Katsmeow
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2009
- Messages
- 5,308
This deals with whether – or when - I should quit my semi-retirement job. Details below, but basically I am extremely unhappy that I received no bonus for 2013 and no explanation of why. I did great work, so this has nothing to do my work. I speculate it may be because I changed in mid-year from working in the office twice a week to working entirely from home.
In the words of the immortal Clash song:
Should I stay or should I go?
Or, rather, when should I go?
When DH retired in 2010, I intended to also retire. When I went in to retire, I was asked to continue working one day a week. I was asked this by someone I’ve worked with for over 30 years who relied on me as his right hand for all that time.
We worked out that I would be paid an hourly rate, still eligible for bonuses and raises. I started out working one day a week, but later increased to 2 at his request. Since then, I’ve received annual December bonuses and a raise in 2011. This June, I told him I was going to retire completely. He suggested that I work entirely from home to avoid a commute I hated. I agreed. The hours I’ve worked have reduced since then but for 2013, I averaged working 8 hours a week (what I had originally planned on back in 2010).
I was surprised when I received no December bonus. I would have expected a couple of thousand dollars. The most likely speculation I have is that since I don’t come in to the office any more I am not seen as a typical employee (although I am) so they just didn’t give me a bonus. But, my deal made in 2010 was that I would still get raises and bonuses.
Normally I would expect that, if they did try to not give me a bonus, this guy would advocate for me. He did so last year when they wanted to give me a low bonus and they increased it. So, this year maybe they decided to recommend no bonus. It is possible (although unlikely) that he might lose the fight to advocate for me. If so, though, I would have expected him to tell me. So, I have concluded that he didn’t fight for me. Given our over 30 year history, the only thing I can think of is that he thinks of me as more like a “consultant” now than an employee so he doesn’t realize that I still expected a bonus. However, we never had any discussion like that. I am still an employee and nothing changed in June except I don’t physically come to the office.
I am inclined to quit. Financially, I don’t need the job. I was doing it because (1) someone I’ve had a close relationship for over 30 years asked me to and I hated to turn him down and (2) the work wasn’t onerous and was well paid. At this point, I really don’t want to do it any more at all. A big part of me just wants to immediately resign.
But two questions:
1. As an employee on 12/31, I am entitled to participate in the annual discretionary 401k contribution made by my employer. This is not a matching contribution. It is made, usually in March, for the prior year. According to the last summary plan description that I have (from 2010), I am entitled to it as an employee on 12/31. I think I could quit now and still get it. But, I’m not entirely sure. There might be a way to not fund the discretionary contribution that I am eligible for and then for them to fund some other discretionary contribution that I wouldn’t be eligible for. I don’t know if that is possible. So, part of me says the more prudent thing is to wait until the contribution in March before resigning. This is probably $2-3k.
2. Whether to say anything to this guy about not receiving the bonus. I think he has convinced himself that I am OK with not getting a bonus (maybe he thinks that since I was willing to quit in June, I don’t care that much about the money). If so, then I expect to hear him rationalize why he thought I wouldn’t expect a bonus. That will just enrage me. So, that could easily lead to me quitting on the spot. Or, I tell him how wrong he is and I could see that causing hard feelings in a long term relationship. So, part of me says that saying anything is a waste of time and would just cause hard feelings. On the other hand, I sort of feel like if I don’t say anything I am a chump and I guess there is some possibility of some fact that I don’t know.
So I could just quit now and risk forgoing the 401k contribution. Or, I can just say nothing at all about not getting a bonus and quietly doing whatever work comes my way in the next 3 months (it is sporadic – I might work 0 hours one week and 15 hours the next), and then quit after the contribution is made.
Financially, it makes no difference to Firecalc but extra money is extra money even if a small enough amount to not really matter. So just not sure whether to wait or not.
In the words of the immortal Clash song:
Should I stay or should I go?
Or, rather, when should I go?
When DH retired in 2010, I intended to also retire. When I went in to retire, I was asked to continue working one day a week. I was asked this by someone I’ve worked with for over 30 years who relied on me as his right hand for all that time.
We worked out that I would be paid an hourly rate, still eligible for bonuses and raises. I started out working one day a week, but later increased to 2 at his request. Since then, I’ve received annual December bonuses and a raise in 2011. This June, I told him I was going to retire completely. He suggested that I work entirely from home to avoid a commute I hated. I agreed. The hours I’ve worked have reduced since then but for 2013, I averaged working 8 hours a week (what I had originally planned on back in 2010).
I was surprised when I received no December bonus. I would have expected a couple of thousand dollars. The most likely speculation I have is that since I don’t come in to the office any more I am not seen as a typical employee (although I am) so they just didn’t give me a bonus. But, my deal made in 2010 was that I would still get raises and bonuses.
Normally I would expect that, if they did try to not give me a bonus, this guy would advocate for me. He did so last year when they wanted to give me a low bonus and they increased it. So, this year maybe they decided to recommend no bonus. It is possible (although unlikely) that he might lose the fight to advocate for me. If so, though, I would have expected him to tell me. So, I have concluded that he didn’t fight for me. Given our over 30 year history, the only thing I can think of is that he thinks of me as more like a “consultant” now than an employee so he doesn’t realize that I still expected a bonus. However, we never had any discussion like that. I am still an employee and nothing changed in June except I don’t physically come to the office.
I am inclined to quit. Financially, I don’t need the job. I was doing it because (1) someone I’ve had a close relationship for over 30 years asked me to and I hated to turn him down and (2) the work wasn’t onerous and was well paid. At this point, I really don’t want to do it any more at all. A big part of me just wants to immediately resign.
But two questions:
1. As an employee on 12/31, I am entitled to participate in the annual discretionary 401k contribution made by my employer. This is not a matching contribution. It is made, usually in March, for the prior year. According to the last summary plan description that I have (from 2010), I am entitled to it as an employee on 12/31. I think I could quit now and still get it. But, I’m not entirely sure. There might be a way to not fund the discretionary contribution that I am eligible for and then for them to fund some other discretionary contribution that I wouldn’t be eligible for. I don’t know if that is possible. So, part of me says the more prudent thing is to wait until the contribution in March before resigning. This is probably $2-3k.
2. Whether to say anything to this guy about not receiving the bonus. I think he has convinced himself that I am OK with not getting a bonus (maybe he thinks that since I was willing to quit in June, I don’t care that much about the money). If so, then I expect to hear him rationalize why he thought I wouldn’t expect a bonus. That will just enrage me. So, that could easily lead to me quitting on the spot. Or, I tell him how wrong he is and I could see that causing hard feelings in a long term relationship. So, part of me says that saying anything is a waste of time and would just cause hard feelings. On the other hand, I sort of feel like if I don’t say anything I am a chump and I guess there is some possibility of some fact that I don’t know.
So I could just quit now and risk forgoing the 401k contribution. Or, I can just say nothing at all about not getting a bonus and quietly doing whatever work comes my way in the next 3 months (it is sporadic – I might work 0 hours one week and 15 hours the next), and then quit after the contribution is made.
Financially, it makes no difference to Firecalc but extra money is extra money even if a small enough amount to not really matter. So just not sure whether to wait or not.