Now They're Stealing Vacation Time!!!

[Steven21]

Actually, most will not be affected by this, but I heard Citadel, at least in some markets, is limiting vacation time to 2 weeks.

Been there for 40 years? Get 12 weeks off a year? Sorry Charlie.

Now you get 2, just like the newly hired receptionist!

Of course there IS incentive to accept this. It's even becoming a mantra:

Take it or leave it!


Gulp. Thank you sir, may I have another?

 

[SirRoxalot]

Radio Contracting

I believe the response from Citadel Corporate goes something like this:

"You want more vacation? No problem. It will be unpaid, and we can make it PERMANENT."

I hope somebody who had a contract shoved down their throat takes them to court and forces them to live up to the terms. It will have to be somebody who was contemplating either retirement, or who has a place to land across the street. BTW, that makes it more interesting. Since NY doesn't have enforceable non-competes anymore, and Citadel is breaking the terms of a contract, would that mean that somebody could say "No Thank You" and land across the street immediately?

 

[Radknowski]

Are you kiddin' me? Taking employees' vacation time? That can't be right. Vacation and holiday time off are an "earned benefit." If the company handbook states a policy regarding vacation time, those benefits must be honored. If vacation, holiday and time off are part of a written contract and/or published company policy and those benefits are rescinded or severly modified and restricted, the contract has been breached.

Disclaimer before I yammer on any further. I am not an attorney (as if most readers of this board haven't already figured that out.) But our company did paint the law library in O'Brian Hall at UB about 10 years ago.

On the other hand, in these absurd times I can see a number of companies saying, "take it or leave it." It would take an employee with considerable stones, deep pockets, and a cousin (preferably not Cousin Vinnie) who is an attorney to fight that kind of breach of contract. You can bet it would be a long time before the employee who filed suit would ever work in radio again, because radio companies are thick as thieves.

 

[umtrr-author]

It might be a case of "we are changing our employment agreement with you as of 1/1/2009..." -- similar to the way other benefits get changed with a new year e.g. medical coverage, 401(k) matches, etc.

Which, if you're not in a union, is probably perfectly legal.

 

[Steven21]

You can bet it would be a long time before the employee who filed suit would ever work in radio again

I had to laugh at that.

I have read this type comment a few times in recent wweeks and it becomes increasingly funnier every time I see it.

Two responses to the idea of not being able to work in radio again:

1) Promise?

2) Yeah, there are so many opportunities just waiting. You wouldn't want to screw THAT up, would you?

"You'll never work in radio again."

Stop, you're killing me!

 

[Kent]

Unfortunately, vacation time is not required at all under federal law. So, Citadel seems well within its rights to shaft some of its longtime employees out of vacation time. They're not the only company that does this, by the way, and I doubt they're the first company to take vacation time away from employees. I know of several companies that give you 10 days of paid vacation per year, and that's all you get whether you work there one year or 50. Oh, and you'd better know by January 1 when you're going to use those 10 days of vacation or you'll lose them!

Like you, Radnowski, I'm not a lawyer, and I'm not giving legal advice. Also, I agree that this is a really bad way to treat your employees. The whole purpose of offering vacation time is to get good people to work for you, and this kind of a strategy is not conducive to getting good people. Even in tough economic times, good employees can find something else and, usually, something better.

 

[Steven21]

Even in tough economic times, good employees can find something else and, usually, something better.

Ask around. It is very cold out there.

I cannot think of too many in the biz who would complain THAT much about only having 2 paid weeks off vs. all of them off without pay.

Unless you are premiere talent in a market, and for DJ's this is a verrrry exclusive club, you don't have a helluva lot of leverage these days.

 

[SirRoxalot]

It's Worse Than That

Heck, I know guys who don't even take their measley two weeks because they're afraid that corporate will decide that the part-timer replacing them sounds "good enough".

Let's all get together, and put together a great radio station for the "folks at home". We won't make much money, but we'll have fun!

Oh, wait, that's an old Andy Hardy movie. Right, Bob?

