DEX08

[Ricochet1a]

I got a copy of the memo managers got today, it goes something like this...The review system will no longer be used starting Sep. 1st. Instead, there will be a yearly sit down with your manager and he/she will go over areas you need to improve, and what areas your doing well in. All bid positions will be based on seniority alone (from what I understand its the same formula, just minus the points from the review), and letters no longer will stop an employee from being able to bid..however what is in their file might, (for example, if your letter/s have direct effect on your performance for the new position). We were told that FedEx will also be adjusting the pay as well so their employees will be paid more towards the "industry standard" and there was also mention of potentially reaching the top out pay at a quicker pace. Everyone will now get the same raise amount on their year anniversary based on what the rate is for that year and what your position is. We werent told all the details yet as far as pay is concerned or how those with current CEV points will be affected as far as seniority, but this particular manager did mention that she believes it is in direct relation to the union issues and FedEx trying to avert employees from signing cards should RLA status be changed. Will be interesting to see how this all plays out though.

I made some phone calls, and jmeti does summarize the content of the memo quite well.

Here are some clarifications:

1) There will be an annual (or more often if management believes it is necessary) session between ops managers and their employees. It will be purely a discussion session, NO scoring will take place. The old scoring system is gone.

2) JCATS bidding is currently done by CEV points (multiple of review score and seniority, with part-timers having their CEV points halved). Since review scores are gone, so is the CEV. JCATS will be strictly by seniority. I didn't get confirmation if part-timers would have their "score" halved, but I'd have to assume this will remain the same.

3) The issue of Warning Letters seems a little more vague at this point. Since in theory, ALL warning letters are handed out due to job performance issues, there will most likely be a clarification as to what "offenses" will be job related, and which are not. Having an avoidable accident for a Courier is clearly job related, while excessive tardies is not. It does appear that getting a Warning Letter for a non-task related cause won't automatically prevent bidding.

4) What I was told regarding the pay issue is a bit more convoluted. Pay increases will be on an across the board basis for all in a particular job function.

HOWEVER.... The pay increases won't be equal on a national level.

The twist is that it appears that FedEx will manipulate the pay increase amount on either a region or possibly district level. So all Couriers in either a given region or district will be given the exact same pay raise each year. But the pay raises won't be equal across all regions or districts. Supposedly, the increases will be matched to turnover being experienced in a given region or district. Higher turnover rate, the higher the pay increase for employees in that region/district - to help mitigate the high turnover. I strongly suspect that Express will do it on a district by district basis, since the regions tend to be rather large and there are pockets within each region have high turnover while others have virtually no turnover.

For those who have worked in an union shop, the above procedures will be familiar. In union shops, everyone gets the same pay raise, there is no scored review (you either have a job in good standing or are fired, no small measuring of irrelevant criteria) and pay is done on a geographic area basis.

No specific mention was made as to the reason for the change, but jmeni analysis at the end looks to be good - it is a combination of trying to avert too many union cards being signed in certain geographic areas and a desire to cut down on turnover and not boost pay on a NATIONAL basis, but rather on a more targeted basis.

It appears that FedEx does indeed care - it cares if its turnover is too high and too many union agitators have come out of the wood work.

Needless to say, there will be winners and losers in this arrangement. If you are in an area with high employee turnover, you will most likely see a decent pay raise coming. If you are in an area with no turnover, no real change from the status quo.

It does appear that the squeaky wheel does get the proverbial grease (in this case, cash).

 

[Mr. 7]

I made some phone calls

Thanks for the info.

 

[Mr. 7]

This all sounds too good to be true. I'm skeptical until I see it myself, but these would be welcome changes, especially since I got my first warning letter of my 13 year career because I cracked a mirror while backing out of the station.

Isn't there some rule where if the damage is less than ~$300 FDX just writes it off? I busted a mirror hitting a basket ball hoop out in the street and I didn't get any flack.

 

[vantexan]

The JCATS points system will be number of months worked multiplied by 1 for FTers, by .5 for PTers. There will still be warning letters for various offenses but after Sept. 1st they wont affect your ability to apply for job or transfer. They said more later on raises, it was vague, mgr said she believed it would be market level raises. They did say raises will happen unless economic conditions didn't allow. So if economy craters I hope it's after they bump up senior mid-range people to top-out.

