HOLY PTO!!!

The PTO is going to be better, I will happily take it over the old set up.

 

Have you considered sick and personal sick days? Now, if I want to, I can work half a day and use one or two days and go home. New program takes that away ( from what I see) and you have to use a full day.
Also how are they calculating our hours? Driving time? All time on duty? If I'm on layover, and being paid, and responsible for truck and load, doesn't that count as " work"?
As it stands now, the day of my anniversary, I get all my vacation days which I can use immediately. New program, you have to work a period(?) of time to build up those days off.One of our senior drivers has anniversary in November. Driver is worried that he will not build time up quickly enough to have Christmas week off with his family. On a positive note , you can carry days over from one year to next.
As I said before, too many unanswered questions.

 

You build/ accumulate your time the year before. As it used to be, your pto added up, but you were unable to use it until you hit your anniversary. Now, you will be able to use it as you accumulate it. Big improvement, and how most companies work.

I think the concern comes from confusion or lack of clarity.

 

The manual makes it easy to understand, if not, then seek HR clarification. This program is way better than the old system. Even time off includes accrued time at 10hrs. Work your hours, time adds up. Safety days are separated, 2 days plus earned per month, to be taken whenever or saved etc. No reason to be scared or skeptical, learn and underatand, this set up is way better.

 

Aaabbbccc, a driver's anniversary date will not really matter once the new PTO program goes live this summer because all paid time accrued since their previous anniversary will be included in their PTO balance right away, and then begin accumulating time off under the new PTO formula.

To me, the new PTO program looks good based on the brochure I have also read. The one question that could sway my opinion pertains to how the service hours worked to accumulate PTO will be calculated. Will it be all on-duty time and/or driving time only as logged on the OBC, or some other formula? I haven't discussed this with management yet and will wait until it gets closer to implementation if I do not hear more sooner.

The new PTO formula looks good for new drivers who may have given up a lot of vacation time at their previous job to come to the Private Fleet. Anything that can keep a pool of good drivers coming in is a good thing. The medical regulations the FMCSA continues to tighten up on has already removed more than 150,000 drivers from the industry in the past year. The further tightening of the medical certification process, along with an ELOG mandate going into effect at the end of 2017 will shrink the pool of drivers we can hire. It is a great time to be working here right now. As the industry changes, we as drivers of the Private Fleet will be more valuable. I am not leaving here anytime soon to join some other carrier!

 

Someone please answer this question. Why do we now need a third party to decide if we can take LOA? I need to convince someone in a cubicle somewhere that my personal reason for time off is " good enough" for them? When I needed LOA for a major illness, our local HR person took care of it in about 5 minutes.
Quoting the Brochure, " Please submit all requested paperwork to Sedgewick to avoid your leave being denied and a disruption to your pay."
I had major surgery( emergency) and complications afterward, so there was no question as to my leave. But some drivers need leave for other than medical reasons. I would rather deal with someone that knows me and my personal situation.

 

https://www.sedgwick.com/claims/Pages/disabilityabsence.aspx

 

Thanks Rick. That's a sales pitch. Nothing says why WalMart needs it.

 

Scared? No. Skeptical? You better believe it.

WallyWife, every driver reading this should be scared of your statement:

" Big improvement, and how most companies work."

A lot of us came here to work because it was NOT MOST COMPANIES. The company did things the right way in our opinion,things everyone else didn't do. Ask your husband the next time you talk to him, how would he feel if the company installed driver facing cameras tomorrow, because that's what most companies are doing?

 

Just because the process changes does not make it worse. You still must have your doctor fill out your medical certification for your LOA and submit it to HR for approval at present. Now, it will go to an insurance carrier claims department to cover the payment portion. No changes to the amount of the payment (75% of ADP) and the new program has doubled the length of disability in weeks to 26.

It is not a third party insurance carrier determining if you can take a LOA, but rather an administrator of the benefits to be paid, just like our medical, dental, vision, life insurance, long term disability insurance, etc, etc, etc. carriers.