Express Premium Pay Elimination - What You Need to Know

Falcon

New Member
As many of you might have heard, split, second and third shift premiums are the latest company takeaway. I learned the following today from my manager - disturbing to say the least.

1. The elimination of these pay benefits was caused by a big class action in California. Apparently the Company was not providing the required information on employee pay stubs. (for example, premiums).

2. Instead of fixing the problem the company chose to eliminate these premiums for all employees so that it does not violate California's laws. The company has chosen to supply us with b.s. reasoning for this change instead of the truth.

3. While you continue to take it in the shorts, the company will no doubt pocket all the savings.

4. The mechanics, of course, will still receive all if their premiums!!!!!!!!!! Talk to them. They will tell you.

5. The lesson to be learned here: The only employees with any kind of a fighting chance here are the pilots and those employees the company deems to be at risk of unionizing.
 

Ricochet1a

Well-Known Member
I did some calling around - and it does look like the impetus for Express doing away with the split-2nd-3rd shift pay has to do with attempting to get out of a sticky situation with a class action suit in California. Haven't absolutely confirmed it as of tonight.

Within Express, emails went out in progressive stages - starting at district level, then senior manager, then to ops managers. Appearently the decision was made late last week, it was made "policy" Friday, and the news started getting out down to local level late Monday evening.

Internally, they are trying to state the reason for this is to "free up funds to enable those in the first and second quartile of pay progression to get a larger pay increase NEXT YEAR". It begs the question - why the hell not this year if the funds are going to be "freed up" starting next week?

Well, if you have half a brain, you know that doesn't pass the smell test.

You don't institute a major policy change in compensation and implement it in under a week - unless there is some very pressing reason RIGHT NOW to get that change implemented. Class action litigation is a pressing reason.

It looks like about 10% of Express wage employees qualify for some form of shift pay. Most of these are long haul RTDs, swing Couriers and a few in stations that stay in late hours doing various reports and such. The hubs also have people which get shift pay.

Ironically (or if you don't believe in Express coincidences), for the people that get shift pay on a regular basis, it amounts to about......... 3% of their total annual compensation.

Doing some very simple math, it is easy to see that taking away 3% of the compensation from 10% of the wage workforce, isn't going to free up much money to increase pay for those in the bottom 2 quartiles of pay progression. Not even the best mob accountant can make those numbers work.

Without having exact numbers of how many are in the bottom two quartiles (making an assumption it is half of employees, which is probably a bit off), taking away 3% of pay from 10% of employees will only yield enough to increase compensation for "50%" (those in the bottom two quartiles) by a pitiful 0.6%.

I think you can see through Express' pitiful explanation of attempting to pass this off as "freeing up funds to up the compensation for those in the bottom two quartiles".

From what I understand, it looks like Express is also coming out with a new format for pay statments (again, there are NO coincidences in Express). The new pay statements and the taking away of shift pay are LINKED to the same litigation in California.

Isn't it nice to have an employer that gives you a straight answer as to what they are doing and treats you with respect by not giving laughable reasons for their actions? (Pardon the sarcasm...)
 

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
I did some calling around - and it does look like the impetus for Express doing away with the split-2nd-3rd shift pay has to do with attempting to get out of a sticky situation with a class action suit in California. Haven't absolutely confirmed it as of tonight.

Within Express, emails went out in progressive stages - starting at district level, then senior manager, then to ops managers. Appearently the decision was made late last week, it was made "policy" Friday, and the news started getting out down to local level late Monday evening.

Internally, they are trying to state the reason for this is to "free up funds to enable those in the first and second quartile of pay progression to get a larger pay increase NEXT YEAR". It begs the question - why the hell not this year if the funds are going to be "freed up" starting next week?

Well, if you have half a brain, you know that doesn't pass the smell test.

You don't institute a major policy change in compensation and implement it in under a week - unless there is some very pressing reason RIGHT NOW to get that change implemented. Class action litigation is a pressing reason.

It looks like about 10% of Express wage employees qualify for some form of shift pay. Most of these are long haul RTDs, swing Couriers and a few in stations that stay in late hours doing various reports and such. The hubs also have people which get shift pay.

Ironically (or if you don't believe in Express coincidences), for the people that get shift pay on a regular basis, it amounts to about......... 3% of their total annual compensation.

Doing some very simple math, it is easy to see that taking away 3% of the compensation from 10% of the wage workforce, isn't going to free up much money to increase pay for those in the bottom 2 quartiles of pay progression. Not even the best mob accountant can make those numbers work.

Without having exact numbers of how many are in the bottom two quartiles (making an assumption it is half of employees, which is probably a bit off), taking away 3% of pay from 10% of employees will only yield enough to increase compensation for "50%" (those in the bottom two quartiles) by a pitiful 0.6%.

