Have you seen any benefits cut at work due to COVID/economic downturn?

[disneysteve]

We were notified this week that for 2021, our medical education stipend has been cut in half. That's a cut of $1,732 for me. That's money I use to attend education programs, pay dues to my professional society, get subscriptions to online resources, etc. Not a huge loss but still a loss.

Have you seen any benefits cut? I know many employers decreased or eliminated their 401k match. Fortunately, that didn't happen to us. They also didn't reduce our PTO or make any other cuts.

[HundredK]

Opposite here at my husband's job. His benefits have gotten better and their wellness reimbursement has doubled. I work for myself, so only have his info to share in terms of employer sponsored benefits. His 401k and everything will remain the same, no word yet as to pay increase.

[Snicks]

Our local colleges just announced layoffs. One school is laying off 61 professors and staff, another is laying off 20+ . I mean what did people think would happen if things weren't opened up?

[SavingBucks]

We will have 2 unpaid days - November 3rd and April 2nd for the duration of the fiscal year. But it is down to one unpaid because an additional floating holiday was negotiated by the unions. This is to mitigate furloughs for some departments. I am planning to take November 4th off in case of unrest........

[disneysteve]

Our local colleges just announced layoffs.

Certainly millions of jobs have been lost, but that wasn't what I was asking about. I was asking for those who still have their jobs if there have been any cuts - either pay cuts or benefit cuts or both.

[kork13]

It's not COVID related, but happens to be happening at the same time -- the Air Force is reducing the annual cap on tuition assistance (not related to the GI Bill -- this is strictly for attending classes while on active duty). Annual cap used to be $4500/yr in tuition costs are covered by TA, but they're reducing it to $3750/yr. For better or worse, they're discovering that the program is getting used too much, and its costs are exceeding the planned budget for TA. At an organizational level, that's probably not a bad thing, because it means alot of folks are taking advantage of a great benefit. On the individual level, of course, it means either you can't take as many classes, or you have to cover more out of pocket. But it's still a pretty good program, and I encourage all of my folks to use it to build up credits toward a bachelors (or even masters) degree program.

[kork13]

On the other side... I'm grateful that they're allowing us to carry over double the normal amount of leave days, from 60 to 120 days. The military gives us a generous 30 days/yr of leave time, but with everything going on, most folks had to cancel leave, etc. Had they not expanded the leave carryover, I would have lost 20-some days of leave on 1 Oct. Probably half of my unit would have lost anywhere from 3-30 days of leave. Now, we'll be able to burn down that excess time off over the next year or three. My plans? Give myself a 3-4 day weekend once or twice a month (especially nice between Mar-Jun when there aren't really any federal holidays to get long weekends out of). That, plus a couple of 1-2 week trips whenever we can manage it.

[Snicks]

Certainly millions of jobs have been lost, but that wasn't what I was asking about. I was asking for those who still have their jobs if there have been any cuts - either pay cuts or benefit cuts or both.

I am self employed and I was shut down from March to May so i lost that income. Also when when we resumed, things were slow. Pretty much have picked up to close to normal levels so my income is back to the precovid levels.

[MonkeyMama]

My company has had a record breaking sales/profit year. We also got PPP money (had no idea this was how the year would turn out... We expected to be struggling more). So when we got the PPP dollars my employer did make an extra contribution to our retirement plan. The calculations are complicated and depends how much other employees participate, but with the usual "no one else is really participating" normal it will be an extra 3% - 4% contribution to my retirement plan this year. I think it's also probably a big bonus potential year, but it's a decision made at the end of the year when we can finalize numbers.

Between that and extra unemployment money (my spouse lost his job), our household will probably have a record breaking income year (even without any bous). We don't have any other benefits to speak of, we both just have a 401K.

[riverwed070707]

I posted here about it when I was weighing the decision, but my workplace offered a permeant WFH option to employees for a 10% pay cut, which I ultimately ended up taking. It was definitely a cost saving measure for the company but I appreciate that they gave us the choice instead of cutting pay across the board with no benefit gained from it. Anticipating bonuses to be small or eliminated this year and probably no raises either. Will know for sure in a couple weeks.

[disneysteve]

My company has had a record breaking sales/profit year.

That's great. Remind me what industry you are in.

[disneysteve]

Anticipating bonuses to be small or eliminated this year and probably no raises either.

We don't get raises as we are contracted, so that's not on the table either way.

We do get bonuses which are actually spelled out in our contracts so I'm really curious how they're going to handle that. I suspect they will come up with some way not to pay them. I need to pull my contract out and read exactly what it says and if it gives them any out in the event of having a bad year. I realize they've lost millions as a result of COVID but if the contract says I'm due a bonus, I still want to get it.

[bjl584]

The only perk that I can think of that is on hold is community food.
My work would hold cook outs and catered food for everyone on Fridays
That is gone

[ua_guy]

I work for a hospital.
Most of us have taken a 10% pay cut since April-ish of this year. Higher-ups had their incentive structure pruned a bit.
The cell-phone reimbursement went from a monthly $50 stipend down to $30 which I thought was rather pointed. I mean, it's amazing that we get anything at all, but this was called out like it was bleeding the org dry. No, I don't think it was.
They're starting to do all sorts of cost-cutting measures, some which are long overdue, like not sending out print materials for annual open enrollment.

Last Tuesday they let over 150 people go between layoffs and early retirement, while also eliminating over 150 open positions. I was not one of them but worked with people who were. This is the cost of an unmitigated covid crisis here in the US.

[disneysteve]

The cell-phone reimbursement went from a monthly $50 stipend down to $30 which I thought was rather pointed. I mean, it's amazing that we get anything at all, but this was called out like it was bleeding the org dry. No, I don't think it was.

I think the employers who care are trying to make cuts that are the least painful. It's easy to cut pay or drop a 401k match but that hurts a lot more. That's why they went with the CME stipend cut for us rather than something more significant. I'm sure other cuts could come if that doesn't save them enough money though. I appreciate that they started with that.