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Friday, January 3, 2020
STICKY NOTE: 411
Thursday, January 2, 2020
STICKY NOTE: Check Your Comments Please
For whatever reason, comments are not always appearing on the blog. We get notified via email when someone posts comments and we are finding sometimes comments aren't on the blog when we check in later. If you delete a comment you previously made, that's fine but if you didn't delete your comment and there isn't a comment from the Admin saying we deleted your comment, please repost your comment.
Wednesday, January 1, 2020
STICKY NOTE: Welcome to the forum!
Got a rave about the company?
Something you just need to get off your chest?
Here's the place where you can do it in a safe, supportive environment. This site is not run by the company. This site is not sanctioned by the company. Don't even know if anyone at the company will even visit this place.
The rules:
Kudos (it's always nice to read good things about yourself and your co-workers) and slams (maybe there's something you or your co-workers need to improve upon) are accepted.
Be prepared to defend your slams if questioned. If you do not respond to questions about your slams, you risk having your slam deleted.
Anonymous comments are allowed provided they follow rules 1 & 2, but if you'd rather have your comment placed by the moderator of this site, OR you'd like to author a topic for the blog, email your request to anonymustly at gmail dot com.
By the way: We get emailed every time someone leaves a comment. Sometimes we return to the blog and the comment is nowhere to be found leading us to think the commenter deleted it after posting it. If you are afraid to leave comments because you think we can identify you by your IP address, please know we never see the IP Addresses of anyone who visits OR comments. Blogger dot com may know that information but it's not something available to the admins of this site. You can be anonymous here as long as what you post is TRUE and is not bullying, malicious, or causes harm to a specific party. If we think you've said something that's not true or something that violates any of the above "rules" we will delete your content.
Something you just need to get off your chest?
Here's the place where you can do it in a safe, supportive environment. This site is not run by the company. This site is not sanctioned by the company. Don't even know if anyone at the company will even visit this place.
The rules:
Kudos (it's always nice to read good things about yourself and your co-workers) and slams (maybe there's something you or your co-workers need to improve upon) are accepted.
Be prepared to defend your slams if questioned. If you do not respond to questions about your slams, you risk having your slam deleted.
Anonymous comments are allowed provided they follow rules 1 & 2, but if you'd rather have your comment placed by the moderator of this site, OR you'd like to author a topic for the blog, email your request to anonymustly at gmail dot com.
By the way: We get emailed every time someone leaves a comment. Sometimes we return to the blog and the comment is nowhere to be found leading us to think the commenter deleted it after posting it. If you are afraid to leave comments because you think we can identify you by your IP address, please know we never see the IP Addresses of anyone who visits OR comments. Blogger dot com may know that information but it's not something available to the admins of this site. You can be anonymous here as long as what you post is TRUE and is not bullying, malicious, or causes harm to a specific party. If we think you've said something that's not true or something that violates any of the above "rules" we will delete your content.
Monday, February 11, 2013
Double Speak Decoded
Straight on the heels of the USDOL announcement regarding their bitch-slap of It's Greek To Me, Inc. dba GTM Sportswear comes this email from Da Big Cheez. We'll attempt to interpret the true meaning behind the words.
Greetings GTMr’s!
As most of you know we have had a ton of wins and good news recently. In the midst of all of this, however, we had some bad publicity today, and if you hear anything I wanted to make sure that all of you have the full story.
Last summer the Dept Of Labor visited us for an audit. We learned that our inside sales reps, which we have classified as “exempt” for years, are actually supposed to be non-exempt, meaning that they are to be paid overtime.
When our reps were hired, due to our seasonality, we explained that there would be some weeks that would just require 40 hours per week, but in the fall it could be considerably more than that. We planned on it being an average of 43 hours per week for the year, and put them on salary accordingly. That was the deal going in and everyone knew it.
Actually, everyone did not know "this is the deal" because we reworked the commission structure for existing and new hires 3 times trying to get it to benefit us, not you. You performed above and beyond expectations each time we did this and continued to make a ton of money for us and far more money than we wanted to pay you. We finally just put you all on salary and called you exempt from state and federal labor laws.
We cooperated fully with the DOL and paid back wages to all those affected. We’ve also modified how they are paid to fully comply with the DOL. As a result there were no fines levied by the DOL. They admitted that this part of their “law” is the most widely misinterpreted violation that they find, but it is what it is.
"Law"? In quotes? As in, "I question the validity of a law that prevents me from stealing from my employees?" Speechless. We're f-ing speechless.
