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Corporations Behaving Badly

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roadscholar
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Corporations Behaving Badly

#51

Post by roadscholar »

Hmmm. I guess there really are "death panels." :mad:
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#52

Post by neonzx »

I may be completely off-base here -- but I thought COBRA coverage was continued insurance guaranteeing you could retain coverage from the employers plan -- but you had to pay the FULL premium, not just the employee $ share and limited to (6?) months. The former employer wasn't kicking in a dime.
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Corporations Behaving Badly

#53

Post by pipistrelle »

neonzx wrote: Sun Nov 27, 2022 4:43 pm I may be completely off-base here -- but I thought COBRA coverage was continued insurance guaranteeing you could retain coverage from the employers plan -- but you had to pay the FULL premium, not just the employee $ share and limited to (6?) months. The former employer wasn't kicking in a dime.
Yeah, but I bet they’re trying to kill the plan.
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#54

Post by Phoenix520 »

When I was laid off from my favorite job they paid us all severance and paid for 6 months of COBRA.

The boss had been busted for doing a shady deal with Berlusconi (tv syndication stuff) and tax evasion. Money was tight but they treated us well.
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#55

Post by Dave from down under »

pipistrelle wrote: Sun Nov 27, 2022 6:36 pm
neonzx wrote: Sun Nov 27, 2022 4:43 pm I may be completely off-base here -- but I thought COBRA coverage was continued insurance guaranteeing you could retain coverage from the employers plan -- but you had to pay the FULL premium, not just the employee $ share and limited to (6?) months. The former employer wasn't kicking in a dime.
Yeah, but I bet they’re trying to kill the plan.
Could it be that the plan was long dead??? :shrug:

ie the company had defaulted on the plan payments and just forgot to tell anyone... :whistle:
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#56

Post by AndyinPA »

I bet the owners will get nice, hefty bonuses.
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#57

Post by Frater I*I »

AndyinPA wrote: Sun Nov 27, 2022 9:28 pm I bet the owners will get nice, hefty bonuses.
When you own a mansion, 2 penthouses, 5 luxury sport cars, and a helicopter, $30 million just doesn't go as far as it used to.....
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He's got the answers to ease my curiosity, He dreamed a god up and called it Christianity"

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#58

Post by June bug »

neonzx wrote: Sun Nov 27, 2022 4:43 pm I may be completely off-base here -- but I thought COBRA coverage was continued insurance guaranteeing you could retain coverage from the employers plan -- but you had to pay the FULL premium, not just the employee $ share and limited to (6?) months. The former employer wasn't kicking in a dime.
You’re right, except it’s 18 months or it was in 2018.

On the other hand, if they’ve laid everyone off, there may no longer be a plan.
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#59

Post by somerset »

jcolvin2 wrote: Sun Nov 27, 2022 3:34 pm
tek wrote: Sun Nov 27, 2022 7:49 am seems odd to not offer COBRA, given that it probably doesn't cost the company anything:
Employers may require individuals to pay for COBRA continuation coverage. Premiums cannot exceed the full cost of coverage, plus a 2 percent administration charge.
Something seems strange here.
Maybe the company had already terminated the health insurance plan ...
From what I read elsewhere, that's what probably happened. You can't continue to pay for a corporate health care plan if that plan has been cancelled. The same comments also mentioned not requiring 60 days notice if doing so would impact union contract negotiations.
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#60

Post by Tiredretiredlawyer »

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/compani ... r-AA168l3I
SEC fines former McDonald's CEO for misleading investors about his firing

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged former McDonald's CEO Steve Easterbrook on Monday with misrepresenting his November 2019 firing.

Easterbrook has agreed to a $400,000 fine, without admitting or denying the claims, and will be barred from serving as an officer or director for any SEC-reporting company for five years.

McDonald's board fired Easterbrook in 2019 for a consensual relationship with an employee, which violated the company's fraternization policy. However, he wasn't fired for cause, allowing him to receive a severance package.

Months later, the fast-food giant sued its former chief executive, claiming he committed fraud and lied to cover up additional inappropriate relationships with employees. In December 2021, the two parties settled the lawsuit, and McDonald's successfully clawed back Easterbrook's severance, valued at $105 million.

The agency also found McDonald's violated the Exchange Act, which prohibits companies from material misrepresentations and omissions in proxy statements sent to shareholders, but is not imposing a financial penalty on McDonald's because of its "substantial" cooperation with the agency during its investigation.

McDonald's has not admitted or denied the SEC's findings. In a statement, the company said that the SEC's actions reinforce what it has previously said about its handling of Easterbrook's misconduct.

