Getting a raise/promotion should be a cause for celebration.

But in this story, it’s a pain in the back pocket.

Let’s check out what goes wrong with this paycheck.

If I’m not a “Full Time” employee…

I went to a “for-profit” film/photography school and was a student worker (PT) in the “equipment check-out” (think camera, audio, lighting, etc… rental) department.

My primary job was repairing damaged equipment, and I was good at it.

Sounds like good cause for a raise…

One of the best managers I have ever had knew I was about to drop out of school in my last year because I couldn’t afford it any more, so she offered me a promotion to full-time, which would allow me to take my final 6 classes at no cost (though I’d be working full-time).

When she approved my promotion (which included my pay-rate doubling!) I started working full-time.

After a few days, she left for a 3 week cruise (a family vacation she had been preparing over a year to take.

With her on PTO, there were now only 2 FT employees in the dept.

The rest were PT student workers, and none of them did repair work.

So he is invaluable. Will everyone recognize his worth?

I’d been working FT for 2 weeks, and she had been on PTO for 1, when paychecks came out…

Mine was 1/2 of what I was expecting. They had not raised my pay-rate.

I went to HR on my lunch break to dispute/discuss, and HR was next to useless: “I’m sorry, but your promotion has not been approved yet.”

“These things take time.”

“It might go through at the end of the month (2 more weeks).”

“This is not personal, it’s just the regulations.”

Um, OK, no. Wonder if he is gonna get back pay… or payback.

I didn’t get mad. I didn’t yell. I simply told the HR rep that I needed to think about it.

So I walked around the rest of my break and thought.

After that, I went back to HR. And told them this:

“For the past 2 weeks, I have been working FT, and repairing equipment at the level of a trained technician. As you have stated, my Full Time position is not yet authorized, and as such I can only work a maximum of 24 hrs per week.

Time is money, and part-money is only good for part-time, right?

“It’s Wednesday afternoon, and I have maxed out my hours for the week.

“I’ll be going home now. I have a dog to walk and a pool to swim in (I was house-sitting for my manager. Did I say that she was awesome?). I’m not quitting. I’ll be back for my regular shift next Monday, and I will be working 24 hrs/wk, at the level of a ‘student worker’.

“I’m sure the pile of broken gear will still be there waiting for me.

“Please understand, there is nothing personal about this… I’m simply following the employee regulations.”

Mic drop. Will HR respond favorably?

At that point I left the campus and drove to the house, walked the dog, and had a swim.

Just before 5pm I got a call: “Matt, can you come in tomorrow morning at 8am. We have some papers for you to fill out to finalize your promotion.”

Long Story Short:

HR/payroll refused to put through a promotion to FT that my manager had approved. I refused to work FT until my promotion was approved.

My manager loved hearing it from HR when she got back.

Great standoff.

What do the comments say?

This person loves the callback.

Someone else says, get that paper… trail!

Another user points out that the state coulda stepped in!

Another person hopes there was back pay.

Another person loves a good callback.

A paycheck shouldn’t involve payback.

He wasn’t ready to get steamrolled.

Thought that was satisfying? Check out what this employee did when their manager refused to pay for their time while they were traveling for business.