August 17, 2011 at 10:05 am
I am not entirely a fan of getting a cell-phone from work. Too often the implication is that you must be ready to work 24x7x365 if they provide the cell-phone or reimburse cell-phone expenses.
Having gym benefits would be great.
Jason...AKA CirqueDeSQLeil
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August 17, 2011 at 10:12 am
SQLRNNR (8/17/2011)
I am not entirely a fan of getting a cell-phone from work. Too often the implication is that you must be ready to work 24x7x365 if they provide the cell-phone or reimburse cell-phone expenses.Having gym benefits would be great.
you do have, our taxes pay for the roads you run on....
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August 17, 2011 at 10:13 am
SQLRNNR (8/17/2011)
I am not entirely a fan of getting a cell-phone from work. Too often the implication is that you must be ready to work 24x7x365 if they provide the cell-phone or reimburse cell-phone expenses.
I'm in agreement with this, unless being available 24x7 is in the job description when I'm interviewing/hiring, then I expect them to provide the means to contact me.
Jack Corbett
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August 17, 2011 at 10:32 am
jcrawf02 (8/17/2011)
SQLRNNR (8/17/2011)
I am not entirely a fan of getting a cell-phone from work. Too often the implication is that you must be ready to work 24x7x365 if they provide the cell-phone or reimburse cell-phone expenses.Having gym benefits would be great.
you do have, our taxes pay for the roads you run on....
Shhh - secret.
Jason...AKA CirqueDeSQLeil
_______________________________________________
I have given a name to my pain...MCM SQL Server, MVP
SQL RNNR
Posting Performance Based Questions - Gail Shaw[/url]
Learn Extended Events
August 17, 2011 at 10:36 am
Jack Corbett (8/17/2011)
An HDHP + HSA isn't a bad deal right now.
Great topic.
My company has been largely insulated from the overall effects of the US economy, thanks in part to being located in North Dakota. Of course that probably won't last forever. Most of the benefits our state has received is due to oil money from the western half of the state. With all of the infrastructure issues and flooding we are seeing I doubt ND will be sitting this pretty for many years to come.
But healthcare is definitely still a huge hit for almost all employers here. My company switched from to HDHP + HSAs this last plan year. They gave everybody the numbers before the switch, explaining the premiums for a full health plan would have jumped over 25% in one year. Yikes! The HDHP/HSA combo is nice if you're younger and relatively healthy (thankfully my spouse and I are).
We've also been offering "Jeans Days for Charity" where every other Friday employees can choose to donate $2 or more to a charity of the month (decided by employee surveys) and wear jeans. Great way to improve morale and boost charity contributions (the company provides a match). It's hard for me to think of companies who wouldn't see the benefit in offering something like this.
August 17, 2011 at 11:06 am
What's happened with paid holidays? I recall a time when most US employers gave 10 - 12 paid holidays a year. Now it's down to about 6. Employer says you are welcome to use a PTO day if you want to take a holiday off. Big deal. The number of PTO days I have now are about half the combined number of vacation and sick days I had a few years ago.
August 17, 2011 at 2:10 pm
wware (8/17/2011)
What's happened with paid holidays? I recall a time when most US employers gave 10 - 12 paid holidays a year. Now it's down to about 6. Employer says you are welcome to use a PTO day if you want to take a holiday off. Big deal. The number of PTO days I have now are about half the combined number of vacation and sick days I had a few years ago.
Paid holidays, like paid vacation and weekends and health benefits, were brought to us by the unions. With so much manufacturing shipped off-shore, and a concerted effort by some political segments to destroy the unions, what you are seeing is a corresponding reduction in those "union" benefits. IMHO Take a look at our history (in the USA, at least) to see the trends from sweat-shop-labor to unionization to what we've seen over the last decade. "Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it." (don't recall who that quote is from, but I think they nailed it.)
Steph Brown
August 17, 2011 at 2:15 pm
tlockwood (8/17/2011)
This is what I have experienced in the last 3 years –Paid holidays reduced from 10 to 6.
