I work part time as a mechanic on company trucks . I have been there on and off part time full time since the late 80s. Its not a big deal what happens to my job I have other stuff to do. I went to school with the owner we had a meet and greet with the new owners yesterday. There are close to 60 employed where I work. I guess I have been lucky most of the places I have worked everyone became very close like family .
The places I was fortunate enough to work at were similar to yours. Family feeling. Great people to work with and for.
The meeting with the new owners went ok but there they screwed up . They gave us all a paper telling about the company . It also told about employees benefits health insurance . They ask if anyone had any questions. A girl stood up and said how soon will we have health insurance after you take over? One of the owners stood up not knowing what to say and said they needed to figure it out. No health insurance ???? This really spoke volumes about them to me.
In my experience, insurance doesn't kick in right away for new hires. Since you aren't really new hires, it might be different and if this is their first time buying out another company, it's possible they may not have thought of this situation until now.
I know they had a lot to think about but health insurance is a BIG deal. I bet we don't end up with any.
It could just be they haven't looked through all the benefits yet. Usually 3 month's wait and sometimes 6 for new hires. A new owner taking over may not be able to drop existing benefits?? The other thing is they will need the good employee's if they want to succeed so wouldn't cut benefits.
I have never had insurance there. They had it at one time but said they had to drop it because of some employees bad health and smoking.
ive been through a couple buyouts/takeovers in the 40 years ive been working at const eq dealers. never lost any benefits, seniority, pay or vacation time. both times it happened we were better off with the new owners. raises to the employees they wanted to keep. and a lot of "dead wood" was cut away. shop facilities/buildings were upgraded, shop equipment was upgraded/replaced, service trucks upgraded ect.
The last place I worked had a venture capitalist group buy into it. It didn't really change anything for us in terms of the job.
Yet.
I want to figure out how to get a venture group to buy me out in about five years. I need to talk with someone smart on how to prepare to make that happen.
I worked at a shop that got bought by a fairly new outfit that was buying several companies in different industries to grow their name. They were sponsoring chuckwagon races and a driver at the Calgary Stampede and basically acting like they were on top of the world. Then rather quickly they ran into big problems and were scrambling trying to sell off some or all of the businesses. I worked at a vessel shop. Someone in the office or a salesperson from the new owners said or did something that really pi$$ed off probably their biggest million dollar customer, CNRL. They lost that business. The company was for sale a short time later. The manager who came from the former ownership had an impromptu meeting on the shop floor with the employee's. He said they were waiting to see if the owners will accept a 3rd offer to buy the business. He said all 3 were good offers and they'd be stupid not to accept the latest offer. Nope, the company went into receivership because they thought it was worth a lot more than the offers. Anybody from Alberta remember Serval? Riches to rags in no time flat. The company I worked at was Well's Hall Fabrication which became a division of Serval Process Industries. They kept the name because Well's Hall was well known in the industry. I still have a company jacket from there. The idiot that ordered it put down medium instead of large so it was a little small. It might fit me now though since I lost about 5 inches due to repairs to my spine with bone cement. The same guy was huge and they lost money on his jacket. It was a 5 times extra large. I think employee's paid about $50 to get a Letterman style jacket.
A venture capital group bought out Les Schwab---several that work have admitted {You told us so, about like you said it would be}.
Our local grocery store chain, Three Bears Alaska was recapitalization by Westward Partners, a Seattle-based private equity firm which is woke to the highest degree. The new Seattle owners think guns are icky and are not going to maintain their FFL. So, no more ammo when I stock up on rabbit pellets and pop tarts.
An equity firm is running Rona/Lowes in Canada now.
Hopefully the local Rona doesn't change. I am not driving all the way into the city every time I need a 2x4 lol.
I couldn't care about the stupid term with a {W}. What I do care about is the greediness, greedy dirty little hands and stinking fingers, goes with noses covered in brown, filthy little wretches.
