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Wal-Mart will pay employees to deliver packages on their way home

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Re: Wal-Mart will pay employees to deliver packages on their way home

#261

Post by GhostVII »

TACIXAT wrote: post #66

I think my biggest complaint is that someone making minimum wager or near minimum wage will value money above their time, so many will take this opportunity. Most will take up any reasonable opportunity to earn a few extra dollars. However, this takes away from time that could be spent with family or used to better their skills. The working poor are in a tough position and this program takes advantage of that.

Why is it our job to determine how much time they chose to spend working? It seems kind of condescending to say that we shouldn't give them the choice to make a bit more money because we think they should spend more time with their families.

Re: Wal-Mart will pay employees to deliver packages on their way home

#262

Post by briandear »

ghostly_s wrote: post #89
v45h wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it only shady because you believe Walmart employees are not paid enough as is? Doctors can choose to moonlight and get paid extra, and I don't think anyone is complaining about that. And overtime is certainly a thing. Coming from Walmart's perspective, I'm assuming it just seemed like a smart business decision rather than something maliciously intended. Like hey look, we can make our customers and employees happie…

> Doctors can choose to moonlight and get paid extra, and I don't think anyone is complaining about that. Doctors have that choice, and yet they don't do that. I wonder why?

That just isn't true at all. In fact, it's patently false.

https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/12/24/the-doctor-as-moon...

Re: Wal-Mart will pay employees to deliver packages on their way home

#263

Post by bjl »

ythn wrote: post #166
vkou wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Now, if only there was some sort of way to force Wal-mart to answer these kinds of questions. Maybe... A union of employees, who want to understand their relationship with their employer better, and to push back on unfair parts of said relationship.

If you don't understand why businesses don't like unions, you've never owned a business. Also, historically, unions in the USA for whatever reason a lot of times end up becoming mafioso (not sure if it's the same in other countries).

Right, businesses don't like unions because they decrease their power over employees. That's not a good argument against them, however. If anything, I'd say its a good argument for them.

Re: Wal-Mart will pay employees to deliver packages on their way home

#264

Post by briandear »

rgbrenner wrote: post #84
xienze wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and it won't be near their hourly wage nor gas/wear & tear costs. Well then, I suppose the people involved will just have to do the math and see if it makes sense to them. The horror.

Im in the 'wait and see' camp.. but you can say a program is voluntary, while in truth it's required to keep your job. Just label all the people who refuse as not being team players. Dock them on their performance reviews for it. "Johnny over there wouldn't take a short detour on his way home, so we had to send someone out to deliver a package. If he's not willing to help out, maybe he should go work some place else.…

Do you have any evidence at all that this will be the case here?

Re: Wal-Mart will pay employees to deliver packages on their way home

#265

Post by gozur88 »

rectang wrote: post #132
Glyptodon wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I assume Walmart's going to have to carry car insurance for deliveries. It doesn't seem like there's any reasonable way they'd be able to "contractor loophole" it.

Per the TechCrunch article, workers need to submit proof-of-insurance to participate. The wear-and-tear is going on employee vehicles rather than company vehicles, the additional distance they travel will increase their personal insurance rates, and as with rideshare they will need to pay additional riders on their policies. (If they don't have the riders their policies will be canceled as soon as they make a claim!)…

>These additional costs make the deal worse for employees and better for Walmart in ways which are hard for the workers to understand.

That's pretty patronizing. I wouldn't assume people are stupid just because they work for Walmart.

This could be a great deal for people who need extra money. If I'm driving down a street anyway, it's not much of an imposition to drop off a package and not much wear and tear on the car.

Re: Wal-Mart will pay employees to deliver packages on their way home

#266

Post by briandear »

Chaebixi wrote: post #138
Alupis wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I could imagine an after-shift delivery taking up to an hour to complete. The article says the app finds possible deliveries that are on the employee's route home, so no extra out of the way driving is to be done... only a 30 second stop to get out and carry the package up to the front door. Seems very efficient to me. > I can also imagine a manager changing everyones' schedules around the deliveries. That could se…

> The article says the app finds possible deliveries that are on the employee's route home, so no extra out of the way driving is to be done... only a 30 second stop to get out and carry the package up to the front door. Seems very efficient to me. Dude, you're engaging in fantasy. Walmart is going to want to use this for more people than just those who live on busy commuter roads that happen to be used by a Walmart…

Any evidence to support your claims?

Re: Wal-Mart will pay employees to deliver packages on their way home

#267

Post by api »

bjl wrote: post #263
ythn wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you don't understand why businesses don't like unions, you've never owned a business. Also, historically, unions in the USA for whatever reason a lot of times end up becoming mafioso (not sure if it's the same in other countries).

Right, businesses don't like unions because they decrease their power over employees. That's not a good argument against them, however. If anything, I'd say its a good argument for them.

I've often heard that the biggest problem with unions isn't higher salary and benefit demands but inflexibility. Unions often insist on things like work rules (who gets to do what) and are resistant to automation or other forms of efficiency improvement. They basically end up mandating that things never change, eventually killing the host.

From what I know of union work rules I can't even imaging trying to run any form of high-tech manufacturing enterprise under those conditions. You just couldn't do anything. That kind of bureaucracy and restriction is death to any kind of innovation.

I've heard that unions in some other countries like Germany and Japan are different. I'd be curious to hear a German take on it.

Re: Wal-Mart will pay employees to deliver packages on their way home

#268

Post by anigbrowl »

matt_wulfeck wrote: post #5

> Workers can opt in to earn extra money by making deliveries using their own cars. They’re assigned packages based on where they live so the route aligns with their commute home The headline makes it sound coercive but that actually sounds like an efficient use of time and energy (less big trucks on the road, less miles driven, more money for people who want it). I wouldn't mind dropping a few things off on my way h…

I'm very interested to see what incentive they have for it.

Which of course is omitted, so they get the free advertising for their new service but you are not troubled by any specifics that might shape your decision of whether or not to use it.

I strongly suspect that workers will be given the opportunity to opt in...or find other employment.

Re: Wal-Mart will pay employees to deliver packages on their way home

#269

Post by rectang »

dragonwriter wrote: post #175
twoquestions wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Libertarian isn't necessarily right-wing, even though it generally is in the US. When you get some time, search for and skim though "The Conquest of Bread" to see a hard Leftist complain about taxes. Be warned, the author is kind of a nutbar.

> Libertarian isn't necessarily right-wing, even though it generally is in the US. American left-libertarians exist, but may not identify as libertarians because right-libertarians have kind of monopolized the label.

I'd like to think that left-libertarians would focus on efficiency of the labor market and the attendant benefits to the broader economy. Right-libertarians have ceded that ground.

Re: Wal-Mart will pay employees to deliver packages on their way home

#270

Post by [deleted] »

pyre wrote: post #14
mikeash wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, huge difference between "deliver this on your way home or your fired" and "if you want some extra money, deliver this on your way home." Not much difference between this and, say, LaserShip, aside from it being a small part of the overall job.

Well, where the rubber meets the road here is in whether or not there is an unspoken expectation that you need to do this, compensation or not. "Official" policy doesn't always reflect what gets implemented, and is sometimes just used as a way to legally CYA so that you can have your cake and eat it too.

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