Rights and Freedoms and Stuph

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It seems that I have become the Vacation Time Spokesperson at work. You see, in California, we have a few little laws. You can earn vacation time, but it has the same properties as work time. If you leave the company (for ANY reason, whether a layoff, you quit, or the company closes), you get paid for your vacation time. You can accumulate vacation time, but the only way to lose it is to get paid for it or to actually take a vacation. It just keeps adding up year to year. There are mechanisms for placing a cap on the maximum, vacation time cannot simply be taken away for no reason.

Our parent company, based in Canada, just reset our vacation time. Of course, the changes to the employee handbook have been available and published for 6 months. (I am reminded of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: “Mr. Dent, the plans have been available and on display in the local planning office for the last nine months.” “On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar to find them.” “That's the display department.” “With a flashlight.” “Ah, well, the lights had probably gone.” “So had the stairs.” “But look, you found the notice, didn't you?” “Yes, yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying 'Beware of the Leopard.'”). Anyway, the new policy says if you do not take your vacation time in the year you earned it, you lose it. This is in direct opposition to the FAQ listed on the California Labor Board site. Fortunately, I have the HR lady, the CEO, and the COO behind me in this fight against the parent company. They had kind of known about this (and even argued against the parent company a little), but now it seems I am the unifying catalyst (scapegoat?) that they can all rally behind. This has been going on for 4 days now. We'll see where it goes.

Several people have linked to Federal V.I.P. Penn, including substitute and jwz. Nobody seems to have noticed the other writings on the site, including Security Edition Penn. This, in turn, has a link to The Bill of Rights: Security Edition, the coolest version of the Bill of Rights I have seen in a long time. It is stamped onto a business card sized piece of metal, with the 4th amendment highlighted. It is just the kind of thing you can “accidentally” leave in your shirt pocket at security checkpoints. “I'm sorry, sir, but I am going to have to take away your Bill of Rights.” I just got mine in the mail yesterday. I am not entirely sure what I will be doing with them, since I am a little too chicken to take one through airport security, but they have made some great conversation pieces.

Posted in: Work

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