Fantastic

As a contract worker I am responsible for keeping track of my how hours via my staffing agency’s website. This also means that an honor system is followed as I “sign” and agree that the hours I input were indeed the hours I worked for the week.

Our timecards must be turned in no later than Monday so that payroll can be processed in a timely manner but this week, the boss was adamant that everybody turn theirs in ASAP because of out office shutdown the week of Christmas. The shutdown also affects our payroll processing and staffing agency as they are also shut down during the same week, hence the sense of urgency to get things done.

But turning in my timecard is never an issue for me because it’s my money, damnit. I have the staffing agency’s website open in a tab whenever I start Chrome; a constant reminder to turn in my card if I haven’t done so already.

That little plan worked. I came home sick on Friday and the first thing I did (before lying down on the couch and getting hopped-up on cold medications) was sign-in and submit my timecard so that next Thursday, which happens to be today, my Direct Deposit would go in. Done and done.

After submitting my timecard I will get an e-mail from the agency telling me if it has been approved or not and in most cases, it will be unless there is something dreadfully wrong on my end as there has been on a few occasions. I will get said e-mail early the following week, usually on Monday or late Tuesday.

This Monday came around and I got nothing. Tuesday – nothing. Wednesday is unusually late to get them but I held out, hoping I would get something.

I didn’t and being that nobody is around, I can’t do crap until Monday. Even then, it’ll take the braintrust to figure out what happened and unless their boss intervenes, who knows when I’ll get paid. I even placed a call to the staffing agency’s manager about my situation but it’s doubtful she is taking work-related calls this week.

Bloody fantastic. All the reminding, all the planning, all the stuff I do in order to be the responsible person to get my timecard turned in on time failed me. Blah.

The good thing is that I am working my part-time job tonight so I will have some cash by the end of the night, plus my pay from last week.

Other than that, it’s been a rather relaxing vacation. The weather’s been weird: 40s at night and practically double that during the day. I’m still fighting off the cold but have decided that it won’t stop me from riding my bike this Sunday.

I think I should be okay for that…unless I fall down go boom again…

UPDATE 12/30/11: I did get paid today. All is well.