Conference 7.286::digital

        What do you mean by a "retroactive freeze"?  As I understand it,
        if you had a salary adjustment (not a performance evaluation) in
        progress (and far enough along) you get it.
        
        If you have performance evaluation due, it should be done; it may
        or may not result in a salary adjustment.
        
        Am I missing something?
        
        Tom

Far enough along? You mean, in your paycheck.

I have to compliment my supervisor - when he heard the rumor of a salary freeze
he took the paperwork right to Personnel, in case it could make the difference.
It didn't.

I would think promotions are under the same restrictions (unless the promotion
is to Vice President or higher)

    re: .1
    
    	My performance evalution is due from February and this include the
    salary review.  Now due to the freeze, I'll receive just the
    performance evaluation and not the salary review, which was supposed to
    be performed last February.
    

    
        RE:  .3
    
        Performance reviews and salary actions are not necessarily 
        given at the same time.  Also, presently salary increases 
        were scheduled to be given every third month (March, June, 
        September, December).  There was no salary increase scheduled 
        in February.
    
        If you had a performance review in February and a salary 
        action in March, then you should have been seeing it in 
        your pay since March, and you'll continue to see it.
    
        If you had a performance review in February and a salary 
        action in June, you lose because of the freeze.
    
    
        Peter
    

        Ah, I think I now understand better -- your supervisor or manager
        did not complete your performance review and salary adjustment on
        time, and now you won't get a salary adjustment.  (Not that you're
        guaranteed a salary adjustment when your performance review takes
        place, but assuming you would have gotten one at that time..)
        
        Yes, this is going to happen to some people.  Your supervisor or
        manager could try to get a retroactive increase approved if he or
        she really wants to fight for it, but it probably wouldn't happen
        in light of the current freeze.
        
        Have you discussed this with your local management?  It really is
        not very relevant whether other people are in similar situations,
        although it may be comforting to know that everyone is in the same
        boat..
        
        Tom

Re:.5

No, Tom, you miss it completely.  Last year the company went to a scheme
where raises went into effect on a quarterly basis.  People who had their
salary reviews completed in the past quarter were to start getting their
raise in June, but the freeze stopped that.  In a sense, this freeze IS
retroactive as it affects raises which were all processed but simply
waiting for the June 1 "bus" to appear.

					Steve

re: .6, Steve

>retroactive as it affects raises which were all processed but simply
>waiting for the June 1 "bus" to appear.	       ^
						       |
I think the confusion may be over the term "processed".|

Regardless of what anyone else may think they mean by "processed",
in terms of salary planning, it means that an individual is "in the
plan" for an increase at one of the 4 quarterly dates, that their
EDCF has been completed by their management and submitted to personnel
to indicate a salary adjustment should be forthcoming, and that the
salary action has been entered into the payroll system. What's not
happening now is the last item, which is the critical one, afterall.

-Jack

    	If a salary/performance increase has been agreed between you
    	and your manager/supervisor, then surely improsing a freeze
    	is a breach of contract ( either verbal or written if it's
    	been signed off ) between Digital ( represented by your
    	manager supervisor ) and yourself. Am I right here or am I
    	missing something ?
    
    	It doesn't affect me as I haven't had a raise since July '90.
    
    	Bill.

    This is all very interesting, most people in the UK have not had a
    salary review or pay rise in the last 2 years.  The news of the pay
    freeze didn't impact us seeing as how we have been on one for the last
    2 years!!!!!!!!
    
    J
    
    

    
    I gave someone that works for me the raise letter signed by me.
    Personal said go, they didn't know the freeze was comming the next 
    day.  When the frezze note was sent they said the letter doesn't
    matter.  This is very poor planning on the companys part. We
    give raises every 3 months, VP's don't seem to know this for some
    reason.
    
    The right way to handle this would be 1 months after the last raise
    and 2 months before the next one send out a notice of at least the
    possibility.
    
    Jon
    

    re: .8
    
    Salary planning is just a plan.  Your manager is not to divulge the
    information to you (when and how much) before the action is done.  some
    managers will tell their employees when they are due for a raise or
    when they have been planned...this is not corporate policy and I
    believe it is frowned upon.  After all - your plan can change at any
    time - and I have seen them change right up to the point before the
    recipient is notified.
    
    Since the freeze was initiated before the June increases were to be in
    effect (personnel has a schedule to follow which is different for
    exempt and non-exempt), anyone planned for the June 1994 or later plan 
    will not receive the increases due.
    