 

[AndrewLawson]

Being "out there" I can tell you it's very cold. In my business, primarily research and promotion, even good people have lost their jobs due to budget cuts. Our department has been downsized three times in the last 18 months, a reduction about 12%. It would have been greater had it not been for new hires who replaced a few of those who were cut. The salary structure for new hires is approximately 35% lower than the men and women they've replaced. The benefits are not as good and the incentive/commission structure is 3 points lower than the commission structure of heritage employees. It's important to note that the turnover rate or rate of attrition, is much higher with newly hired associates, even in the research department. Based on what I've read on these boards, I suspect that broadcasting is going through much of what we're experiencing. I wonder what Robert Eatman would have to say about companies taking away vacation time and benefits.

 

[oldiesfan6479]

How many weeks of vacation does Farid get? :

Next thing they'll be taking one of Adam's ribs and, instead of giving it
to Eve, it'll go to the senior executives and their bean counter buddies.

Of course we knew those types were all cannibals anyway.

 

[LasVegasRadioJunky]

Latest memo from Citadel Corporate spelled out additional budget cutting measures...

1. Account Executives now must provide their own computers. If an employee would be interested in buying the computer the company has been providing you, see your supervisor.

2. In many markets we have leased the spaces in our parking lot to buildings when in proximity to ours. If you still would like to park a vehicle when you come to work, see the business manager for leasing options.

3. In an effort to save you on out of pocket medical and dental expenses, we have contracted with an area general practitioner. Dr. Dread is open for appointements for all your general medical needs. You will have to negotiate your co-pays with him on a case by case basis. If you need to go to the hospital, you will need to seek another physician due to the fact that dread is not affiliated with any of the area hospitals. For dental care, your dentists name is Dr. Moe Pain. He will be in the lobby twice each month offering treatment to employees. Please remember to take your desk chair to the lobby at the time of your appointment.

4. Due to budget cutbacks, we have curtailed the services of our landscape company and the people who clean the offices. D.J.s, production staff, programmers and our receptionists will now cut the grass, clean the offices, etc., on a rotating basis. Your supervisor will let you know when we will need you. F.Y.I., sales professionals will not need to participate as we need to improve our billing before we can outsource these services once again. Our cleaning supplies are located in the closet next to the restrooms where you will find, buckets, mops, vacumns, toilet brushes, plungers, etc. On the day you are to cut the grass, don't forget to load your lawn mower in your vehicle before your leave for work.

5. Citadel will no longer provide toilet paper, paper towels, hand soap or other sanitary items in company restrooms.

All of us at Citadel corporate our proud of our award winning employee morale. Thank you for your dedication, hard work and loyalty to Citadel, a radio company envied by its competitors.

 

[Element9]

You people should be ashamed of yourselves, deriding a man who is doing all he that he can to steer his ship through very rough seas. You'd think this was the Cincinnati board. I'll not again post here until an apology is tendered!

 

[Kent]

Ask around. It is very cold out there.

You know, it's funny, but I've had two offers, both unsolicited, in the last 2 months. Granted, I work in IT during the week and am lucky to do radio a couple times a month these days. Both of the offers I got were for IT jobs. The last time I had an unsolicited radio job offer was never, and I don't expect that it happens very often.

I cannot think of too many in the biz who would complain THAT much about only having 2 paid weeks off vs. all of them off without pay.

When Cumulus bought a group I was working for a few years ago, they started everyone, including those who had worked for the previous company for 10+ years (yes, there were a few), at zero days of service. Even they didn't reset everyone's vacation to 10 days per year, but there were a lot of people who were close to getting the extra 5 days who were really upset because they had to work another five years for the extra vacation days. The result was almost 100% turnover in a year.

Unless you are premiere talent in a market, and for DJ's this is a verrrry exclusive club, you don't have a helluva lot of leverage these days.

If you love radio and you're dead set on staying in the business, I agree that you have no leverage at all, unless you're someone like Brother Weese. Even in a bad economy, you don't want to kill employee morale. If you can package your skills and sell yourself, there are jobs out there. They may not be exactly what you want and you may have to relocate, but they're out there. While lots of employers are downsizing, good employees are hard to find in this country, especially among those companies that have a large amount of young employees, and those good employees always have options. On every job I've ever gotten, I've made it a point to sell my reliability, my people skills, my communication skills and my dedication to learning over my talent. I suppose your results may vary, but I've been extraordinarily successful with that approach! I've drawn exactly one unemployment check in my entire life!

