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Publix to Cut Insurance benefits
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by theswamme | December 13, 2009 at 03:21 pm
5419 views | 3 Recommendations | 12 comments
Publix Grocery stores is changing its Health benefits policy. Unfortunately that will cause the majority if not All part time employees to lose their medical coverage at the end of December 2009. Previously Publix offered Part time employees, that averaged 25 hours weekly a comprehensive health plan. The new policy is that those same people, some of them 20 year employees with families, have to work a 30 hour average week or lose their health benefits.
The catch is that Publix does not allow part timers to accumulate 30 hours weekly. In turn causing almost the entire part time workforce of Publix Part time employees to be without coverage. These employees will not be able to reach the prerequisite of 30 hour per week average, because Publix rarely works its Part timers more than 10-25 hours per week. The Publix corporation has for years utilized part timers to keep their overall Full time staff numbers to a minimum, in turn making it possible to take such good care of their full time employees.
Publix should be ashamed by this change in Policy. For such a large, Very Profitable, and Locally owned business. Publix is well known for being a great place to work, Treating its employees very good, including part timers, offering great benefits, Profit sharing, always making the list of Top employers in Florida to work for. To do this to so many Part time Mom's, Retiress and young students who over the years have been loyal and hard working is just plain wrong. For the Jenkins family and Publix to allow this change and affect so many Families is unacceptable, for what .05% better bottom line profit. Is someone in the Human resources looking for ways to improve Publix bottom line at the cost of possibly 1000's of loyal part time publix employees. In a period where Health care is a National issue and so many people are losing their health care Publix should be doing the opposite, making it easier not harder for these people to acquire good reasonable Health care.
The reasons behind this move have to be driven by $$$, but at what cost. The health and welfare of the people and families who made Publix what it is today
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at 15:52 on December 13th, 2009
Please take the time to comment here and or to Publix super markets directly. This is a sad story for too many Florida residents, and we need to let Publix know what we think about it.
at 09:06 on January 29th, 2010
Publix is amazing. Some say it is the largest Employee own company but that is so far from the truth. If the employees were owners they will contribute in making decisions that would not affect them as owners of the company like cutting healthcare. My wife works as a part timer. She originally requested to work at least 35 hours but she hardly gets 27. They keep telling the part timers that they don’t have sufficient hours but they keep adding more personal. I heard that the employees starting writing anonymously to corporate to complain about this and the response they got was the area manager coming down asking who mail the letter? This just sends a clear and low message that they don’t care about their employees. Local papers like the Palm Beach Post won’t write about it because they say it is old news. It is very unfortunately that the economy is the way it is right now that my wife can’t quit to get another job.
at 22:39 on December 16th, 2009
I have been part-time for over 4 years with PUBLIX. Never, ever getting 30 hours despite my availability making it so. It is true they are throwing part- timers "under the health care bus". They went from 1000 hours for part-time employees to work/per year to 1500! That is impossible to attain. I wrote a letter to Mr. Crawford and never heard back. Thus, with this new policy, many extremely over-qualified employees will leave and so much for Publix remaining one of "Americas best customer grocery chains". This new President is raping the company. The stock has crashed and the employees are yielding unpleasant attitudes. It is not a very good place to work with schedules that are unpredictable and standing for hours without a break at a cash register. The are too lazy to hire outside people as that would require larger salaries. The mantra in the grocery business (as I read in a grocer retail magazine) is "encourage turnover to keep wages low". How this company keeps getting such high rankings is suspect. They have not offered the part time employees any information as to what they can do to get health insurance (they can keep their vision and dental however), and the clock is ticking. Please someone in the media jump on this story and make a stink about it. There are some great things about Publix but it is headed in the wrong direction.
at 19:12 on February 1st, 2010
Thank you for the response. It is appauling that Publix could do this and No oe is holding them accountable. Mr Crenshaw, The Jenkins Family and Publix Super Markets should be ashamed.
at 07:44 on December 28th, 2009
I have worked for Publix as a loyal,depenedable honest employee for 11 years and I think it is UTTERLY CRIMINAL that Pubilix would do this to dependable ,hardworking loyal employees.I'm certain there are many employees like myself facing the same situation. Publix claimed to me that they didn't know I was on their insurance plan, and I insisted that I was.Moreover, they informed me in February of 2009 that as of January 2009 that I would need to increase my hours to maintain my health coverage. Why did they wait a WHOLE MONTH to tell me this??I was already ONE MONTH BEHIND when I was informed of this new change in policy! Since February 2009,I have prevailed on Publix to allow me to work the hours I need to maintain my insurance coverage. I have and have ALWAYS had OPEN availabliity- I have ALWAYS been available to work ANY shift- day OR night. My store manager said to me that I could come to her if I was short of hours and she would see what she could do for me. The same was said to me by my immediate supervisors. It was determined that I would need 31 hours a week to maintain my coverage, and this was determined early enough in the year that I would have time to work the hours I need and would have time to "catch up",so to speak.Still,more often than not,despite OPEN availability, I was not given the chance to work the 31 hours I needed.As a result, I am now faced with losing my health care coverage,and I must say I am very hurt and angered by this!!I have a strong work ethic and a STIRLING work record and they do this to me and to so many hardworking,honest,reliable employees who put in an honest days work every day??!!Ther CEOs of Publix in Lakeland ought to be ashamed of themselves!!!!!We don't even have a decent refrigerator in our break room- it is MUCH TOO WARM to store our lunches in!!! This is food poisoning waiting to happen!! UNACCEPTABLE!!!!!
