More CNHI

[Mark2010]

Third-quarter furloughs, five days, announced yesterday at our shop. We're up to 65 days since 2Q '09.

Bad day to announce it too, as we're short-handed in several departments — specifically sports, photo, copy desk — during a very busy week because of furloughs, vacations and part-time staff cuts. People are edgy and very frustrated, yet the work is expected to be done.

Sigh.

Then don't complete the work then.

"Sorry, I couldn't get around to it. I had A, B, C, and D to do, and then I had to go on furlough."

Pretty much. The only way management is ever going to get the message is to have a disaster on its hands. If the people running the place don't care, why should we? (Sad, but true.)

 

[castnet4fish]

They cut 2 positions in pagination (Tx paper) and now the publisher and editor are building/dummying pages in the morning. One of 3 reporters is leaving tomorrow (leaving me and a newbie). It's sad looking around the newsroom. No one gives a **** anymore. as for the new round of furloughs, they failed to mention that

 

[Cnhihater]

Same with another Texas paper. Editor, who I learned recently had to have meeting on of he was focused enough, now dummies paper before having to design several pages each of the whopping three days it publishes. The newsroom has the editor, one reporter at the time, a reporter doing bulk of design and sports editor who covers six HS teams. Editor helps in sports when time allows.
CNHI has ruined the Papers image and the core group of newsroom employees probably won't be around much longer. The day the sports editor or editor has enough is the day the paper should go ahead and lock the doors.
How can this company admit readership is never been so slow yet force even more special sections which are bare of ads? Dumbasses

 

[castnet4fish]

So true. Reporter #2 is leaving (and #3 is already gone) leaving me until they hire more people at the "budgeted rate" which is $2 more per hour than what I make (been there 12 years in august). This sucks

 

[Mark2010]

Honestly, sounds like all the leverage you need to demand a raise.

 

[Colton]

Another rough night at the office. Would love to offer comment on the four-letter parent company mentioned here, but in the interest of my continued employment by said company, discretion is the better part of valor.

To quote Pops from "The Natural," "I shoulda been a farmer."

 

[wicked]

They used to have a pagination Hub in the North of Boston group. This was when several of the publications fell under one publisher. 2-3 years ago they broke it up, gave each their own publisher and sent members of the design team to work full-time in house at various locations. The way it is now is unquestionably better than the way it was then. Not sure why they'd centralize again or how it might work in regions that aren't as close together as their North of Boston group. Haven't heard anything about this yet.

I know this is an old post, but I was wondering what had happened there. I interviewed for a job on their combined desk years ago...

 

[JimmyHoward33]

They used to have a pagination Hub in the North of Boston group. This was when several of the publications fell under one publisher. 2-3 years ago they broke it up, gave each their own publisher and sent members of the design team to work full-time in house at various locations. The way it is now is unquestionably better than the way it was then. Not sure why they'd centralize again or how it might work in regions that aren't as close together as their North of Boston group. Haven't heard anything about this yet.

I know this is an old post, but I was wondering what had happened there. I interviewed for a job on their combined desk years ago...

Desk is now in the process of re-combining. Everyone on the desk is being classified as a paginator so there's allegedly going to be no copy editing going on on the desk, all that handled by the day/night editors in house at the various papers.

So the folks who were on the combined desk when you would've interviewed who were then sent to a different office are now being pulled back.

 

[Hey Diaz!]

Any CNHI folks have a payroll issue after a raise/promotion?

I recently was promoted and told before about the 8.3 percent furlough paycut required by all salaried employees. Problem is, said percentage wasn't factored into my first two checks in the new position. So I get paid yesterday and the amount is drastically less than the previous two, and enough of decrease where I'd have to think long and hard about taking the position in the first place.

Not sure if it was deliberate or simply a clerical error, but it makes you wonder who's driving the clown car for this horrible company.

 

[Colton]

HD: As a salaried employee, we NEVER receive a full paycheck during our beloved EFF(YOU!)-day quarters (which are pretty much every quarter, I know). Not sure how it applies specifically to your situation, but that's how it is here.

 

[BurnsWhenIPee]

Any CNHI folks have a payroll issue after a raise/promotion?

I recently was promoted and told before about the 8.3 percent furlough paycut required by all salaried employees. Problem is, said percentage wasn't factored into my first two checks in the new position. So I get paid yesterday and the amount is drastically less than the previous two, and enough of decrease where I'd have to think long and hard about taking the position in the first place.

Not sure if it was deliberate or simply a clerical error, but it makes you wonder who's driving the clown car for this horrible company.

I hope I'm reading this wrong. Do CNHI salaried employees just take an 8.3 percent weekly pay cut and have that be the "furlough" impact, while still working the same amount of time they would have without furloughs?

I hated furloughs when we had them at my old shop, but at least it was not having to work during that time I wasn't being paid. If you have to work the same amount of time for less money, they should have the balls to not call it a furlough and call it what it is - a pay cut.

It also could make one wonder about the legalities of making all the salaried workers take a straight pay cut, while making the hourly workers take unpaid time off.

 

[SixToe]

Legally, is there a difference for tax or company purposes between "furlough" and "pay cut?"

 

[BurnsWhenIPee]

Legally, is there a difference for tax or company purposes between "furlough" and "pay cut?"

Probably not legally. From an employee's standpoint, there definitely is. Making less money for working less time vs. making less money for working the same time would seem to be a pretty big difference.

 

[Mark2010]

Burns,

My understanding from when I worked at a CNHI paper was salaried employees still must take the time away from the office. It is just that their pay reductions are calculated differently.