 

[Yeziknoradio]

Perhaps the idea is to model after Canada, which dictates that wether you work in Radio, or any other business, the basic law is one week for every 6 months worked.

That's two weeks per year. No law to suggest any other time beyond that.

 

[Oldbones]

Perhaps the idea is to model after Canada, which dictates that wether you work in Radio, or any other business, the basic law is one week for every 6 months worked.

That's two weeks per year. No law to suggest any other time beyond that.

There must be some sort of cap on this. Work somewhere 13 years & get 6 months vacation? I don't think so.

5. Citadel will no longer provide toilet paper, paper towels, hand soap or other sanitary items in company restrooms.

Sounds like one of the beloved, caring mom & pop owners I once worked for. I think they "allowed" one roll of TP and one roll of paper towels a week. Once it was gone you were SOL (so to speak).

Keep in mind that trimming of benefits is not just limited to broadcasting. Sucks to lose benefits, but when the money isn't there, it isn't there. I don't ever recall the mom & pop and/or small regional groups I've worked for in the past having much in the way of benefits even back in the "good old days". Even back then the owner(s) were the only ones who had nice cars, homes, etc.

 

[12 In a Row]

Yeah, back in the good ole/bad ole days, the owner traded EVERYTHING!
Heck, there were some that thought he traded his trophy wife. ;D

On a serious note:
If it helps to save a job or two, I'm happy to give up a couple of weeks.

My kid worked weekends at a auto part store. NO job
My neighbor, a loan officer at a bank for 20+ years. NO job
A friend working in real estate for years. NO work
How bout that single mom working at the local restaurant? NO tips/NO $$.

It's ugly out there!

 

[no dead air]

Citadel. 18¢ a share from over 20 bucks in the past. 'Nuff said.

 

[The Voice of Reason]

I feel no sympathy for a company whose stock is selling for pennies a share, yet the top managers are paid millions of dollars, plus getting additional perks, while the latest company edict is to take away vacation time and continue to fire long-time employees just to save a buck.
Personally I wouldn’t shed a tear if these companies went bankrupt. Maybe then, at fire sales, someone who truly cares about broadcasting will buy up some of these radio properties and actually do something positive with them instead of the current philosophy of rape and pillage.

 

[Oldbones]

I feel no sympathy for a company whose stock is selling for pennies a share, yet the top managers are paid millions of dollars, plus getting additional perks, while the latest company edict is to take away vacation time and continue to fire long-time employees just to save a buck.

There is no excuse for top executives to be immune from cutbacks. I realize they are technically entitled to the salaries they were hired at, but let's spread the pain. This having been said, have these executives cut their compensation accordingly? Haven't seen anything in the news on it, but that doesn't mean it hasn't happened (though it doesn't seem to have in other embattled industries).

Personally I wouldn’t shed a tear if these companies went bankrupt. Maybe then, at fire sales, someone who truly cares about broadcasting will buy up some of these radio properties and actually do something positive with them instead of the current philosophy of rape and pillage.

Don't forget it was owners who "truly cared about broadcasting" that sold out to the big corporations to begin with. Given the current banking crisis, where are they gonna get the money to buy (and operate) these stations?
Also keep in mind that the consolidation of broadcasting pretty much coincided with the rise of the internet, the invention of the Ipod, etc. These would have happened whether there were broadcasting giants or not, and they're not going away. It's a whole different game than it was 20 years ago. Swap shops & lost dog reports ain't gonna cut it.
I've heard some pretty lame programming from owners who "cared about broadcasting".

 

[12 In a Row]

Amen Brothers and Sisters!

For the most part, live and local wasn't all that we "fondly remember."

Back in the 70s, our station was live and local 24/7, located 50 miles north of a major market. We constantly had to fight for listeners who wanted to listen to the BIG stations.

Now we battle with newer, cooler technology.
I can't imagine life without cell phones, blackberries and the internet.