I think you can see through Express' pitiful explanation of attempting to pass this off as "freeing up funds to up the compensation for those in the bottom two quartiles".

From what I understand, it looks like Express is also coming out with a new format for pay statments (again, there are NO coincidences in Express). The new pay statements and the taking away of shift pay are LINKED to the same litigation in California.

Isn't it nice to have an employer that gives you a straight answer as to what they are doing and treats you with respect by not giving laughable reasons for their actions? (Pardon the sarcasm...)

See "corporate greed".
 

fedex_rtd

Well-Known Member
I did some calling around - and it does look like the impetus for Express doing away with the split-2nd-3rd shift pay has to do with attempting to get out of a sticky situation with a class action suit in California. Haven't absolutely confirmed it as of tonight.

Within Express, emails went out in progressive stages - starting at district level, then senior manager, then to ops managers. Appearently the decision was made late last week, it was made "policy" Friday, and the news started getting out down to local level late Monday evening.

Internally, they are trying to state the reason for this is to "free up funds to enable those in the first and second quartile of pay progression to get a larger pay increase NEXT YEAR". It begs the question - why the hell not this year if the funds are going to be "freed up" starting next week?

Well, if you have half a brain, you know that doesn't pass the smell test.

You don't institute a major policy change in compensation and implement it in under a week - unless there is some very pressing reason RIGHT NOW to get that change implemented. Class action litigation is a pressing reason.

It looks like about 10% of Express wage employees qualify for some form of shift pay. Most of these are long haul RTDs, swing Couriers and a few in stations that stay in late hours doing various reports and such. The hubs also have people which get shift pay.

Ironically (or if you don't believe in Express coincidences), for the people that get shift pay on a regular basis, it amounts to about......... 3% of their total annual compensation.

Doing some very simple math, it is easy to see that taking away 3% of the compensation from 10% of the wage workforce, isn't going to free up much money to increase pay for those in the bottom 2 quartiles of pay progression. Not even the best mob accountant can make those numbers work.

Without having exact numbers of how many are in the bottom two quartiles (making an assumption it is half of employees, which is probably a bit off), taking away 3% of pay from 10% of employees will only yield enough to increase compensation for "50%" (those in the bottom two quartiles) by a pitiful 0.6%.

I think you can see through Express' pitiful explanation of attempting to pass this off as "freeing up funds to up the compensation for those in the bottom two quartiles".

From what I understand, it looks like Express is also coming out with a new format for pay statments (again, there are NO coincidences in Express). The new pay statements and the taking away of shift pay are LINKED to the same litigation in California.

Isn't it nice to have an employer that gives you a straight answer as to what they are doing and treats you with respect by not giving laughable reasons for their actions? (Pardon the sarcasm...)

I have seen a lot of crappy things at FedEx Express but I never thought I would see the company be as vindictive as taking away $.35 or $.50 per hour from a lot of senior employees as retribution to losing a class action law suit. Hard to call yourself a People Service Profit company...guess my only retribution I can do is right block the SFA
 

Ricochet1a

Well-Known Member
Still trying to get confirmation as to exactly why Express did what they did - when they did it and how they did it.

I'll step through the info that is available publically on this - without some form of inside knowledge, it is impossible to pin down exactly what is going on.

This is the link to the SEC 10-Q for FedEx (last year)

http://www.faqs.org/sec-filings/110318/FEDERAL-EXPRESS-CORP_10-Q/


The case is Bibo et al v. Federal Express Inc. (citation located on page 10 of the 10-Q).

Here is the relevant excerpt:

Wage-and-Hour. We are a defendant in a number of lawsuits containing various class-action allegations of wage-and-hour violations. The plaintiffs in these lawsuits allege, among other things, that they were forced to work “off the clock,” were not paid overtime or were not provided work breaks or other benefits. The complaints generally seek unspecified monetary damages, injunctive relief, or both. The following describes the wage-and-hour matters that have been certified as class actions.

In April 2009, in Bibo v. FedEx Express, a California federal court granted class certification, certifying several subclasses of our couriers in California from April 14, 2006 (the date of the settlement of the Foster class action) to the present. The plaintiffs allege that we violated California wage-and-hour laws after the date of the Foster settlement.In particular, the plaintiffs allege, among other things, that they were forced to work “off the clock” and were not provided with required meal breaks or split-shift premiums. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has refused to accept a discretionary appeal of the class certification order at this time.

This class certification ruling does not address whether we will ultimately be held liable. We have denied any liability and intend to vigorously defend ourselves in these wage-and-hour lawsuits. Given the nature and status of these lawsuits,we cannot yet determine the amount or a reasonable range of potential loss, if any. However, we do not believe that any loss is probable in these lawsuits.