"The Company continues to ensure our values are part of everything we do, and we are proud of our strong 'speak up' culture that encourages employees to report conduct by any employee, including the CEO, that falls short of our expectations," McDonald's said.
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Corporations Behaving Badly

#61

Post by raison de arizona »

Image
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#62

Post by pipistrelle »

PTO donation is common practice.
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#63

Post by raison de arizona »

pipistrelle wrote: Thu Feb 02, 2023 11:22 am PTO donation is common practice.
I get that, but it is still crap. Especially when being espoused by the President & CEO, who conceivably could show some compassion.
“Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” —John Adams
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#64

Post by Slarti the White »

raison de arizona wrote: Thu Feb 02, 2023 11:24 am
pipistrelle wrote: Thu Feb 02, 2023 11:22 am PTO donation is common practice.
I get that, but it is still crap. Especially when being espoused by the President & CEO, who conceivably could show some compassion.
More than that, I would argue that quietly giving the employee extra PTO for her medical issues would have a great positive benefit for the morale of the company. But this type of behavior is a feature of shareholder capitalism and finite thinking (as opposed to stakeholder capitalism and infinite thinking).
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#65

Post by noblepa »

Slarti the White wrote: Thu Feb 02, 2023 12:47 pm
raison de arizona wrote: Thu Feb 02, 2023 11:24 am
pipistrelle wrote: Thu Feb 02, 2023 11:22 am PTO donation is common practice.
I get that, but it is still crap. Especially when being espoused by the President & CEO, who conceivably could show some compassion.
More than that, I would argue that quietly giving the employee extra PTO for her medical issues would have a great positive benefit for the morale of the company. But this type of behavior is a feature of shareholder capitalism and finite thinking (as opposed to stakeholder capitalism and infinite thinking).
I don't quite see the problem here.

Having the company "quietly give the employee extra PTO" raises all kinds of fairness issues. If they give it to one, and not to another, the excrement will surely strike the air-movement device. Who makes the decision as to whether the need is legitimate? If you give it to anyone who asks for extra PTO, then you've effectively eliminated the limit and everyone gets unlimited PTO.

I worked for a county government in Ohio. They have a very generous sick leave policy. We got 15 days per year, and unused sick leave could accumulate indefinitely, without limit. However, some employees regarded this as a secondary vacation. As soon as they accumulated a day or two of sick leave, they took them. We had a couple of occasions where one of these employees used all their sick leave frivolously, then asked others to donate sick days when they were really sick. I always regarded it as short-term disability insurance. I could have had an auto accident and lost two months of work.

By having other employees donate PTO, the legitimacy question is left up to the sick employee's peers, not management.
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#66

Post by Slarti the White »

noblepa wrote: Thu Feb 02, 2023 1:01 pm
Slarti the White wrote: Thu Feb 02, 2023 12:47 pm
raison de arizona wrote: Thu Feb 02, 2023 11:24 am

I get that, but it is still crap. Especially when being espoused by the President & CEO, who conceivably could show some compassion.
More than that, I would argue that quietly giving the employee extra PTO for her medical issues would have a great positive benefit for the morale of the company. But this type of behavior is a feature of shareholder capitalism and finite thinking (as opposed to stakeholder capitalism and infinite thinking).
I don't quite see the problem here.

Having the company "quietly give the employee extra PTO" raises all kinds of fairness issues. If they give it to one, and not to another, the excrement will surely strike the air-movement device. Who makes the decision as to whether the need is legitimate? If you give it to anyone who asks for extra PTO, then you've effectively eliminated the limit and everyone gets unlimited PTO.

I worked for a county government in Ohio. They have a very generous sick leave policy. We got 15 days per year, and unused sick leave could accumulate indefinitely, without limit. However, some employees regarded this as a secondary vacation. As soon as they accumulated a day or two of sick leave, they took them. We had a couple of occasions where one of these employees used all their sick leave frivolously, then asked others to donate sick days when they were really sick. I always regarded it as short-term disability insurance. I could have had an auto accident and lost two months of work.

By having other employees donate PTO, the legitimacy question is left up to the sick employee's peers, not management.
That message from the CEO was a huge red flag and indicative of what I consider the ethical bankruptcy of most corporations these days. Typically, CEOs have a fiduciary responsibility (and almost always a personal stake as well) to the stockholders -- i.e. the short-term stock price. Which means that if they can make the company look better on the balance sheet by screwing over their customers, employees, suppliers, or the public at large (without actually breaking the law), they are obligated to do it. Employees that know the company has no loyalty towards them generally do not feel loyalty towards the company, leading to behavior like that of your co-workers (for example). This leads to "gaming" the system -- for some, like you, that means banking two months worth of sick leave just in case, to others, like the coworkers you spoke of, this means using sick leave as personal time as quickly as possible (so that they don't get "screwed" out of it somehow). Now, you said you worked for the government, not a corporation, but how you treat your employees is how you treat your employees -- and what comes around goes around in how your employees treat you.

I don't disagree with you on how things work in most businesses today, I just believe that way is pretty fucked up. As you said, the legitimacy of an employee's sickness is being left up to their peers, not management -- in other words, significant decisions impacting a person's health are being made by untrained coworkers in ignorance of medical knowledge and absent medical ethics. Which is a shameless passing of the buck by the CEO.

But that's what you get when the only people executives are beholden to is the stockholders and their own bank accounts.
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#67

Post by AndyinPA »

I'm not real clear on the history of corporations, but my understanding is that they originally had to have a purpose other than just making money and were given terms (20 years, I think) of existence. Over time, they granted themselves more power and wrote the rules. Those rules benefitted themselves, at the expense of everyone else. It doesn't have to be this way. It just is.

