#benefits

This is just a general question for retail workers, especially Sams Club workers. As a long time associate, I have never entertained the idea of leaving until the last few years. However being there for as long as I have, with established vacations, and PTO, and of course insurance, it feels as if my hands are tied and I should just su-k it up. I am not happy as to the way the direction of this company has gone, or the leadership within the walls of my store. I don't want to sound like a je-k, but I feel as if I so much better then where I am currently stuck at. That I am wasting possible untapped potential. I know that many of you probably know the feeling or may be struggling with the same internal fight. To take a leap into the unknown feels a bit scary, since I am unsure of what to go into next? But I also know that I am suffocating where I am at. And don't want my life to pass me by, knowing I could have been more. Has anyone here successfully navigated away from Sams Club? To put into context, I am a 22 year associate.

seems like they are firing mainly developers due to cost reductions / the on going climate and moving developers to India. everyone's benefits were terminated and at midnight and were given the a standard bare bones severance.

Quick question. We are salary employees, we have recently been required to work holidays with only a 15% diff, if the holiday fall on the weekend. If it falls during the week we get no additional money. Also we are required to stay late, people are missing lunches and breaks to get all the required work completed. However if there is no work in the queue we are still held to the same production metrics. Now we have recently found out that if for some reason we have a loss of power or internet access, we must flex the hours or take pto. It seems like the salary benefits only favor the company and leaves the employees with no work life balance.

25 union members who are collection reps just got the vtp (voluntary termination pay) to leave the company. This is up to 104 weeks pay depending on seniority. This is only the beginning. It is expected that more will be surplussed until all union workers in Leg T are gone. Luckily for them however, they get a generous package to move on, thanks to the union negotiated contract. The payout, including money and medical, dental and vision benefits is much better than the severance pay that low level managers get. Too bad for them. Sooner or later, we'll all be laid off.

How long does employee discount on phone last after getting laid off?

Not left vs right. This is up vs down.

1. The “manager” title with no direct reports. Federal labor law excludes supervisors from union eligibility, so titling people into that bucket without giving them real authority shrinks who’s even allowed to organize. In a store that’s two assistant managers and a store manager who can’t organize while the reps under them can. Go up the chain and it never stops. District manager can’t. Senior director can’t. VP can’t. It is not accidental who ends up on which side of that line.

2. Coordinated response when union talk starts. Extra staffing so people can “take time off,” sudden one on ones to “hear concerns,” the moment a store shows organizing interest. That is a known playbook, not something that happens organically.

3. The “one unionized store” comparison. “See, nothing’s different, they just pay dues.” That is not proof unions do not work. It is proof one isolated store has no leverage. Power comes from density, not outliers. Funny how those stores rarely get closed while unionized.

4. Reorgs as the vehicle for cuts, not the goal. The org chart does not change because the new structure is better. It changes because headcount needed to shrink and restructuring is the mechanism. “Right sizing” language usually means the number came first and the chart is just catching up.

5. Benefits eroding slowly enough that no single year feels like the moment. Vacation accrual caps shrinking. Tuition assistance cut in half. Stock and incentive programs trimmed. Healthcare costs climbing. Pensions that used to exist for a subset of employees, gone for new hires. None of it happens all at once, so it never feels like a breaking point. It just feels like death by a thousand cuts. This is exactly the kind of thing that gets written into a contract instead of quietly decided for you year after year.

6. Pay secrecy norms. Talking about your raise percentage, your review score, or your pay band feels taboo, even though discussing wages with coworkers is explicitly protected activity.

7. “Family” language. Reframes an adversarial labor conversation as disloyalty to “the team.”

8. The word “union” itself gets the stigma, not the concept. Strip the label and it is just organizing together for bargaining power. People used to have real leverage in the workplace. Now the default is asking nicely for more while getting handed less.

9. The designated fall guy. Bring in a leader on a short runway whose whole job is the unpopular cuts. Once the hard part is done, a successor comes in and gets to be the relief, thank god it is not like it used to be, while the structural cuts already happened.

10. Manufactured internal strife. Departments blaming each other instead of recognizing everyone is on the same side of this. Division between departments is a lot more useful to leadership than solidarity across them.

11. “Savings” from layoffs are often not real savings. Convert corporate stores to franchise and the labor cost doesn’t disappear, it shifts to an indirect operator while the company still takes its cut. Lay off tenured people and rehire for the same functional need at a lower rate, and headcount looks similar in six months but the average cost per employee dropped because tenure and its pay got reset to zero. That’s not reduced need for labor. That’s wage suppression using a layoff as the delivery mechanism.

One more thing worth saying plainly. Not every union is a good union. Organizing does not automatically mean your interests are protected. Corruption can creep into any institution, including the ones built to fight for you. That does not make the underlying idea wrong. It just means accountability does not stop once something is organized, it just shifts to a different table. Our own FIOS and wireline employees are already organized through CWA. It’s not a foreign concept here.