 

[Ricochet1a]

The JCATS points system will be number of months worked multiplied by 1 for FTers, by .5 for PTers. There will still be warning letters for various offenses but after Sept. 1st they wont affect your ability to apply for job or transfer. They said more later on raises, it was vague, mgr said she believed it would be market level raises. They did say raises will happen unless economic conditions didn't allow. So if economy craters I hope it's after they bump up senior mid-range people to top-out.

There's not going to be any bumping up people to topout, more wishful thinking on your part.

The raises will be differentiated on a geographic basis and supposedly by job classification basis also.

The pay raise will be the exact same percent for an employee with one year on the job, or 20 years on the job - the only limiter will be if they hit top out with the raise, then they are raised to the top out wage and that is their raise.

If you are in an area that Express has identified with high turnover, then your raise will presumably be higher that the national "average". If you are in an area that Express has identified with low turnover, then your raise will be presumably be LOWER than the national average.

There is absolutely NO MENTION of any adjusting to midrange employee's pay rates separate of any other employee "service time". You will get the same pay raise as someone with a year of service as will someone with 20 years of service - if they are in your area and job classification.

There does seem to be the ability to have differential pay raises for different job classifications in the same area. A DG agent can potentially get a certain percentage pay raise, while Couriers get a completely different percentage pay raise. It will be determined by geographic area - correlated directly to job classification turnover.

The military uses the same system for different MOS's in handing out special pays or reenlistment bonuses.

 

[jmeti000]

Heres a question no one has been able to answer yet....As a part time employee, with the current point system if I work extra hours that equal full time status, I get the full time multipler (the multiplier is raised by the amount of hours worked) so you can actually build your seniority a little quicker. Will this portion of the system still be utilized? Or will I just get the .5 no matter how many hours I work?

 

[quadro]

Heres a question no one has been able to answer yet....As a part time employee, with the current point system if I work extra hours that equal full time status, I get the full time multipler (the multiplier is raised by the amount of hours worked) so you can actually build your seniority a little quicker. Will this portion of the system still be utilized? Or will I just get the .5 no matter how many hours I work?

You don't get the full time multiplier and never have if you are part-time. The number of hours you work has no bearing on this.

 

[vantexan]

Heres a question no one has been able to answer yet....As a part time employee, with the current point system if I work extra hours that equal full time status, I get the full time multipler (the multiplier is raised by the amount of hours worked) so you can actually build your seniority a little quicker. Will this portion of the system still be utilized? Or will I just get the .5 no matter how many hours I work?

Left copy of the memo in my truck but it pointed out under old system this and this happened, under new for FTers it'll be number of months worked times, as they put it, a factor of one. Then they did same thing with PTers except under new system it'll be times factor of .5. This is strictly for determining JCATS points. I'm wondering how they'll handle 2 bidders who tie with same points.

 

[Ricochet1a]

Heres a question no one has been able to answer yet....As a part time employee, with the current point system if I work extra hours that equal full time status, I get the full time multipler (the multiplier is raised by the amount of hours worked) so you can actually build your seniority a little quicker. Will this portion of the system still be utilized? Or will I just get the .5 no matter how many hours I work?

Everything is based on whether you are a permanent full time employee or permanent part-time employee. The actual number of hours you work in a year is irrelevant. The only place where hours worked in a year comes into consideration is the pension plan. You must have at least 1000 hours worked in the year to get the percentage of gross pay contribtion after the last FY notice (comes in mid-summer).

Since you are a part-time employee, your "points" (or whatever they will end up calling the replacement for CEV) will be multiplied by half. This will only matter for JCATS appplications.Unless you are looking to transfer, your "points" are irrelevant.

Seniority is strictly done by most recent date of hire. So a part-timer hired a day before a full-timer will always have seniority on that full timer (which plays into vacation bidding and bidding for overtime, not much of anything else). If there is an adjustment in most recent date of hire - taking unpaid time off or something - then seniority is adjusted according to the time "missed".

Remember, actual hours worked has nothing to do with vacation hours earned, or in the soon to be discarded system, CEV points calculated. Vacation hours are accumulated according to whether you are full or part time, and then based on number of years of service.