 

[Colton]

The way it's supposed to be is this: 5 days off without pay, each quarter.

For us salaried employees, though, the reality is this -- when there is work to be done while others are on eff(you!) days, guess who it falls on? Yup, you guessed it, the salaried employees (trust me, I know this firsthand).

There is NO good thing about this, but at least the hourly folks are paid for any extra time they put in while the salaried people are on eff(you!) days.

Please know, that assumes said salaried employees are actually able to take the eff(you!) days and still put out a product. I know, it's simple to say, "if it doesn't get done, it's not your problem." The real "problem" is, though, many aren't willing to compromise the product they've poured their heart and soul into and end up just biting the bullet.

That results in not only a paycut, but MORE work.

As I mentioned previously, as Pops (Wilfred Brimley from "The Natural" fame) said, "I shoulda been a farmer."

 

[JimmyHoward33]

Every salaried employee at my shop takes 5 days off per quarter as long as the furlough program is going. There are no exceptions. That's the law and we're following it. I sincerely hope everyone else in the company nation wide is too.

The "pay cut" is just a math problem. Let's say for argument's sake you make 500 bucks a week. Over a quarter, that's 6,000 bucks. An hourly employee would simply get a check for 0 the week they don't work, whereas a salaried employee has the "reduction" spread over the entire quarter. Either way, at the end of 3 months, you've got $5500.

 

[Mark2010]

Yeah Colton, I hear where you're coming from and understand.

People are going to have to understand that you can't do the same amount of work with 4 people as you can with 5. If 1/5th of your staff is on furlough half the time, that's the same as having a smaller staff.

I reached a point where I had had enough of pouring my heart and soul into a product that management didn't care about. I wasn't going to get anything more in terms of raises or promotions. All I could even aspire to was personal satisfaction. I got what I needed in terms of experience and clips. Staying around another year or two wasn't going to make anything better. In fact, all the restrictions meant I wasn't going to be able to do as much good work as I had done previously.

I suspect a lot of people will soon come to the same conclusion. Unless you are desperate for what little money there is --- and honestly believe you can't get a job doing anything else --- there are less and less reasons to stay.

 

[Hey Diaz!]

The way it's supposed to be is this: 5 days off without pay, each quarter.

For us salaried employees, though, the reality is this -- when there is work to be done while others are on eff(you!) days, guess who it falls on? Yup, you guessed it, the salaried employees (trust me, I know this firsthand).

There is NO good thing about this, but at least the hourly folks are paid for any extra time they put in while the salaried people are on eff(you!) days.

Please know, that assumes said salaried employees are actually able to take the eff(you!) days and still put out a product. I know, it's simple to say, "if it doesn't get done, it's not your problem." The real "problem" is, though, many aren't willing to compromise the product they've poured their heart and soul into and end up just biting the bullet.

That results in not only a paycut, but MORE work.

As I mentioned previously, as Pops (Wilfred Brimley from "The Natural" fame) said, "I shoulda been a farmer."

Yeah, this is exactly right.

We still get our five furlough days, but at least non-salaried employees are allowed to shift their days around -- two here, two there, another the next month -- and lessen the sting. Add the fact that non-salaried folks are eligible for overtime and we're not, and you quickly come to the conclusion there is absolutely NO reason to become a salaried worker with CNHI.

It's beyond bull**** ... it's borderline criminal. I mean, where's the incentive?

 

[Baron Scicluna]

I know, it's simple to say, "if it doesn't get done, it's not your problem." The real "problem" is, though, many aren't willing to compromise the product they've poured their heart and soul into and end up just biting the bullet.

That results in not only a paycut, but MORE work.

Which is why the execs are laughing all the way to the bank. They don't care about the product and they're the ones making the most money.

This reminds me of one time when some national news had broken and our editor called up wanting one of us to write a local reaction. He went around to each of us on the desk, and we all took a stand and told him we didn't have time for it, and we each listed our myriad duties that we already were doing that night. When it came time for him to try to persuade me, I did the same thing, and the editor, after grumbling, told me to transfer him to the next guy.

Me: "I can't."

Editor: "Why not?"

Me: "He's on furlough today."

Editor: "Oh."

Needless to say, the story wasn't done. In other words, less time equals less work.

 

[Colton]

The way it's supposed to be is this: 5 days off without pay, each quarter.

For us salaried employees, though, the reality is this -- when there is work to be done while others are on eff(you!) days, guess who it falls on? Yup, you guessed it, the salaried employees (trust me, I know this firsthand).

There is NO good thing about this, but at least the hourly folks are paid for any extra time they put in while the salaried people are on eff(you!) days.

Please know, that assumes said salaried employees are actually able to take the eff(you!) days and still put out a product. I know, it's simple to say, "if it doesn't get done, it's not your problem." The real "problem" is, though, many aren't willing to compromise the product they've poured their heart and soul into and end up just biting the bullet.

That results in not only a paycut, but MORE work.

As I mentioned previously, as Pops (Wilfred Brimley from "The Natural" fame) said, "I shoulda been a farmer."

Yeah, this is exactly right.

We still get our five furlough days, but at least non-salaried employees are allowed to shift their days around -- two here, two there, another the next month -- and lessen the sting. Add the fact that non-salaried folks are eligible for overtime and we're not, and you quickly come to the conclusion there is absolutely NO reason to become a salaried worker with CNHI.

It's beyond bull**** ... it's borderline criminal. I mean, where's the incentive?

I am attempting, with all the might I can muster, to hold on to the remnants of my "want to." It's about the only thing -- other than the non-whole paycheck -- that hasn't been completely taken... yet. But that day is coming, soon, I surmise.