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Anyone else still at work through this Coronavirus pandemic?

leesonic

leesonic

Captured on security camera...
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I'm keeping this vague so as not to get in trouble. My company provides warehouse automation for the big players. You can probably guess who. As of yesterday, the latest memo from HR said that we were still on the "life sustaining business" list. Our main customer is cutting back on the shipments of non-essential items to their warehouses. Prior to this pandemic, they probaby never stocked toilet paper or hand sanitizer. So I have to work...

What really makes my blood boil is this. Those of us that work in production, or support those that work in production, are unable to work from home due to the nature of our work. So we are forced to work in close proximity with each other. Meanwhile, supervisors, managers, and other non-production staff can "work from home". I've been waiting for a PC now for two weeks in order to do my job, but the IT department is "working from home".

Even worse still is the way our time off is being handled. I hear news stories of other companies (Kohl's for example) giving their workers the next two weeks off with full pay. Not us. We work exclusively with the PTO (Paid Time Off) scheme. We start the year with zero PTO balance, and build up time off throughout the year. But what the management have said is that if we want to take time off to self quarantine (or get sick), then it comes out of our PTO time. If we run out of PTO, they will allow us to negative 40 hours, but we must pay it back by building up PTO before we can take any planned vacation.

When I tell my family and friends all this, they can't believe it.
 
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I'm still working, seeing people every day.
This is starting to piss me off, not sure I'm going to keep it up.
 
Holding down Perkins Restaurant here.
We run 2 employees (managers) 7-9
NO ONE is ordering carryout.
We have 4 delivery services and struggle to put out maybe 20 orders.
A day.
I'll be unemployed before this is over; like the rest of my staff.
Company says File for Unemployment.


Matt
 
Yep, I go in every day - no telework for us yet, tho agencies around us are doing telework.
But, the customer did not renew our contract for a 3rd year, so I won't be working there after May 22.
(I've been supporting that agency for 23 years total, under 6 different contracting firms, 3-5 years each).

So, my resume is posted and I'm doing interviews via phone calls with headhunters.
But if one hires me, (for a job elsewhere) they probably won't furnish telework at first.
 
Last edited:
JesusChrysler said:
Holding down Perkins Restaurant here.
We run 2 employees (managers) 7-9
NO ONE is ordering carryout.
We have 4 delivery services and struggle to put out maybe 20 orders.
A day.
I'll be unemployed before this is over; like the rest of my staff.
Company says File for Unemployment.


Matt
Click to expand...
My lady and I are still dining out, had take out Culver's the other night, pizza etc. Well it's sorta a must, food lines at the grocer you know. If everyone would just calm down we would still have full shelves with enough for all.

Stop hoarding people.
 
I can’t work, door to door business. I packed it in a couple weeks ago. Now in NJ were on essential business only, which I am not.

Luckily, my wife has an office job that she can do from home so we’re stable.

We’re home with 2 teenagers with cabin fever. I’m planning to go for groceries once a week, be super careful. Otherwise I fully expect to live like this till late May. My 50th birthday is in late May, so maybe I’ll get the gift of mobility, do some fishing or something.
 
I work from home, so no change for me thus far. Of course, I'm semi-retired, so I don't work a lot of hours anyway. For those of you still working in the workplace and manning the front lines, thank you for your work! You are keeping things moving and rolling for those who have been told to stay home. I'm sure that it is frustrating to be working while others are not, but I have to believe that something will ultimately be done to reward those of you who worked through this crisis and kept the country supplied while many stayed home. Do keep in mind though that many others have lost or will be losing their jobs or have at the very least lost hours, pay and other benefits. Those who worked in restaurants, bars, drove uber, lyft, etc. are unemployed and running out of money with no idea when or if their jobs will return to normal - or even return at all.
 
Teleworking for now, but we support a data center. When hardware breaks or goes awry we have to go in.
 
I'm still in contact with friends I used to work with. I would still call retail in that there is contact with the public all day long. The corporation has deemed them "essential services" although they really aren't and one of my friends has a newborn at home. The real reason is to keep the cash flow going :rant: The company doesn't offer paid sick leave so if you get sick you're on your own. While the front line guys are at risk daily, the big shots are far removed, nice and safe :mad: I think paid sick leave should be mandatory in cases like this.
 
I am a "client advisor" at a car dealership owned by one of the largest dealer groups in the country. Car dealers as a lobbying group have been fighting to be labeled "essential" businesses. They claim cars must be repaired, cars need to be replaced, and lease terminations require new purchases. The reality is far uglier.

Our parent company entered into a $1T deal to purchase a dealer group in Texas. With the expected long-term downturn in business, they are desperately trying to get out of that contract. Apparently they are on the hook for $250M to walk away but are confident they can negotiate that down to $30M to vacate the contract. So it is obvious they think prospects for a profitable near-future are slim, at best, and they're willing to spend at least $30,000,000 to cut their projected future losses. And yet they are working themselves into a frenzy to have all existing stores remain open. Why?

