The other problem I have been having recently has been at work. I was supposed to have been paid some backpay in November, but I never got it. I was also supposed to have started on a pension scheme when I got my new post, as well as different vacation hours. None of this has been taken care of by now. I send repeated emails and made numerous phone calls in December about it, but nothing happened. Finally the corrections will be made this week, but it has been a nightmare trying to get it sorted (about 5 emails and 8 phone calls). One time I called the guy, he said he would look into it and get back to me. I called the next week and he had forgotten all about it. I had to explain it again. Then I called the next day to see what the status was. He said he couldn't read his hand writing from the day before, so I had to explain it for a third time again. I found out from my boss that this guy has a reputation for being incompetent, so the university has just decided to contract out all payroll in the future. I still need to get my vacation time sorted, as this hasn't been fixed yet. I did get my employment contract in the post on Friday, though. This is only 4 months after I started in my new role. The best part of the story is that at the university awards for 2005, Sheffield Hallam University got one award, that of "Employer of the Year." No one in my office could believe it.

Our other outstanding issue with HR has finally been resolved as well. We tried to hire two student employees to start in September. The advert didn't go out until November, so we've just interviewed and hired them this past week. We've got two great guys, so that will really help me with my workload and free up some time for research, etc. I'll be their line manager, so that gives me some management experience for the future as well.