 

[Ricochet1a]

Left copy of the memo in my truck but it pointed out under old system this and this happened, under new for FTers it'll be number of months worked times, as they put it, a factor of one. Then they did same thing with PTers except under new system it'll be times factor of .5. This is strictly for determining JCATS points. I'm wondering how they'll handle 2 bidders who tie with same points.

There is already a system to determine seniority when two people have identical most recent hire dates. I believe it goes off the last 4 digits of SSAN or something. So if Bob and Harry each bid on a position and they have identical most recent hire dates and are both full or part time, there is a way to determine who has more seniority, and therefore would receive the position.

 

[vantexan]

There's not going to be any bumping up people to topout, more wishful thinking on your part...There is absolutely NO MENTION of any adjusting to midrange employee's pay rates separate of any other employee "service time". You will get the same pay raise as someone with a year of service as will someone with 20 years of service - if they are in your area and job....

You are most likely right. If however they decide to top us out faster than what's currently happening then some people will be bumped up to top pay. If they say top pay will now be reached on your 10th anniversary then all employees with 10 or more years will be topped out. Yeah, most likely wishful thinking but until they come out with what they are going to officially do we don't know exactly what will happen. I'll keep hoping for the best if that's ok with you.

 

[Ricochet1a]

You are most likely right. If however they decide to top us out faster than what's currently happening then some people will be bumped up to top pay. If they say top pay will now be reached on your 10th anniversary then all employees with 10 or more years will be topped out. Yeah, most likely wishful thinking but until they come out with what they are going to officially do we don't know exactly what will happen. I'll keep hoping for the best if that's ok with you.

Finally, a well thought out question!!!!

Courier A in high turnover market gets topped out in let's say 15 years (don't get optimistic that Fred is changing course, he isn't).

Courier B in low turnover market receives lower annual pay raises. At 15 years of service, he isn't topped out yet.

This is the logical outcome of such a system, but hasn't been addressed at all in the memo that went out.

So, Courier B has put in the same time, but their pay progression is markedly inferior to the topped out Courier in the high employee turnover market.

Suppose Courier B transfers into the station with Courier A. Courier B won't get a "catch up" pay raise - he spent 15 years in a low turnover market where FedEx felt it didn't need to jump pay nearly as much. So Courier A and B will work side by side, but Courier B will be making less, maybe much less.

How do you think that will fly??


This is yet another example of "Fred" seeing a problem, and inventing a solution that meets his needs, but lacks any sort of fundamental fairness among the employees.

The fix to this problem is to do away with percent pay raises entirely, and go to a system much like the military uses. I'm NOT stating this is what will happen, just illustrating a "fix" to the situation.

Pay would be determined by a combination of factors: Job classification pay grade, years of service, geographical location.


Instead of percentage pay increases, the pay for the coming FY would be determined by looking at the employees job classification pay grade (already exists within Express), then cross indexing by years of service, then providing any "special pay" for certain districts that are identified as having excessive turnover (Express wouldn't use the term "turnover", they'd use some other sanitized term). About the best example I can provide is a military pay chart. Anyone can pull one up to see what I'm talking about.

And as far as "hoping for the best"... You've been doing that for a long time and look where it got you. You've got your feet planted to the middle of the road, looking at the headlights coming at you from the distance. It is your right to think pleasant thoughts as you stand there. But when you do become roadkill, don't go around with another pity party stating that you were "done wrong". The only thing you can and will be able to blame are your own decisions and refusal to act on what even you believe is an impending change in how the company you work for is going to operate.

 

[vantexan]

No buddy, I'm biding my time until I can leave. You're the one scrambling to pay for your American lifestyle. More power to you, but 20 years from now I won't regret for a minute that I walked away early instead of accumulating more stuff. As far as FedEx is concerned they came up with some substantial raises in the late 90's when they were concerned about a possible union getting in. I'm hopeful that they'll do it again as some have suggested they are concerned about the RLA. If not I'll quit in 3 years. If they do I may stick around. I have had some unique experiences and I've wanted the company to know to what degree their mgrs will go to further their careers trying to comply with upper mgmt demands. Unfortunately putting yourself out there enables every yahoo with a keyboard to take shots. Oh well, says more about them than me. I'll keep hoping for the best. Afterall I'm still with the company. What choice do I have as long as I am?

