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I haz lotz of boredom
Sep. 29th, 2008 11:21 amJust as I'd expected. Never mind, I polished the exchange fic - for the last time, I think, because too much polishing isn't good, either - and did a bit of work. In about an hour, I'll be setting off to buy Janine's birthday present and afterwards there'll be lunch with some people from the German Embassy. So it's quite bearable. After work, I'll have to go shopping. Mustn't forget anything, because tomorrow and the day after the shops will be closed.
As I said yesterday, there's trouble with the Ambassador. (I consoled myself by watching The Patriot and ogling Jason Isaacs - I think there ought to be a law against being that attractive. But it did brighten my evening).
This, however is the Big Trouble: I applied for and got authorization for my holiday from 3 to 13 October. That was in July, when Gabriele's sick leave, which has been extended till 17 October, couldn't be foreseen.
On 16 September, i.e. the day she had her surgery, I informed both the Ambassador and the 1st Secretary that Gabriele wasn't likely to return to work anytime soon, and both read the mail.
In order to fully understand the situation, you have to know that there's an iron rule in public accounting: There always MUST be two persons to authorize payments with their signature.
Now, the Ambassador plans to be absent (partly holiday, partly work-related trips) from 1 to 8 October. This means that, between the 3rd and the 8th, there would only be the 1st Secretary to authorize payments, which just can't be done. And no, you can't get around the problem by simply not paying bills during that time, because the same rule applies to incoming payments, and there's always the consular fees.
Being the conscientious person I am, and also aware that I'd be the one to blame if I just left on the 3rd pretending nothing had happened, I informed the Ambassador, who had obviously forgotten about my holiday (or maybe not, and she merely did it out of spite), that both of us being absent wasn't possible. She responded that I ought to cancel my holiday.
In principle, this is possible, but only with authorization from Vienna, because the employer has to pay for my expenses (tickets are paid and not refundable, and the hotel will take the 2 nights I paid for as cancellation fee). But it can be done, and I'm sure she'll do it, because she can and because she'll ruin my holiday. Not only mine, of course, but also Janine's - she'll probably come anyway, because Monday is my birthday, but we've both been looking forward to a sea-and sand holiday. I know I ought to be mature and not take it personally, but frankly, it is personal, and there's nothing I can do about it, and so I'm feeling angry and powerless and on the verge of tears, out of sheer helpless fury.
Not enough with that, the Ambassador has now seen fit to inform me about our ex-janitor's intention to sue me, because he thinks I cheated him out of part of his severance pay. It's... Oh, I just don't have words for it. The tone of her message suggested that the former employee is of course right, and I'm of course wrong, conveniently forgetting that the severance pay has been calculated by our tax consultant and approved by the ministry. Besides, I looked up Turkish labour law yesterday (fortunately there are English translations), and it explicitly mentions that only bonus payments have to be taken into account when calculating the severance pay (i.e. such things as transport or food allowance, which we don't pay), but not overtime payment or non-montary bonuses, like e.g. work clothes certain employees must be given every second year.
So, apart from being blamed by her for something I didn't do, there is a possibility of me being sued, although I wasn't the employer - that's the Embassy, and he can sue that all he wants.
I'm totally and utterly sick of all this crap. Physically sick, because I feel like throwing up all the time, and I have trouble sleeping.
As I said yesterday, there's trouble with the Ambassador. (I consoled myself by watching The Patriot and ogling Jason Isaacs - I think there ought to be a law against being that attractive. But it did brighten my evening).
This, however is the Big Trouble: I applied for and got authorization for my holiday from 3 to 13 October. That was in July, when Gabriele's sick leave, which has been extended till 17 October, couldn't be foreseen.
On 16 September, i.e. the day she had her surgery, I informed both the Ambassador and the 1st Secretary that Gabriele wasn't likely to return to work anytime soon, and both read the mail.
In order to fully understand the situation, you have to know that there's an iron rule in public accounting: There always MUST be two persons to authorize payments with their signature.
Now, the Ambassador plans to be absent (partly holiday, partly work-related trips) from 1 to 8 October. This means that, between the 3rd and the 8th, there would only be the 1st Secretary to authorize payments, which just can't be done. And no, you can't get around the problem by simply not paying bills during that time, because the same rule applies to incoming payments, and there's always the consular fees.
Being the conscientious person I am, and also aware that I'd be the one to blame if I just left on the 3rd pretending nothing had happened, I informed the Ambassador, who had obviously forgotten about my holiday (or maybe not, and she merely did it out of spite), that both of us being absent wasn't possible. She responded that I ought to cancel my holiday.
In principle, this is possible, but only with authorization from Vienna, because the employer has to pay for my expenses (tickets are paid and not refundable, and the hotel will take the 2 nights I paid for as cancellation fee). But it can be done, and I'm sure she'll do it, because she can and because she'll ruin my holiday. Not only mine, of course, but also Janine's - she'll probably come anyway, because Monday is my birthday, but we've both been looking forward to a sea-and sand holiday. I know I ought to be mature and not take it personally, but frankly, it is personal, and there's nothing I can do about it, and so I'm feeling angry and powerless and on the verge of tears, out of sheer helpless fury.
Not enough with that, the Ambassador has now seen fit to inform me about our ex-janitor's intention to sue me, because he thinks I cheated him out of part of his severance pay. It's... Oh, I just don't have words for it. The tone of her message suggested that the former employee is of course right, and I'm of course wrong, conveniently forgetting that the severance pay has been calculated by our tax consultant and approved by the ministry. Besides, I looked up Turkish labour law yesterday (fortunately there are English translations), and it explicitly mentions that only bonus payments have to be taken into account when calculating the severance pay (i.e. such things as transport or food allowance, which we don't pay), but not overtime payment or non-montary bonuses, like e.g. work clothes certain employees must be given every second year.
So, apart from being blamed by her for something I didn't do, there is a possibility of me being sued, although I wasn't the employer - that's the Embassy, and he can sue that all he wants.
I'm totally and utterly sick of all this crap. Physically sick, because I feel like throwing up all the time, and I have trouble sleeping.