We had no knowledge that they were going to announce this at this time, or even at all. We completed everything in 2012 and we thought everyone had moved on. It’s ironic to me that this came out a day before, by a federal department, our big job announcement that is associated with the State of Kansas, run by a different political party. I’m not suggesting anything other than I’m glad to continue to choose to stay out of politics…
We had no knowledge that they were going to announce this because we didn't know that federal records are PUBLIC RECORDS and we don't "do" public, we are a privately held company that thinks it can do whatever it wants and no one says boo about it.
I’m extremely proud of our track record of always doing the right thing. It doesn’t mean that we don’t mistakes, but I think our Leadership team and company as a whole is as transparent as you can get. We walk the walk. I’m equally as proud of all of you as well for being a part of a great company. As we grow, we will have more naysayers out there that resent our growth and are convinced that it must be due to shortcuts. There is a saying “People like to see others do well….but not too well”.
But when we make mistakes, we will find someone further up or down the food chain to blame it on and either fire them or make them so miserable they quit. We are transparent, except when we hire outside sales reps knowing they have non-compete clauses with a previous employer. We are transparent, except when the state calls us on our unethical behavior---and Dave, we love to see GTM, or any local company, do well, just not at the expense of the people that make it do well.
In the end, people like to judge each other, but I don’t think that is our role here on earth. Our own self-conscious works fine if we listen to it. I’m going to stick with that.
Try conscience Dave. Or let someone proof read this garbage before you send it out.
Greetings GTMr’s!
As most of you know we have had a ton of wins and good news recently. In the midst of all of this, however, we had some bad publicity today, and if you hear anything I wanted to make sure that all of you have the full story.
Last summer the Dept Of Labor visited us for an audit. We learned that our inside sales reps, which we have classified as “exempt” for years, are actually supposed to be non-exempt, meaning that they are to be paid overtime.
When our reps were hired, due to our seasonality, we explained that there would be some weeks that would just require 40 hours per week, but in the fall it could be considerably more than that. We planned on it being an average of 43 hours per week for the year, and put them on salary accordingly. That was the deal going in and everyone knew it.
Actually, everyone did not know "this is the deal" because we reworked the commission structure for existing and new hires 3 times trying to get it to benefit us, not you. You performed above and beyond expectations each time we did this and continued to make a ton of money for us and far more money than we wanted to pay you. We finally just put you all on salary and called you exempt from state and federal labor laws.
We cooperated fully with the DOL and paid back wages to all those affected. We’ve also modified how they are paid to fully comply with the DOL. As a result there were no fines levied by the DOL. They admitted that this part of their “law” is the most widely misinterpreted violation that they find, but it is what it is.
"Law"? In quotes? As in, "I question the validity of a law that prevents me from stealing from my employees?" Speechless. We're f-ing speechless.
We had no knowledge that they were going to announce this at this time, or even at all. We completed everything in 2012 and we thought everyone had moved on. It’s ironic to me that this came out a day before, by a federal department, our big job announcement that is associated with the State of Kansas, run by a different political party. I’m not suggesting anything other than I’m glad to continue to choose to stay out of politics…
We had no knowledge that they were going to announce this because we didn't know that federal records are PUBLIC RECORDS and we don't "do" public, we are a privately held company that thinks it can do whatever it wants and no one says boo about it.
I’m extremely proud of our track record of always doing the right thing. It doesn’t mean that we don’t mistakes, but I think our Leadership team and company as a whole is as transparent as you can get. We walk the walk. I’m equally as proud of all of you as well for being a part of a great company. As we grow, we will have more naysayers out there that resent our growth and are convinced that it must be due to shortcuts. There is a saying “People like to see others do well….but not too well”.
But when we make mistakes, we will find someone further up or down the food chain to blame it on and either fire them or make them so miserable they quit. We are transparent, except when we hire outside sales reps knowing they have non-compete clauses with a previous employer. We are transparent, except when the state calls us on our unethical behavior---and Dave, we love to see GTM, or any local company, do well, just not at the expense of the people that make it do well.
In the end, people like to judge each other, but I don’t think that is our role here on earth. Our own self-conscious works fine if we listen to it. I’m going to stick with that.
Try conscience Dave. Or let someone proof read this garbage before you send it out.
Employee Spotlight
Featured in today's Employee Spotlight.....is.....an employee who no longer works here. Go Team!!!
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Gossip, Boy Do We Hear Gossip
Yeah, we hear it all. We have no confirmation of the items listed below. They are simply direct quotes of current and ex-employees. Don't shoot us, we're just the messenger.
- They hand pick those to be promoted, create positions, and promote people not worthy of promotion because they are favorites without posting the job for others to have a chance.
- The hiring practices of one upper manager got them sued for sexual harassment.
- They hired outside sales reps knowing full well they were under non-compete clauses with previous employers and ended up getting sued.
