I'm fed up with being a second rate employee in the eyes of those who sign my paycheck. I've been a contractor for over seven years on the same project, have constantly pleased the end client, have the respect of those I work with, yet am still treated like I'm nothing more than a number by the agencies I've worked through.
Yes, that's right. One project with one client, and I've been contracted through multiple agencies.
I started off with Advecta. Then after a few years some things changed with the end client as a services contract was signed with IBM. Now all contractors and services needed to be routed through IBM. Well, Advecta is not on IBM's preferred vendor list, so IBM brought Synova, which is a preferred vendor, into the picture. Now instead of being contracted directly to the end client from Advecta I get routed from Advecta to Synova to IBM to the end client. Where there was once just one agency, there were suddenly three. During this time Advecta rolls back up into ProStaff. As soon as that happens I become eligible to receive six holidays a year and two service bonuses a year. So after 1400 hours and again at 2000 hours on the project I can request a service bonus equivalent to a week's pay. That was the closest I've come to feeling like I was being treated like a real person in the contracting agency's eyes.
Of course, sooner or later three hands in the cookie jar will empty the jar much faster than just one hand. It seems that ProStaff wasn't making much money off of my contract due to excessive fees from Synova. Of course, Synova claims that they weren't making any money from my contract either and that their cut didn't even cover the cost of processing my paperwork. Suddenly I'm just some number again to both companies and the decision was made that my contract needed to change so that someone would make more money off of me. Fine. Whatever. As long as I can work it really doesn't matter who signs my paycheck, right? Not quite.
ProStaff made the decision and signed the paperwork to transfer me to Synova two weeks before the cut over date. ProStaff did not notify me of this until four days before they were to end my contract. In the mean time, Synova never bothered to send me any paperwork, I had to request it from them. In getting their paperwork I found out that I would lose my holidays and bonuses and end up with a contract that I did not agree with. Synova attempted to recalculate out a new rate which would include the lost wages, however their calculations were flawed. They still assumed that I would work a full forty hours over holiday weeks (so try working forty hours in three days over Thanksgiving week). Then to sweeten the deal they rounded up to the next dollar. Thanks guys, you screw me on the few benefits I have and then you basically give me a raise of twenty three cents an hour. Twenty three cents! And they wondered why I was less than grateful to them.
Enter VICCS into the picture. I wasn't going to put up with Synova and their poor math skills and iron clad contract which would prevent me for doing any computer work for a year after I leave. I received a truncated list of other IBM approved vendors and researched what benefits they would might have. VICCS had the best I could find so I contacted them basically offering them a free contract where they could make some money while I could still be paid.
Unfortunately ProStaff didn't give me enough time to do any negotiating, so while I was working with VICCS and waiting for their final offer (and trying to negotiate with Synova just to see where I could take it) I effectively went on strike. I had no contract, so couldn't work. And other than the one day I did work since one of the end client managers told me that since they still considered me employed I could still work and that they would figure out how to pay me retroactively I didn't work. IBM caught me at the end of the day in the office and informed me that I had to vacate the premises since I did not have a contract. They didn't seem very pleased that I was hoodwinked into working that day without a contract and that consequently I couldn't be paid for the work I just did. The end client didn't like that I told them I was on strike and refused to help them.
In the end though it worked out, VICCS came through for me and I ended up with another dollar and change above Synova's offer as well as four holidays a year. The contract is better too. I can work on a computer after I leave this post. The only thing I won't be able to do is try and get hired at a company that they presented me as a candidate to for one year. Of course, since I went to them on my own, that leaves my options wide open. I think I can live with that. As for the benefits, it's still not what I had, but it's a start. I don't know who's happier though about the contract being signed. The end client is thrilled that I can work again after a week of down time. I'm just happy that I'll be starting to collect a paycheck again after a week of no pay.
Or will I get paid? I turned in my time sheet on time, my line manager at the end client approved my time, but after a week IBM still had not approved my time sheet and I was contacted by VICCS asking if I had started work or not as they had not yet received an approved time sheet from me. At this point I don't know if it was just an honest oversight, or some spiteful action on IBM's behalf to make me sweat after what they see was a frivolous waste of time. IBM has one more business day to approve my time, otherwise I'll end up going another two weeks before getting paid again.
All in all though this entire experience has shown me that as a contractor, and hourly employee, it doesn't matter what I do or how skilled I am. In the long run I will have no future. Going full time somewhere isn't going to make me any more secure about if my job will be around from month to month, but it will mean that I will no longer be reliant on others for contracts and paychecks. I'm tired of being a number. I just want to focus on doing my job. I shouldn't have to waste two weeks negotiating my contract every year.
