Well, of COURSE it is – if you are on a fiscal year. And where I work is. So, it is time to close out the old and open up the new. Busy, busy, busy. Woo-hoo!!! Where’s the firecrackers?
This fiscal year end was a bit less painful than the past couple. Our boss went to some meetings in the big city and came home with news that she shared with the entire staff: good news and bad news.
The good: we will receive our COLA’s again this year. We had been on a 3 year freeze until last year.
Our insurance co-pay has been dropped and our deductible has been dropped (from $2000) back down to $500. That’s a lot more reasonable. The BAD in the insurance is that spousal insurance has doubled!!! Eek! Nope, the raise and the dropped co-pay do not make that part up. Sigh. (the agency used to cover both staff AND spouses for free – that was before I was eligible for that perk – by the time I WAS eligible it was gone – budget cuts)
But, the good to go along with that? My position will remain at 40 hours per week until June 30, 2007! I thought I was going to be put back down to 30 hours.
Holiday bonus: in previous (before I started) years, each employee was given a $50 bonus at Christmas time – that is, $50 per year employed up to a cap of $600. That was also discontinued a few years ago. Last year our boss stretched the budget and gave us each $50 anyway – the year before we got either a turkey or a ham. This year we will ALL receive the equivalent of 16 hours of pay – at whatever our current pay scale is. Payroll taxes will come out of it, but it should still be a nice little bonus for the year.
Such is the life of those employed for non-profits that depend on grant money to operate. All in all these were nice little changes – all except that spousal insurance thing – and we are thankful for them. We all signed a card thanking her for going to bat for us at the funding meetings.
Oh, one other thing – the verdict is in – I get to go to the conference in Vegas! I’ll leave the big city on the 25th and return on the 28th. The conference is the 26th and 27th. It’ll be at the Renaissance Hotel, which has no casino! How about that? Make sure you read the amenities page – they are sure selling the idea of not having a casino. 😉
It’ll be fun.