Now let’s talk about “the company isn’t making money”

Verizon has reported a profit every single year since at least 2001. Not one loss year, through the 2008 financial crisis, through COVID, through every merger. 2020 net income was $17.8 billion. 2021 was $22.1 billion, the highest of the decade. Those were not sacrifice years where the company ate a loss to protect jobs. Those were some of the most profitable years the company has ever had.

2025 net income was $17.6 billion. Dan Schulman’s 2025 total compensation was $34.3 million, on a new contract that includes performance equity worth up to $59.5 million more. The six highest paid named executives combined made about $120 million in 2025, and that’s only the publicly disclosed portion of the leadership team.

Where does the profit actually go? $11.5 billion in dividends paid to shareholders in 2025. A $25 billion stock buyback authorized on top of that. Buybacks don’t hand cash to executives directly, they buy shares on the open market mostly from large institutional holders like index funds and pension funds, while propping up the stock price for everyone who keeps holding. Compare that to the severance cost of the November layoff of 13,000 people: $1.6 to $1.8 billion, a one time charge that’s smaller than what gets paid out in dividends alone in about six or seven weeks.

Yes, some of the money goes back into the network. $17 billion in capital expenditures in 2025. That’s real and legitimate. But that number is also being cut for 2026, down to $16 to $16.5 billion, because the heavy build phase is mostly done. Meanwhile the buyback authorization just grew.

If someone tells you layoffs are happening because the company can’t afford to pay people, that claim does not survive contact with the company’s own numbers.

So what’s the actual moral here

This was never about whether the company can afford to treat people well. It’s about a choice, made over and over, about where the money goes. And the tools used to make that choice feel inevitable, the misclassified titles, the reorg-as-cover, the stigma on the word union, the vague streamlining language, all serve one purpose: making a distributional choice look like a structural necessity. Making “we decided you get less so someone else gets more” sound like “there wasn’t enough to go around.”

US union density peaked around 1954 at roughly 35% of all workers. Today it’s about 9%. Most people in this workforce right now grew up hearing “we don’t need a union, look how well we’re treated,” during a period when that was actually true. That belief never got re-examined as conditions changed underneath it. We’re applying an old conclusion to a reality that no longer matches it.

Is it going to be perfect if we organize? No. But right now we’re fighting each other instead of the actual problem, and giving away power for free in the process. Density is the only thing that turns this from a list of grievances into actual leverage at an actual table. We’re all in the same boat here, just on different floors. What would it take to stop having this conversation store by store, department by department, and start having it together?

Does anyone know or from last round know this. If you take the severance, for example if I get paid out for 20 weeks, do I still qualify for six months unemployment or will it be six months minus the 20 weeks that Verizon paid me severance for?

Who's winning, who's losing?

Why is no one talking about how bad the new plan is with United Healthcare? I don’t know what I did to make Abby hate me so hard but seriously this is the insurance company we have a contract with?!?!

Has anyone that applied for the VSP received a call from Fidelity to talk about their 401K

I was thinking of switching to an HSA next enrollment. Are we allowed to transfer our funds from the employer-sponsored HSA to a different service provider (like Fidelity)? I've never had an HSA so I was curious about the process.

Curious if anyone has received their 401k settlement deposit. If so, are you still an active employee, or are you a past employee with a still-active Empower 401k.

I want to make sure I maximize all the benefits ford has to offer before I give notice. Use recognition points , wellness account reimbursement, etc.

What do you recommend doing? Any other tips before telling my boss?

I understand that if you accept severance over time instead of a lump sum payment, you can keep your medical/dental/vision benefits. Does anyone know if those are going to be the same rates as when I was employed or will it be at the higher COBRA rates? Trying to determine if I should just lump sum it and go on my spouses benefits

When do we receive PSP need to buy a couple of shoes for my kids at Nike store

Does Bill prefer Freddie?

Definitely an excellent move my HR, thank you.

Has anyone successfully negotiated or countered the severance offer? If so, did Humana accept your counteroffer? I’d also be interested in hearing what you negotiated (such as additional pay, extended benefits, or other terms) and whether you felt the process was worthwhile.

Do you people pick between these two or get your own Healthcare plan? Which ones if you do? What is this bullsht about meeting a high deductible with UHC not covering a tiny percent until you meet the deductible?? What a clown show.

I didn't realize you could convert the group life &/or AD&D insurance after severance into a Whole Life policy or port to term life / AD&D policy via MetLife. I always thought those coverages were just benefits available while you're employed and once you're gone you're done and gone.

For the life in particular, what made you choose Whole or Term? Did you compare rates with other carriers? For me personally, I don't think I'll qualify for anything else with anybody else because of medical condtions, so the whole conversion is making some sense, even if I can't compare rates.

