weyes' wisdom of the day - 10/6/08

[weyes]

wow - what a crazy week last week was... and it inspires today's column.

for those who don't know, i work at a college, and being that it is a public institution, it has been hit really hard with budget cuts. last week the school decided to cancel january session entirely, which is a drastic measure that leaves a lot of staff and instructors without pay that they had been counting on and students without a way to get credits that they need. i'll still be working, but it really is just an amazing sign of how bad things have gotten. our enrollment is up this semester by 11% since last spring, too, so it really is doing a disservice to our growing student population. it doesn't seem to figure that we have to cut services when we have more - well - customers, essentially, but that's how things work.

anyway, i have been working outside of my job description ever since i started because the job i hold is incorrectly classified. that is, the job inherently requires a lot more than the description states. there is no way around doing the things i do because they simply are required of me. i AM the receptionist and secretary, but my title is "general office clerk" and i am paid according to the title.

i have filed the appropriate paperwork to be paid according to what i really do. one is only allowed to do so in october or march, and i can't afford to wait till march, especially with all the time it takes for the review process and approval committees, etc. it is illegal for my reclassification to be denied solely due to budgetary reasons, but i am encountering resistance from people who think i have no right to be paid correctly right now. these people are generally ones who have no say in the matter, however, and don't know how all of this works. the district can rule that i deserve higher pay but that it can't be afforded just yet, and then they can pay me the correct rate retroactively later.

so, to the point...

one should learn one's rights in situations like this. even when one's employer is in a financial crisis, one doesn't deserve to be dicked over. one should ask his/her union what protections s/he has, what all possible outcomes are, what the best plan of action is. the money that one should be paid, while essential to one employee's survival, truly is a drop in the bucket to a company, even to one that's trying to cut back. and one should remember that asking for what's right is NOT asking for too much.

tune in tomorrow.