"Bonus"

I would go to said boss and ask her if the offer was serious, and if so if it's still on the table. Details aren't necessary unless you get the impression getting the money is contingent on evidence of some kind of hardship.

Problem is, said boss is hundreds of miles away. And doing it by phone seems like it will go badly.

Oh wait, I forgot the minor third twist: Last night the power cord for my Mac broke. A new one from the apple store costs $79, and I needed a new one because I need to do work on my computer all weekend. So my boss (the one left who doesn't know about the bonus) took me out to lunch, and we went into a Mac repair shop so I could buy a new powercord (with the credit card, agh). But when I was about to pay he stepped in and said he would cover it. He said they had planned on getting me something as a "thank you gift". So that was nice. But simultaneously, I realized that my $1500 bonus had probably shrank to about $79.

Shit.

But...she promised me the $1500 earlier...?

Shit.

Wait, I'm remembering the quote now a little better. I don't think he said "we were planning on getting you something anyway". I think he said "I was planning on getting you something anyway". Yes.

The question is, "what was sheplanning on getting" me, anyway?

Can you go back to your college and explain that you severely underestimated, give them a breakdown of your real costs, show them your credit card bills, ask them to compare your app to other applications for corroboration of the disparity, and request more money?

re the actual bonus, what is the bonus-promising boss like? Is she (as far as you can tell as she was away a lot) generally sensible, keeps to her word, doesn't mouth off, etc.?

As far as the first question, I'm afraid they'd look at the credit card bill and wonder what all of those $3.73 purchases from the liquor store were (three 24 oz. cans of PBR, one of the most economical choices in the whole store, but still hard to explain).

As far as the second question: she is sort of wildly moody. I get the feeling that she makes everyone around her somewhat uncomfortable because sometimes it's difficult to know if she's being serious with her "jokes" or not. But I haven't seen anything that indicates that she doesn't stay true to her word.

have you considered getting a job?

Aw, ZS, that is pretty damn crummy. I think it would be good to ask her, but in this position I would be scared. Prep yourself by convincing yourself she'll laugh & say no? I don't know.

I think ljubljana's advice is good, too...I don't think you'd need to show them an actual credit card statement, but if they asked, I think they are wise enough to know that very few college students (that aren't at BYU) live lives so austere & spartan that they don't drink beer.

I mean there's a big diff between that and $250 every month at a rekkid or video game or clothing store...

And whether or not you get the $1500 (tho my fingers are crossed & knocking on wood here), it is almost over!

It's kind of hard getting a job when you are going to move in a week, dan...

Jesus, ask for the money, seriously. You can't go talking vaguely about that sort of thing as an employer and then ot follow though, and if you're the sort of employer who doesn't then you deserve to be fronted up about it

Yeah, definitely. Other than cheap beer, I haven't really bought anything this summer. I wish I could have my people talk to her people and sort things out. But, like Ellen DeGeneres, I have no people.

Matt, the thing is that it's an unpaid internship that ended up going really, really well for me. The remaining boss (the one that actually works with me on a daily basis) has given me lots of compliments over the past month, and asked me to come back to work ($$ for real cash money $$ this time) until December, doing research, which of course I had to turn down because I have another year of school left to do first.

Basically, the vibes at work have been full of love and respect for about a month now. I'm hesitant to sully the mood by bringing up the whole $1500 thing in my last few days there. Although it looks like I'm going to have to.

I agree with Abbott, you could go back to the college without a credit card statement if you were more comfortable that way, and also they're not going to mind about the beer if they ask to look. Beer at that price isn't much more expensive than some sodas.

How about going to your (non-bonus-promising) boss, explaining what happened, but also explaining that you have a Plan B (going back to the college with your request) if they're unable/unwilling to pay the bonus? That way you don't put non-promising boss in such an awkward position.

Matt is OTM in that if he knew nothing about it, non-promising boss may be very grateful to find out about the dodgy behaviour of bonus-promising boss. Also, it looks really good that you tried to save your college money - yeah, you messed up, but with the very best of intentions. You can work out how to put things and make it crystal clear how much you appreciate them and that you've thought long and hard about whether to bring this up.

Thing is Z S I appreciate fully that bringing up the question of money is often difficult (the look of terror on staff members faces when asking for raises is proof of that), but ljubljana understood my post better than I understood it myself, it is simply unethical to go waving those sorts of numbers in people's faces, particularly the unpaid people. The 2nd para above is spectacularly OTM, this non-promising boss is a big fan of your work, right? They'd like to have you back to the extent that they've already offered you a job you've had to turn down for valid reasons, and they've had a chance to see you in action on a daily basis, so they've had a chance to form a clear-eyed analysis of your qualities. Clearly they rate you. Take them aside and lay the issue out the way you have done here. Even if the answer is no they'll not think the worse of you for it.

I speak as an employer, and I'd like to think I'm a fair one in that I don't expect staff to value my interest above their own, someone leaves for a better paid job, good luck to them. My business partner promises someone a bonus, we'd better follow through or we both look like twats.

Thank you for the advice, everyone. I will talk to the remaining boss on Monday and see what he says.

ZS the away boss wouldn't have brought up a $1500 bonus and expect you never to mention it again. You'll find as you enter the workforce for real, if something is offered and then doesn't get mentioned again most people will demand it. Work is a business deal: you do this and ill give you this. Don't be embarrassed bring up the subject of money because that's why 99% of people to are at work.

Also, I have a real hard time believing someone would have just made that up out of the blue. In any case, if she did then its not you that's going to look bad.

Oh and a bonus is not a gift. Its a bonus.

Is it impossible to obtain away-boss's cellie # and just simply explain yr situation? Not just ask about the bonus that was promised, but also explain how desperately short of cash you are. Kind of a carrot-and-stick approach, see?