I guess I could call Big Lou.

Has anyone taken the Nike paid COBRA coverage? I signed up for it today but it's alarming that in the Wageworks system it says "participant paid" and I'm on the hook for a $2400 monthly bill to cover everything for the 4 members of the family. Are we supposed to pay and get reimbursed or does Nike pay directly? If they pay directly how long does it take? Kaiser let us know that we are canceled and we're wondering how long before we're reinstated.

since Leadership has seemed to have completely f*ck this up, what are some benefits you think would incentivize you to stay?

for me, it's the PTO policy. 18 days use it or lose it is ridiculous. and not getting another week until 8 YEARS of service?

how about 23 days to start, with flexibility to carry some time over. change the years of service requirement to earn an extra week.

and... as for the Directors and above not having a PTO bank? reel that in, 'cause my Director takes off a minimum of 8 WEEKS EVERY YEAR. clear abuse of the policy.

The People Office Support Centre is a perfect example of technology replacing service without improving the employee experience.

Tickets get passed between multiple people, questions go unanswered, and then the ticket is closed. I recently waited 30 days for a response to a benefits and retirement query and still did not get an answer.

We used to have local contacts you could call or meet with to resolve issues. Now we’re expected to search AI articles, raise a ticket, and wait in silence. It’s “computer says no” dressed up as transformation.

If this is part of Bob’s AI strategy, it isn’t working. AI should support people, not replace them. Bring back accessible human HR support that takes ownership and actually helps employees.

Will the Cobra coverage only apply for medical? Will vision and dental be covered?

It is rather interesting, almost funny, that when we're surplussed, union workers actually get more than managers. The termination pay for union workers is more than severance pay for managers and the ongoing medical, dental and vision benefits are much better for union workers than for managers. We're all going to eventually be laid off - that's inevitable - however when that day comes for each of us, union workers are for sure better off than managers.

Seriously? First they take the pension away now the biweekly deposits to make up for the pension is going away? Is the goal to make your employees as unhappy as possible?

Looking at how much it’s costing to pay out severance, I wonder how long they’ll keep it up before making significant changes to it.

As of October 1st, all telecommuters who have company paid home internet, or company reimbursed home internet, will be losing that benefit... because why not, right?

"We recognize this change may have an impact on some employees. To help you prepare, we are providing more than 90 days' notice before the policy takes effect."

https://www.inc.com/georgia-fearn/63-percent-of-workers-from-this-group-do-not-file-for-unemployment-benefits-heres-why/91361014

Can someone tell me if they received insurance during the displacement was it Cobra? how long did you have it? and did Wells pay their part of the insurance?

If I don’t elect the Cobra coverage, will I receive the money that I would have paid toward my regular medical coverage in my lump sum?

Sorry if it’s in here, I did take a brief look. Anyone know what determines when VZ uses the 2 weeks per year vs. 3 weeks per year for severance? And what the max is under the 3 weeks per plan? I know the 2 week option is 35 weeks, but unsure about the rest historically.

I keep seeing posts about PE as a savior.

Question, have any of you worked in PE? It ain't fun.

Reminds me of the line in good fellas ..

Business bad? Fu-k you, pay me. Oh, you had a fire? Fu-k you, pay me. Place got hit by lightning, huh? Fu-k you, pay me.

Say good bye to good benefits, PSP, stock options (oh yeah, yours will be worth nothing), probably a reset on PTO...

And if it does turn around, you won't see a penny

According to my SVP, the workforce reduction actions implemented in this round did not achieve the level of cost savings Stephanie had targeted. This action was largely driven by a forecasted revenue gap over the next six months, combined with the rebadging initiative in March not generating the anticipated financial and operational benefits.

Hi,
I left Juniper last year before the transaction was closed and moved to different city. I provided HR with my new address but never received any information post mail or email regarding 401k liquidification. I logged into my fidelity account to find $0 balance. Fidelity wasn’t able to provide any information regarding this and gave me phone number to contact which bins to inspira financial. It’s been 2 weeks I have been contacting them but they also don’t have any of my account information.
Can someone help with who I can reach out in HPE to find out the status of my 401k. Thanks!

If you're new to the company and get laid off, do you still receive a severance package? Or do you have to be here for a certain amount of time?

or has severance really change drastically for the worse over the years?

Everyone with actual leadership ability has already left FIDO. The people running things now are only looking out for themselves. They don't care about the company or us. I'd leave today if not for the severance. With my salary and age, I'm almost positive I'll be cut within the next year.

I didn't receive the offer, but I'm still curious, what kind of medical coverage comes with it? Do you get a full year, 60 days, or something else? Considering current costs of health insurance, that's be the one thing that'd make me decide for or against taking the offer.