It's been a year since I moved to Germany for a job. I come from a country with a weak currency. Relocating here literally took away my 5 years life savings.

Currently I'm at a stage where I'm fighting tooth and nail to save every Euro I can.

- To save for emergencies.

- To send money to my family back home. I help take care of 3 family members.

- To upskill and learn technical skills as well as German.

A € 10 to € 50 spend on birthday contribution may not seem like much to most people but to me that makes all the difference. Ever since I joined my company every month I'm expected to contribute € 10 to € 50 depending on how many people have their birthdays.

Initially, I used to contribute to be part of the culture and celebration. But every month contribution almost feels like a subscription I never signed up for and get nothing out of. I am totally okay not receiving a gift in exchange. Recently I stopped contributing because I fell short of funds and more than one colleague made me realise this. I feel low and terrible.

How do Germans and non- Germans handle this? Sorry if I sound cheap but I really don't have much to go by. Plus the constant anxiety of losing my job and relying on my emergency fund. Hope you can understand and not judge.

Basically what the title says. Is anyone in the same boat?

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Siemens surrendered their PF trust to EPFO sometime in 2024. After that it has just been chaos.

HR Department keeps passing the ball from one department to another. I am unable to withdraw my PF since 2 years because (according to HR) the Delhi RPFC is still accounting for the transfer.

Does the transfer from PF Trust to EPFO really take 2+ years?

Fyi, I have raised multiple grievances and RTIs but to no avail.

Basically what the title says. I often recieve tasks that are simply too time consuming to complete within this time frame. But my boss expects completion anyway. So I need to log off late on Fridays, log in early on Mondays or work a few hours on the weekends.

For context, my boss is ex-German military. A disciplinarian and expects orders to be followed without excuses.

How would you handle this? I need genuine suggestions.

So a bit of background here:

I work in the HR department in the comp & ben function. Ever since I joined I have been doing a lot more than what is required because it's a growing company and there is naturally more pressure. In my job I also get access to high level data that goes only to the Leadership team because I often have to do a couple of slides for the presentation my self.

Now to the incident:

I recently got a 3% hike for all the extra work I have been doing for 2 years which I'm grateful for in this tough economy and keeping in mind that the company is struggling financially and that a lot of people have already been laid off. All was okay until then.... but:

While working on a presentation, one of my senior colleagues unintentionally added a few slides to my deck. A slide in it contained the following 2 pieces of information:

• People who had exceptionally been promoted in this "tough" time.
• Whether their new salaries were above market, in line with market or lower than market.

I was absolutely shocked to see my name in the promotion list! No one told me about it. Didn't receive any communication on it either. I was even more shocked to see that my name was in the "in line with market" salary range when I knew this is wrong. My salary is below market, and I know it because I have access to the data that the company used for salary proposals.

So I ask my colleague about the promotion thing under the pretext of correcting the content in case he made a mistake. He got very nervous and then told me something that I cannot wrap my head around. He said "It's a promotion based on responsibilities". I'm like "huh?". My job level, job title, salary band- basically everything that should change with promotion is exactly the same.

It's evident to me that my boss lied about my so-called promotion and my salary range to the leadership. And I don't know how to react to this.

This feels like a real punch to the gut. I'm struggling to stand on my feet....

How do remote landlords manage their rental properties?

By remote landlords I mean NRIs as well as those living very far from their rental property.

I have an apartment in Mira Road and after becoming an NRI the headache has begun. Most of the reviews on nobroker website as well as other similar services I've read are nothing short of a horror novel.

I can't bother my relatives and dont have any friends either who would take the trouble to look after the tenants and property in general.

Local agents aren't trustworthy as well and they lack the structure to keep necessary documentation throughout the process.

So damn confused. Any ideas or opinions are welcome.

How do remote landlords manage their rental properties?

By remote landlords I mean NRIs as well as those living very far from their rental property.

I have an apartment in Mira Road and after becoming an NRI the headache has begun. Most of the reviews on nobroker website as well as other similar services I've read are nothing short of a horror novel.

I can't bother my relatives and dont have any friends either who would take the trouble to look after the tenants and property in general.

Local agents aren't trustworthy as well and they lack the structure to keep necessary documentation throughout the process.

So damn confused. Any ideas or opinions are welcome.

I'm extremely frustrated and at my wits end! I have been struggling for my PF settlement for almost 4 years now. Raised multiple grievances with EPFO and CPGRAMS and no one is taking responsibility for it.

Please if any of you can guide me on what to do, I will be grateful.

Case background:

For simplicity*: "LE" = last employer and "PE" = previous employer before "LE". Both LE and PE are Bangalore based.*

1. I left India and became an NRI in May 2023.

2. Before leaving, my last employment in India ended in March 2023.

3. Total duration contributing to PF is 5 years 2 months.

4. I applied for full and final settlement with LE since they are a PF Trust.

5. They processed the claim only for the period that I worked with them i.e. approx. 1.6 years.

6. All the previous PF balance from PE was never transferred to the Trust due to a horrible transfer process managed by a ridiculous third party appointed by LE.

