Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Geez, it has been a while

Well, it looks like I missed August completely. Been a while since I did that. =)

A little update as to things in France if you didn't already know. I have been asked to stay here, take on a new position, learn French and this offer is open for up to 6 years.

So here are the Pros...Company pays my rent. Company pays me a per diem still.(not too bad!) I have been offered a position as QA manager, so I am hoping that comes with a raise. I finally can get an apartment away from the hotel! I get to live in southern France...that is a big perk.

Here is one that is a pro and a can...I need to learn French. No worries, but I need to know it by January. I wish I had a bit more warning...

Cons...I will lose my seniority with the union back home. I don't know how this will affect me if I go back, but for right now it is a risk that I need to take. I need to get a car/motorcycle. I don't have a bike license yet, so it will probably be a car, which leads to parking issues since my new pad is in town. Since I will be a QA person, this means that I don't get to touch the planes anymore, and therefore I lose my run up privileges. That part sucks.

It has been over two weeks, and I still haven't seen any comp package from the company. This is starting to bug me, since I don't want to say yes to an apartment if the company tries to screw me (they have done that before) with wages and such. There is also rumour that we will be working a French week...35 hours a week. Not so bad, but if I am a salaried employee, this means no more overtime. Also, there is the threat of paying French taxes, which are higher than back home, and I won't be able to reap any benefits from the French social system unless I become French and stay here forever. (I am in an awkward spot for the company. I am still employed with the Canadian side of things, but working for the French division and not employed by the French division. So, I still get paid in Canada and pay the taxes there. This might change.)

So, in a nut shell, that is about all that went on in August. Worked a lot, didn't go anywhere, worked some more. Practised my French as well. Yup, barrel of laughs.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home