More from The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves -

[Nazgul Girl]

    So this morning, I woke up and read ( to parapharase ) from my boss:

   " Holiday vacations from the dates of 12/22/13 to 1/3/13 are cancelled."   " We must all work together as a group to get the excess doctor charges coded."   " Mandatory overtime is five hours per week."

    In another transmission from the big boss ( the uber-manager, not my immediate boss ), I find out that our big "Christmas party" dinner is going to be pizza, lettuce with Italian dressing and a few tired tomatos thrown on it, and soda.   That's $ 7 a head, folks.   I'm not attending.   In the meantime, employees of my old departmentare being taken out to dinner at an elegant restaurant in town.

   I don't mind working overtime to help the department.   I do mind having my holday plans cancelled two weeks before the holidays for both weeks of the holiday season.   The management already cancelled all days off for May, June and July, including time around Memorial Day and 4th of July.  

   Makes you want to really stick around ( I'm not ).   

   I'd put the actual email in here, but well, if someone recognizes it, I could really get my ass into trouble. 

   We met with our financial planner last night.   We do have far and enough in savings for me to continue with my retirement plans.   I am very happy I'm not staying.   We used to have twelve coders to do a certain amount of work.   NOW, we have 6 coders left, ( the rest either transferred out or retired ), and one new hire who is rather incompetent and working at half capacity.

   I am tired of being punished for the management's lack of (whatever ).  Glad I'm getting out.  

   
   

[zibazinski]

Reminds me of teaching. Very sad.

[Nazgul Girl]

   Thanks, Zib.   Yes, I think that the comparison is a good one.   In the meantime, my employer put up an obnoxious,  $3,000,000 electronic sign by the sports stadium.   It's really gaudy.

[busymom]

"Please sir, may I have some more?"  No wonder people are quitting & starting their own businesses.  There is NO respect shown employees anymore...

[emma1420]

Dec 6, 2013 17:23:44 GMT -5 Nazgul Girl said:

    So this morning, I woke up and read ( to parapharase ) from my boss:

   " Holiday vacations from the dates of 12/22/13 to 1/3/13 are cancelled."   " We must all work together as a group to get the excess doctor charges coded."   " Mandatory overtime is five hours per week."

    In another transmission from the big boss ( the uber-manager, not my immediate boss ), I find out that our big "Christmas party" dinner is going to be pizza, lettuce with Italian dressing and a few tired tomatos thrown on it, and soda.   That's $ 7 a head, folks.   I'm not attending.   In the meantime, employees of my old departmentare being taken out to dinner at an elegant restaurant in town.




   

What happens if you already have holiday plans that include things like plane tickets or other non refundable travel plans?  Does you employer reimburse for those out of pocket expenses for the last minute notice?  I"m assuming not as to thank you they are treating you to the cheapest possible holiday party.

I would assume that everyone in that department is looking for a new job.  Because I don't think you can treat people that way and expect them to stay.  It's one thing to not allow anyone to schedule vacation during a busy time, it's another to allow them to schedule that time and then inform them that they have to cancel their plans.

[Sum Dum Gai]

I had better vacation treatment when I was active duty military during war time.  Your boss needs a serious reality check.

[Jaguar]

Naz what did you do ? Geez what they did is the shits, but don't spite yourself. All the best and get out of there ASAP.

[deantrip]

Good luck Naz, it's a tough situation, I wish you could give notice and have your holidays!

[MN-Investor]

If you refuse to change your plans, would they fire you? Is it possible to push back?

[Nazgul Girl]

Dec 6, 2013 18:07:56 GMT -5 @tbird said:

when do you give notice nozgul?

Where you tempted to do so today?

    I came close.   I did notify my manager last month  that we were buying airline tickets and renting a condo for a vacation later on this winter, and turned in the request for vacation time at the same time.   Since then, we have paid for every penny of the vacation.   It's a considerable expense for us, so if they will not grant me the time off after I requested it several months in advance, the day before we leave will be my last day at the job .   No problem.

    My employer is a public institution, so those with airline tickets are out of luck.   I know of 5 coders out of the 7 left on our team who are either looking for a new job, or retiring ( myself included ).  

    We're having a "team" meeting next week, as well as a big coding department meeting before our superb Christmas pizza party.   I expect both to be quite lively !! 

[Nazgul Girl]

    I will be taking a vacation later on this winter which is not a stay-cation, so I will work until then at least.   I will volunteer to give any possible good-doobie days off which may materialize if we are good little coders to others, since I at least work from home most of the time.  

   Yes, I wanted to email my notice in today .   But, I already gave it for the end of June, 2014 LOLOL.   I think you can all understand why.   I don't think management gets it, though.  