at 08:00 on December 28th, 2009
I would like to add that I very much agree with what was said by another viewer:this new policy may have been motivated by $$$ but ,as the viewer pointed out- AT WHAT COST??At the expense of the health and well being and welfare of the hardworking ,loyal,honest employees who have made Publix what it is today.Someone in the media needs to jump on this story and make a BIG stink about it!!!I recently had a grocery manager tell me that the WORKERS are the ones who keep a company thriving and make a company what it is,NOT the CEOs sitting in their fancy corner offices in Lakeland!!Of course the CEOs won't be the least bit affected by this new policy-TOTALLY UNFAIR!!!!
at 04:07 on February 1st, 2010
Its Feb.1st and we lost our Health benefits as of January 1st. Havent needed to use it yet but when I do it sure will be a reminder of How Publix has treated us. My wife a 23 year employee and myself (both 44 years old) probably needed that coverage going forward more than what we ever used it in the past. I want to thank all of the responders to this article, unfortunately it fell on deaf ears (in the Media and by Publix). Was actually on 540 am, with Bud Heddinger and spoke of this issue too. I tried to get the word out and I guess it just didnt matter to Publix, Bud or the Main stream media. On the Bud morning show he was very gracious and let me explain it all, Of course he said he wasnt sure if I had stated all the facts. So, He brought on the next caller to rebute my story. It sounded to me like the guy was a Publix manager defending Publix, He tried to say it would give Part timers more chance to work more hours and make more money , and to afford health insurance on their own. NOT. In fact it will make it near inpossible to find coverage, unless you can afford to pay 50% more than what the same coverage was thru publix. I had my wife go to her store manager to find out if she could get the 30 hours it would take to keep our coverage.Well of course not because Publix does not allow PT's to get that many hours. And that is the catch, change policy make it look like its the employees fault. Publix super markets might be a great company but they sure dont take care of their employees.
at 22:20 on December 30th, 2009
So here it is, December 31 and NOT ONE DAMN PIECE OF information from the "100th greatest company to work for" on how part-time employees can attain health coverage (besides enslaving themselves to the company with guarantee that they will get the 1500 hours/year). NOTHING. Thrown under the god damn health care bus by this company that has fooled so many people with their warm and fuzzy commercials. Oh, sure we can get COBRA for a year at $330.00 a MONTH! Like the person above, we don't even have a refrigerator in our "break-room", no music either. They even made us get rid of our locks on the lockers BUT we could use them as "day lockers" and thus drag our shit in and out every day and hang our locks on a chain that hangs in the break-room. How f 'n civilized. Why not show that in the commercials? Treat the employees like the crooks that they regard them as. EVERYTHING is about the "numbers" since this goon Crawford took over. Like the President, we are nothing but two-faced liars as we pretend all is well except that we employees are mad as hell on the inside. It's time to really give away the store....ha ha hah hahhahahahhah
at 19:13 on February 1st, 2010
Cobra for my wife, myself and our 9 yr old will be $900 a month, that is a 125% increase over what it was costing us before.
THANKS PUBLIX.
at 21:53 on January 22nd, 2010
I just had my insurance cut from them. And no one told me about Cobra. I found out on my own. My Human Resource Manger is useless and knows nothing about anything!!! And everytime I try to call corporate to inquire about it no one answers and never calls back! I hate this company!!!!!!!!!!!! I worked for factory's that treat their employees better.
at 13:02 on January 26th, 2010
Tasia, If it makes you feel any better I have not been able to get anyone at the Corporate Benefits Department to call me back either, the lady that handles the COBRA is named Peggy. The employees that answer the phone tell me how busy she is and not to take it personally but this is B.S. FYI by law if you previously had insurance with Publix and then lost it they have to offer you COBRA it is not an options. My attorney friend said that if I do not get any response from Publix concerning my COBRA that I should call the US Department of Labor at 866-487-2365.
at 13:41 on February 12th, 2010
Count me as another part-timer who's lost his health insurance as a result of the new policy. I'm a "role model" who had 1300 hours last year - and even though I repeatedly asked both my manager and the store manager to either give me enough hours to keep my insurance (approximately 5 more hours a week) or let me go full-time, they instead hired TWO more part-timers in my department. I'd say that they have an un-official policy in place to hire as many people as possible who will never be eligible for benefits, and I'd say it's a rotten way for one of the "Top 100 companies to work for" to treat a "role model".And company-wide, how many people have lost their insurance? Why hasn't the media picked up on this? I'm a perfect example of how our country's health care system is broken. This is the fourth time in my life that I've lost health insurance due to changes in employment. Our system of tying health insurance to employment just doesn't make sense, especially in this period of high joblessness. As far as I'm concerned, there should be Medicare for all, and people should be allowed to buy supplemental insurance if they can afford it.