 

[MrFedEx]

Finally, a well thought out question!!!!

Courier A in high turnover market gets topped out in let's say 15 years (don't get optimistic that Fred is changing course, he isn't).

Courier B in low turnover market receives lower annual pay raises. At 15 years of service, he isn't topped out yet.

This is the logical outcome of such a system, but hasn't been addressed at all in the memo that went out.

So, Courier B has put in the same time, but their pay progression is markedly inferior to the topped out Courier in the high employee turnover market.

Suppose Courier B transfers into the station with Courier A. Courier B won't get a "catch up" pay raise - he spent 15 years in a low turnover market where FedEx felt it didn't need to jump pay nearly as much. So Courier A and B will work side by side, but Courier B will be making less, maybe much less.

How do you think that will fly??


This is yet another example of "Fred" seeing a problem, and inventing a solution that meets his needs, but lacks any sort of fundamental fairness among the employees.

The fix to this problem is to do away with percent pay raises entirely, and go to a system much like the military uses. I'm NOT stating this is what will happen, just illustrating a "fix" to the situation.

Pay would be determined by a combination of factors: Job classification pay grade, years of service, geographical location.


Instead of percentage pay increases, the pay for the coming FY would be determined by looking at the employees job classification pay grade (already exists within Express), then cross indexing by years of service, then providing any "special pay" for certain districts that are identified as having excessive turnover (Express wouldn't use the term "turnover", they'd use some other sanitized term). About the best example I can provide is a military pay chart. Anyone can pull one up to see what I'm talking about.

And as far as "hoping for the best"... You've been doing that for a long time and look where it got you. You've got your feet planted to the middle of the road, looking at the headlights coming at you from the distance. It is your right to think pleasant thoughts as you stand there. But when you do become roadkill, don't go around with another pity party stating that you were "done wrong". The only thing you can and will be able to blame are your own decisions and refusal to act on what even you believe is an impending change in how the company you work for is going to operate.

We will get little to nothing, but whatever tidbit they toss will be endlessly hyped and fashioned to appear as though they're doing the "people" thing. Fred is a cheap weasel bastard. End of story.

 

[Cactus]

Fred is a cheap weasel bastard. End of story.

When it comes to us yes indeed.

He seems to have plenty of money for lobbyists, influential politicians and Memphis ivory tower big shots.

 

[whenIgetthere]

The JCATS points system will be number of months worked multiplied by 1 for FTers, by .5 for PTers. There will still be warning letters for various offenses but after Sept. 1st they wont affect your ability to apply for job or transfer. They said more later on raises, it was vague, mgr said she believed it would be market level raises. They did say raises will happen unless economic conditions didn't allow. So if economy craters I hope it's after they bump up senior mid-range people to top-out.

What if a FT downgrades to PT. I was PT for 2 years, went FT for 9 years, and just recently downgraded to PT. Will my 9 years of FT be counted as that or as PT because that is what I am now?

 

[vantexan]

What if a FT downgrades to PT. I was PT for 2 years, went FT for 9 years, and just recently downgraded to PT. Will my 9 years of FT be counted as that or as PT because that is what I am now?

Good question, and probably yes, you'll lose half your points if you drop to PT. If you are thinking about transferring might want to considering doing it while still FT. If you are looking to transfer into a PT job you'll probably get it whether you're FT or PT.

 

[LTFedExer]

What if a FT downgrades to PT. I was PT for 2 years, went FT for 9 years, and just recently downgraded to PT. Will my 9 years of FT be counted as that or as PT because that is what I am now?

Good question, and probably yes, you'll lose half your points if you drop to PT. If you are thinking about transferring might want to considering doing it while still FT. If you are looking to transfer into a PT job you'll probably get it whether you're FT or PT.

If that part remains the same, you lose 1/2.

 

[whenIgetthere]

One more thing I was thinking, though I'm probably wrong. What if any pay raises now are to offset Fred from dumping medical coverage in the future? That's a scary thought!

 

[vantexan]

Considering the physical nature of the job and likelihood of injuries, I think healthcare of some sort will continue. I'm much more concerned that they'll make Express strictly overnight and reduce our hours. I think Walmart considers full-time to be 32 hrs and it may come to no longer be able to guarantee 35 hrs. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.