Noooo, I think start with non-away boss, because as Matt says, he's a fan of ZS's work. And anyway, away-boss has put ZS in an impossible position (and would have done whether or not he was short of cash). ZS says she comes across as a bit unstable - why risk it?

I'm not a private sector employer but I manage people in the public sector, and I truly respect people who can lay it out sincerely and without fuss to me when they need to tell me there is a problem. So very many people can't manage it (first I know of the problem is when they shout, whine, go into meltdown or whatever) that I always think more of them afterwards even if the problem is really inconvenient for me.

Uuugh, such reasonable, good advice, but so painful to hear. Why is discussing money so awful?

The phone idea would normally be a good idea, libcrypt, but she's different. She gets pretty confrontational on the phone. Aggressive. If she says something and the person on the other line couldn't hear it, she'll repeat it, really slowly, or even letter by letter. "I SAID, -WHAT- -TIME- -DOES- -YOUR- -FLIGHT- -F-L-I-G-H-T- -GET- IN-????", and then an eyeroll.

She's much nicer in person, but I'm going to try to avoid that phonecall by any means necessary. The other boss (the one I'm talking to on Monday) is a teddybear.

Forgot to reiterate that 'lay the issue out the way you have done here', as Matt suggested, should include letting them know how you felt about raising it. This is crucial to the enterprise as it lets home-boss know 1. you realise the position he may be in and are sensitive to it, and 2. you recognise the love-respect vibes and don't want to do anything to risk those.

Wow, I really feel for you on this one. I'm really hating on away-boss.

I'm a teddybear-boss myself (too much so) and I would be basically begging your forgiveness after a story like that.

Oh, I'm probably painting a overly negative picture of her. I came into the job fully expecting that I would get paid absolutely nothing. When we go out for lunch and they pay for my meal, I'm always freshly surprised. Even if I end up not getting this bonus, I'm just back where I was at the beginning of the summer. The debt I've piled up this summer has been entirely my own fault. A friend of mine back in Ithaca applied for over $3000 for the summer, and she wasn't even traveling anywhere for her internship. The grant she got basically is just paying her rent back home, and for really nice dinners all summer. Whereas, I'm paying double rent this summer (my girlfriend is still back in Ithaca, so I'm still paying my share of the rent there, along with the rent in Boulder), and I've been eating lentils and macaroni and cheese for a looooooong time.

Anyways, yeah, I totally blew it, but even if I don't get the bonus, the financial situation is my own fault. The bonus is just a miraculous Get Out of Jail Free Card that I may or may not get.

Fair enough, and if necessary you can mention that in your chat to show that you recognise it (but, all the right reasons for getting into the financial problem...) You're so damn reasonable and thoughtful, no wonder they rate you. I can think of 4 people I think are reasonable in that way in my organisation of 120 people.

just to be clear, when I said 'my organisation', I don't manage the 120 people and am not the boss of the thing, I'm a lowly middle-manager!

I know what I'll do - I'll slip a $20 underneath his keyboard when he's not looking, just to sweeten the deal. I did that for a job in Chicago ($5, that time) and it actually worked!

ZS it doesn't have to be that complicated. At this point you're just asking at-home boss if you're getting the $1500 bonus away-boss said you would. He'll either say "she said what??" or "of course you are". You're not doing anything wrong.

However, Id really REALLY advise against telling them you have no money in the process. People don't take kindly into feeling guilted into something.

And don't apologize for asking. If there's no bonus to give he'll just tell you so.

In the meantime, make your plans with the assumption that you're not getting that $1500.

bonus moeliek bone us

Well, he already knows that I have no money, so I suppose that's kind of a moot point now.

This would be a lot easier if I were working for Mastercard or something. It's hard when you're asking for a lot of money from an organization that doesn't have much in the first place.

Good luck today ZS!

At work - so nervous!

Thanks ljubljana!

good luck man

Never feel nervous or bad about asking your boss about money that has been offered to you. It's why it's called "work" and not "hanging out with friends".

"CONSIDER IT DONE"

http://www.healthinajiffy.co.uk/images/victory%20v.jpg

YESYESYESYES

THANK YOU EVERYONE

:D :D

See? Told you so.

Man, $1500 is an XBOX360 and so many different kinds of videogames, and candybars, and...

or enough to cover my credit card debt and pay my rent until I get student loan money in early September.

phew.

aw, congratulations! Dan otm.

and...

Treat yourself to some not crap beer dude!

^^We're getting Miller High Life tonight, boys! No more 24 oz PBRs!^^

;)

YESSSSS!

Did at-home boss turn out to know about the offer?

No, he had no clue, as I suspected. The bonus offering boss apparently totally forgot about the whole thing. Now the REAL fun starts - filling out W2 forms and submitting revised budgets to my school!

This has turned out to be a good week, though. Everyone is telling me that I need to go ahead and ask for a real job here (starting next summer). Which would be cool, except that I hate Boulder's guts. But if I was offered a job here and accepted it, I would definitely live in Denver and take the bus down here everyday.

congratulations! that's really cool!

Never feel nervous or bad about asking your boss about money that has been offered to you. It's why it's called "work" and not "hanging out with friends".

-- HI DERE, Monday, July 28, 2008 9:49 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Link

TRUTH BOMB! "WARNING, WARNING, NUCLEAR ATTACK!"

It's why it's called "work" and not "hanging out with friends"

I agree, for the most part.

But at its best, having a job (like this one, at least) can be "working with your friends". And when it turns into that, then asking about money can be as awkward as asking your friend for a couple hundred bucks to cover rent.

uh no, because it is WORK and ergo the main reason everyone is there is to make money

^^^ OTM.

first thing to do, pay off the cash advances you got on your CC. those carry a higher interest rate than other charges. but congrats!