Correct - there’s no need for medical care in the benefits, but some companies offer prescription plans, dental benefits, eye-exams and glasses - things that aren’t covered by medicare.
Vacation/holiday pay are set by statute, so that’s not included in benefits.
Some companies do offer a pension plan, but that varies tremendously.
Because WRT this particular job,
Do you really think this would be a good place to work? That the OP would be treated fairly here? In an interview, they’re not just interviewing you, you’re interviewing them.
For a year long contract. Which isn’t indentured servitude, you can quit the contract in the middle - often without much in reprocussions. We don’t know if he’d be treated fairly here, because we don’t know - nor does he - what is actually happening on the other end - if its a pain in the butt HR person, if the company is financially struggling, if the boss is an ass, if the company is just one of those really shitty places.
Right now he has no engineering job, no prospect of an engineering job in the immediate future - a shitty job - and I’ve worked some shitty jobs - is better than no job unless you are actually being abused (said by someone who was raped at work, my abuse bar is somewhat higher than bait and switch during interviewing). And as a recent college grad, he isn’t really in a great negotiating position - as he’s discovered.
My response would be very different if there was something better on the horizon. There isn’t. Or if he were currently working an engineering job - he isn’t. Or if he were in an region where there was a shortage of engineers - he isn’t.
It depends how shitty the job is. If you have a job that absolutely runs you ragged, this may make it harder to pursue other opportunities.
It’s not permanent. It’s temporary. He can keep looking while working there and - he’ll have an income. If he doesn’t need an income, why look for a job, go volunteer somewhere fun.
It’s not like we’ve never had a crappy job before.
Then he gives notice. He be no worse off than he is right now if he quit after 2 weeks.
Did you understand, at the second interview, what a ‘Contract Position’ is?
I did them for 25 years - there are no benefits for contract. In the US, contractors get 1099’s not W-2’s.
It is NOT an version of ‘Employee’. You are not oon the payroll, you are on the Accounts Payable.
Is this getting through?
If, after being told that it would be a contract position, you still accepted, you have no right to bitch about ‘no benefits’. The difference between what the Engineer said and what HR said was inexcusable - he should have had budget in hand before making an offer.
It sounds like he thought he could get budget for 35 but was told he could get only a budget for 30.
The bit about exceeding the original amount (which couldn’t be gotten) was nothing short of tone-deaf.
Had it been me, I would have dropped you and been thoroughly disgusted with you for that stunt.
You were expected to offer 32.50. If 35 was available, the original offer woould have stood. What, exactly, did you think a number higher would do?
At least now you know what a contract job is.
So you just do your work, draw your check, and keep looking. If you’re already actively looking for work elsewhere, then it’s not like they can use threats to fire you or something. You’re totally cool with not working for them. Meanwhile: Some income is better than no income.
Granted two caveats:
It’s easier to look for a job when you’re not always working (But then again–the longer you’re without a job, the harder it is to actually find one), and
Like I said, the OP could be totally comfortable having no income for now.
This isn’t quite always the case.
My husband and I are both contract employees. I’m an hourly W-2 employee of my contract firm - which offers (lousy) benefits (we get them on the open market, except for vision). I’m on a contract at my client through my employer. They pay my employment taxes and when my contract ends, I’ll qualify for unemployment between contracts. They take a big piece of my bill rate (I’m marked up almost double), but they also do the sales.
My husband is a corp to corp contractor with an S-Corp. He gets no benefits (other than the ones provided through our two person S-Corp :)), but he keeps almost everything off his bill rate (he bills through another company that takes a very small amount to do the accounting). We pay all taxes and when between contracts he is SOL. He does his own networking for jobs.
If you pull a bait and switch after a job offer has already been made and accepted, you don’t get to whine when they don’t roll over for your bullshit.
Interestingly*, in the US at least the verbal contract for $35 would not fall under the Statute of Frauds because a one-year contract can be performed within one year and be enforceable.
Now, proving the existence of the contract could be difficult and perhaps that the person talking had authority to bind the company.
