possible strategies that I can think of;

1) Hardball. Suggest to Sapphire that a disgruntled representative might make it harder for them to get that work in the future. You'd have to be careful not to go over the line here.

or,
2) Refuse to accept the $25/hr rate (I assume you haven't so far). Keep going to work as usual, and then dispute (in writing) the paychecks. Hopefully you'll eventually get something in writing from them that acknowledges that they have adjusted (post-offer) your rate downwards. Keep working for 6 months or so whilst looking for a different job with another agency (or independant). Once you've changed jobs, take that stack of correspondance to the small claims court and sue them for breach of contract. (26 weeks of $1.50/hour sums to $1560).

Well, the thing is, I wasn't happy about the $26.50 to start with. I'm going to go talk to my manager this afternoon and find out what's going on. I almost expect him to tell me that they intended for me to be getting $35/hr and they're holding out on me.

That's a tough situation. It doesn't sound like you are willing to quit and it sounds like the contracting agency knows that or doesn't care if you do. That leaves you personally with little leverage.

The person who does have leverage is person who makes hiring decisions. But this isn't a definite either. Being that it's the govt I imagine they have approved vendor lists and can only use those contracting agencies. If your agency isn't the only one on that list and your boss is willing to go to bat for you then you have leverage. The agency cares more about their relationship with your boss then they do about you.

If your boss won't exert pressure then I think your only recourse is to accept the money and look for a new job while keeping your current one.

-Dylan

So this is where all our tax dollars go.

So this is where all our tax dollars go.

Not all. I believe at least $70K is going to the guy playing solitare about 10 feet from me . . .

That would have angered me as well. I think you need to think it over for a few days. Something I have learned is to not make a life decision too quickly or when I'm pissed off. Pride is one thing that we all have in common. It is a good thing. It is however difficult to eat nor does it convert well at the grocery store. You need to think it through and then make your decision on what you think is best for you and yours for the long haul. These are tough decisions and can only be made for you, by you. After reading your posts for the last couple of years I expect you will make a decision based on fact rather then emotion.

I expect you will make a decision based on fact rather then emotion.

I think you may have missed some of my posts.

Seriously, I talked to my manager when he (finally) came in today, and he was flummoxed at the raise I got. It turns out that there's a standard maximum 15% raise for state contractors. Now, I'd talked with my manager before and he agreed that I was making almost nothing, so he went out of his way to reclassify my job.

Somehow, his boss forgot the objective of all of that and limited me to that 15% raise. Once my manager got a hold of him again, he agreed that that was not right and called back the contracting agency and told them (and me, too) that they should resubmit me at a ``fair'' rate.

Now, though, I'm having the problem of coming up with what's a ``fair'' rate. I've not been making one for a while and the last time I did have one, it was before the dot-bomb exploded. So I'm having to take my agency's word for it. They're going to resubmit me so that I'll be making about $30/hr. Not as much as I'd like, but wildly more appropriate, I think. But I won't know if the State considers that fair until at least tomorrow. It's possible that it might even be more than that.

So, to make a long story short (chime in here), it looks like it was a big bureaucratic snafu that might well be fixed very soon. (And I know what you're thinking -- ``A bureaucratic snafu? In State Government? Never!'' All I can do is assure you that that's actually the case. )

... he was fummoxed at the raise I got.

You mean flummoxed? I think that's only the 3rd time I've ever heard someone use that word.

Oops. Yeah. Fixed.

I'm glad it seems (hoping, fingers crossed)to be working out well. By the way, what is the emoticon for flummoxed?

-Zeke

But, I like what I do, so it doesn't bother me that much.


Exactly!

Once you have enough money for the necessities (food, shelter, transportation, etc.) additional money is far less important than job satisfaction.

I enjoy my job so much that I haven't taken a vacation in years. If I won the lottery, the first thing I would do is tell my employer to change my salary to $1.00 per year so it would be really difficult for them to ever get rid of me.

I wouldn't trade my position for Bill Gates' job for all the money in the world (which, I guess, it would pretty nearly be.)

I measure success not by salary, but by the standard of "Success is never having to do anything you don't want to do." I'm certainly not wealthy, but I am rich beyond the power of money.

tanstaafl.

Doug, that was inspiring. We should all hope for a job like that, or at least I do.

I've sent out a few applications this week, and I'm hoping to find something soon. It's a new experience for me, but certainly for now I hope to at least make enough money to live my current lifestyle, which is pretty much rent/food/clothes, with maybe one semi-large purchase a year and a few DVDs here and there

Here's hoping...