- Promoting to supervisory positions people who are yes-men when what the management needs is people willing to say what needs to be said rather than what management wants to hear.
- Bought a small but profitable company in Houston and in less than 2 years closed down the company because of lack of planning.
- Sad when the manager of an area is hired only because she is the daughter of a significant other of a VP...who promptly runs off one of the best supervisors in production.
- A retail manager was run off by the sexual advances of an interning relative of a company principal.
Friday, January 25, 2013
Unethical Practices at GTM Sportswear
To those who work there, this post is not a surprise. To those considering a career at GTM Sportswear, think long and hard before you apply the term career to any employment there. There is no long term. GTM is a young-ish company in a college town. There is cheap labor to be had for any and every position in the company, especially in today's job market where, unfortunately, the employer is king and able to get away with practices they might not be able to were the market a job seekers market.
We're not saying don't go to work for GTM Sportswear, it's a great starting point for entering the workforce and gathering skills you can pay forward to other employers. Granted, starting wages are not all that and a bag of chips, but they are competitive with other town employers especially when you add in some of the perks of working for Dave and his cronies. If you make it past your probationary period, they have a self-funded health insurance package so any dings you take on future premiums are based on company health care history not the insurance company's health care history. Dave owns/partners with many local entities and you can get food discounts at many of your favorite eateries just by flashing your Employee ID badge. Are you paying top dollar for a full-privilege local gym membership? How about getting it for almost nothing? If you bleed purple, you will be buying all your K-State gear, in fact, anything that GTM sells, at an employee discount.
They have an EAP Program (but don't count on assistance you need not being grist for the gossip mill), a Wellness Program, and there are talks about an on-site Primary Care Clinic (we don't even want to think about the HIPAA privacy implications of on-site health care, but YOU should---see, there's that previously mentioned gossip mill and since this is a GTM run peripheral, you should be concerned about visiting the clinic too much as if you cost too much, you may be encouraged to leave the company rather than have everyone's rates for the clinic raised---See GTM is happy to hire paragraph below).
They offer a 401k plan on which the employer matches 6% of what you put into the plan. That's free money folks (you just have to stick around long enough [two years] to be fully vested in that 6%). And therein lies the rub. Sticking around long enough.
GTM is happy to hire on much needed talent at a premium price when the company is in crisis. Once you've solved their crisis, they no longer really want to pay you top dollar to retain you. In fact, they'd really prefer you leave and open the door to a cheaper employee. They will do just about anything to get you gone by YOUR choice.
None of this is illegal in a right to work state. Unethical yes, but hey, no one has ethics anymore, do they?
We're not saying don't go to work for GTM Sportswear, it's a great starting point for entering the workforce and gathering skills you can pay forward to other employers. Granted, starting wages are not all that and a bag of chips, but they are competitive with other town employers especially when you add in some of the perks of working for Dave and his cronies. If you make it past your probationary period, they have a self-funded health insurance package so any dings you take on future premiums are based on company health care history not the insurance company's health care history. Dave owns/partners with many local entities and you can get food discounts at many of your favorite eateries just by flashing your Employee ID badge. Are you paying top dollar for a full-privilege local gym membership? How about getting it for almost nothing? If you bleed purple, you will be buying all your K-State gear, in fact, anything that GTM sells, at an employee discount.
They have an EAP Program (but don't count on assistance you need not being grist for the gossip mill), a Wellness Program, and there are talks about an on-site Primary Care Clinic (we don't even want to think about the HIPAA privacy implications of on-site health care, but YOU should---see, there's that previously mentioned gossip mill and since this is a GTM run peripheral, you should be concerned about visiting the clinic too much as if you cost too much, you may be encouraged to leave the company rather than have everyone's rates for the clinic raised---See GTM is happy to hire paragraph below).
They offer a 401k plan on which the employer matches 6% of what you put into the plan. That's free money folks (you just have to stick around long enough [two years] to be fully vested in that 6%). And therein lies the rub. Sticking around long enough.
GTM is happy to hire on much needed talent at a premium price when the company is in crisis. Once you've solved their crisis, they no longer really want to pay you top dollar to retain you. In fact, they'd really prefer you leave and open the door to a cheaper employee. They will do just about anything to get you gone by YOUR choice.
- That flexible schedule you were promised on hire so you could work around your kids, family, other obligations? It will change if they want you gone and suddenly you will be working hours that require you to hire expensive child care.
- Your job description can and will change. Things that weren't your job will suddenly end up on your task list. And the fun-type things that you enjoyed doing? Yeah, someone else is doing that now.
- Your wages? Can change at any time. What goes up can come down. And there isn't a damn thing you can do about it except leave.
None of this is illegal in a right to work state. Unethical yes, but hey, no one has ethics anymore, do they?
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