$15 minimum wage and $200 bonus recognition for work during pandemic

On top of that, we’re giving front-line team members in our stores and distribution centers a one-time recognition bonus of $200 to thank them for providing essential services to our guests throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
 
www.thebreakroom.org

Corporate - $15

Just saw on GMA this morning that we are keeping the $15 an hour for team members and also every target team member is going to get a $200 One time bonus for working through the pandemic. So question ??? If team members pay stays at $15 an hour what about the $2 pay bump that the TLs got, I...
www.thebreakroom.org www.thebreakroom.org
 
Amanda Cantwell said:
When will the $200 hit? Anyone know? @Yetive @Hardlinesmaster
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End of July. @Amanda Cantwell
From the press release
To recognize team members’ efforts to meet guests’ needs during the coronavirus pandemic, Target was one of the first in the retail industry to offer a temporary wage increase of $2and kept the increase in place two months longer than originally announced.

The one-time $200 recognition bonus will be distributed at the end of July to eligible full-time and part-time hourly team members at both stores and distribution centers.
 
There are two threads on this, maybe they can be combined.

It's likely that the recent episodes of rioting/looting on a few Targets combined with the toxicity of social media over the past 3 weeks contributed to Corporate's decision to pay a $200 bonus plus accelerate the higher minimum wage. The higher minimum will be huge in low-cost-of-living places like Springfield Missouri, Amarillo, and Great Falls. Sadly, it will leave a lot of experienced TMs with a goose egg - particularly in high cost-of-living places - while new hires will earn the same.
 
bikebryan said:
How can they pay the bonus for working "through the pandemic" when the pandemic is still going on? Who at Target is seeing the future and predicting an end to it once July is over?
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Good question. Cynic though I often am about Corporate, I don't think Corporate is pretending that the pandemic will end in July. The number of reported cases continues to rise BECAUSE greater numbers of Americans are actually receiving COVID-19 tests, because the testing supplies are more available for the public than they were a couple of months ago. So yes, there are still people testing positive and going into quarantine, and for those who test positive and suffer symptoms, it's very unpleasant but the death rate is not as high as originally asserted.

However, I'm really concerned about what happens come September. Combine tens of millions of students finally returning back to school, university or college with cooler autumn weather AND people becoming lazy about using face masks and social distancing, and we could end up with an unhappy "The Empire Strikes Back" COVID-19 episode. A renewed COVID-19 outbreak could be very hard for Target, occurring during the financially-lucrative wrap-up of BTS sales as well as Halloween and Christmas Holidays.
 
It's not just the "goose egg" .. it's the insult too. I've been with Target for 7.5 yrs, and just made it to $15/hr this year. Every year I've gotten an increase due to merit, 0.20 - 0.50 at most, I see my hours slowly cut for the rest of the year. I have to work two jobs just to pay bills.
The end of the extra $2 will cut my pay check further, and I'm supposed to be happy for the new people who walk in to the same pay I make? It seems that loyalty and longevity means nothing to this company. If you're not a TL, ETL, or SD, you're just getting the shaft. I don't see why corporate can't give those of us who have given five years or more an increase of at least $0.50 - $1 for differential. That would be fair.
 
Nah, that wouldn't be fair. Fair is everyone gets a $2 raise, not a raise to $15. All wage increases should have worked this way. You shouldn't be making $15.50 if you've worked here for 5 years, you should be making at least ~$16.50. The people at my store that have worked there for 20+ years IMO deserve to be making $20+. Alas, they're probably making $15.
 
Nauzhror said:
Nah, that wouldn't be fair. Fair is everyone gets a $2 raise, not a raise to $15. All wage increases should have worked this way. You shouldn't be making $15.50 if you've worked here for 5 years, you should be making at least ~$16.50. The people at my store that have worked there for 20+ years IMO deserve to be making $20+. Alas, they're probably making $15.
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Its the same at Wal-Mart with my father in law. He has worked at walmart most of his life but I made more than him as a new overnight employee. Nobody should expect to get paid much more than new hires when it's a revolving door and pretty much anyone can do the job with basic training and fresh new energy. You're not special with any advanced training. You're just another replaceable employee... Idk why most people dont understand this.
 
