"'Voluntary unpaid vacation' is this year's mystery meat. Next year, I hear they are looking at 'Involuntary Sick Days.'"
-- Anonymous@11:30 a.m., commenting on a report that Missouri's Springfield News-Leader asked employees yesterday to consider taking five unpaid "vacation days" beyond the mandatory five furlough days already announced for this quarter.
Who's going to pick up the slack for those who choose to take the days off?
ReplyDeleteWe've been doing that at my site for a number of years. Some folks like the ability to take an extended vacation. If it's voluntary why would anyone care. Moreuvh ado about nothing!
ReplyDeleteInvoluntary sick days won't work. It has to be involuntary unpaid sick days.
ReplyDeleteThey did this at my (former) site. It was a disaster. Although it was to be on a case-by-case basis, to my knowledge no one was denied and lots of people took advantage of it, leaving the already emaciated staff buried even further, to say nothing of sowing resentment (always good for morale!), which then produced overtime. I, myself, was sternly "spoken to" in a director's office for having put in an overtime shift, as if I were responsible for this simplistic idiocy that created that inevitable result.
ReplyDeleteWhen we take furlough at least we can collect unemployement. I presume that won't be the case when we take "voluntary unpaid vacation."
ReplyDelete4:44 is obviously someone who has no idea how things work. It takes a minimum number of staffers to get anything done.
ReplyDelete4:44 must be an idiot ad person or an editorial person distant from the production end.
I've heard production department workers are being reduced to 37.5 hours/wk. I guess new publisher is set to make her mark.
ReplyDeleteIt took me a while to put two and two together (no comments from the peanut gallery, please). The publisher in Springfield used to be the publisher at MNCO in Ohio. Is she the only one in Gannettland who thinks this is a viable idea?
ReplyDeleteAre any other sites suggesting this to employees?
How about having all personnel at publisher level and above take a 20 percent pay cut?
ReplyDeleteThen use that money to upgrade the Web sites and increase local news coverage.
Why are CRAIG DEBOW and GRACIA MARTORE still at Gannett after engineering that disasterous stock buy back?
ReplyDeleteWhy are DUBOW and MARTORE still collecting their paychecks, their bonues, their perks, when their only solution to avoiding disaster was to TERMINATE TENS OF THOUSANDS OF WORKERS?
Does the Board of Directors care? It has yet to show that it does.
GANNETT'S BOARD OF DIRECTORS BEARS AS MUCH RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE STATE OF THE COMPANY AS ITS BOZO EXECUTIVES.
Two years ago I got in trouble for doing this. Thank God I kept all my documentation and lovely "it is being noticed" emails.
ReplyDeleteAny statute of limitations on this?