Debt Sucks
I'm in debt, probably for the first time in as long as I can remember. I've always been working, so I've always had money. Now expenses/spending has caught up with my small paycheck. I've never borrowed from my parents (quite proud of that), but they offered, so I might take them up on that. Just a short term loan - I will pay them back. Might have to wait until the first Micron check, though.
I've had lots of homework/projects/exams this week - so much work. My suitcase from Hong Kong still sits on my floor. I'm running out of clothes - better do laundry soon.
My employer (Mid-States Biodiesel, LLC) decided to withhold over half of our paychecks. They've had lots of production problems, and haven't sold much of anything. So I guess they've finally run out of money, and are scraping the bottom of the barrel (their employees). This royally sucks, especially right before the holidays. I plan on quitting, but filing suit with the Iowa Workforce Development group to try and recover my over $230 of unpaid wages from last month. It may actually work out okay that I will (most likely) leave that company. They only release work schedules every week, which is nice to work around homework and exams, but they email them out Sunday evening, leaving virtually no time to plan for the week. They only pay ONCE/MONTH, which sucks. No Direct Deposit. Every so often they shut down the plant for a week at a time. Yes, they've having lots of startup problems, but to withhold wages for hours already worked is complete BS.
Since there are only really two weeks left - dead week and finals, I could actually use the time off now to study/prepare. Plus I don't plan on sticking around here over the 3-week holiday break. I can work for the ChE department next semester grading papers for some supplemental income. It's about $8.25/hour, and around 5-10 hours/week, so not as much, but it's pretty easy, and I don't have to travel anywhere. I'll give Midstates a few days to explain themselves (maybe just one or two days) then take further action. I've had good luck with all of my previous employers, so I suppose you have to have a few stumbling blocks along the way. I don't think that this was the decision/fault of the owners of the company, since the two of them took NO pay this month, which I feel is quite unfair to them. Mid-States is partially financed/run/managed by another company (Superior Process Technology), and Baker Commodities, and they have a mysterious Board of Directors who actually made the decision to "stop all cash outlays until the problem [production issues] are fixed." Fork over enough to pay your employees for the time that they've already worked, THEN worry about shutting down/whatever. The company is pretty disorganized, so it might actually be a relief to get out of there. More details to come as I learn the ins and outs of labor laws.
I've had lots of homework/projects/exams this week - so much work. My suitcase from Hong Kong still sits on my floor. I'm running out of clothes - better do laundry soon.
My employer (Mid-States Biodiesel, LLC) decided to withhold over half of our paychecks. They've had lots of production problems, and haven't sold much of anything. So I guess they've finally run out of money, and are scraping the bottom of the barrel (their employees). This royally sucks, especially right before the holidays. I plan on quitting, but filing suit with the Iowa Workforce Development group to try and recover my over $230 of unpaid wages from last month. It may actually work out okay that I will (most likely) leave that company. They only release work schedules every week, which is nice to work around homework and exams, but they email them out Sunday evening, leaving virtually no time to plan for the week. They only pay ONCE/MONTH, which sucks. No Direct Deposit. Every so often they shut down the plant for a week at a time. Yes, they've having lots of startup problems, but to withhold wages for hours already worked is complete BS.
Since there are only really two weeks left - dead week and finals, I could actually use the time off now to study/prepare. Plus I don't plan on sticking around here over the 3-week holiday break. I can work for the ChE department next semester grading papers for some supplemental income. It's about $8.25/hour, and around 5-10 hours/week, so not as much, but it's pretty easy, and I don't have to travel anywhere. I'll give Midstates a few days to explain themselves (maybe just one or two days) then take further action. I've had good luck with all of my previous employers, so I suppose you have to have a few stumbling blocks along the way. I don't think that this was the decision/fault of the owners of the company, since the two of them took NO pay this month, which I feel is quite unfair to them. Mid-States is partially financed/run/managed by another company (Superior Process Technology), and Baker Commodities, and they have a mysterious Board of Directors who actually made the decision to "stop all cash outlays until the problem [production issues] are fixed." Fork over enough to pay your employees for the time that they've already worked, THEN worry about shutting down/whatever. The company is pretty disorganized, so it might actually be a relief to get out of there. More details to come as I learn the ins and outs of labor laws.