7. In my claim form to LE, I had clearly mentioned all employment dates and checked the box for completing more than 5 years with PF. Despite that they still processed only PF accumulated with them and deducted TDS at the highest rate.

8. Now comes the nightmare: I was asked to approach PE and have them initiate the transfer to the Trust. I did this and PE confirmed with documentation that it was done from their side and the new balance should reflect with LE Trust.

9. However, when I approached LE, they said the balance was not received and I need to check it. I was driven crazy and after a few months of completely unnecessary back and forth with PE and the EPFO I got the official confirmation (form 13 and annexure k) that the transfer was completed.

10. When I shared this with LE and put pressure on them to show evidence of non-receipt of transfer, they informed me that they have "surrendered" the Trust and that the Delhi EPFO will take time to update the balance. This was already back in 2024.

Current status:

1. The Delhi EPFO says I need to check for "more information" with LE.

2. LE says I need to check with EPFO.

This loop has driven me crazy. I have no idea what to do.

Amount in question is little less than 3 lakhs.

I filed an RTI application in the hopes of getting clarity on where my money really is.

Questions:

1. Should I approach this legally? If yes, who should I sue- the EPFO or LE?

2. Are there any specific reliable agencies that can help me in this?

3. Any other advice that can help a brother out?

I'm extremely frustrated and at my wits end! I have been struggling for my PF settlement for almost 4 years now. Raised multiple grievances with EPFO and CPGRAMS and no one is taking responsibility for it.

Please if any of you can guide me on what to do, I will be grateful.

Case background:

For simplicity: "LE" = last employer and "PE" = previous employer before "LE". Both LE and PE are Bangalore based.

• I left India and became an NRI in May 2023.
• Before leaving, my last employment in India ended in March 2023.
• Total duration contributing to PF is 5 years 2 months.
• I applied for full and final settlement with LE since they are a PF Trust.
• They processed the claim only for the period that I worked with them i.e. approx. 1.6 years.
• All the previous PF balance from PE was never transferred to the Trust due to a horrible transfer process managed by a ridiculous third party appointed by LE.
• In my claim form to LE, I had clearly mentioned all employment dates and checked the box for completing more than 5 years with PF. Despite that they still processed only PF accumulated with them and deducted TDS at the highest rate.
• Now comes the nightmare: I was asked to approach PE and have them initiate the transfer to the Trust. I did this and PE confirmed with documentation that it was done from their side and the new balance should reflect with LE Trust.
• However, when I approached LE, they said the balance was not received and I need to check it. I was driven crazy and after a few months of completely unnecessary back and forth with PE and the EPFO I got the official confirmation that the transfer was indeed done.
• When I shared this with LE and put pressure on them to show evidence of non-receipt of transfer, they informed me that they have "surrendered" the Trust and that the Delhi EPFO will take time to update the balance. This was already back in 2024.

Current status:

1. The Delhi EPFO says I need to check for "more information" with LE.
2. LE says I need to check with EPFO.

This loop has driven me crazy. I have no idea what to do.

Amount in question is little less than 3 lakhs.

Questions:

1. Should I approach this legally? If yes, who should I sue- the EPFO or LE?
2. Are there any specific reliable agencies that can help me in this?
3. Any other advice that can help a brother out?

So a bit of background- me and my colleague are Asians who work in Germany for an international company. By all measures the company is really international- everyone speaks English. German is almost like an alternate language used only when there are absolutely no non-Germans in the discussion.

My team has a about 5 Germans and then there's me and my colleague who are Asians.

Recently one of my German colleagues made a comment saying that you Asians ruin the work culture in Germany. This was said in an informal discussion while we were on a break having coffee.

Naturally I was a bit shocked and asked him why he thought this way. I was expecting something racist to be honest but what he said really got me thinking.

Basically, me and my Asian colleague usually arrive at the office at 08:00 and we usually leave by 18:00. On high pressure days even 19:00. In contrast, most of the German members come in after 09:00 and leave by 17:30. Even on high pressure days they do not stay back to finish work. Further, me and my colleague have been working in the team since about 1.5 years. And in that time we've never taken a sick leave. Again, the German guys beat us here averaging a few sick days every couple of months. And oh, nothing gets in the way of their vacation plans. Whereas me and my Asian colleague have modified our vacation plans to not inconvenience our team and overburden them.

Both of us work this way out of our own accord. We are used to much higher pressure situations in our respective home countries. Compared to that working in Germany is a breeze. Really. We appreciate all the benefits and pros of working here.

Our manager has on multiple occasions appreciated the hard work and dedication of his 2 Asian team members. So ofcourse the two of us are happy. But that's also where it may get weird because he consistently says the Asians are so hard working. We Germans need to catch up. It was always said in a light hearted fashion so us Asians didn't take it seriously.

But by working this way, are we really setting a bad example of hustle culture? We genuinely love our German colleagues. For us Asians, they are almost like elder brothers who have supported us in the work and adjusting to the culture. And we really do not want to hurt them.

So please let me know whether I should really work on my colleague's feedback or handle it differently.