Now, this case was resolved last spring in FedEx's favor (at least that is what the legal journals state).

There is a whole mess of litigation going on in California now due to their split shift laws that protect employees from being called into work for an hour or so then sent home - keeping them from being "jerked around". The litigation isn't just with FedEx Express as a defendant, but with virtually every corporation that has variances with California law.

Another case that is relevant is Aleman v. AirTouch Cellular Case # B231142

A key point out of that case:


A “split shift” is “a work schedule, which is interrupted by non-paid non-working periods established by the employer, other than bona fide rest or meal periods.” (Cal.Code Regs., tit. 8, § 11040, subd. 2(Q).) “When an employee works a split shift, one (1) hour's pay at the minimum wage shall be paid in addition to the minimum wage for that workday, except when the employee resides at the place of employment.” (Cal.Code Regs., tit. 8, § 11040, subd. 4(C).)


It looks like Express may be trying to proactively ward off further litigation by eliminating its current split shift scheme and getting ready to implement something that is compliant with California state law - POSSIBLY on a national basis to eliminate a host of headaches trying to comply with California law just with California based employees.

The important thing is that I can't find (nor anyone I've spoken with) any current class action litigation against Express concerning split shift pay.

I haven't done a complete search of litigation, but it appears at this point that Express is acting to ward off potential litigation.

If this is the case, then it would be reasonable to assume that once Express can come up with a system that will stand muster with California law, it will adopt some form of split shift compensation sometime in the future.

The puzzling thing is why did Express essentially lie about the reason for the sudden termination of the split shift pay system (to free up funds to give those in the bottom two quartiles a pay raise.... come on). It has all the characteristics of a knee jerk reaction to something coming around the corner towards Express.
 

morgan

Well-Known Member
c'mon they just gave raises, which were pretty lame considering express didnt get one last year and the year before it seemed like management gave low review scores just so any raise would be lower. with gas prices going up again they are trying to save money and instead of cleaning house on our bloated management structure they're going to once again take money from the people who make the least. around 200 employees in memphis called in sick last evening because of this. planes were late to some locations. fedex is one of americas greediest companies, it is time for a union!!! please change the fedex law..
 

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
c'mon they just gave raises, which were pretty lame considering express didnt get one last year and the year before it seemed like management gave low review scores just so any raise would be lower. with gas prices going up again they are trying to save money and instead of cleaning house on our bloated management structure they're going to once again take money from the people who make the least. around 200 employees in memphis called in sick last evening because of this. planes were late to some locations. fedex is one of americas greediest companies, it is time for a union!!! please change the fedex law..

Hooray!! Some actual consequences for FedEx. Perhaps the rest of us should consider similar actions. FedEx is a greedy company, and they look really greedy if you are a long-term employee and add-up all of the takeways over the years. Call-in sick, sue them, and generally make their life as miserable as you can in return for how "great" they've made this organization. Fred, MT3, and all the rest deserve our wrath. Eff the whole bunch!!
 
As many of you might have heard, split, second and third shift premiums are the latest company takeaway. I learned the following today from my manager - disturbing to say the least.

1. The elimination of these pay benefits was caused by a big class action in California. Apparently the Company was not providing the required information on employee pay stubs. (for example, premiums).

2. Instead of fixing the problem the company chose to eliminate these premiums for all employees so that it does not violate California's laws. The company has chosen to supply us with b.s. reasoning for this change instead of the truth.

3. While you continue to take it in the shorts, the company will no doubt pocket all the savings.

4. The mechanics, of course, will still receive all if their premiums!!!!!!!!!! Talk to them. They will tell you.

5. The lesson to be learned here: The only employees with any kind of a fighting chance here are the pilots and those employees the company deems to be at risk of unionizing.

On no. 2, if the co. does not want to violate cal. law, then why doesn't everybody get 2 paid 10 min. breaks, like everyone does in Cal?
 

fedex_rtd

Well-Known Member
I think this is a false rumor that you are starting...the truth in my eyes is corporate greed.

Hawk1 I own you an apology for accusing you of starting a false rumor.

I was talking to another RTD from another station tonight, he told me that the vehicle mechanics at his station are not losing their shift pay. I walked up and asked an aircraft mechanic tonight at my ramp, and he told me that they are not losing their shift pay.

I had a manager tell me that the reason was because the FedEx payroll computer system is not capable of computing out the shift premium, overtime pay that will satisfy California state labor law...seems that excuse is a false one, if the computer can make one for the mechanics.

At this point the only thing I can think of is that the company is being vindictive towards the bulk of the employees at FedEx Express simply because they lost a class action law suit, and because they can. this is a VERY SAD thing if it is true.
 
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Ricochet1a

Well-Known Member
I think you (fedex RTD) are beginning to realize what many already have - that Express isn't an employee friendly environment and is actually employee hostile.