    Salary planning is done by calendar year - not fiscal year. FYI
    
    -sjd
    

    The PCBU is in the process of switching to a fiscal year salary plan
    with all salary planning to be done every July and all increases to be
    given annually in August. Salary planning was not done this past
    January since it has been delayed until July. So the interesting
    question is going to be how the freeze applies to the PCBU, since some
    increases from Q3 may have already been put off. We could incur a
    freeze on top of delayed salary plans. 

    lets all be thankfull we still have thursdays, I sure am.
    

re: .10, Jon

Wow - your personnel folks must really march to a different drummer. Any
org I've managed in over the last 12 years, they haven't tipped their
hand on actions processed until 10 days prior to the effective date.

-Jack

    Our dept. managers had already filled out several EDCF's for both 
    PA's and Salary Actions here... they gave them to me (the Sec.) 
    to type raise letters as usual.  When the freeze came down, I was told 
    to go on and submit the EDCF's to Personnel if they were "PA's only" 
    but to "hold the salary-EDCF's and forget typing up the raise letters".
    
    So now I have all the paperwork locked up for the (miracle) day this 
    freeze ever lifts.  We'll just submit them then.  My boss also said 
    that a "Salary _PLAN_" is just that:  A "PLAN".  And plans are subject 
    to change at any time for any reason.  Unfortunately, it happened.
    
    BTW, there is also no "retroactive pay", either.  I checked.  =(
    
    Don't you just love this place?
    
    
    
    

    Isn`t there some sort of contract when your manager tells you at the
    time of your PA that are will receive a certain % raise. Generally all
    of my last PA`s had my manager telling me how much I would receive at
    the end of the review discussion. If That has happened then when are
    they bound to the raise?

re: .several

I'm somewhat surprised to hear that actual %ages or $$values are discussed
before the fact in some areas. I had always worked in a system which said
that these things are specifically not discussed before they "happen",
simply due to the fact that they are subject to change until they've
been formally processed.

-Jack

        I suspect that only officers of the corporation can enter into
        contracts that are legally binding on the corporation -- but I
        could be mistaken.  If I'm not mistaken, then the delivery of a
        salary action announcement letter to you signed by your manager
        (but not by an officer of the corporation) is not a contract.
        
        I concur that this is sad, and it wasn't handled very well.  It
        should not, however, have been a surprise to anyone.
        
        And, in response to .15, yes, I do love this place, and I want it
        to get better.  But for that to happen, Digital has to be solvent
        and whether we like it or not, salary expense is one of the large
        ongoing expenses.  (Yes, it might have been more "fair" if along
        with a salary freeze, there were salary cuts at the top, or if Mr.
        Palmer "gave back" his recent increase, but in the overall scheme
        of things that would be a drop in the bucket compared to the rest
        of the payroll.)
        
        Tom

    I do beleive that a manager (even a supervisor) is a representitive of
    the Corp and can sign documents that maybe concidered legally
    binding...a good example of this, the the Exxon Valdez [sic] where the
    Capt was found "reckless" in Alaska.
     

    Or a better example is signing an ATP document for customer acceptance
    of a project; signing the original contract; signing documents that
    obligate the company in any manner.
    
    However, signing a pay increase that is then nullified by a pay freeze
    is a different matter, I suppose.  And most likely covered by Digital
    policies, I guess.
    
    rww

    >Isn`t there some sort of contract when your manager tells you at the
    >time of your PA that are will receive a certain % raise. 
    
    	No.
    

    Re .18:
    
    > I suspect that only officers of the corporation can enter into
    > contracts that are legally binding on the corporation -- but I could
    > be mistaken.
    
    ANY representative of the company _can_ enter into a binding contract.
    Example:  John Q. Public calls up 1-800-DIGITAL and orders software.  A
    droid types it in, and another droid mails it.  There has been an
    agreement to exchange consideration and an exchange of consideration. 
    That's a contract.  Droids did it, not officers.
    
    A contract isn't some supernatural thing that can only be created by an
    involved set of paperwork.  It's any agreement to exchange one thing
    for another (money, labor, software, whatever), up to certain
    limitations.  If a personnel representative sends a person an offer of
    employment and it is accepted, that's a contract.  If a manager offers
    more pay . . .
    
    
    				-- edp
    
    
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    I too am a group secretary, and the only thing that really stunk was
    the fact that EDCF's were due into Personnel on June 1, 1994 with the
    $$$ being in effect in everyones paycheck on June 13th... well, how
    come the freeze came on June 2nd????? Shouldn't someone in the
    Corporate office noticed these dates?  All Organizations are surposed
    to go by these quartly date.... that is really poor planning.. 
    