[Nazgul Girl]

Dec 6, 2013 18:29:55 GMT -5 MN-Investor said:

If you refuse to change your plans, would they fire you? Is it possible to push back?

    My vacation for the holidays was requested between Christmas and New Years, and ws to be a stay-cation with a couple of small family gatherings.   We'll just change the dates to the weekend between Christmas and New Years.  Others had out-of-town vacations planned, though.   I don't know what they're going to do.   IT really stinks.

[justme]

You should buy one of the small flags that say that and leave it on your desk when you leave if they won't give you the time off.

[JustLurkin]

Dec 6, 2013 18:32:45 GMT -5 Nazgul Girl said:

    I will be taking a vacation later on this winter which is not a stay-cation

The time off I will be having soon is a stay-cation...I have to be off because school is closed...which I understand is not the job's "problem"...but I notified them months ago I would need the time...why didn't they prepare better and authorize the overtime before the holidays began...I consider lack of planning to not be my "problem".

[Deleted]

I did notify my manager last month that we were buying airline tickets and renting a condo for a vacation later on this winter, and turned in the request for vacation time at the same time. Since then, we have paid for every penny of the vacation. It's a considerable expense for us, so if they will not grant me the time off after I requested it several months in advance, the day before we leave will be my last day at the job . No problem.

OK, got it, Naz, I'm sorry, I'm being slow here. So your vacation falls OUTSIDE their end-of-2013 "no vacation allowed" time. Is there any risk of them telling you to zap that (paid for vacation)?

Yes, I wanted to email my notice in today . But, I already gave it for the end of June, 2014 LOLOL. I think you can all understand why. I don't think management gets it, though.

And I don't either, I'm afraid.  Can you spell it out for me?

[Deleted]

But, they are nucking futz. They will end up with NOBODY! 

I am very curious as to why you are retiring in June 2014, instead of yesterday, but I know there is a reason, ie something I've missed. 

I would have thought, you should bring forward your timeline, and retire ASAP. And then offer to "help out", on your own schedule. Best of both worlds. Definitely not ideal if you were hoping to get another job elsewhere, but you're not, you're retiring. 

ETA: Is June or July 2014 when that new "coding" thing (10? something like that) gets implemented? If so, I think I get why you are retiring then. 

[Nazgul Girl]

Dec 6, 2013 21:11:38 GMT -5 @debthaven2 said:

I did notify my manager last month that we were buying airline tickets and renting a condo for a vacation later on this winter, and turned in the request for vacation time at the same time. Since then, we have paid for every penny of the vacation. It's a considerable expense for us, so if they will not grant me the time off after I requested it several months in advance, the day before we leave will be my last day at the job . No problem.

OK, got it, Naz, I'm sorry, I'm being slow here. So your vacation falls OUTSIDE their end-of-2013 "no vacation allowed" time. Is there any risk of them telling you to zap that (paid for vacation)?

Yes, I wanted to email my notice in today . But, I already gave it for the end of June, 2014 LOLOL. I think you can all understand why. I don't think management gets it, though.

And I don't either, I'm afraid.  Can you spell it out for me?

    Sorry, I'm not being clear here.   Vacation number one is a week that I requested between Christmas and New Year's, and is a stay-cation for me.   However, everyone's vacations have been cancelled from 12/22/13 to 1/3/14, which I consider to be grossly unfair with only two week's notice.

    Vacation # 2 is a paid-up week in Florida in a very nice condo on a very nice island near the Florida Keys, at the end of January.   That one hasn't been approved yet, but I did ask my boss for the time off back in November, and told her that we were putting down the deposit on the condo, and ordering the airline tickets that night, and that I wanted to make sure that she would give me the time off.   She said that she would, but it's not in writing, and now, the end of each month is an emergency, because we don't have enough staff, and business is actually up at the hospital.   If they won't give me leave for that vacation, I will have to resign the day before our vacation in Florida starts, since we can't take the hit and lose the money, and I don't want to take my laptop down there to work.


    I did miscount our coders which are left.   We have seven from our old team, and the incompetent new hire.   We code all hospital charges for cardiology, gastroenterology, infectious disease, nephrology, hematology, oncology, transplants, and several other specialties, plus do various surgeries, and resolve numerous ( as in hundreds ) of outpatient charge edits.   Plus, I have some other side duties, all on 32 hours per week. 


   Hope this clears things up.
    Right now, I have 148 hours of PTO saved up, so it would nice to be able to take a day or too off for the holidays. 

[Nazgul Girl]

Dec 6, 2013 21:24:46 GMT -5 @debthaven2 said:

But, they are nucking futz. They will end up with NOBODY! 

