Re:

[Herbie <technowombat@yahoo.com>]

I understand that you are OK with the 30 hours or so a week of unpaid 
labour you do, that in itself is a worrying thing, and you are only 
concerned that your 7 days of vacation is now being reduced to 6.

Again, it's absolutely nothing to do with what you work as, it's only in 
this country. I too am an engineer, my qualifications are in E&EE, and I 
worked for what is now Marconi Defense Systems, we did some quite 
important stuff in the first Gulf War and I've worked for Hewlett Packard 
in their Telecomms Division on ATM and SONET equipment. HP especially is a 
prime example, they were a great company to work for (this is before they 
spun of the test/telecomm division as Agilent) they were an American 
company, but I still got 4 or 5 weeks vacation a year, as this was before 
I came to the US I didn't really count the vacation time up, it was more 
or less a given. We did the odd stint of overtime for which we were duly 
compensated in either time back or in money.

If it's just you an your wife right now, I'd respectfully suggest you find 
a better situation before you start having kids, kids tend to make you 
less able to move around, and tie you down in the sense of needing medical 
coverages and stuff, I've known guys tied to jobs they didn't like because 
they couldn't afford the medical at a better paying job (so don't get me 
started on why a so called 'world leading' country doesn't have socialised 
healthcare). If you're not happy now, then kids (if you are having them) 
just make things worse. Even if it's just you and your wife, your probably 
not getting to spend much quality time with her? I have nothing but 
respect for guys that insist on putting their family first, to do so in 
this country is considered a big no-no.

h

On Sun, 20 Nov 2005, Bryan J. Smith wrote:

> On Sun, 2005-11-20 at 11:29 -0600, Herbie wrote:
>> It really does all depend on what you're willing to endure then it seems.
>> Perhaps it's some kind of indoctrinating at some point in your life in
>> this country, but my motto has always been 'work to live', not 'live to
>> work'. I come from the country with the highest rate of unemployment in
>> the EU, and even so I would never let a company treat me the way you have
>> let this one treat you.
>
> It's not the first time.  But it's the first time I've been rubbed so
> "abrasively" on non-sense like arrival, holiday, vacation, etc...
>
> Although I've worked in IT, I'm an engineer.  I've worked in missile
> defense, semiconductor design and, now, 4G wireless.  When you are on
> the leading edge of invention, it goes with the territory.
>
> I've been largely IT consulting for 3+ years, and because of that, I've
> largely been paid the hours I've worked.  That's why I did it, because
> most clients kept the hours down under 50 for the most part.  But
> there's virtually little available like that in the SE US.
>
>> I worked as a contractor for GE, and then was taken on full time, I had to
>> endure the occasional bit of mandatory overtime, but never more than 10
>> hours a week, never for more than a month or so and I ALWAYS got paid for
>> it, no-one has the right to expect you to work without pay.
>
> Not true!  If you are an "EXEMPT" employee in the US, they don't have to
> pay you but your salary.  That's reality.
>
> As far as contracts, I'm more concerned with IP, non-competes, etc...
> than anything else.  I keep those out of my contract so I can freely
> leave without issue.
>
> Again, my "bitch" wasn't about the hours.  It was the "nickle'n diming"
> on other things, which were like slapping me in the face while I put in
> the hours I do.
>
>
> -- 
> Bryan J. Smith   b.j.smith@ieee.org   http://thebs413.blogspot.com
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
> For everything else *COUGH*commercials*COUGH* there's "ManningCard"
>
>
>
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