You know what Really grinds my gears?
When I accepted my job offer at my current place of employment, there were several ‘perks’ in place as part of the deal:
-Free lunch and coffee
-Christmas bonuses
-Free medical and dental
-401k profit sharing contributions
-no overtime or on-call time
-fancy Christmas party
And some other small things too. But with the economy and such, all this has slowly been whittled away.
We now have to pay for healthcare. Not as much as I’ve paid elsewhere, but when I started it was TOTALLY free. No copay even!
The Xmas bonus still exists… For now. At least we did receive one last year. Who knows about this year?
The big Xmas party has been cancelled this year. No big whoop on that one.
We still get free lunch and coffee, but they have severely cut back on the quality and amount of food. By Friday I need to go out for lunch because the foodstores have been decimated at that point.
But the grinding part is the whole 401k deal.
When I hired on, it was touted as this great perk. Profit sharing, which payed out really decent dividends into the retirement account.
We’re talking several thousand dollars here.
Well, I didn’t get any “share” last year. It was explained to me that because I started in August, I hadn’t worked a full year so I wasn’t eligible.
Sucky, but understandable I thought.
But I didn’t get a “share” this year either.
I thought perhaps it had been a small oversight and was correctable. So I chatted with HR.
Nope.
I wasn’t eligible this year either.
Why?
It was now explained that I had to be employed for a full calendar year before gaining eligibility.
Cb: Um, but I started in 2007. And worked all of 2008.
HR: Yes, so 2008 was your complete calendar year.
Cb: Yes, so why this year-2009- did I not get to share in the profits made in 2008?
HR: Oh, no. You have to put in a full January to December year just to qualify. Then the NEXT year you get a share.
Cb: So that means I basically had to work 2 years and 4 months before being eligible?
HR: Yes.
Cb: So, this coming year…
HR: Sometime in the first quarter of next year, you should receive a payout.
Cb: Provided that it still happens what with all the cutbacks…
HR: ….
Cb: Thank you for your time.
Granted there were a ton of other factors that led me to take my current job, and I’m definitely glad I that still HAVE a job. But I still can’t help but feel somewhat… hoodwinked… by it all.
And that really grinds my gears.
Mangina Monologues 
oh boy, I’d be pissed. You see, it’s not really about the PEOPLE…YOU! It’s about corporate, about making money, about greed, about “HR”. And that’s why our nation is in the shits.
I thought you worked for state government. But then I guess not.
When I worked for state government the first time around (2001-2003) we had free health and dental.
Second time (2004-2007) we paid 2%, no limits.
If I get this next job it’s 20% with severe caps.
Well, this is the corporate world… How could they make a profit if they gave you a share in it? Love the world of free enterprise!
What a load of crap – did you look back at your original offer or contract to make sure thay didn’t recently institute this policy?
Same story at my workplace – well, same principle, different details. I think that a lot of employers are banking on the fact that their employees will feel lucky just to have a job and not complain about the changing working conditions, decreasing benefits, etc.
I went through the same thing…each profit sharing plan is written differently but HR should be able to tell you when you would be eligible. The only risk with profit sharing is that if there is no profit, there is no employer contribution. Can they still do an employer match of your regular 401k? can they bonus you so you could get some dollars in a ROTH? Benefits are boring but important….
Now my company’s match on our 401(k) varies from quarter to quarter based on company performance–but at least that’s quantifiable. The profit sharing is doled out by managers at their discretion–supposedly based on performance, but ya know how THAT goes! (Get on your knees and PERFORM, dude…)
Would so grind my arse – Id be going postal.