Anyone else working for a company that is changing employment status?

[xmas74]

I just received a letter last week from our corporate office stating that, due to ACA, they will be reevaluating employment status for their employees and that many will be downgraded, especially those who work in schools. In other words, they are taking many of us who were full time and downgrading us to part time, in order to save on benefits.

The insurance isn't a problem since I'll probably qualify for any assistance with the open marketplace. What pisses me off is that I used to have vacation time and sick time, along with life insurance, stock options and a 401K as a full time employee but that will all be gone.

This is bullshit and they know it.

[Turbineguy]

1. If it weren't for the employees

the company would become so much more successful! I worked at a school where people in the administration seemed to think that things would go much better without the students and the teachers.

[xmas74]

3. I work for a company that is contracted out by a local university.

Since our hours are sporadic during the summer and during winter break they are now changing employment status.

This shit is on purpose. Why do I even work?

[handmade34]

2. companies

using the ACA as an excuse to cut labor costs

[xmas74]

4. Yep.

And it sucks.

Oh, and this isn't a small company

[etherealtruth]

5. No ...

They would if they could .... however, they would never attract or retain competent staff (they have a tough enough time as it is)

[xmas74]

7. They just think we are a dime a dozen.

I hate the place but nothing else is hiring.

[etherealtruth]

15. Oh believe me "they" think we are essentially scum

They just honestly can't compete without engineers, geologists, chemists , industrial hygienists, environmental scientists ... There is no respect for us (zip, zero, zilch).

They were particularly horrific as the economy tanked (like you, so many of us were virtually stuck in place because of lack of jobs) ... they have improved somewhat because the company bled competent experienced employees (to other companies) as soon as the employment picture brightened a little.

[xmas74]

35. There is no real respect for the working man anymore.

My child saw that the other day and I wish she hadn't.

[Decoy of Fenris]

6. Same thing here. 8000+ employees.

About 70-80% of our workforce has been knocked down to part-time, and all part-timers just had our insurance obliterated completely. The letter from the company insists that we just go on the government coverage, and gave us tips on where to go to find a good 401k program.

Never mind that maybe 3/4ths of our workforce is over 50, or that the vast majority of them rely on the insurance to live. Unfortunately, most of us saw this coming when the ACA was still being debated.

[xmas74]

8. I don't have a problem with ACA itself

but now that they've taken not just the insurance but all other benefits, the only things that made it worth working for them, is what makes me so damn mad.

[Decoy of Fenris]

11. Oh, aye, don't get me wrong.

I'm young yet and have no health problems, so I'm not losing anything in terms of insurance, but I know many of my coworkers who are losing their 401Ks completely due to a legal loophole, and because of my employer's terms with my state, they can't be held liable due to some BS clause about self-governance in such matters. We've had a glut of people scrambling to retire so they don't have to forfeit their 401ks, and with them retiring, the part-timers are getting worked 7 days a week until they'd otherwise get full time, and then they're fired just beforehand, and it's just a Grade-A Clusterfuq of epic, monstrous proportions.

[xmas74]

12. I'm waiting to see what happens with my 401K

but with a change in status to part time I'll assume it's gone. I'm sure my vacation are sick are gone, as is my holiday time.

I'm still relatively young but I have a child to support. If she's sick I can't call in because it's a lost day of wages. I can't afford to take any vacation time because I won't be paid and I don't want to think about retirement.

[Decoy of Fenris]

13. Sounds about on par with what our company is doing.

There's very little we can do here, unfortunately, except close our eyes and wait for the pain to stop. This place hires new staff daily, and everyone can be replaced within 24 hour notice.

I wish you the absolute best of luck in your own situation. These are trying times.

[xmas74]

14. We hire constantly too!

I know someone who works a a "phone actress". She makes more money-lots more-and she works from home. She made enough to buy a house a couple of years ago, is debt free and actually has enough to not only pay her bills but to go on a yearly vacation. She says I should think about it.

I don't know if I can do it but I sure do envy her life right now.

[Decoy of Fenris]

16. Thankfully, I'm lucky in that finances aren't a problem for me.

Not that I'm rich by any circumstance, but I don't particularly need my job, it's just comfortable and a good time-waster. I make most of my money from day trading on the market; I make more doing five minutes of work online than I do in two weeks on the job. However, the vast majority of our workers don't have the same luck as I do and I can only imagine how much stress they've been put under thanks to the company's decision.

