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We demand BuzzFeed pay out earned paid time off to its recent laid-off employees

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Re: We demand BuzzFeed pay out earned paid time off to its recent laid-off employees

#42
post #40

I've worked for many companies that don't pay out accrued PTO - PTO at those companies was use-it-or-lose-it. But I also understood that going in, and I understood that when I read the employee handbooks and explanation of benefits. It seems folks might have overlooked that bit of their employment. California is obviously a large exception. However, if an employer doesn't state that you get a particular benefit, or f…

One of the issues here is that PTO isn't always easy to use.

> No one at BuzzFeed told me not to use PTO. I had a lot saved because I was busy and wanted to be there for my team.

https://twitter.com/FranBerkman/status/1089675336407752704

> I have worked more holidays than I can count, and have gone on tough reporting trips where I’ve worked 16-hour days for days in a row.

> I have about a month’s worth of comp days as a result. If I’d been laid off Friday, I wouldn’t have gotten paid for it.

https://twitter.com/juliareinstein/status/108967206892331417...

Re: We demand BuzzFeed pay out earned paid time off to its recent laid-off employees

#44

read your contract when you get hired, people. You shouldn't expect anything more than what's guaranteed right there in front of you.

The funny thing is a lot of people think the company they work for cares about their wellbeing.

When you realize they don't care about you, they will feel it. And your pay will go up. I guarantee.

Re: We demand BuzzFeed pay out earned paid time off to its recent laid-off employees

#45
post #2

There’s just one paragraph missing. If PTO isn’t paid out on termination, then PTO cannot be safely accrued. The undersigned should state that this behavior leaves them with no choice but to draw down their PTO balance, perhaps starting a specific day next week. But I wonder if the employees that weren’t in a state which requires paying out PTO balances had expected to be paid their PTO balance? Usually this is one o…

The US is just nuts. Are you saying that your earned but unused PTO doesn't have to be paid out to you when you're laid off but is rather at the discretion of the employer? How is that justifiable in any way? Does the bank owe you accrued interest when you close your account or is it up to them to pay it? Why would it be different for PTO?

Re: We demand BuzzFeed pay out earned paid time off to its recent laid-off employees

#46
post #28

The same people who wouldn't think twice about some PC expose that ruins a person's life forever, same people will fight for a couple days vacation time... Before you down-vote, what am I missing?

Laborers deserve to be paid for their labor, and compensated fairly. Regardless of what one thinks of the labor. The concerns of labor should be given as much weight as the concerns of profit maximization.

I am so f*ing surprised this needs to be said.

IF YOU DID WORK FOR A LEGAL EMPLOYER, YOU DESERVE TO BE PAID FOR IT.

(I'm adding to what the op said)

Re: We demand BuzzFeed pay out earned paid time off to its recent laid-off employees

#47
post #40

I've worked for many companies that don't pay out accrued PTO - PTO at those companies was use-it-or-lose-it. But I also understood that going in, and I understood that when I read the employee handbooks and explanation of benefits. It seems folks might have overlooked that bit of their employment. California is obviously a large exception. However, if an employer doesn't state that you get a particular benefit, or f…

Ah, and here come the downvotes. Mention responsibility and entitlement, and get hammered here.

Re: We demand BuzzFeed pay out earned paid time off to its recent laid-off employees

#48
post #24

The same people who wouldn't think twice about some PC expose that ruins a person's life forever, same people will fight for a couple days vacation time... Before you down-vote, what am I missing?

Because not every employee was complicit in that....... And those that weren’t most definitely DO deserve their PTO. The problem is when you say “same people” you’re just lumping everyone together and implying everyone at Buzzfeed news was trying to run articles that ruins a person’s life forever. That’s what you’re missing.

> Because not every employee was complicit in that...

Companies like Amazon frequently get skewered for a single sensational negative event at one of their warehouses. That one negative event is then extrapolated and taken to mean it's very common (thousands of their employees are forced to piss in bottles), with zero evidence to support that premise.

Why should BuzzFeed and its employees not get to enjoy the media propaganda and sensationalism turned right back on them? I fail to see why they'd be immune to the same negativity they're helping to build up in the US culture. Working for any part of the BuzzFeed machine, they're all complicit in helping to cultivate numerous of the nightmare cultural problems eating at the US, including the entirely rotten state of the US media industry.

BuzzFeed News helps to pay the bills for BuzzFeed and helps to keep the whole brand alive and kicking for another day to spew more garbage into the culture. They are in fact directly linked because of that.

To use a crystal-clear, point-proving example: employees that help create bombs for the military industrial complex are not complicit at all in what those bombs are used for? For example, blowing up school buses. The countless employees that help support all of that and make it possible, are not complicit in any way? Obviously they are. Work for a corporation doing terrible things, you share responsibility for its output. Every part of BuzzFeed's organization assists the core BuzzFeed company.

The only way that context would be dramatically or entirely reduced, is if they spun off BuzzFeed News, strictly separated it financially, ditched the brand and removed all BuzzFeed influence and control. As it is, they're all part of the same company.

Re: We demand BuzzFeed pay out earned paid time off to its recent laid-off employees

#50

read your contract when you get hired, people. You shouldn't expect anything more than what's guaranteed right there in front of you.

This x1000.

If a benefit isn't spelled out in black and white, it should be considered non-existent.

Example: I used to get a ham at Christmas time. This was a gift from the company (i.e not in my contact). We had a bad year in 2017 and there was no ham - that's fine.

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