Are these things normal? Working for Maui County (to rent, health insurance) - Hawaii (HI) - Page 2 - City-Data Forum

Ellwood · 02-12-2011, 05:25 PM

Worked for a Fortune 500 company for many years and paycheck was always two weeks behind; when I retired it caught up. It is a very common practice in companies. If you work a week, they can't possibly prepare a check on the fifth day.

Have to agree with Koale, you don't seem to be enjoying life in Hawaii. Maybe you should look towards the mainland.

dockedup · 02-12-2011, 05:27 PM

You never know who is reading these threads, It might not be hard to figure out who you are, and getting fired would not help your situation. Employers are looking at facebook and who knows what else now days. And I would not gripe at work either! It feels good to vent but it will not change anything. Good luck!

winkosmosis · 02-13-2011, 01:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ellwood

Worked for a Fortune 500 company for many years and paycheck was always two weeks behind; when I retired it caught up. It is a very common practice in companies. If you work a week, they can't possibly prepare a check on the fifth day.

At my last job the paychecks were biweekly, and you got the paycheck 5 days after the end of the pay period. There's no reason to wait 14+ days instead of 5!!

Quote:

Have to agree with Koale, you don't seem to be enjoying life in Hawaii. Maybe you should look towards the mainland.

I'm trying to find a job in Texas. I can't afford to live on Maui without a living wage and without family to live which, which seems to be what most local people do when they're in entry level jobs like this.

KonaKat · 02-13-2011, 01:31 AM

Did you research carefully about cost of living vs what your take home would be? Did you not know their policies and paycheck schedules before accepting the job? While I sympathize with some of what you say, you own part of this problem if you didn't find out what you were accepting before you came over. I don't know what your salary is but I suspect the county pay plus benefits and PTO etc is somewhat better than the average "civilian" worker.

winkosmosis · 02-13-2011, 01:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KonaKat

Did you research carefully about cost of living vs what your take home would be? Did you not know their policies and paycheck schedules before accepting the job? While I sympathize with some of what you say, you own part of this problem if you didn't find out what you were accepting before you came over. I don't know what your salary is but I suspect the county pay plus benefits and PTO etc is somewhat better than the average "civilian" worker.

I looked at grocery prices, rent costs, and utilites. What I didn't realize was the apartments I was looking at were in the bad parts of town.

I completely forgot that Hawaii had a state income tax, and I didn't think about the required pension and union dues. I didn't expect the county to do furloughs either.

My salary is $37k but my take home is $985 twice a month.

Nobody told me my paychecks would be delayed 2 weeks. Everybody in the office was surprised when I didn't get paid after 2 weeks... they all either forgot about that, or have been there since before that became the policy. I was expecting that first paycheck and ended up having to borrow $1100 from my parents for rent, which they won't get back until I get a job that doesn't cost me money.

winkosmosis · 02-13-2011, 01:50 AM

BTW county PTO and sick time are as good as what Europeans get. 21 days PTO and 21 days sick per year.

Health insurance isn't great. Our payment is pretty high.

mdand3boys · 02-13-2011, 02:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by winkosmosis

BTW county PTO and sick time are as good as what Europeans get. 21 days PTO and 21 days sick per year.

Health insurance isn't great. Our payment is pretty high.

Not meaning to pry - what is the cost of your health insurance?

21 sick days a year? HOLY COW! Can you accumulate those over time?

Calico Salsa · 02-13-2011, 12:07 PM

21 sick days - I believe the County sick time can also be used when employees take their kids to the doctor, or other such family health-related events.

When I worked in California, for most of my life, no free parking in San Francisco or Oakland! You pay for your commute, whether it's driving a car and parking, or taking the train+bus, or car pooling. There was free parking with many companies down on the SF Peninsula, but that's always a matter of the cost of space. Space is limited in San Francisco, as it is in Wailuku where the county buildings are here. It is not a fancy part of town, but because it's older all the space has been taken up by housing or commercial. The county would have to build a high rise parking structure to give free parking to all their employees, and I'm guessing I'd be voting against that when we have so much else to get done. Plus who would want that big thing blocking their view of Iao Valley? If you really wanted to, you could look into car pooling with someone else, or taking the bus, but it sounds like you aren't interested.

My advise on your travel - you don't have to get to the airport 1.5 hours early for an inter-island hop. The airlines advise it, but if you are just doing carry-on for a couple of days on another island, just get there about 40 minutes before. The longest line at security (I timed it) was only 4 minutes wait, and that stretched way down the hall. Then you just hop on the flight, 30 minutes max to land, and you don't have to wait for baggage, you can hop on a bus and get to your class. Sure you burn a couple of hours, but that's just grown-up working life. Remember any education is also considered a benefit to you, and your employer is willing to pay for the class & a couple of nights at the hotel. Try being self-employed, you pay for everything yourself, from parking to paperclips.

Wink, you are learning the kind of questions you will need to ask for the next place you go. Don't assume free parking or paid hotels, etc. Make sure to ask about expenses, first paycheck, benefits, travel required, etc.

Sounds like you have a slim margin when you moved over here, if waiting 14 days for a first paycheck put you behind enough to have you bouncing checks, dipping into your IRA, and borrowing money. You should maybe gather up a better margin before you move to another state and have a few more surprises there.

winkosmosis · 02-13-2011, 12:20 PM

I would have had a much better margin if I ddn't have to spend $4000 on copays for a hernia surgery just before I came out here.

tyvin · 02-14-2011, 06:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by winkosmosis

I've overdawn my bank account several times and had to rush to get my parents to lend me money to avoid more overdrafts. Wouldn't have happened if I got the paychecks a week earlier.

Personal Budgeting Tips

There was a thread a little while back about holding the checks two weeks. It's the reality of the situation and people need to budget accordingly.

//www.city-data.com/forum/hawai...ui-county.html

Parking; unless you're employee of the month, management, handicapped etc... it's not going to happen in the real world.

Also; maybe a talk with someone about short term, long term goals in your life. It doesn't hurt to talk to a professional counselor/therapist and it's usually covered by health insurance.