What baffles me is that my employer has always been incredibly supportive of Democrats in general, and Obama in particular. To suddenly cut... well, everything... and blame Obamacare for it is a startling and disheartening move from them.

[xmas74]

18. Finances are a big problem for me

I need this job but cannot afford to take any time off, not even for a dr appointment or a conference with the teacher since my benefits will no longer exist.

There has to be something better out there.

[Decoy of Fenris]

22. It may sound like I'm being casually dismissive, but try going into business for yourself.

I don't necessarily mean "make a business" per se, but do something you enjoy, and do it for profit. You won't get the benefits that you'd get from a standard career, but the money you make independently may very well make up the difference. As a for instance, as sources of income, I:

Create, manage and sell MMORPG accounts on multiple games
Buy, and then resell, collectors items on E-bay
Dabble in the stock market

I've found great enjoyment in the above and have managed to not only "Get by" but excel at them because I both love the activities in addition to being damned good at them. Sure, from time to time, business goes dead in one or more of those categories, but at no time have I been without an income, and never working more than one job. My current employment is conditional simply on my desire to work there and I am not reliant as others are.

To put a blunt point on it: Do something you love (and are good at) doing, get paid doing it. I know it seems like I'm oversimplifying, but it's quite a deal more simple than most people would make it out to be. My friend's mom bakes in her own home, my old man mows lawns as an independent contractor, a buddy of mine takes commissions on graphic design, and another buddy of mine writes code as an independent IT consultant, and none of them are officially "employed". It's an option, at any rate.

[xmas74]

24. I've been working on this.

I've done a bit of canning and am working on recipes for product, along with baking. Our cottage laws will allow jams and jellies without a state inspection. I've also played around with the idea of a blog about basics that should have been learned in Home Ec but either weren't or have been forgotten. It would include not just cooking and cleaning but budget making, how to make household products, basic sewing, basic home repair, even basic car and bike repair. It would be updated regularly and include an easy to access menu,along with step-by-step instructions and photos. I've also been researching the area I live in and have worked on a ghost tour. I asked about a business license for a walking tour this year but was denied. Now I've decided to write it all out in a guide and to maybe offer it as a download for a couple of dollars, maybe even a printed copy at a couple of local shops. If that works, I'll expand to other towns in the area next year.

I have ideas-it's just implementing them.

[Decoy of Fenris]

25. See, you've got a great start. Thumbs up.

You're right, the problem is implementation, but that's always the case no matter what you do. Since I have exactly no skill or knowledge on anything you've described (outside of ghost tours; awesome), I'm afraid I can offer exactly zero hints, although I'd suggest less blogging, more V-logging; Youtube seems to be the place to get ideas off the ground, and if you take off, you take off -big-. One of the more prominent success stories from Youtube is Tobuscus, who went from casual, ADD gamer to running his own spots on Cartoon Network. Very rarely do you hear of such stories from simple blogs, and it may be a potentially more rewarding venture than a simple blog.


But Ghost Tours. Absolutely, unabashedly awesome.

[xmas74]

26. V-logging is pretty popular

but even the simple blogs are pretty good in the home ec sort of area. A few run blogs on refashioning, offering simple instruction and pics of each step, and they do quite well for themselves. I can think of some in that area that are now guests on shows like GMA, Racheal Ray, and others. One of the women in this area actually is encouraging me to blog on more of a how-to home ec and says she'll gladly link with me and even send me some traffic with an entry about me and my blog. Adding the videos might be a way to meld the two together.

And the ghost tours-Missouri has a complicated history. There are so many old ghost stories and stories of the supernatural that I used to collect in my youth. I can name about 30 sites in my small town alone that are purportedly haunted. Add to that paranormal claims within the county (glowing headstones, a church that was purposely built crooked for some supposedly nefarious claims, Mo-Mo sigtings and a 5 mile strip of road where UFO sightings are very common and I think there would be plenty of material for a nice download-perfect for an October moonlight drive!)

Adjoining counties have mental hospitals, Civil War battlegrounds, riverboat disasters and many others. The material is there for several downloads that would appeal to teens and adventure seekers.

[kevinbgoode1]

36. This is part of why I don't understand people don't get ticked off at the companies

I always thought that things like medical insurance (along with retirement, etc.) were considered "benefits" that were part of your overall work compensation. In other words, a decrease in benefits is essentially a decrease in SALARY unless the company is going to transfer the money used to formerly pay for benefits to the employees paycheck.