Obviously there are fixed costs that won't go away, like interest on inventory. But take a look at what costs they would incur if they did the right thing for the safety of employees and customers, and shut down the sales end. Like @leesonic, if sales people are sick or otherwise choose to stay at home out of safety concerns, it comes out of our PTO (paid-time-off) days which accrue from the start of the year based on time worked. I currently have just over 3-days out of an annual tenure-earned 22-or-so I will have. As salespeople our employers are required by the state to pay us hourly compensation of something over $8. But, if your commissions earned don't meet what your hourly pay is during a period, you owe the difference back to the employer. By contract we are not hourly employees, but "at-will" employees who can be terminated for no reason. Now, if I sit in the office for the next several months earning either nothing or a substantial reduction in my normal earnings, it costs my employer nothing. If I take my available PTO time now, it will be based on previous earnings. If I take more than my 3-days, I'm essentially borrowing against future earned PTO days. We have no sick-leave provision. If I choose to continue to work as we see what unfolds, my PTO will be calculated from a basis of possibly a zero or negative income number. By the end of the year it is possible that I'll earn nothing from work, and my paid-time-off will amount to nothing, as well.

So, for our dealerships to remain open during a pandemic will cost the owners and shareholders nothing in sales compensation or commissions. I'll be working in an unsafe environment essentially for free, or perhaps I'll even owe my employer for working.

In general, automobile manufacturers hide the true cost of their vehicles from sales people anyway. These days manufacturers pay a "holdback" to their dealers based on a percentage of the invoice price if they've met certain criteria for a month or quarter like customer satisfaction survey results, or volume levels. The "holdback" money does not become part of the commissionable amount on which your salesperson's compensation is figures. For example, BMW offers several 8-series models at $100,000 and above. Let's us a $100k example. Difference between MSPR and invoice cost may be around $4,000. Normally I might earn 20-30% of that in commission depending on my volume. But let's say BMW also includes incentives to the customer and the dealer totaling $5k or more. To sell the sled and get it off of inventory, the dealership decides to discount the vehicle $10k. The customer buys a $100k car for $90k but still expects the salesperson to treat him like someone who just spent $100k. The salesperson is paid on a loss, or a minimum, which for me would be $250 on a new car for time and trouble—past, present, and future—with that client. The dealership will still get another $8k or so in "holdback" from the manufacturer out of which they pay the salesperson . . . nothing. In fact, even if there were any profit left in the car, the salesperson is charged "pack" and lot charges on every car which simply adds around $800 to the "cost" from which any commission is figured. And you know that "dealer processing fee" you see from a state mandated max of maybe $199 in some states to unlimited in others (our local Ford dealer charges $699)? None of that is figured in the salesperson's compensation, either, even though it is profit to the shareholders.

So, for the sake or brevity (too late, I know), if I sell 5 used-cars and 5 new cars this month at minimum or zero commissionable gross profit, I'll be paid $2,250 for the month. For a typical 10.5-hour work day, 60-hour work week or 260-hour work month, that's around $8.50/hour. At the current rate of business that is more likely to be six sales per month, if that. The math gets worse. It's possible I will owe money back at the end of the month. And if sales completely flatten out based on all non-essential workers being asked to stay home and no one can buy any cars, I'll be working for free.

So why would a dealership want to stay open? Well, using the above premise that salespeople cost the dealership nothing if they sell nothing, and that the dealership makes most of the money if they do sell something, then the cost to an employer in unemployment insurance is far greater than the Zero they'd be paying us to sit there as an "essential" business. Bottom line is we cost our employer nothing if we show up to work, but we cost them quite a bit if ordered to stay home. "Essential", but to whom?

Be safe and enjoy your weekend. Some of our stores have now decided to be open every Sunday during the pandemic to make up for lack of traffic during the normal week. Such insanity! Maybe they'll start offering free toilet paper with every car purchased.
 
I'm a field service tech who works on medical lab equipment (pathology/histology). I also work on bio safety cabinets (where they test all this nasty crap). My work takes me to hospitals, independent labs, doctors offices and research facilities.

I am an employee of a small company however, for all practical purposes, I'm no more than an exclusive sub-contractor who is paid commission and receives no benefits. I once mentioned to the owner that we have no insurance. He snapped back and said that he pays my workers comp, and liability insurance in case I burn down a building while I'm out there working. :confused: He's a real sweetheart. :whip:During another conversation, I was told that OSHA does not apply to his company. :yikes: I have yet to hear (and probably won't) even one word on how we should protect ourselves during this crises.

As an ex, almost 50 year, smoker in my late 60's (with an increasing "I don't give a s**t attitude") I have no desire to become a statistic while increasing the companies bottom line. I"m therefore taking the next several weeks off until this thing blows over. At which point I hope to meet with an attorney. ( I have some interesting conversations recorded, including the above mentioned. ;))
 
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