I deserve it....

My week did not start right.

Rewind: I worked as a temporary PA for the GM of this COMPANY last November. I politely asked if there's a chance I could get hired permanently and he said (GM) that he'll see what he can do and he will let me know at the end of the month.

I waited. And true to his word, he said there's not just one offer for me, but two. Two department managers are interested. That's great news right?! So by December, I was officially working for Department B.* Not as a PA, but as a coordinator. Naturally, my salary package is a bit higher now that I am a coordinator. I expected this to take effect from the day that I started working in this position.

December pay day came. My salary did not increase. I was still paid as a temporary PA. I discussed this with the Department B* manager, my manager. He said he will sort it out. Meanwhile I should coordinate with the HR for processing of my visa. So I did. On 8th of Jan I received my "offer letter". I signed it even though I'm not really satisfied with what they are offering.

First, my basic salary was way below what I was getting from my previous job.
However, they did put everything in my allowances. Meaning I still get the total
amount of my salary exactly the way we agreed but my bonuses and severance pay
will be affected as those are calculated based on the basic salary.

Second, nobody discussed with me "this" offer. I came to know that the
COMPANY does not provide annual ticket for employees, they do not provide
medical insurance (for junior staff), and a lot more. These things are very
important when you are working abroad. I am very picky when it comes to
transferring to companies as expats don't really have a choice when we decide to
work full time for any company....its very complicated.

January passed and still I did not recieve my full salary. The GM told me (verbally) to get my reimbursement from the cashier. The COMPANY now owes me 2 months retroactive salary. I talked to my manager about this and he said he will speak to the concerned people blah blah...

In the middle of all this, Admin department slaps me with some great news. They said I have to pay for my employment processing as I am a special case. Having transferred from another company, the Ministry of Labor charged them with fines and other fees amounting to AED 8100. That's a whopping PHP 104,000. I could already start a small business back home with that amount!!

As far as I am concerned this has got nothing to do with me. Why? because they made the offer to ME. They hired ME eventho they know that I will be transferring from another company. They should know fees comes with transfers.

So my manager asks me, is it ok if you pay? He said that he has already tried to talk the management out of it but its either I pay or he looks for another coordinator. He said he wants me for the job. In all honesty, I also need this job. It's a huge company and I got good exposure here. Plus the fact that they already processed my visa, this means I won't be able to transfer again until after a year of working with them. They really left me no choice. So I said, if there's nothing else we can do, I would be happy to pay in installments.

(Note that at this point, the total amount was not mentioned, I was under the impression that it would be around AED 3000 only.)

By March, they asked me to sign documents. Insurance, Bank accounts, Company policy chuva ek ek. I still haven't received my retro active salary. They deducted AED 700 from my salary because of those fees (this is when I came to know the total amount).

It's too much to bear. I didn't really know what I was getting into because I trusted the management. They treat me right, sure. But when it comes to money matters....I can only shake my head in disappointment. Out of frustration I emailed my manager and asked if he can help me to convince the admin to reconsider. I would gladly pay in instalments but only half of the expense as it is too much for me to take on alone.

The next day he told me that he spoke to the GM and they both agreed to waive the fees. I could only sigh in relief. Little did I know that this would be another reason for me to get disappointed. They quickly reimbursed me for the AED 700 they deducted earlier and then I followed up on the retro salary.

A few days after they told me that my money is now ready. I went to the cashier and took what they owe me only to find out that they will only pay me for one month retro. Because, they said, my offer letter was only signed in January.

What the hell?!!! It was their delay. They should have given me the offer from the day I started working...which was in December. hay...

My boss then told me to let it go because we just asked for the GM's help regarding the employment fees. We wouldn't want to abuse his good heart. He also said that he'll make it up to me. Reluctantly I let go of the issue. Because it looked like a dead end. But I did it with a heavy heart. And I will never forget this.

So to quote Minday: "I'd be lying if I said it's not about the money, because I worked for that money. Bottomline is, I deserved that money."

I do deserve that money.