*maybe
Good gawd, even you don’t get it?
YOU are NOT a contractor - YOU are an employee. The two are not even close from a legal position.
You may act and look like a contractor, but you are an employee. You get paid even if you are not on a job.
Again:
1099 vs. W-2
AP vs payroll
If you don’t get paid, there are laws about ‘theft of services’.
If a contractor does not get paid, all he can do is sue for breach of contract.
I don’t see anyone whining. The company simply moved on to the next guy - who was probably offered a $30 contract out of the gate. Usedtobe is saying he’d be thoroughly disgusted, as would I. I’ve received, over the course of my career, several opportunities because I left a good impression behind - and there have been a few opportunities I’ve been able to give to someone who gave me a good impression. Countering with $37 burned that bridge. If the situation was out of the manager’s control, when the economy picks up and he is looking for a salaried engineer at a respectable rate, McJesus will not be the guy he thinks about calling to see if he’s available.
No, I don’t get paid if I’m not on a job. In the industry its called a W-2 contract position rather than a 1099 contract position - and my husband isn’t even a 1099 contract position, he’s a corp to corp contract position - he gets a W-2, but it comes from me as the corporate treasurer. And he doesn’t get paid if he isn’t working because there is no income to pay him with.
You can be an employee with a contract. It doesn’t mean you are an outside contractor with your own business, it means you have a contract establishing the terms of the employment instead of just being an at will employee. You will receive a W2, you will be paid by regular payroll.
“Professionalism” is a word used by HR to shame people into doing things and accepting less than they normally would.
I’m been a mechanical engineer for ~35 years of which 10-15 would be considered contract. It’s really ALWAYS about the money (even at Google 
) although some jobs are more fun or lucrative than others. Generally you don’t get a written offer until the hiring supervisor or HR calls you. They’re feeling you out and if the call goes well you MAY get an offer letter (but no letter reduces lawsuits) or you may see an offer document when you report to work.
I guess it’s good that you stood up for what you thought your needed. But if you could have lived with the $30/hour job…well now you know… As a contractor, HR would have been signed up with one of the large contract / temp houses and maybe THEY now know to take you seriously and would now be interested in shopping you around. Look into that - they probably already have your resume’ - that’s why they’re called job shops.
FWIW in my first engineering job the engineering manager offered the same job to me and another candidate. To his surprise we both accepted, him 2 weeks before me. It was obvious they hadn’t planned the job I was given and when times got tough, I was laid off at Christmas after 6 months. Professional huh?
The best word I can give you is that you’re still used to living like a college student and there are other opportunities, especially if you’re willing to move. They WILL come along, good luck.
PS - Look into job shopping. Search for the sites CEWeekly or Roadwhore (Yep! Their old name…) - shopping in oil field services can mean big bucks for young guys willing to move or travel.
I took a job with the promise of a certain wage, then moved 400 miles, rented an apartment etc. then, on the first day of work, they tell me they can only pay me about half as much. :rolleyes:
Fuckers.
We don’t offer any money until we talk to HR. There are two possibilities - one is the manager is an incompetent moron, who has no idea or how the hiring process works and offered a rate out of his ass, or else HR approved $35 and then changed their mind, jerking the OP around one more time. Disgusted at the counteroffer? The manager should be ashamed of himself or the company. It’s just a negotiation - if you get disgusted by an offer during a negotiation you really should not be involved. If they wanted the OP he could have said $32.50 or something.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the position really had disappeared, and if the OP had agreed to it he’d get mail rescinding an offer. That does happen sometimes, but cutting the quality of the job and then the pay is a shit move.
Taking the job ties him down in Alberta for a year. He’d be better off leaving Alberta for a place with more opportunities (yes, even if it’s expensive) or going back to school for an advanced degree (hopefully, somewhere in a better job market). Either of those are better for his future than working for someone who’s already trying to screw him over.
The idea that he’s just some serf who isn’t entitled to honesty or respect is the reason that companies think they can get away with lying and harming their employees.