And so, my counsellor called me a moment ago asking, 'are you going to organize a strike, or are you going to boycott the firm?'
In dismay, I asked her what happened. She said that most Admin Officers and some managers are spreading that. So, being my nice counselor, she needed to check things out. It all started when I sent this e-mail:
Dear XX,
I'm writing with regards to the utilization of TOIL.
Last year, we were told that our TOIL was extended to June this year, as the firm was severely short-handed. The promise was to tide through the peak, and we could go for our break during the off-peak season.
However, this year, we were told that we are not allowed to block leave for TOIL, and we are still short-handed. I have accumulated about 400 hours of TOIL, and I was told by the AO that I'm not allowed to utilize them till further notice.
Since December 2009, many of us have toiled day and night including weekends. We haven't had a real weekend since then, except during the Chinese New Year period. We all looked forward to a good break after months of relentless hard work, and that spurred us on. But, the inability to utilize TOIL has saddened, discouraged and disappointed many of us. Somehow, things are not quite the same as what we were told.
We have carried forward our TOIL from 2009 to 2010, and even in 2010, we are not allowed to clear. As a result of the carry forward, many of us have a few hundred hours of TOIL. May I know when can we have our break?
Cheers,
dennis
followed by..
Hi YY,
Thanks for the e-mail.
In my opinion, indefinite extension of cut-off date for the utilization of TOIL and AL does not address the problem at all. It merely postpones the problem by sweeping it under the carpet for another year.
Do you know how tired the assurance staffs are? Tired is an understatement. Unless a practical solution is adopted, the state of the firm will be always as such, i.e. the outflow of staff outweighs the inflow.
Cheers,
dennis
If one day you don't see me around any more, I hope you know why..
