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Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Hey there. Let me tell you the history of my paycheck so far. When I was plutoed last Oxtober/November, my pay went from salaried to hourly, and took a big cut. So the first check I got after moving to the new old store was for my last stint as a salaried player. The next check was hourly, and the rate was completely wrong, and not to my favor, I might add. So, I addressed it with HR, and she said that she would fix it. For the next pay period, I worked a week, and then had surgery. I took a week of vacation for the recuperation time. My next check only had hours for the time worked the first week, no vacation hours, and no sick hours, which I had to use for a day during that time. And of course, the money owed from the check with the wrong rate of pay was not there. So, I addressed it with HR, and she said that she would fix it. So the next week I worked, and then had the planned vacation over the holiday week. That check had the right amount of hours. It did not have the previous week of vacation still owed, from the surgery week, nor the adjustment for the hourly rate mistake. So, I adressed it with HR, and she said that she would fix it. In 1997, I signed an agreement with the company on my move to Atlanta. I agreed to a three-year committment. They agreed on moving expenses, etc. One of the things in that agreement was a cost of living adjustment, hereafter known as COLA, not because I want to sound official, but because it's easier to type. The COLA was a little bump extra on every biweekly check, actually less than $100, but useful. It was not part of any salary calculations. In the entire decade (almost) that I've been here, it has travelled with me to every position, from department manager to assistant manager to department manager to assistant manager to sales manager to specialist to sales manager, at every stop. A few years ago, I got an official notice from Lowe's that the COLA program had changed somewhat, but that the program was still in effect, not to worry. In fact, if memory serves me, the amount went up a couple of bucks. It took me until this check to realize that the COLA is not there anymore. In all the excitement of all the other things I had to look at, I guess I just missed it. I checked through my stubs (they are available online to me), and sure enough, the COLA has been gone since the change in pay. So, I addressed it with HR, and she said nothing. After some thought, she told me that she had heard through the grapevine, someone said that they were going to take away my COLA. I left the printouts for her to work with, as she looks into it. Which brings me to my current state of mind, which is not good. Why was a conversation being held about my COLA? When I was demoted, I was told that my job performance was not good enough. Here's a job for you. We're going to cut your salary by 18%. And you'd better be thankful that we're such great guys, or we'd have cut it much further, maybe by 35%. And we're taking away any bonuses you would have earned as a manager of a Lowe's store. We're not just busting you down, we're busting you down three levels below your current level. And if you don't like it, "then you don't have a job." That's a quote from the guy delivering the news. After that moment, I should have been officially "over" as a concern to any upper level management at Lowe's. I certainly felt that way, and have worked under the assumption that I'm out of the way now, tucked away in the back corner of a store, and should not pose any sort of a problem to anyone other than someone directly concerned with my daily activities, such as a supervisor. I punch in and out, and use my fourteeen years of experience to make sure the floor gets swept. I certainly should not be a topic of conversation for a manager/district manager, which is about the only combination of people who would have a conversation with any chance of discussing the topic of a COLA. Why was a conversation being held about my COLA? Who did the HR person hear? She wouldn't have heard it any place except her office, so there could only be a certain set of people who were talking. Why was I the topic of a conversation among those individuals, which almost has to include the person who would have signed off on my demotion, the district manager? The only other people who would have had any reason to be discussing COLA in the first place would be the area HR and the store manager. Why was I the topic of that conversation? If it's because the program has been cancelled for anyone who is hourly, then the area HR may have been talking about it, especially since no one has informed me of that. Why would the store manager be discussing my COLA? It could be a payroll issue, but the amount would not have much of an effect on the store's payroll percentage, so I doubt that was it. That means, if it was him, he had to be in discussion with one of the other two people, and the area HR isn't around much. Why was I the topic of that discussion? Why am I on the forefront of someone's mind enough for them to state that they were going to take away my COLA? Why am I on the district manager's mind? Why are they still thinking of me at all? I'm virtually in Siberia, as it is. I'm holding up my end of the bargain, showing up and working as a drone, and not doing anything to stir up trouble. Nothing. I haven't bellyached, bitched, been negative, or talked quietly and low in the back room on conspiritorial topics. But evidently, that is not the case with them. All this leads me to believe this--I didn't quit, and they want me gone. That conversation almost had to be along the lines of "how's he doing, what, he's still here, what can we do to make him quit, to push him hard enough to move?" Or, "when I demoted him, I forgot to include that we were taking away the COLA, too, so when we tell him, he'll probably quit." No, I'm not being paranoid. I know how these people operate. I was one of them for a long time. No, I am right, or I'm really close to right. I will get some kind of information today. I promise to let you know how it fits into my little conspiracy theory here.
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