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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

#61

Post by db48x »

adetrest wrote: post #45
zaroth wrote: 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?

Non-salary benefits used to be extremely uncommon in the USA. During WW2, price and wage controls were enacted that made it illegal to increase prices for many types of goods, or salaries for many types of employees. This made it almost impossible for employers to find enough employees, so they started finding creative ways to sweeten the deal besides just increasing salary. Thus, virtually everyone now gets health insurance from an insurance company chosen by their employer rather than one they choose themselves, we tip workers that do certain jobs rather than paying them a normal wage, time off is negotiated ahead of time, etc.

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

#62

Post by golergka »

gerbal wrote: post #28
pointillistic wrote: post #10

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.

> Laborers deserve to be paid for their labor, and compensated fairly.

Everyone has a different notion of what's "fair". How about we write down an agreement about it on paper before doing business with someone, sign it and then just stick to it?

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

#64

Post by catacombs »

adetrest wrote: post #45
zaroth wrote: 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?

> How is that justifiable in any way?

Simply: Corporate greed.

Or, executives trying to save any penny they can, so if the company is ever gobbled up by a large conglomerate, such as NBC or Combast, or merged with another media company, people like Jonah Peretti, Lenke Taylor and Ben Smith can laugh their way to the bank.

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

#65

Post by catacombs »

reasonablemann wrote: post #44
born_a_beetle wrote: post #38

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.

You mind elaborating on this? Are you saying the mentality is to just show up, do the job within the allotted day then head home, knowing the company doesn't owe you thing, no matter how many extra hours you put in?

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

#66

Post by catacombs »

ggm wrote: post #13

Why, why do so many "trendy" companies shit on workers rights?

They prey on the young. Look at BuzzFeed's staff demographic. A lot of them are younger than 35. Five years ago, BuzzFeed, at least in the journalism community, seemed like the place to be: the company was growing, their news team was just getting off the ground and the resources seemed endless. One would think the traffic brought in by Disney princess quizzes would pay the bills. Sadly, that is not the case.

Video is still king over there. I'd be curious to know how many videographers and video editors lost their jobs compared to reporters.

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

#67

Post by sct202 »

There really needs to be more national level laws around PTO. Like my current employer has a policy to pay it out, but recently they've decided to cut our maximum rollovers from 6+ weeks (150% of accrual) to 1 week maximum from year to year. First world problems but this year I'm going to be taking a ton of days off.

I mean sure they can do that, but why can't we just have a set rule and stick with it?

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

#68

Post by Zecar »

badwolf wrote: post #55
thenanyu wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never found this argument convincing. "This is not the bad part of the organization. This is the part they spun up to help bolster their reputation so the bad part can continue to make money". That said, it's a bit tangential to the core issue here. People should get payed out for their accrued PTO.

The New York Times publishes gossip, entertainment, and crossword puzzles, as well as their news and in-depth reporting. Buzzfeed publishes gossip, entertainment, and online quizzes, as well as their news and in-depth reporting. That aside, they should get paid for their PTO.

Wait, are you actually implying the NYT has a reputation for accurate journalism?

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

#69

Post by rwz »

adetrest wrote: post #45
zaroth wrote: 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?

At my first job in US I had about a year and a half of unused PTO accumulated. I gave my two week notice like a good team player I was and then left on the agreed upon date.

I obviously didn't get any of the PTO paid to me and in retrospect realize that I could have just taken my last two weeks off with the same outcome.

I was so sure that there must be some law that would force employer to pay out unused PTO, that I haven't even thought about researching it in advance. This was a rude "welcome to United States, bitch" awakening for me.

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