Archived Are they cutting hours now to make FT TM's all PT TM's now due to this Affordable Health Care Act?

[lovecats]

I clock in 5 minutes early most of the time. Everyone at my store does it. Usually clocking out late is the result of having to wait at the equipment room door for someone with a key to let you in.
And up to this past year I was ft but the hrs went down so bad this year (even at Christmas) that I went to pt and lost my insurance. I got lucky last week and this because my etl-hr called me Friday morning to come in that night and also increased my hrs both weeks. And this is why we have tm looking for other jobs. I, personally, am looking for something closer. The price of gas is killing my paycheck.

 

[Bosch]

I clock in 5 minutes early most of the time. Everyone at my store does it. Usually clocking out late is the result of having to wait at the equipment room door for someone with a key to let you in.
And up to this past year I was ft but the hrs went down so bad this year (even at Christmas) that I went to pt and lost my insurance. I got lucky last week and this because my etl-hr called me Friday morning to come in that night and also increased my hrs both weeks. And this is why we have tm looking for other jobs. I, personally, am looking for something closer. The price of gas is killing my paycheck.

I am looking since our store has declined in every way possible. My 16mpg truck has little to do with it. It is the non respect we as employees are being shown, leadership who can't be bothered to fix issues that affect sales. And then placing blame on us for having the gall to call them on it, I can not force another team to fix a POG that was set incorrectly, I can not force overnight to push correctly and not cause me to have to pull tubs of back stock off the floor daily. But when I don't fix the errors I am coached for not being a team player. When does it go from being a mistake to SOP to do a job wrong admittedly wrong and no effort is made to correct it, but punishing teams who have to deal with the damage when they ask that the people responsible for the mistakes correct them.

 

[Chewie]

1) The company wants everyone under 32 hours as possible so they don't have to pony up the money for health insurance for those people.

2) The target hack cost them, and is going to cost them a ton of money both legally and due to diminished consumer trust.

3) Q4 sales were terrible.

4) No one at the top will take a cut to mitigate 1-3. So the people who are in the worst position financially to take a cut (you/us) get to bare the entire burden. Welcome to unregulated capitalism.

 

[Guest]

America the beautiful business

 

[redeye58]

By cutting hrs - thereby reducing many TMs from FT to PT - they knew enrollment for PT medical plans would've skyrocketed so they chopped it beforehand. The $500 payout would be to a smaller number & the full-timers who lose benefits will be directed to health.gov. All of the reasons cited above provided a handy excuse since they couldn't justify it if sales were good.
Just the cost of doin' business.

 

[buliSBI]

I wouldn't put it past Target to do that.

 

[MrGeorge]

Welcome to unregulated capitalism.

I kind of chuckle at this comment, because regulation is causing health care costs to increase for Target. Regulations generally favor the biggest of companies because they can afford it, and are almost always the result of special interest groups. Competition is the biggest threat to any business. So if we actually had "unregulated capitalism" Target and Wal-Mart would not have gotten as big as they are today.

 

[The Dude Abides]

Welcome to unregulated capitalism.

I kind of chuckle at this comment, because regulation is causing health care costs to increase for Target. Regulations generally favor the biggest of companies because they can afford it, and are almost always the result of special interest groups. Competition is the biggest threat to any business. So if we actually had "unregulated capitalism" Target and Wal-Mart would not have gotten as big as they are today.

Standard Oil, US Steel, JP Morgan and Co have you heard of them? Yeah unregulated capitalism really held down those companies from establishing monopolies. Had it not been for regulations the entire US economy would have been in the hands of less than a dozen people.

 

[Guest]

I know it would never happen but I would have a lot more respect for Target if they were honest about it.

 

[redeye58]

I know it would never happen but I would have a lot more respect for Target if they were honest about it.

The only way that would happen is if spot knew there wouldn't be any consequences.
Even then, it would be bad PR.

 

[AmICrazy]

For those that are on the border with 31.5 of 32 hours. Clock in five minutes early and clock out five minutes late. 5 shifts a week at an extra 10 minutes a shift = an extra 50 minutes!

That gets you written up and fired at my store. But then they can't open the door at a reasonable time either.

I don't think they can write you up for just 5 minutes before, that's Target's grace period and someone please correct me if I'm wrong but I believe if you clock out up to 5 minutes after your scheduled time does not affect out on time percentage.
Also a friend of mine was surprised when he got a letter from the benefits center saying he was eligible considering he only averages 30.53

They make up rules as they see fit. Clocking in they are ok with being late a few, since when I come in a lot of people come in but early that is a coaching. Can't waste payroll. Yes I have seen it.

How can that be coaching, as they must clock you in early? Every month I get the attendance records of all my team members. I then am supposed to coach those who do not have a in on time score of 95% or above. I mostly focus on shifts where they were late or if they have lots of absences. I also give out corrective actions for NCNS.

 

[redeye58]

I was always told that the '5 minutes early' was so TMs would be at their workstation (register/salesfloor dept/off-stage area) by their START time.
Staying a few past is another story. I've had GSTLs come pounding on my counter to remind me to get off the clock if I'm so much as 3 minutes past.

 

[Retail Girl]

I always clock in early for the extra time, and because I grew up knowing that you should be at your station when you are scheduled, not running across the parking lot.

The problem is, people like Red and I work in work centers where if the other person is just clocking in on the dot, or wandering across the parking lot, then, there is no time for communication and to get to the time clock without clocking out late.

 

[Bosch]

I always clock in early for the extra time, and because I grew up knowing that you should be at your station when you are scheduled, not running across the parking lot.

