Southwestern
Well-Known Member
In both of the buildings I checked out, tuition reimbursement is limited to $1,500/term;$3,000/year;$15,000/lifetime. I was told that if you become a PT Supervisor, the lifetime allowance goes up $20,000. Someone said Earn and learn depends on area participation. Where do you live that offers $60 to 100K lifetime limit?
Not all geographic locations offer ANY tuition reimbursement to part-time employees; some limit it to specific buildings and/or specific shifts. The closest facility to me offering tuition reimbursement is about 2.5 hours away, and it's tied to a specific college (combination of UPS and college scholarships = free tuition). The $60-$100K I was referring to was the average debt of a college graduate in my state. Of course a savvy individual here could save $20,000 in tuition alone (and an equal amount by rooming with mom and dad) by attending community college for two years.
They say that if I'm in a package touching position, I get all paid for benefits after a year. I'm told that if I do well, there is potential to become a PT supervisor but I have to pay for benefits. In the end, I'm not sure which would get me more take home pay. Package handler with paid for benefits and two hours of pay for some dues vs supervising package handlers and paying benefits.
In the short term, you'll probably make more as a PT sup since the job entitles a small pay increase + is compensated at 27.5 hours per week -- more than enough to offset the cost per benefits. There's also a larger breadth of health plans for sups. In the early 2000s, a close friend of mine accepted a Whole Foods-style plan that placed a specified amount of money ($1,200?) into a Health Savings Account. There was no charge for this plan (I believe it was only for individuals, not families) and routine (but not surgery, etc.) costs were debited. At the end of the year, any monies left in the account were cashed out to him. I'm not certain if anything like it is still offered... kinda encourages the employee not to seek care when he otherwise should.
They told me not to keep any hopes up for "combo" or "driving" position as you can only get that by being on the wait list for a decade. A decade? That's outrageous.
Variables change all the time (future volume, building consolidations, etc.) But it's probable that beginning in as little as 5 years, UPS will face mass retirements system wide and any eligible, interested part-timer would get a job.