I am PO'ed

Okay, this is why. As I discussed previously, I have started a new job, covering deps in asbestos litigation. The work itself is fine. I have to attend depositions in Bingham Farms and Saginaw. The problem is that I feel as though the firm that hired me through Kelly Services misled me. Also, they are not paying me fairly I feel for this work.

Here's the deal. First of all, I can only charge for my exact time sitting in the dep itself and my time afterwards to do the reports I have to complete. I cannot charge at all for my travel time, which is crap. All the other attorneys in the room get to, I've been told that repeatedly. I get money for my mileage, but not my actual time in the car. Again, the other attorneys get to charge this. Also, this firm will not let me charge for my prep time, so I have to eat that. I was told that it takes no prep, but I prepare for everything, even if just for a few minutes. This is also bullshit because many of the other attorneys get to charge a standard hour for prep time. Basically, the other attorneys are telling me I'm getting ripped off.

The worst thing, however, is that I am not adequately compensated for times when depositions cancel. For example, today I got up and drove to Saginaw. I left my house at about 8:15. I had deps at 10 and 2. So, I get there at 9:30 just to be told a half hour later that the plaintiff didn't show up and the dep was canceled. So, I get to hang around Saginaw all day until 2 and do nothing until my next dep. My entire morning was wasted, and I get to charge a whopping half and hour it (the time I spent waiting). And the afternoon dep went, but it lasted 2 hours (pretty average) and it took me a half an hour to do my reports. So, for being gone from my house all day, I get paid for 3 hours of work (I made $66 bucks). I also will get my mileage, but in my mind, that doesn't count. That's for wear and tear on your car and for gas money. I was told that this could happen, but I was led to believe it was "occasionally." This is the third time this has happened in a month. Huge stinking waste of my time.

I feel that this is BS. So does my rep at Kelly Services. She is working on this firm, but they are not budging. They keep saying, "Our client won't pay." But the fact is that this firm is charging 5 or 6 times what they are paying me to the client. Basically, they are making a HUGE profit off me. If this cancellation crap happens much more and they don't compensate me, I think I may quit this assignment. It gets to the point where what little I'm making isn't worth the aggravation. I'm basically truly making about $10 an hour. That is ridiculous. I'd be better off working retail.