This is the kind of disturbing development that just coincidentally? (I think not) seems to be happening at the same time con-artist con-servatives are attacking unions as "obsolete" - as if companies learned their lessons back at the turn of the 20th century and are committed to treating employees fairly. We saw this start in the 1980's, when "salaried" workers were somehow convinced that "full time" meant well over 40 hours a week, when suddenly health insurance companies start making decisions about the validity of your own doctor's health care decisions, and suddenly standard deductibles and premiums starting dramatically rising for everyone.

When I worked at a utility back in the 1980's, every time we went for a contract, the company contended that we could only expect a small wage percentage increase because they had enhanced the "benefits" end of it so well that it made up for any expectations of higher wages. Of course, then they reduce the benefits, or pass along premium increases to the employee. . .heck, I work for a university now and got this whopping 3.5 percent wage increase (the largest I've ever had) and yet, my take home was REDUCED $7.50 a month. . .because of a health insurance premium increase of some 65-70%. This is one of my issues when the GOP talks about "Americans should pay less taxes so they'll have more money in their pockets". . .the money never REACHES our pockets - it always goes into the pockets of private companies (like insurance) who generally support Republican policies. (oops - I know I just went off-topic with this little rant).

I just get pissed off when a company talks about reducing benefits or increasing your required contribution to those "benefits" and then pretends they aren't essentially reducing your SALARY, and that doesn't matter if someone is part time or full time.

[kelliekat44]

9. That's part of the GOP plan. To get their corporate buddies to do just this and blame it on the ACA

even though many have been doing this for the past 12 years. What we need in an influx of foreign money to buy up these private businesses in American that don't want to pay decent wages and benefits and create truly good businesses without shareholders to answer to. All the goods should be MADE IN AMERICA with American workers and soon the competition would drive the outsourcers out of business. There are some in Quatar and wealthy Arab and other countries who really want to get into the economy of the US but can't because of the way our corporate system is set up. But owners who don't need to screw over workers to earn a decent profit could within 10 years buy up American businesses and just own us outright without having to lend us money. They started buying buildings back in the late 80s and early 90s. Now with the unrest within our economy and our government they can begin to buy businesses. All Americans want is a decent job to earn a living to take care of their families. They don't much care who is paying the salary.

[xmas74]

10. I work for a corporation that is foreign-owned (French)

but the decisions are out of the American office in reference to American workers. They can save a ton of money by doing this.

[prairierose]

17. This happened to me and several hundred...

colleagues at the beginning of the summer our hours and in my case, 25% of my income, were cut. Then last week, they officially notified us that we would not be eligible for health care benefits.

[xmas74]

19. I've noticed that our hours were cut more and more

and given to part time employees. I figured it was a way to keep the overtime hours down. I was wrong-it was a way to drag us all down to just enough hours in a years' time to put us at part time, according to the ACA standard definition.

[alcibiades_mystery]

21. Would you take the job part time and for no benefits as a new hire?

If not, you should leave.

[prairierose]

29. That is very easy to say....

especially when you know nothing about me or my job.

There are few jobs in my field and much competition. I am trying to get something else but until I do, I have to stick with this to at least try to pay the bills. But the continual insults are wearing on me.

[alcibiades_mystery]

30. It's not easy to say at all

At the end of the day, you make the decision about whether pay is commensurate with your time and labor. The only thing that these fuckers respond to is collapse of their labor force.

Would you have initially taken the job at the new pay and benefits offer?

[alcibiades_mystery]

20. Basically, your employer just decided to cut your pay and benefits drastically...nothing to do with

ACA.

It would be the same if there was no ACA at all, and your employer decided to cut pay and benefits.

It doesn't even matter if the employer is using the ACA as an "excuse." The employer is executing a massive benefits and pay cut, period. The question is, what are you and your fellow employees going to do about it? If your answer is "nothing," fine. People need work, even at pay and benefit rates far below those they agreed to at hiring. Remember, though, that you can walk out at any time.

Would you take the job as a new hire for part time and no benefits? No? Then quit. Yes? Then stay.

ACA is irrelevant: your employer is an abuser. Bounce.

[xmas74]

23. It didn't come from the local office

My boss actually apologized as he handed out the letters from corporate. (I wish I had a scanner-I'd gladly put it up on this page.)

I've been looking for another job but there is still nothing out there in my area. I cannot relocate due to a court order. (Child custody-I have full custody but he has the right to visitation and I cannot relocate outside of my county without his consent.)