When I first started Express in AGFS, I was appalled at the deliberate use of deception, distortion and outright lies towards the wage employees by all levels of management. It got to the point where if an Express manager said "up" - I reflexively believed the truth was "down". In the vast majority of cases, they believed all that was important was fullfilling the operational mission - and if they had to tell some white lies or even whoppers to get it done, it was alright. There was no such thing as "falsification" when it came to what a manager stated - only if they put it down in black and white and put their signature on it did they take a risk. Needless to say, I learned that any instruction that was outside of policy, to get it in writing with a signature - that request ended a lot of dubious practices. There were a handful of managers I came across who did NOT do this (lie as standard personnel management tool) - they didn't last long as managers. They either stepped back down to a wage position, or left the company before they had originally planned.

Each month watching the propaganda video, I saw an Express exec stating one thing (usually things were "bleak" for Express) to justify why compensation was stagnant - then in the business news, FedEx stock doing quite well with "buy" recommendations from virtually all rating companies. I knew that Express was talking out of both sides of its mouth and that I - as an employee - was getting insulted everytime a piece of corporate propaganda came out that we were forced to watch.

Express can and does pay what it wants, where it wants. Changing the computer system to a different pay scheme doesn't require any massive software redesign - all they have to do is eliminate one form of compensation, then add in another form to get the final end pay they want to give to employees.

I'm still trying to get some rationale as to why Express did this (eliminate shift pay) with such a knee jerk reaction. They went to a lot of effort to justify the 2012 pay actions (in reality what they did was an attempt to buy off some senior employees and reduce solidarity between senior and junior employees - in otherwords, reduce unionization risks for Express). By pulling this little stunt with the shift pay, they shot themselves in the foot with a very important group of employees. The employees which do receive shift pay are the ones with a lower level of ongoing supervision, need to be the ones with a higher level of operational knowledge (they are often forced to make decisions on their own without supervisory input) and have the greatest ability to throw a proverbial monkey wrench into the operation should they so choose. You don't piss these people off - that is why there is shift pay in the first place, to keep them a bit happier.

It appears that the decision was made within the "black hole" of FedEx - the legal department. There are no leaks out of there, and it does appear that the decision was made and the execs of Express did what they were told and ended that form of pay. Since California law does have requirements for split shift pay, the question is begged: "What is Express doing for employees in California to satisfy the current law?" They can eliminate shift pay on a national level, but they still have to adhere to each state's law where that is more restrictive than federal law when it comes to compensation. Come next week, how are California employees going to receive pay that will satisfy the requirements of California state law concerning split shifts?

I also think the coincidence of the end of shift pay and the beginning of what I've heard of a new pay statement format is just too much to pass off as chance. These things are linked to the same litigation.

I don't think this is any form of "vindictive" move by Express. They are smart enough not to engage in that form of behavior. If it was vindictive - there would be a whistleblower who would out Express and open Express up to other forms of litigation. Express got caught with its pants down, made a knee jerk reaction to either solve a problem or ward off an impeding problem -and is trying to do damage control among its employees - badly from what is coming out.

I think that many Express employees - who in the past - believed that Express was "looking out for them" and staying honest in how they were treated, are beginning to learn more about how Express really sees them as employees.

It goes without saying (I'll say it here...), if Express employees had a negotiated labor contract, NONE of this would be occurring. The contract would spell out how compensation is to be granted, and unless state law specified a higher (more advantageous to employees) form of compensation was due - the contract would be the controlling legal document.

I think the real "positive" of this whole situation will be a growing awareness among the Express wage employees who previously may have consumed tiny bits of the purple KoolAid - that they aren't as important or as valued to Express as they believe they are. When it comes right down to it, the wage employees will get tossed under the bus in a heartbeat (in this situation it was over a weekend) - then Express will cook up a lie to tell them why they did what they did. Catching Express in the lie will only make things worse (Express management HATES being caught in a lie). It makes them look bad (not for lying) but for not thinking up of a better way of preventing the truth from being found out.
 

fedex_rtd

Well-Known Member
The more senior drivers the "I got mine" crowd are visibly upset over this whole thing, because as a whole group they are the ones getting the largest section of the purple penis, without lube, and that has forced their eyes to open up.

As more people start to ask their mechanics about this and find out that they are KEEPING their shift pay premiums, they will start to see this for what it is.
 

Mr. 7

The monkey on the left.
Here is a question for everyone and especially RTD.
Our afternoon CTV driver gets to our sta. at least 2.5 hrs. early.
He only takes a 1 hr. lunch during the day (I don't know when) but, he's in a code 39 for the 2+ hrs. that he is early and doing nothing. I'm sure he is making much more than a topped out CRR at our sta. but, X can't pay us split shift?
 
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