My boss thinks I'm stupid

[ieoeja]

They just gave us a "Total Compensation & Benefits Statement" for last year. I suppose this is to make us appreciate all of the compensation we receive that we do not see in the form of a paycheck. I am okay with employer matching for FICA and 401(k), employer paid portion of the insurance premiums, etc. But then they get into the accounting trick of reporting virtual compensation.

The "paid time off" is an absolute crock. I get paid $X for the year. It doesn't matter if I use 100% of my accrued sick and vacation leave, or I use none of it and come into the office every holiday. I still get paid $X. I, in fact, screwed up and lost more than a week of accrued vacation. So using their logic my total compensation should be lowered by the week I lost. Since sick days don't carry over, all the sick leave I don't take should lower it as well.

And what about the eighty hours and loving it idiots? We have some of them. They end up providing tons of work to the firm for a fixed amount. Again, using the firm's logic any hours they work over the standard should be reported as negative compensation. But isn't.

They actually triple-dip sick days. First, I really do get paid my regular salary for those days which is reported under the base salary line item. Then they report the sick days I accrued and call that more compensation given to me. Finally they report the days I actually took off as more compensation. According to this report, every sick day I take off I receive three times my regular pay in compensation.

I'm going to have to start calling in sick more often.

They actually have the cojones to report my "potential bonus". Nice. Not only did I NOT receive the maximum possible bonus, but they are trying to tell me I DID receive it as a form of compensation since I COULD have received it.

Maybe this is a test. Anybody who says "I didn't realize I was getting so much" should be fired before they do something really stupid.


One thing of note: even using all these accounting tricks to show me the difference between the compensation I see and the compensation I don't, my base salary works out to roughly two-thirds of my pretend compensation. This is considerably lower than the percentage I usually hear bandied around by rightwingers. And I get better benefits than most people I meet.

[TXlib]

1. It's all about managing perceptions

The idea is to make you think you're eating a slice of chocolate cake, when, in fact, they've just served you a steaming shit sandwich.