I'm looking into a couple of small ventures to start out of my home but right now I just need a tiny bit of breathing space, financially speaking. The first chance available I'll leave the job. But many others don't have that option, since it's one of the largest employers in the area.

[alcibiades_mystery]

28. I understand that...it is a shitty thing that the company is doing. But it is abusive

Whether there was the ACA or not, the employer is simply cutting pay and benefits. If my employer sent me a letter tomorrow saying that my salary would be halved, period, I'd have a difficult choice to make, but that's no different from what is happening to you. Your employer is simply cutting pay and benefits.

[xmas74]

31. I'm gone as soon as able.

There is some unrelated harassment that already has me seriously contemplating other options. After this happened finding another option is crucial. I had a better paying job and recently left it to come back to this company. My other job had me working 12 hour days, sometimes every day. And it offered "flex time" and not lots of it. And I was working a swing shift. This job offered me a supervisory position, day shift, vacation and sick-but came with a $2.00 an hour pay cut. I decided it was better for me and my child to take it. Now I'm kicking myself over the decision.

[elehhhhna]

44. how long ago did` you go back to them?

they actually recruited you back and then reneged on the terms of hire?

And harassment?!! You better keep a journal of incidents - dates, names, witnesses, etc. You may need it...

[xmas74]

46. Just a couple of months ago.

But it's not the local office who is making the decision-it's corporate. Corporate can override whatever was offered by the local, if in their best interest. It's loosely defined in the handbook. The notice was handed out to everyone and will supposedly affect nearly 50% of their work force, especially those who can be even loosely defined as "seasonal".

As to the harassment-I've been keeping a journal of everything. If I go down, she's coming with me!

[grillo7]

39. +1

[mwrguy]

27. Now you'll have time to follow your passion.

Just ask Nancy Pelosi.

[xmas74]

33. In the long term she might be right, at least in my case.

This might be the kick I needed to get creative and not be so damn scared. I've known others who did well with less than I have so why not?

In the meantime, damn this is going to hurt.

[FreeJoe]

32. We're changing providers

They are sfraid of the Cadillac tax, so the are changing our provider choices. I expect them to push HSAs and HDHPs more.

[xmas74]

34. That sucks.

Of course, it could be worse, but it still sucks.

[FreeJoe]

42. It is a little unnerving

The company self insures, but uses health insurance companies to handle claims processing. The only reason that comes to mind for changing processors is if the new one rejects more claims to keep the costs down.

[mwrguy]

37. I liked my HSA, but it's not much good anymore

One of the first HCA changes to take effect was bannign HSA funds from being used for over the counter purchases, which is what I generally used my HSA for.

I don't bother funding it now.

[FreeJoe]

43. I'm pouring money into mine

I'm using it as another tax deferred retirement account. When I pay for medical care, I pay out of pocket and leave the money in the HSA. I save my receipts. The way the law works, I can withdraw the money to pay those medical bills at any time, including decades from now. By waiting, the money continues to grow tax deferred (or free if I end up with enough medical expenses).

[grillo7]

38. Start naming names!

If we start publicly talking about these companies and their practices, we can hit them where it hurts: on their profit margins. This should be a bigger story than it is...people won't want to work there, the media attention will be unfavorable, and and hopefully others will stop supporting their products or services.

[xmas74]

40. Sodexo.

The problem is that they are contract work-lots of institutions like hospitals, universities, schools, nursing homes, even sports stadiums.

You could be supporting them and not even knowing it because they aren't often advertised in their actual physical location.

[grillo7]

41. That's a good point with them...

However, those who have the power to choose which company or organization will provide their food may be able to take this into consideration. The university I went to at the time actually dropped Sodexho and went with another vendor after organized student complaint (that was about the food, but same principle...)

[xmas74]

45. But with so many long-term contracts

it isn't exactly easy. It could be five years down the road before the contract need renewed.

How about the students attending universities? The local university is considered an excellent choice financially speaking and one of the most affordable in the area. Good for students, good for parents, not as much money owed in the long term. But now the school requires a cafeteria plan for all attending freshmen and sophomores who live on campus. (And now all freshmen and sophomores must live on campus, unless they fall under certain criteria.)

They can get away with this in the short to mid-long term and by the time contract renewal comes around it'll probably be forgotten, only to be advertised as a money-saving option to the Board of Governors.