Medical plan reduced from a ‘Cadillac’ plan to a ‘Ford’ plan.
401K match reduced to 0%.
Revoking the 401K match is low hanging fruit for a company. Fortunately we still get ours. Take that 6% match, some stock options, and possibly better pay being in the private sector. I think of that as my company "pension". It may not be as much as an actual one but with all the talk of states being broke I wouldn't be all that sold on the promise of a pension.
New costs have crept into our medical plan but I'll take it any day. As someone with a spate of recent sickness in their family, the alternative could mean financial ruin.
Ken
August 18, 2011 at 6:44 am
If you want to get benefits, work for a bank. Screw up the entire economy, bank post a multi-billion loss? Have a 7 figure bonus because we don't want to lose you:angry:
In the UK we are facing the inevitable consequence of a massive shift towards financial services from manufacturing. Apparently France and Germany are proposing a tax that would effectively cripple this sector.
The gist of it is we have all been living way beyond our means for too long and it is now time to foot the bill. That means lower wages, higher taxes, fewer benefits.
The only ray of hope I have is that everything comes and goes in cycles. We may be on the slide now but in a decade or so we will be on the up.
The US is fortunate because its sheer size means that there will always be a market capable of keeping its heartbeat going. In the UK our current crop of politicians will no doubt come back from Brussels smarting with their trousers around their ankles proclaiming this years abject surrender to be a great victory for British diplomacy.
August 18, 2011 at 11:38 am
The US is fortunate because its sheer size means that there will always be a market capable of keeping its heartbeat going.
The US is also screwed since income inequality is at 1932 levels. The bottom 80% of income earners is fighting over 16% of the income. The top 20% is re-arranging the deck chairs on the deck of the Titanic...
:angry:
August 18, 2011 at 12:19 pm
chrisn-585491 (8/18/2011)
The US is fortunate because its sheer size means that there will always be a market capable of keeping its heartbeat going.
The US is also screwed since income inequality is at 1932 levels. The bottom 80% of income earners is fighting over 16% of the income. The top 20% is re-arranging the deck chairs on the deck of the Titanic...
:angry:
What a coincidence that the marginal tax rate on wealthy people in our country is also at its lowest since 1932 (aside from 1988 -1992).
Ken
August 18, 2011 at 1:19 pm
David.Poole (8/18/2011)
If you want to get benefits, work for a bank. Screw up the entire economy, bank post a multi-billion loss? Have a 7 figure bonus because we don't want to lose you:angry:
David, I can't figure out if you're joking or not. I'm sure that not all bank employees earn a 7 figure bonus. If they did, please tell me what bank it is that provides everyone with such a hefty bonus.
Kindest Regards, Rod Connect with me on LinkedIn.
August 18, 2011 at 1:43 pm
I'm only half joking. Of course it isn't all bank employees, it appears to be mainly the investment bankers.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12131092
It's a tired old rant but I object to paying extra tax for a bank that is "too big to fail" that posts big losses and announces that the fat cats are getting 7 figure bonuses.
I'm lucky in that I get an annual bonus but it is based on two predicates.
1. The company that I work for must have hit its PROFIT (I stress again PROFIT) targets.
2. My personal performance must have reached the desired level.
Make a profit and miss those targets = no bonus. I find this a fair and equitable state of affairs.
I do know that this year my energy bills have shot up. This time last year my car used to cost around £60 to fill up, now it is nearly £80. Electricity and gas (cooking and heating) prices are going through the roof. The food bills are shooting up, inflation is up to nearly 5% but interest rates on savings are effectively zero.
Higher Education in the UK is in great danger of becoming a privilege for the offspring of the rich rather than merit.
Those people who are on fixed incomes are being hit hard because their savings are yielding nothing but their costs are going skywards.
I can remember a sketch on "The Golden Girls" where Betty White's boyfriend was panicking because he had only budgeted to live to 80!
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