Post by icemandios on Mar 5, 2018 15:46:01 GMT
United’s plan to replace bonuses with lottery enrages employees
By Barbara Kollmeyer
Published: Mar 5, 2018 10:26 a.m. ET
Employees complain of ‘jelly of the month club’ profit-sharing plan
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
United has enraged its employees.
Be extra nice to that United Airlines employee the next time you plan to “Fly the Friendly Skies.”
There’s a good chance they’re smiling on the outside, and fuming on the inside after a memo leaked late last week from the airline’s president, Scott Kirby, said the company will be canceling its quarterly bonus program, and replacing it with a drawing for prizes.
In the memo, obtained by the Chicago Business Journal, Kirby said the airline’s employees would now be able to enter a so-called “core4 Score Rewards” prize drawing for cash prizes — between $2,000 and $40,000, vacations and luxury cars. Once a quarter, one employee will be awarded $100,000.
According to media reports, United UAL, -1.26% employees who are currently eligible for a bonus can count on about $1,200 extra a year.
“As we look to continue improving, we took a step back and decided to replace the quarterly operational bonus and perfect attendance programs with an exciting new rewards program called core4 Score Rewards,” is how Kirby reportedly explained that move.
Employees have apparently taken a dim view of the change, and fury at the company has been simmering awhile, if a Change.org petition that garnered more than 1,000 signatures, is anything to go by.
The letter introducing the petition on behalf of United Airlines Flight Attendants was written by Laurie Vesalo, whose LinkedIn profile identifies her as one of airline’s attendants. Among the complaints were Kirby’s “generous signing bonus,” while flight attendants had to sign a contract without even retroactive pay and planes that are being retrofitted to make more room for more passengers at the expense of employee areas.
Asked for a response to employee backlash, United officials told MarketWatch, “We believe that this new program will build excitement and a sense of accomplishment as we continue to set all-time operational records that result in an experience that our customers value.”
The protest letter also said a “point system” had been introduced that limited flexibility on sick calls, noting that employees had already been coming to work with the flu. And then while “industry friends” at Jet Blue JBLU, -0.68% , Southwest LUV, -0.02% , American AAL, -0.02% , Alaska Air ALK, -0.57% and Virgin America all got $1,000 tax-cut bonuses, United gave its employees nothing because “it already had a tax break,” the employee petition said.
“Then we saw a low profit-sharing percentage, which made us feel precisely like Clark Griswald felt when awarded the jelly-of-the-month club membership,” they added, in reference to the film “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” in which beleaguered employee Griswald didn’t get his Christmas bonus after promising a backyard pool with the spoils.
United had recently drawn praise over its decision to dump gun lobby promotions, but in 2017 it earned notoriety for a video that showed a passenger being dragged off the airline to make room for crew members.
Of the 500 comments posted on the United Airlines internal communications website for employees — Flying Together — it appears almost all were negative. That was according to an article in Inc. magazine, which said “a number” of employees had directly reached out to the magazine to complain about the bonus switch.
Among probably the most jarring details of that lottery, perfect attendance is required from employees to even enter the quarterly drawing. Employees have been reading that as no sick days.
“... Imagine your child coming home sick from school, no fault of your own. You are faced with calling in sick thus losing your ‘chance’ at a bonus or leaving your child/children home alone to care for themselves. What a terrible situation United has put that person in,” an employee identified as a first officer for B-767/B-757, wrote on the Flying Together website, according to Inc.
Another commented that to win such a prize would pretty much guarantee your colleagues would hate you, and you’d hate yourself.
“This is an insult to every single employee at UAL. Spin it however you want, but you’re still taking money out of our pockets and putting it into yours, Scott Kirby. Shame on you. Shame on you,” wrote an employee identified as captain for a B-737.
By Barbara Kollmeyer
Published: Mar 5, 2018 10:26 a.m. ET
Employees complain of ‘jelly of the month club’ profit-sharing plan
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
United has enraged its employees.
Be extra nice to that United Airlines employee the next time you plan to “Fly the Friendly Skies.”
There’s a good chance they’re smiling on the outside, and fuming on the inside after a memo leaked late last week from the airline’s president, Scott Kirby, said the company will be canceling its quarterly bonus program, and replacing it with a drawing for prizes.
In the memo, obtained by the Chicago Business Journal, Kirby said the airline’s employees would now be able to enter a so-called “core4 Score Rewards” prize drawing for cash prizes — between $2,000 and $40,000, vacations and luxury cars. Once a quarter, one employee will be awarded $100,000.
According to media reports, United UAL, -1.26% employees who are currently eligible for a bonus can count on about $1,200 extra a year.
“As we look to continue improving, we took a step back and decided to replace the quarterly operational bonus and perfect attendance programs with an exciting new rewards program called core4 Score Rewards,” is how Kirby reportedly explained that move.
Employees have apparently taken a dim view of the change, and fury at the company has been simmering awhile, if a Change.org petition that garnered more than 1,000 signatures, is anything to go by.
The letter introducing the petition on behalf of United Airlines Flight Attendants was written by Laurie Vesalo, whose LinkedIn profile identifies her as one of airline’s attendants. Among the complaints were Kirby’s “generous signing bonus,” while flight attendants had to sign a contract without even retroactive pay and planes that are being retrofitted to make more room for more passengers at the expense of employee areas.
Asked for a response to employee backlash, United officials told MarketWatch, “We believe that this new program will build excitement and a sense of accomplishment as we continue to set all-time operational records that result in an experience that our customers value.”
The protest letter also said a “point system” had been introduced that limited flexibility on sick calls, noting that employees had already been coming to work with the flu. And then while “industry friends” at Jet Blue JBLU, -0.68% , Southwest LUV, -0.02% , American AAL, -0.02% , Alaska Air ALK, -0.57% and Virgin America all got $1,000 tax-cut bonuses, United gave its employees nothing because “it already had a tax break,” the employee petition said.
“Then we saw a low profit-sharing percentage, which made us feel precisely like Clark Griswald felt when awarded the jelly-of-the-month club membership,” they added, in reference to the film “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” in which beleaguered employee Griswald didn’t get his Christmas bonus after promising a backyard pool with the spoils.
United had recently drawn praise over its decision to dump gun lobby promotions, but in 2017 it earned notoriety for a video that showed a passenger being dragged off the airline to make room for crew members.
Of the 500 comments posted on the United Airlines internal communications website for employees — Flying Together — it appears almost all were negative. That was according to an article in Inc. magazine, which said “a number” of employees had directly reached out to the magazine to complain about the bonus switch.
Among probably the most jarring details of that lottery, perfect attendance is required from employees to even enter the quarterly drawing. Employees have been reading that as no sick days.
“... Imagine your child coming home sick from school, no fault of your own. You are faced with calling in sick thus losing your ‘chance’ at a bonus or leaving your child/children home alone to care for themselves. What a terrible situation United has put that person in,” an employee identified as a first officer for B-767/B-757, wrote on the Flying Together website, according to Inc.
Another commented that to win such a prize would pretty much guarantee your colleagues would hate you, and you’d hate yourself.
“This is an insult to every single employee at UAL. Spin it however you want, but you’re still taking money out of our pockets and putting it into yours, Scott Kirby. Shame on you. Shame on you,” wrote an employee identified as captain for a B-737.
