Oh, I know, it's a feedback loop. Who knows who started it. But company says it's hard to give bonuses and benefits to employees who leave at the drop of the hat, employees say it's hard to stay at a company that... etc. And it all gets more mercenary on all sides.
Some exceptions, of course, and I think a real trend that is developing is companies that offer real benefits and earn real employee loyalty. Thinking in terms of making accommodations for working mothers/ flex time, especially.
You call this a bonus?
Friday, December 12, 2003 Posted: 9:27 AM EST (1427 GMT)
TRAVERSE CITY, Michigan (AP) -- Some bonus.
Hourly workers at Tower Automotive received $15 gift cards redeemable at Meijer grocery-retail stores before Thanksgiving. Then the automotive supplier decided the cards were "same as cash" gifts subject to federal and state income taxes totaling 36.75 percent.
That means the "gift" will take $5.51 out of the workers' next paychecks.
"It's got a lot of people ticked off," said Donald McKee of Kingsley, a welding technician. "This is the lowest they've gone yet to give us something and then take it back."
United Auto Workers Local 5110, which represents about 300 hourly workers, has filed a contract grievance over the matter. Some workers also have returned the gift cards rather than pay the tax.
Workers will still get Christmas bonuses. Tower said it will return to issuing gift certificates that can be redeemed for holiday turkeys or hams without being considered cash income.
au, In a case such as the one you describe, it's the failure of management. When we gave out year-end bonus, the company paid for all taxes, and the bonus was "rounded to the nearest dollar." This was more than five years ago, so I don't know what they have done with the year-end bonus, but the minimum bonus was usually $50.
BTW, I worked as fiscal manager for a nonprofit organization.
I haven't seen a bonus in three years, however, when I did, they were usually in the range of 5-10% of salary, not $15.
Crap, twenty five years ago my father was paying $15/hour on average for labor in Michigan. So that article doesn't make much sense to me.
We gave out turkeys and hams at the holidays. People like to eat, it was always well received.
For those employees who gave back the gift cards to avoid paying $5 in taxes, well, they really need to be sent back to remedial elementary math.
The way that works, au, is that if a gift or bonus is cash, it is subject to payroll taxes. A certificate which must be used, without change being received is not subject to payroll taxes. If you can spend $20.00 of a $50.00 and receive $30.00 (or any other amount) in cash is considered a bonus of $50.00 cash, all of which is taxable.
When I worked for Florsheim Shoe Company back in the days of yore, all employees working in the retail shops were "given" a turkey. They just had to submit a receipt for the turkey or ham they purchased.
Take one turkey. Boil until done. Baste with brown shoe polish. Serve.
Shoe plant workers get up to $20,000 bonuses
Tuesday, December 16, 2003 Posted: 7:44 PM EST (0044 GMT)
PITTSFIELD, Maine (AP) -- Workers at a shoe plant were feeling more than a little tickled when they got their Christmas bonuses that, for some, totaled nearly $20,000.
Instead of receiving typical end-of-year frozen turkeys, the 200 employees of the SAS Shoemakers plant here were handed envelopes when they were called together Friday afternoon.
When Lawrence Wyman opened his, he found a check for $19,000. His wife, Charlene, got a check for the same amount.
The company this year awarded its employees with bonuses of $1,000 for every year worked at the company. Even those who had worked less than a year got $500 each.
The bonuses were particularly uplifting given that most news in the manufacturing sector this year has been about plants closing and employees being laid off.
"They called us all together and said we would each get $1,000," Lawrence Wyman said. "Everyone started clapping and then they said it would be $1,000 for each year worked."
And that's when the tears flowed. Some estimated that the bonuses totaled $200,000 or more.
SAS Pittsfield is a division of SAS Shoemakers in San Antonio. The corporate offices were closed Friday afternoon and company officials could not be reached for comment.
NOW that's a bonus
au, Goes to show that some owners and managers of some companies in tihs country still value their employees - rather than enriching themsevles - needlessly. Good for SAS!
