I have, MAYBE 90 days. Perhaps I should change that and say 90 relatively secure days.
Friday was our office secretary�s last day. After four years, she had enough of Mr. Lucky and took another job. I�ll miss her as she was good at what she did. Since she was leaving, she figured she didn�t need to keep any confidences so over lunch she dropped a couple bombshells Mr. Lucky had told her not to tell me.
First, Mr. Lucky has appointed a new Chief Operating Officer. A 35 year old woman who works from her home in Georgia. She started five years ago or so as a junior engineer and is now a project manager, similar to what I do (but without any knowledge of the inner workings of the company structure or processes). She has no experience whatsoever running a company. You may be furrowing your brows as that doesn�t sound like a very brilliant move, but let me add to your consternation. Our company�s offices are in Virginia. And while, with the internet, our project managers and engineers can collaborate and work from anywhere, she has stepped foot in the office maybe four times. She has never, in five years, had any involvement in the business processes or company structure.
And last year the biggest project she managed went bust. I wrote off the entire project billing - $1,000,000 (yes, that�s 6 zeros) when the client threatened to sue. That was one-half of the company�s total gross profit. But she remained his darling anyway.
�Mr. Lucky, do you know what the title COO means?� I asked. �It means she is in charge of the company. She makes the day to day operating decisions, including the financial ones. Without necessarily consulting you.�
�But I�ll still be CEO,� he challenged. In other words � he didn�t get it.
For instance, last week (without reviewing job descriptions) she sent a nasty email to one of the new engineers demanding that she perform certain tasks for which she was not hired, and that were not part of her contracted and agreed upon job description. The engineer quit the next day.
On Friday she sent an email requiring the new secretary to call a �friend� she knew who brokered health insurance. She had absolutely no clue that a company with under 10 employees was not guarantee issue. Nor did she understand that each insurance company has a different list of participating doctors and hospitals. Or that we need a national company with combined billing because we have employees in four states. Or how it would affect myself and other employees with pre-existing conditions.
And please don�t take this the wrong way � I am not racist. But she is Indian, and having dealt with our Indian office for many years there is a bargain hunting thriftiness innate to the culture. It is the only way businesses operate in India. A brother knows a cousin who has an uncle whose wife�s brother can get it to you cheaper, better, and more reliably. And it works extremely well�..in India.
The secretary went on to say that her replacement was getting worried. Apparently the new COO had informed her about some potential changes in her job description. They would include marketing � which she had no interest in doing - and the business accounting, which I do.
�Since I am fired, how do you expect me to continue to pay my half of the household bills, and my medical charges and other expenses once my projects are wrapped up?� I questioned (as you may remember, he fired me several weeks ago with orders to finish up my current projects, although I have continued to work unimpeded in the accounting because there is no one else who can do it). �You understand that if I�m not on the company payroll I cannot be insured and I may not find another job quickly.�
�Oh, I�ll find some way for you to make some money, � he replied. �And we can just leave you on the payroll so you can have insurance.�
Again, someone who hasn�t a clue. Cause, see, you can�t do that. �Payroll� means the employees shown on the quarterly tax filings. And disability coverage (and unemployment) is based on the income shown on those forms. In other words � FUCKED again.
�I�ll think about it in a week or so when everything gets into place.� And so he left it as he went out of town for a week.
Tonight, when he called to have me arrange a new hotel booking (no, he didn�t know how to dial 411 for the phone number) I noticed an appointment on his schedule I hadn�t seen before. A visit to a trust attorney on the 22nd. And a copy of the information form he filled out and emailed to them. The only place I appear on the form is under �notify in case of death�. If the house and business get into a trust before I can stop it, I will get nothing. Ever.
So yeah, I figure I�ve got about 90 days. If I don�t get onto state COBRA coverage by December 31 I could lose it. And trust documents can go quickly once they get into the works. I had a few bad hours today, but now � well - I suppose it�s just one more thing to worry about tomorrow.
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