I’ve been temping at the same company for the past two years, and during that time have worked at now five different departments. I’ve also temped off and on with the same agency in between jobs for the past, oh, 14 years or so. And for the first time in all that time, I’ve actually asked to be reassigned because the two people I worked for were the most inconsiderate, ignorant, pedantic, ill-tempered, miserable control freaks I’ve ever encountered.
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I carpool, so I need to work M-F 9-5. My first day there I told them this, and they said it wouldn’t be a problem. So what happens? Friday of that week (the Friday of Labor Day weekend) Boss Lady comes up to me at 1:00 and says, “I’m closing the department at 2:00.” I remind her I carpool, and she says, “Well I can’t leave you here alone, so make arrangements.” What, I can’t be trusted? You lock all your doors and I’ve been working for this company for two years, and suddenly I’m a liability? Fortunately for her I’d driven that day, so I was able to leave, and in and of itself, no big deal. (The following week I was on vacation anyway, and they got another temp in to replace me for four days.)
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I return from vacation and find a note placed on my desk addressed to “all Temporary Employee’s {sic} in this deparment,” of which there is one - me. “Please be advised that you are not allowed to turn on your computer, access company e-mail or access the internet unless specifically told to do so.” Nice welcome back, eh? Of course I go into Boss Lady and ask what was up, and she says, “Oh, that has nothing to do with you - the girl who replaced you last week took advantage, so we decided to implement policy. Do you have a problem with that?” Well, being as in all my time here at the company they encourage people to use the internet and e-mail, I told her I was surprised at such a policy, especially since I already had e-mail and a drive on the mainframe. She concedes that I could check e-mail “discretely,” but only if there was nothing to do (which did happen from time to time, as the work ebbed and flowed). She also apologized for the note, and explained that her assistant was just put in charge of “the temps,” so I should bear with her.
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A vendor dropped off some edible goodies one afternoon. Boss Lady and Boss Assistant both talked often and loudly to everyone about the fact that they were coming, how much they were looking forward to it, etc. - everybody, that is, except me. Once they arrived I walked past the table four times, with BL and BA both there, and not once did they even say hello. It wasn’t until another member of the department invited me that I partook.
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The other Admin. Assistant was away on vacation, so Boss Assistant comes up to me and says, “You have to take lunch at 12 so we can have phone coverage.” It must have shown on my face, because she said, “Do you have a problem with that?” I explained that I usually liked to take lunch at 1:00, but sure, I could go at noon while she was away. BA smiles at me and says, “Well it’s not like you have a choice.” (Yeah, not too much of a power trip.)
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Boss Lady comes up to me at 4:45 last week and says she’s leaving and I have to leave, too. I reminded her I have to wait until 5:00, and she says, “Well, it’s department policy, so you have to go.” (I mean, just think of the damage I could cause to this huge corporation in 15 minutes!).
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The next morning Boss Lady says that she saw I had Internet Explorer up while I was shutting down (while she stood there as she kicked me out of the department). As I’d had two hours to kill that day with no work (and I asked constantly to be sure), and she did give me permission to access “discretely,” I said yes, I had. She said she thought she’d made it clear that I wasn’t allowed to access the internet (evidently she was only referring to company e-mail, not the 'net). When I then asked her for suggestions as to what I should do when there was no work to be done (like perhaps have loud arguments with someone over the phone that disturbs the whole office like her assistant does), she said, “That’s department policy, and only you can decide if you want to stay here or not and abide by those rules.” She then turned around and walked away. (Shortly afterwards BA came up all smiles with some work to be done, as if she were glad I got chewed out.)
Needless to say, at this point I called the temp agency and said to get me the hell out of there. I’d never been so degraded and worked over in all my career. All this on top of consistently being treated as “the temp,” to the point of not even using my name when referring to me with other people. (“Oh, that’s the temp’s job.”) And never once was I made to feel part of the team, let alone that my work was valued, as evidenced by the fact that she basically told me “do it or get out” (and for the record, I know what I’m doing and even asked a couple of times if my work was meeting their expectations, and Boss Lady kept telling me there were no problems with my work). Fortunately, everyone else in the department was very, very nice, and totally agreed that I ought to leave rather than be treated like this. (The current temp body count in this department is about 15 in the past 6 months - some were not good workers, some were good and actually lasted, but the majority were perfectly capable but left because BL and BA were such bitches to them.)
Fortunately my agency is all on my side - they started shopping around my resume right away, although it took them a couple of days before they found me something suitable.
So two days ago at 3:00 I went and talked to the folks at a new department, and it seemed like a great fit, so they were excited when I said I could start the next day, as I was eager to leave my current assignment. Now, Boss Lady had no idea I had asked to leave, so at 5:00 I went into her office and told her I needed her to sign my timecard because I wouldn’t be returning. “Oh, ok,” she says, and signs my time card. Then she asks, “Did they find a replacement for you yet?” :rolleyes: I said no, they hadn’t, but they were aware of the situation. She says, “Oh, ok.” Silence. I say, “Did you need any more information about why I’m leaving?” She says, with a smirk, “No, I’m good.” Fine. I said bye and left.
My agency told me they’re not sending them any more temps until they have a meeting with Boss Lady to find out what, exactly, happened in my situation. They know me well enough to know that I’m top-notch and neither incurred nor deserve that kind of treatment. Further, at Boss Lady’s staff’s request, my agency is going to send a summary of what happened to Boss Lady’s bosses, so they can be aware of how she treats her staff.
What a miserable fucking bitch! I come in there to help out, do her slave work that Boss Assistant doesn’t want to do, and they treat me like less than a person. Fuck that!
Fortunately, this new assignment is absolutely great. The first day my cohort and trainer was telling people, “I won’t be in next week, but we have a great new person helping out, his name is Esprix, blah blah blah.” Totally treated me with respect as a person and as a professional. Plus, the whole department is gone all next week in meetings, so I get to hold down the fort on my own - kinda fun. 
Just a pissy week. That’s also why I referenced having limited access to the web over the past few weeks, just in case she pulled my access completely.
What a bitch.
Esprix