    KJR

    
    
>    I too am a group secretary, and the only thing that really stunk was
>    the fact that EDCF's were due into Personnel on June 1, 1994 with the
>    $$$ being in effect in everyones paycheck on June 13th... well, how
>    come the freeze came on June 2nd????? Shouldn't someone in the
>    Corporate office noticed these dates?  All Organizations are surposed
>    to go by these quartly date.... that is really poor planning.. 
    
    KJR

1. Timing
2. Maybe they did notice
3. "Poor planning" is relative


feeling cynical today,

		fred deady

    My thoughts exactly, why couldn't the freeze be communicated in early
    May, before the paperwork was filled out, and sent in for action, and 
    before employees were told that they would be receiving a raise.

    I too was caught in the 24 hour window from no where.  My paperwork was
    submitted well in advance of the June action plan, approved and agreed
    upon between me and my manager.  Then on the day before all the plans
    are scheduled to go into affect, crash, boom, bam the lid comes down
    and everything is locked up tighter than a vault.  Payroll has to be
    one of our biggest controlled expenses so I'm sure they went after the
    David Letterman "Top 10 ways to Save a Buck in Q4" list of things they
    could go after, and that takes you right into the Balance Sheet and
    there you go drilling into the expenses and start cutting and cutting
    and cutting.  Such incredibly poor planning (feels like no planning)
    went with this and everything else.  
    
    Right now you know what the field is doing?  We have customers calling
    BP's office and screaming about where their computers are that they so
    graciously ordered from us.  We have people chasing down the A/R of our
    customers beating the $$'s out of them before July 2 so we can get
    paid, and fighting off all the negative competitive abuse our
    competition is dumping into our accounts about how sick we are.  Such a
    fun fun time these days.  When I came into this company 11 years ago I
    got two upfront pieces of advice:
    
    	1.  This is a wonderful place to work right up to the point where
    	    you get an order and actually have to deliver on your
    	    commitments to your customers.
    
    	2.  You get compensated right up to the level of aggravation you 
    	    deal with, anything above that on your part is charity work.
    
    As they said in Casablanca   "so the wait here...and wait...and
    wait..."

    RE: .26  by ANGLIN::BJAMES 
    
    >This is a wonderful place to work right up to the point where 
    ...
    
    
    >As they said in Casablanca   "so the wait here...and wait...and
    >wait..."
    
    As they said in Casablanca:
    
    		Rick:  I came here for the waters.
    
    		Maj. Strasser:  But, Casablanca is a desert.
    
    		Rick:  I was misinformed.
    

>    I too was caught in the 24 hour window from no where.  My paperwork was
>    submitted well in advance of the June action plan, approved and agreed
>    upon between me and my manager.  Then on the day before all the plans
>    are scheduled to go into affect, crash, boom, bam the lid comes down
>    and everything is locked up tighter than a vault.  

Well, your manager didn't follow accepted practice - you should not 
have been told of your increase, known that there was any paperwork 
submitted, or had the chance to "agree" to anything in regards to your 
salary plan. Your manager should have told you what your new salary 
was the week it went into effect (the week before it shows up on your 
check), but no sooner. Up until that time, any number of things out of 
his/her control can change the plan.

I too have had a couple of managers tell me what my raise was a few 
weeks before it actually showed up, but the accepted policy is not to 
divulge the salary plan until it is actually been approved and taked 
effect.

    
    Has any one thought that this was the plan...
    

    RE. 18

>        I suspect that only officers of the corporation can enter into
>        contracts that are legally binding on the corporation -- but I
>        could be mistaken.  If I'm not mistaken, then the delivery of a
>        salary action announcement letter to you signed by your manager
>        (but not by an officer of the corporation) is not a contract.

    Interesting comment given the the "qualified experts" perspective
    contained in note 3150.43.

	-Andy

    This is all down to state or country legislation. In the UK, any
    committment your immediate manager makes to you regarding your job is
    legally binding to the company. This also includes offers made at
    interview, which is why Ts and Cs are normally done by HRO. Many
    managers have messed this one up.
    
    Jim

    RE: -.1
    In New York State, for example, to serve a warrant on a corporation,
    you must physically "serve" a "Manager" of said Corporation.
    
    Which happened to my (Then "new") manager one day, "Are you a MANAGER
    for Digital Equipment?" quoth the Sheriff's Deputy, "YES I AM", said my
    manager, proudly puffing up his chest. "Fine, you have been served."
    sez the Deputy, deflating my boss in a major way.
    
    Does not look like a fun job to me...
    
    .mike.