Opinions on potential new job

[npmommie]

So I applied for a part time job, met the person in charge of hiring yesterday, learned all about the job, and the pay matches what I made at my last job, the only bug in it is before I start the actual job they want me to go to the company headquarters for a day of "paperwork", probably company info/training.........

she said I would be there about "6-7" hours. the headquarters is 55 miles each way from my home. ok fine, I just assumed they would pay me what I am going to be paid for the job,

but.......she said they pay "$100" for this "office" day. My regular pay in my profession would amount to more than 3x this much for a day of the same hours.
plus the distance.
it bugs me and it feels unprofessional to me. my time is valuable too.

my husband thinks I should say something. I haven't officially accepted the job yet.

what do you think, should I mention how I feel about the low pay for that day of training. just let it go, or is it a dealbreaker?

 

[LuvOrlando]

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[WDWAurora]

I think the difference is that you are not being paid for your work or expertise. You are being awarded a stipend for coming in on a day you are not working. Most companies, in my experience, do not award any pay for this day. I think you may be overthinking this a little. Good luck with your decision.

 

[ajk912]

That would tick me off too, but I would not say anything. The LAST thing you want to do is lose the job over something so petty in the grand scheme of things. Sure, it'll be a big deal next week, but in six months it will be small potatoes.

 

[npmommie]

In today's market the people with the jobs know they have gold in their hands and with businesses struggling the way they are I can't blame businesses for trying to lower costs.

Unless you are independently wealthy, if you are unemployed I say take the job and keep your misgivings to yourself just keep looking for a new job. What if this is the only job you are going to get offered in the next 6 months, a reality many people are struggling with? Is it really worth the risk to insist things are still the way they were last year? Unfortunately, the world has changed...

Good luck with whatever you choose to do and congratulations on the job offer

Thanks!
no I am not independently wealthy, LOL I wish!
I have been a sahm just working occasionally per diem here and there.

 

[npmommie]

I think the difference is that you are not being paid for your work or expertise. You are being awarded a stipend for coming in on a day you are not working. Most companies, in my experience, do not award any pay for this day. I think you may be overthinking this a little. Good luck with your decision.

I think you are right about this. I think part of it is that it is so far from home too, it will take me over an hour each way to get there.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

When I started to work for Disney my first day was about three or four hours spent filling out paperwork, getting fingerprinted, medical screening, etc. This was all unpaid time.

 

[sbell111]

I wouldn't turn down an otherwise good job just because I have to waste one day of my life.

 

[scrapquilter]

I don't think that the potential employer is out of line to expect you to show up and complete pre-employment paperwork and screening without paying you the hourly wages.

I recently got a job (back in March), and I had to do the same thing: I went for an interview at Headquarters, then I went for an interview at the particular location where I was going to be working. After that, I had to go back to Headquarters to complete paperwork (approvals for background checks, tax papers, etc), have my photo ID taken, learn how the time clock system works and some other company specific information. After that, I had to go to a medical clinic in the next town over to have a pre-employment medical exam (required as part of obtaining my public service drivers license), drug testing and a test by a physical therapist to show that I could walk up and down stairs, lift 50 lbs, etc.

In all, that took me about 4 hours (plus the headquarters are about 45 minutes from my home), and it was all unpaid.

After that I still had to go to training (in all, various trainings I needed for this job were about 50 hours over the course of about 6 weeks), which was all paid time at my regular hourly wage. And I still had to complete the jumps thru the hoop with the MOtor Vehicle Department to get my PSL, and the time spent waiting there was unpaid.

 

[Uuaww]

Unrelated but man I wish I could drive somewhere an hour away and not be in the ocean...

 

[Green Tea]

Maybe you are being paid for the day, plus a $100 stipend for your expenses?

 

[Handbag Lady]

Unrelated but man I wish I could drive somewhere an hour away and not be in the ocean...

I'll trade with you. I lived at the beach for ten years and because of work, I had to move inland a bit.

I miss the ocean.

From where I am, within an hour or so, you can see mountains, go skiing in Winter, surf, and we're four hours from Vegas.



To answer the OP, yes, it does sound strange that they are paying you less than your usual pay BUT some places don't pay at all for this type of thing. I would think they would pay your normal salary or nothing at all.

We don't pay people to train here at my work, but we are very much a specialty and the lowest paid tech person gets $52 an hour plus extreme benefits. They are usually happy to come in for two days for free to learn a room for which they will be set for the rest of their lives. (We have VERY low turnover.)

 

[Pakey]

We pay our employees their regular rate of pay for this. To me, it's the same as asking an employee to do a task that is of a lower skill level and then saying "we're going to pay you less for the time it took you to do that task because you weren't utilizing the skills we are paying for".

I don't know if I'd make an issue if you really want the job but I know I'd be wondering if this was an employer I'd want to work for long term.

 

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

OP, have you considered that it might be a final "test" to see if you really want the job?

I know of a lot of companies that do similar things to see if you are really motivated to get the job, or if you are just someone tht has been filling out applications and will only take a job as long as it dosn't inconvienence them in any way. Its also a way for you to meet people at the "headquarters" and put a face to you name on the application. First impressions count, and administration personnel in any company can make your job easy...or make a lot of problems for you.

 

[Arielle22]

The company only has to pay minimum wage for hours worked. So the company probably finds it easier to assign a set amount that they pay for the first day.

I am a Payroll and HR Mgr. It seems like a pain to have to process that one day at a lower rate.

Be careful if you try to negotiate a better rate with the company as you may find the job offer rescinded. Managment might consider you someone who complains and not want to take a risk hiring you.

 

[DisneyBlonde]

The last two jobs I've had (which cover the last 17 years) I didn't get paid for the time I spent signing papers at HR and having the health eval/drug test. For both companies that lasted 2 - 3 hours. One was a crappy company but the other was a global corporation. Both companies paid me to go to orientation, which was a full day and happened after I had been working for several weeks.

It's such a bad economy. If you're happy with everything else about the company and the position, I'd let it go. Good luck with your new job!

 

[bumbershoot]

Well first, that is out of the range of my experience...I've always been paid for training, and the paperwork for W9s etc etc has always been done during training.

However, I understand that that might not be the norm outside of my area.

So, if this is how it's going to be, could you just make your mind think of it as another day of interviews? Actually, for hubby's recent interviews, the background check paperwork is actually filled out at the later interviews, NOT once he's already started there, or it's done on his own time, so none of that is expected to be paid anyway.

Little mental trick to make you more OK with it?

 

[sbell111]

Unrelated but man I wish I could drive somewhere an hour away and not be in the ocean...

I wish that I couldn't.

 

[lspst8]

I don't think it is that unusual. My mom had to drive 3 hours away from home to complete all of her paperwork at her last job and so the "director" could meet her -- and she didn't get paid one dime for that day! I'd just consider it the final step in the process to actually getting the job.

And 55 miles isn't that far .... my one way commute is 47 miles I just started this commute a few months ago, and I'm still not used to it. I used to only have to drive 3 miles.

Good luck with the job!

 

[disykat]

At my workplace, new employees have to pay for their own security check ($75) upon hire. I had to drive to the next town for this check. All the paperwork at the main office (not my workplace) probably took several hours as well.

Getting paid a stipend that would cover my travel expenses and my lunch sounds like a DEAL to me!