Long story. Bear with me here!
I work in warehousing/distribution for a certain Arkansas-based retail behemoth that shall remain nameless. On Monday we had a meeting in which our wage increases for the year were revealed. The General Manager of the facility was pleased to announce (to applause and back-patting) that we are to receive the largest raises he has ever seen the company give: $1.10/hr. for most positions (including mine) and $1.70/hr. for some support roles that had been passed over by previous raises. Okay, not bad! Certainly better than nothing. 7.5% inflation kinda negates that $1.10 but I digress…
However, the GM went on to say that the quarterly incentive program for hourly employees is being scrapped; a move he wholeheartedly agrees with because bad employees had been affecting how much of a bonus the rest of us received all along.
The bonus system was dependent on each warehouse as a whole meeting certain criteria with a maximum payout of…wait for it….$1.10 for every hour worked in a given quarter IF all criteria were met. Of course, we never met all the criteria (employers gotsta do the carrot and stick thing, right?) but our distribution center consistently scored pretty high and had averaged payouts of maybe 80 cents per hour over the last couple years. It’s impossible to calculate since the bonuses varied but theoretically I’m still gaining 30 cents or so here, right? Nope. The bonus each individual received was tied to their attendance, on a scale from 125% of the quarterly payout for perfect attendance to nothing for very poor attendance.
I usually got 125%. Not that I’m a perfect employee mind you, but I get paid reasonably well (for this area) and only have a three day work week. It’s three long, stressful days but it beats working five or more so it’s not that fucking hard to show up and put in a solid effort.
Needless to say, a $1.10/hr. raise offset by the loss of approximately $1.00/hr. in bonuses, compounded by inflation at a 40 year high makes the company’s generosity a lot less heart-warming. The only people who are happy with this are the ones who didn’t show up consistently enough to get a bonus anyway.
I have to admit that its a pretty epic coup on the the company’s part. Not that I was terribly surprised but it’s the principle of the thing; it’s the game-playing that bothers me. Dude stood up there with a smile and told us several times that this was “the right thing to do”. We helped pull them through the pandemic (which the company has profited handsomely from by the way) and kept this facilities head above water while other distribution centers in the system are still struggling with the increased workload, low employee retention and lax attendance.
So I see this as not only an underhanded cost-saving measure but a political move as well. There has been a lot of corporate-mandated micromanaging the last couple years under their “One Best Way” program (sounds benign, doesn’t it?). Constant procedural changes (to a job with an already insane amount of details), random audits, goalpost shifting and focusing on minutiae which, on top of the inherent chaos and stress of the job, has made for an oppressive work environment. What it boils down to is that in spite of “One Best Way”, there is no right way. The job is one big gray area and involves a lot of judgement calls that someone else usually disagrees with. There is little consensus on how to do anything between managers, departments and shifts, let alone from one facility to another. It was only a matter of time until people had had enough of being micromanaged by bosses who don’t fully grasp what the job entails. (management who can’t walk the walk). In one fell swoop, the company managed to hamstring the possibility of dissent gaining traction by pandering to some of their worst employees.
We all know the score – capitalism ain’t about the individual’s wants and feelings. But it’s hard to take getting blatantly fucked for being a reliable employee. Any recourse here? Any thoughts or advice?