In Germany, union leaders sit on boards of companies.
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#68

Post by RTH10260 »

AndyinPA wrote: Thu Feb 02, 2023 2:55 pm I'm not real clear on the history of corporations, but my understanding is that they originally had to have a purpose other than just making money and were given terms (20 years, I think) of existence. Over time, they granted themselves more power and wrote the rules. Those rules benefitted themselves, at the expense of everyone else. It doesn't have to be this way. It just is.

In Germany, union leaders sit on boards of companies.
Not always in the best interest of the companies. In the largeest companies the union representation became the plush retirement seats for the top union leaders, themselves already detached from the realities of the basis. There are several examples where the union representation did fight back against necessary changes and the companies missed the timely turnaround to changes in the markets. All about keeping their own position among the union leaders, as also to keep the salararies of the workforce at artificial historical high levels although adjustments in the workforce and payment structure was needed. Several failed conglomerates are know to have crashed due to this constellation.
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#69

Post by Lani »

I ran through my sick leave due to there 3 surgeries over two years, and I was worried. HR sent out a letter to all employees that I had a serious medical condition and asked if they would contribute some of their sick leave. An hour, a day, whatever they wanted to contribute. Nothing was said about what the condition was, and the donors were not disclosed. I was stunned and grateful by the donations I received. They got me through a bad time.
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#70

Post by pipistrelle »

noblepa wrote: Thu Feb 02, 2023 1:01 pm
Slarti the White wrote: Thu Feb 02, 2023 12:47 pm
raison de arizona wrote: Thu Feb 02, 2023 11:24 am
I get that, but it is still crap. Especially when being espoused by the President & CEO, who conceivably could show some compassion.
More than that, I would argue that quietly giving the employee extra PTO for her medical issues would have a great positive benefit for the morale of the company. But this type of behavior is a feature of shareholder capitalism and finite thinking (as opposed to stakeholder capitalism and infinite thinking).
I don't quite see the problem here.

Having the company "quietly give the employee extra PTO" raises all kinds of fairness issues. If they give it to one, and not to another, the excrement will surely strike the air-movement device. Who makes the decision as to whether the need is legitimate? If you give it to anyone who asks for extra PTO, then you've effectively eliminated the limit and everyone gets unlimited PTO. :snippity:

By having other employees donate PTO, the legitimacy question is left up to the sick employee's peers, not management.
This is exactly why. Fairness and perception of fairness, especially in a large company. I've donated (or tried to; the person ended up not needing the donated days).
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#71

Post by raison de arizona »

VOLKSWAGEN REFUSED TO TRACK CAR WITH KIDNAPPED CHILD UNTIL OWNER RENEWED GPS SUBSCRIPTION

A carjacker assaulted a 34-year-old pregnant woman in Illinois, stealing her Volkswagen, along with her two year old boy trapped in the back seat, and running her over on the way out. Although badly injured, the woman managed to call 911. With little idea of where the carjacker fled, Lake County sheriffs rushed to call Volkswagen's Car-Net service to track down her car.

But Volkswagen Car-Net refused to play ball — not because it had any qualms with forking over information to the police, but because the mother hadn't renewed her subscription.

Instead, VW insisted someone pay the $150 fee to reactivate the tracking service. Sheriffs pleaded with the company, explaining the gravity of the situation — but VW didn't budge.

While the fee was eventually paid by a relative, the dispute ended up causing a costly delay, which deputy chief Chris Covelli described as "16 minutes of hell," according to the Chicago Tribune.
:snippity:
https://futurism.com/the-byte/volkswage ... pped-child
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#72

Post by raison de arizona »

She's a real piece of work.
Zoom call from a ceo who cancelled all employee bonuses but took a $6.4 million bonus herself
“Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” —John Adams
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#73

Post by AndyinPA »

Do as I say, no as I do.
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#74

Post by raison de arizona »

We all know the real problem here isn't with the corporations, it's with the state legislatures failing to roll back child labor laws fast enough to keep up with reality.
10-year-old children were found working at a Louisville McDonald’s until 2 a.m.

Two 10-year-old children were found working at a Louisville McDonald’s restaurant — sometimes until 2 a.m. — the US Department of Labor said Tuesday.

The revelation was part of an investigation into the child labor law violations in the Southeast. The agency also found three franchisees that own more than 60 McDonald’s locations in Kentucky, Indiana, Maryland and Ohio, “employed 305 children to work more than the legally permitted hours and perform tasks prohibited by law for young workers,” the Labor Department said in a statement.

“Investigators from the department’s Wage and Hour Division found two 10-year-old workers at a Louisville McDonald’s restaurant among many violations of federal labor laws committed by three Kentucky McDonald’s franchise operators,” the release said. “Investigators also determined two 10-year-old children were employed – but not paid – and sometimes worked as late as 2 a.m.”
:snippity:
https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/03/business ... index.html
DOL statement: https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20230502-0
“Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” —John Adams
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#75

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