The problem is, people like Red and I work in work centers where if the other person is just clocking in on the dot, or wandering across the parking lot, then, there is no time for communication and to get to the time clock without clocking out late.

We get this all the time for electronics, he starts at 8am, has to wait for the store to open at 8, then get clocked in, wait for keys then make the trek to electronics counter. But nope can't schedule him 15min earlier. And he does not bother to ring the bell, they won't answer it 5 til 8. That's what they want.

 

[konk]

That's exactly what they want. They don't let flow in at 5:55.

 

[mrknownothing]

I always clock in early for the extra time, and because I grew up knowing that you should be at your station when you are scheduled, not running across the parking lot.

The problem is, people like Red and I work in work centers where if the other person is just clocking in on the dot, or wandering across the parking lot, then, there is no time for communication and to get to the time clock without clocking out late.

We get this all the time for electronics, he starts at 8am, has to wait for the store to open at 8, then get clocked in, wait for keys then make the trek to electronics counter. But nope can't schedule him 15min earlier. And he does not bother to ring the bell, they won't answer it 5 til 8. That's what they want.

Weird. At my store, openers are always let in early so they can be at their stations (or at the huddle) at opening.

 

[pellinore]

For hours, it is the time of year...and Spot isn't the only store to cut hours. Grocery stores cut hours, too.....don't quite understand this since people need to buy food all year long.

The full-time and the part-time hours are based on a 52 week running schedule. While now we have shorter hours it shouldn't make much difference counting for the whole year.

Hours are counted like this....week 1........through week 52.
The next week as you have a "new" week 1 the week 52 drops off....and you have a new 1 - 52.

A different example.....you have weeks 1,2,3,4,5,6,7. You work a week and while the 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 still remain, the week that had been 7 drops off...and you have a new week to count in your average hours..1,2,3,4,5,6,7 and what was 7 last week is now week 8, but they only count weeks 1,2,3,4,5,6,7.

Another example...you have a necklace that hold exactly 52 beads. This is the average.....however, you decide to put another bead on the necklace.....this new bead pushes the "old" 52 bead of the necklace....but you still have 52 beads. As you add a bead, one falls off, but 52 are still on the necklace. As long as the size of the beads remain constant, you are OK. While you might put a new LARGE bead on, it will help average out because somewhere on the necklace there is a very small bead....but the SIZE is what measures out.

Hopefully with my examples one will make sense and help people to understand how the average hour worked works!

Be sure to keep an eye on your paychecks...it tells you there what your average hours are.....it will tell you the "average" size of the bead.

 

[Guest]

Beads on a necklace? We are human beings. Most of us are poor as hell. Most of us are making less than 20k a year at Target so we don't have any sympathy for excuses. At least, I don't. When I hear things like "hours are tight" or "we only have a budget of said hours" and the always "you know hours are always bad this time of year", I am just like Tommy Lee Jones in the movie Fugitive when Harrison Ford says "I didn't kill my wife" and he replies

 

[nib]

The "basic" plans that Target offered part time employees were "junk" plans, meaning they covered so very little, they really didn't help anyone in the event of a medical emergency or serious illness. Because of the ACA, most of the people who used to get the "basic" plans will now be able to go on to the Medicaid Expansion program =)

 

[nib]

Just a reminder, don't forget, you can only use up to your average hours when applying vacation time, so if you average hours are 30 and you work 30, you can't add any hours, that's been the rule for several years now, it's was intentional to keep employees hours lower so people won't be eligible for benefits. That said, Medicaid is much better coverage than either the pt or ft benefits plans anyway. Most people who are not members of management make a low enough income to be eligible for the Medical Assistance expansion anyway

 

[redeye58]

Problem with Medicaid is very few docs in our area will take it because reimbursement is so low.
It'll work in ER settings but most clinics won't take it.

 

[konk]

My medicine costs over $300 and I get it for $40 on the pt plan.

 

[konk]

What really sucks is that I have to see a doctor to get the prescription even though I do all of the treatment. I guess that's how it is for every chronic illness.

 

[Bosch]

What really sucks is that I have to see a doctor to get the prescription even though I do all of the treatment. I guess that's how it is for every chronic illness.

Pretty much.

 

[Cel]

I'm starting to wonder personally if someone at my store is trying to get the message across that I need to stay under 32 hours. On the 2 week schedule most of my friends (sales floor peeps) are getting 30+ hours at my store. Other GSAs 32-40+. The new guy in hardlines, 31. I got 25.5. They've scheduled me sub-30 hours a lot of weeks since January and I've picked up at least 1 shift on every one of them, such that my average hours YTD are like 33.

It's very much not an issue of being global, other than logistics roles I'm as cross-trained or more than anyone else in the store that isn't a TL or higher. Cashier, fitting room, hardlines, softlines, electronics, market open/close/mid, GSA, service desk, fitting room...basically everything outside the back of the store minus plano, and even that they could easily have me work without needing to teach me anything new and the Sr Plano TL knows that.

Thankfully one of my friends (fitting room operator) doesn't want to be scheduled 39 hours and jumped at the chance to toss me a shift to bump me up to 33. I'm just worried what happens when the week rolls around where I get scheduled for crap hours and there's nothing to swap for. Another friend who's a merchandising brand team member in a softlines area complained to our HR about something similar and she apologized and said she'd work to make sure he got 30+ every week. She's actually followed through. I'm tempted to do the same since it'd be nice not to have to play the shift swap game, and at least I could probably find out if there's a reason behind it.

My insurance runs out at the end of May, at which point it'll be medicaid time. Would be nice to have the option of ft target insurance in 2015.