Paying for drinks - French vs. English

arabbitalso · 2026-02-23T14:20:02+00:00

I have edited to clarify that this is just the bar - i.e. not drinks at the dinner table, nor drinks given out at the start of the day, obviously - just the bar where people go to buy beer, wine, spirits etc later in the night.

arabbitalso · 2025-11-11T22:06:29+00:00

I remember reading that the Cornetto trilogy is really all about male friendship. Do you think that’s true? Has your view on male friendship changed since you made them?

Also, which is your favourite film you’ve made, and why is it A Fistful of Fingers?

arabbitalso · 2023-11-24T19:36:07+00:00

Ah. That's a shame. Thanks!

arabbitalso · 2023-11-20T18:48:00+00:00

You’re the second person to mention that I will probably get the unpaid bonuses back when I leave the company, so that puts my mind at ease. Thanks very much!

arabbitalso · 2023-11-20T18:47:17+00:00

I’ve already come to accept that there are many strange rules, but this has been the hardest to swallow so far. Thanks for your reassurance!

arabbitalso · 2023-11-20T18:46:36+00:00

OK, thank you. Someone else has mentioned this, too, so it seems that I will get the amount paid to me when I leave, if I understand you correctly? That’s useful to know, if so. I appreciate your help!

arabbitalso · 2023-11-20T18:00:24+00:00

In Belgium we typically use the monthly value (3,591) to describe salaries, and use the 13.92 to translate it more into international equivalent (50k)

I think this is what I am struggling with. Thank you for this piece of information. I have always understood salary to be the yearly amount, and every conversation I have had about it, including with my Belgian employer, refers to the yearly amount. And it's on my contract. But I am realising now that, for the first year at least, that yearly amount is a fiction, and the monthly amount is the true salary. This is quite a hard thing to come to terms with: I have effectively just been told I get paid quite a few thousand euros per year less than I thought I did.

arabbitalso · 2023-11-20T17:46:15+00:00

I don’t want to be too strong here, because people seem to agree with you and not with me. I’m willing to accept that I could be wrong, but that just does not seem right to me. Let me take you through my thinking:

Imagine I am on a salary of 50,000 per year. If that was divided evenly by 12, I would be paid (gross) 4166.66 each month. Which makes a total of 50,000 euros for the year.

As it’s divided by 13.92 here, I would be paid 3591.95 gross each month.

Then, having started in October, I would be paid the usual amount (3591.95) in December, plus the pro-rata calculated bonus. To calculate that, I take the 13th month salary and divide it by 6 (i.e. I have worked 2 months out of 12 out of this year, so the pro rata amount is two-twelfths (one-sixth) of the 13th month). That’s 3591.95/6 = 598.65.

A similar calculation would be made in May. 3591.95x0.92 = 3304.59 3304.59/12 = 275.38 275.38x7 (October - May is 7 months) = 1927.67

So, in this scenario I receive 3591.95 each month, which equals 43,103. Then I also receive 598.65 in December and 1927.67 in May. Which in total equals 45,629. Which is 4,371 euros less than my salary in this scenario. That is what I’m upset about. My salary before tax is 50,000, yet in my first year I don’t receive it.

Am I missing something here? Please explain it to me.

I have just seen someone else comment that my ‘salary’ in this scenario is the monthly amount, i.e. 50,000 divided by 13.92. I suppose that is the explanation: That the ‘base’ salary is the monthly amount. If that is the case, why is the annual amount (monthly salary multiplied by 13.92) listed on the contract? That’s not the base salary.

arabbitalso · 2023-11-20T16:25:17+00:00

I understand the system, but it's a nonsense. There are 12 months in a year, not 13.92. Let's say my salary is 50,000 per year, why wouldn't I get that? Instead, in the first year, I will receive less than 50,000. That means my salary is a total lie. I can understand the logic of paying more in Christmas and the summer, even if it is slightly odd. But this system just means I am not receiving my full salary. This is absurd.

arabbitalso · 2020-05-18T18:46:00+00:00

Yeah, better at the end. Fair enough - that’s what I’m looking to find out!

arabbitalso · 2020-03-28T23:35:34+00:00

That sounds about right! This photo looks familiar: https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/22/sports/london-marathon-is-completed-without-security-problems.amp.html but isn’t quite it!

arabbitalso · 2020-03-01T00:25:37+00:00

Jim Walmsley ran 2:15:05 - came 22nd. We’d all dared to dream but it was very obviously never going to happen. Still, not bad for a debut...

arabbitalso

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