I am very curious as to why you are retiring in June 2014, instead of yesterday, but I know there is a reason, ie something I've missed. 

I would have thought, you should bring forward your timeline, and retire ASAP. And then offer to "help out", on your own schedule. Best of both worlds. Definitely not ideal if you were hoping to get another job elsewhere, but you're not, you're retiring. 

ETA: Is June or July 2014 when that new "coding" thing (10? something like that) gets implemented? If so, I think I get why you are retiring then. 

  It's 3 months short of when it starts, and they are not giving any vacation time off for May, June and July of next year, so I thought I would retire a few months earlier than 10/1/14 ( when the new codes begin ), and enjoy my summer.   I was staying until June 30th, when the fiscal year ends, to help out my team.

   I guess we'll have to see, now.   And yes, they're "nucking futz."   Their lack of staffing, good managment decisions, and just being poor planners does not make it my emergency. 

[Deleted]

Thanks for explaining Naz. It's too late here now but I will get back to you tomorrow. 

[8 Bit WWBG]

That is a darn shame.  Many tickets are non-refundable.  The cheapest way out might be to pay the fee (sometimes a few hundred) to reschedule, but who is to say this won't happen again.

Yeah, I would be very angry and looking for a new job as quickly as possible.  It makes me wonder too -- when everyone inevitably quits, and nobody can do the work; can you come back as a contractor at triple your old rate?

[Deleted]

Wow.  That is truly horrible planning and strategy!  I'm glad you've got good exit strategy lineups 

[Nazgul Girl]

    I don't want to quit right now, for several reasons.   If I work until June 30th, I will have another $ 16,000 to
$ 18,000 cash to put toward retirement, and if I quit in 2013, I will lose the opportunity for us to max our Roth's for 2014.   My DH is retired, so I am the only wage-earner.  I would be able to maintain employer-paid health health insurance for seven months if I didn't quit now.   Also, I had wanted to still help my team through the arduous fiscal year-end in June.   It's a rough time where we work day in and day out to get everything coded and all of the rejections and edits resolved.  

   I could very well come back as a contractor after I quit.   It depends on how desperate they are.

   DH and I had a wonderful time at P.F. Chang's tonight, and I think we'll just let things unfold before I make a final decison on when to get out.   Circumstances will reveal themselves over the nex few weeks.   If there is coder rebellion, I'll have to see how that plays out.   I never thought that my final year of work would be so fraught !  

   Time for bed now.   Take care everyone.  

[Deleted]

Well, don't feel too badly about the Christmas party.  Ours is a pot luck after we give two exams that morning.  Nothing says delicious better than cold food in winter. 

[Phoenix84]

Yeah, I wouldn't be happy about management dictating when I could take time off, and canceling leave two weeks in advance.  It sounds like your management is not doing workflow planning properly.  If they need to cancel leave and mandate overtime, they need more folks.

[mmhmm]

I've got a friend whose daughter just finished a long course in medical billing and is preparing for her certification exam.  I'd mentioned to her how much you'd said you enjoyed your job. She was thrilled to hear that, but is concerned about how in the heck she's supposed to get a job.  Seems it's not an easy field to break into. Now, though, I'm having second thoughts!  This business with the vacations is utter nonsense!  I'm sorry it happened to you.

[Nazgul Girl]

     There is demand for people who have billing certificates now, so hopefully she'll find something.   If she looks around on craigslist, periodically, there are some ads for people with billing/coding training, but the doctor's office wants to train them to its specifications.   That would probably be the best way to start.   Also, the school should have some placement services.   My job is just going through a stupid aberration right now, and overall it's been a great field for me !   Good luck to your friend's daughter.

[Deleted]

Work cancelled our summer party because they were going to throw even a bigger christmas bash.  That got cancelled because of budget concerns.. 

[8 Bit WWBG]

...:::"This business with the vacations is utter nonsense! I'm sorry it happened to you.":::...

Exactly, its the cancellation 2 weeks out with no regard for people's plans and/or what it might cost them.  Imagine someone being told they had to eat $1k+ tickets!  That is the kind of stuff that make people do really destructive things.  I would totally find a way to bilk that out of the company, or cost the company that and then some.  Doubly so if they have money for a $3M sign at a stadium.

People remember this stuff, and they don't just let it go.

[zibazinski]

I'd leave regardless. This happened one time. Admin planned some summer classes that everyone was required to attend, in JULY!!!! A lot of people leave Florida in the summer and the backlash was incredible. Admin wouldn't budge so people simply informed their principals they wouldn't be there. Principals threatened but you actually can't fire a shit ton of people so what happened I never found out. I was in Oregon at the time celebrating my moms birthday and our family reunion. No way would I change my plans, period. Seriously, they won't fire you so that's that.