FrankM0421 said:
Its the same at Wal-Mart with my father in law. He has worked at walmart most of his life but I made more than him as a new overnight employee. Nobody should expect to get paid much more than new hires when it's a revolving door and pretty much anyone can do the job with basic training and fresh new energy. You're not special with any advanced training. You're just another replaceable employee... Idk why most people dont understand this.
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This is fundamentally flawed. If this was how it should work, then people shouldn't get yearly raises at all. It's disingenuous to give people a raise and then wipe it off right after. It's a bullshit carrot chasing tactic.

If you're not giving people real raises, don't give them fake ones either.

Your rationale is also nonsense. I absolutely guarantee that I am faster than any new employee. Significantly so.
 
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Nauzhror said:
This is fundamentally flawed. If this was how it should work, then people shouldn't get yearly raises at all. It's disingenuous to give people a raise and then wipe it off right after. It's a bullshit carrot chasing tactic.

If you're not giving people real raises, don't give them fake ones either.

Your rationale is also nonsense. I absolutely guarantee that I am faster than any new employee. Significantly so.
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I would also argue many of us also have advanced training, the most obvious of which is EXPERIENCE.

I have settled for the knowledge my yearly DEO raise will bump me up "faster" than everyone else at least. I'll make it $16 well before them! 🤣
 
Nauzhror said:
This is fundamentally flawed. If this was how it should work, then people shouldn't get yearly raises at all. It's disingenuous to give people a raise and then wipe it off right after. It's a bullshit carrot chasing tactic.

If you're not giving people real raises, don't give them fake ones either.

Your rationale is also nonsense. I absolutely guarantee that I am faster than any new employee. Significantly so.
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It is a BS tactic. Time devoted to the business should be a factor but unfortunately big corporations are using every way possible to cut cost down low so the higher ups can reap the rewards. Raises are now essentially a small bump due to inflation and when it has to really be changed they do a PR push to the public like they're doing a good thing increasing the minimum wage so new hires pay per hour is adjusted closely to what current employees make. No mention that all the previous employees who earned a raise have pretty much lost that reward for working hard and staying put. The whole extra $2 an hour hazard pay. What exactly will that cover medically if you and your family end up sick because you're working at a place that is not willing to temporarily shut down for a few days when they have multiple confirmed cases and a great possibility that asymptomatic people are shopping the stores?

SigningLady said:
I would also argue many of us also have advanced training, the most obvious of which is EXPERIENCE.

I have settled for the knowledge my yearly DEO raise will bump me up "faster" than everyone else at least. I'll make it $16 well before them! 🤣
Click to expand...

Experience can be learned at any big retail store. It's all pretty much the same and can be adapted for all of them. The higher ups pretty much bounce around from company to company whoever is willing to pay the most. I believe a former Walmart person is in charge of the distribution centers right now. I've worked with many people who go back and forth from retail store to retail store as have I. It's all the same in a slightly different form.

And congrats. You'll be making a whole $20 a week more than them? A whole $2.80 a day. Not much to be happy about imo. Teaching new hires and sharing the knowledge you've learned should be worth more than that. Wait no all the knowledge you have learned can be printed on a few sheets of paper and called standard operating procedures. Err wait idk call a manager.
 
FrankM0421 said:
It is a BS tactic. Time devoted to the business should be a factor but unfortunately big corporations are using every way possible to cut cost down low so the higher ups can reap the rewards. Raises are now essentially a small bump due to inflation and when it has to really be changed they do a PR push to the public like they're doing a good thing increasing the minimum wage so new hires pay per hour is adjusted closely to what current employees make. No mention that all the previous employees who earned a raise have pretty much lost that reward for working hard and staying put. The whole extra $2 an hour hazard pay. What exactly will that cover medically if you and your family end up sick because you're working at a place that is not willing to temporarily shut down for a few days when they have multiple confirmed cases and a great possibility that asymptomatic people are shopping the stores?



Experience can be learned at any big retail store. It's all pretty much the same and can be adapted for all of them. The higher ups pretty much bounce around from company to company whoever is willing to pay the most. I believe a former Walmart person is in charge of the distribution centers right now. I've worked with many people who go back and forth from retail store to retail store as have I. It's all the same in a slightly different form.

And congrats. You'll be making a whole $20 a week more than them? A whole $2.80 a day. Not much to be happy about imo. Teaching new hires and sharing the knowledge you've learned should be worth more than that. Wait no all the knowledge you have learned can be printed on a few sheets of paper and called standard operating procedures. Err wait idk call a manager.
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You don't know what I know. A LOT of what I know is not on any standard operating procedure or anything a manager who hasn't physically done my job for a few years would pick up on. And who do TMs and, for that matter managers, call when they can't figure something out? Me.

And, actually, it'll be more like an extra $30/wk and while that may not seem like a lot to you, it adds up. $1500/year I didn't have before could mean an extra vacation with my kids. I'll take that!

Perspective is different for everyone. Try to remember that before you so wryly dismiss it.
 
a1flow said:
On top of that, we’re giving front-line team members in our stores and distribution centers a one-time recognition bonus of $200 to thank them for providing essential services to our guests throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
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yes but stores need more than us
 
SigningLady said:
You don't know what I know. A LOT of what I know is not on any standard operating procedure or anything a manager who hasn't physically done my job for a few years would pick up on. And who do TMs and, for that matter managers, call when they can't figure something out? Me.

And, actually, it'll be more like an extra $30/wk and while that may not seem like a lot to you, it adds up. $1500/year I didn't have before could mean an extra vacation with my kids. I'll take that!

Perspective is different for everyone. Try to remember that before you so wryly dismiss it.
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I am sure you are a lovely person and a hard worker with a wealth of knowledge - but I've been in retail for over 35 years and trust me when I tell you: Target survived before you came along and they will survive just fine after you leave. If you quit tomorrow, in a couple of weeks it would be like you never worked there.

We are all replaceable, and easily so.
 
Isn't Target head and shoulders above similar retailers in terms of pay, work environment, etc.? I'd much rather be at spot than Walmart, Chick-fil-A, Kohl's, and the list goes on. Maybe corporate could be better, but there are WAY worse places to work. Try Amazon or Tesla for instance, too. Injury rates are something worth looking at.
 
FrankM0421 said:
Wait no all the knowledge you have learned can be printed on a few sheets of paper and called standard operating procedures. Err wait idk call a manager.
Click to expand...
For the rank-and-file TM, those standard operating procedures are not readily accessible. You need TL or ETL access rights. You are expected to simply perform your job as you are directed by the TL or ETL on duty that day, and hope like hell that the TL or ETL on duty on another day doesn't get pis**d that you failed to follow correct procedures.

This is where the Store Modernization buzzwords of "empowerment", "ownership", and so forth conflict with real-life reality working in the stores as well as the DCs. Most businesses need to retain at least some staff members who have longer-term experience than new hires. Retaining experienced TMs is not simply for the purpose of training, assisting and role modeling for new TMs. It's also to diagnose and resolve unexpected problems which arise intermittently and sometimes at the worst possible time, which newly-hired TMs or straight-from-university ETLs might be unable to efficiently diagnose and solve.

It's not clear to me what Corporate's purpose is in their approach to pay for hourly TMs, other than to push out the door experienced TMs and focus exclusively on new hires who might actually be very capable and competent but nonetheless lack experience handling things like malfunctioning Zebras and broken cash registers and PIN pads.
 
jackandcat said:
For the rank-and-file TM, those standard operating procedures are not readily accessible. You need TL or ETL access rights. You are expected to simply perform your job as you are directed by the TL or ETL on duty that day, and hope like hell that the TL or ETL on duty on another day doesn't get pis**d that you failed to follow correct procedures.

This is where the Store Modernization buzzwords of "empowerment", "ownership", and so forth conflict with real-life reality working in the stores as well as the DCs. Most businesses need to retain at least some staff members who have longer-term experience than new hires. Retaining experienced TMs is not simply for the purpose of training, assisting and role modeling for new TMs. It's also to diagnose and resolve unexpected problems which arise intermittently and sometimes at the worst possible time, which newly-hired TMs or straight-from-university ETLs might be unable to efficiently diagnose and solve.

It's not clear to me what Corporate's purpose is in their approach to pay for hourly TMs, other than to push out the door experienced TMs and focus exclusively on new hires who might actually be very capable and competent but nonetheless lack experience handling things like malfunctioning Zebras and broken cash registers and PIN pads.
Click to expand...

Agreed! Maybe I haven't yet reached disillusionment, is that a word? I'm still in my honeymoon phase; and ASANTS; but I LOVE my TM's and work is fun. I enjoy working more than stepping foot in Walmart for ANYTHING.
 

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