They dont take over till i think the end of next month but the old owner hired a guy to over see the fuel delivery and propane . He is a worker and has been helping with stuff outside the office and they have another delivery guy. Every thing is getting used more so alot more brake downs and stuff getting fixed up. Its making more work for me witch is bad i have other stuff to do. Then on top of that if i had some of my other jobs done i wouldnt mind spending alot of time there but i need dry weather and its raining alot. I have at least a years worth of stuff i could do out side this job. I dont think it would matter much if i didnt work there as far as money gos i have income from scrap iron and selling stuff .
IIRC Alaska has a mandatory law that you must carry a functioning gun (with ammo) on every small air-o-plane. Makes perfect sense.
If the transition from owner to owner ends up bad it's the previous owner that is typically at fault as they didn't stipulate the carry over of time worked and immediate start of benefits in the purchase contract
As hard as it is to find any help and most of this jobs need skilled workers they need to be very careful and there are about half the guys there that could retire . If i was buying someone place like it the thought of having enough help would be very scary.
Its been a real mad house at work lately for me . A lot going on the old owner wants everything to be in better shape than it has ever been in ??? I got overwhelmed this week and felt like walking away. If much happens when the new owners take over i probably will not stay long. The old owner said he is going to stick around to help out after its sold witch is a good ideal . I know companies are sold every day and it works out but all so some times it dosent.
Just tell them you are tap dancing as fast as you can, worst thing you can do is they send you down the road.
The new owners are about ready to take over they have been meeting one on one with the workers . I need to really think things over when its my turn . I want badly to work less hours or maybe not at all ? It sure seems like a lot of stuff happens at the same time but i guess that is life. I would like to spend more time on scrap hauling and cleaning up this farm if i was further along maybe i would fill better about this job.
If being out of a job is ok you have nothing to lose. Just be honest, expect nothing and you maybe surprised
The straw boss told me today that he told the new owners i came and went when i wanted but never left a project undone . There are so many little things wrong with this job for now i am going to stay maybe i can change things or help them change.
"We're like family" Sweet.. I can throat chop people for being dumb, cause my brother and I would
Let the new owners Know this, not just the straw boss, tell the new owners directly.
The new owners use direct deposit instead of pay with a paper check. Everyone had to go online to sign up. I ask several employees if they could help me do it . Everyone said they had problems and it was over there heads trying to figure it out . I finally ask a young guy and he helped me through it. They should have had someone to help us with it. I maybe old but i dont like it it's another something to cause problems or go wrong. I dont like to bitch about everything . I am not saying this as a threat so things will change but they sure are building points against me not staying.
We don't do direct deposit for our employees. We have tried to keep our banking and our accounting separate, simply because of the contractors I know that have been hacked. I don't want my employees bank accounts and all their info, able to be exposed in any hack. We do it old school and cut checks, the bank is right down the street. I would recommend that you make a separate account at your bank, that the employer deposits your payroll into. That way if there is a problem, its not all mixed up with your other banking. Transfer the money from that account, to your regular account. We do a separate bank account for whenever we wire money, or have customers that do electronic transfer to us for payments. A local contractor- got hit for about a quarter of a million last year. They used ACH payments, for paying their suppliers for all their materials. Which is how the big boys all want to do things. They had a 2 person protocol for signing off on payments, but the hackers got into both those emails, set up phony wire and ACH transfers for similar looking supplier payments, and transfered out a quarter of a million before it got flagged. They traced it through three banks to the bahamas before they lost the trail.
If i had got around earlier i would have started an account in another bank altogether . I had a nightmare last night about someone stilling some money i had. I dont worry a lot about this kind of stuff but it looks like as much of a problem this could be they wouldnt want to pay us this way but also maybe they dont care. With a company this size they could take a vote and if people wanted to stay with getting a check they could figure out how to come up with the extra it cost for the checks.
I doubt it costs that much extra to write the checks
We do farm payroll weekly with printed checks. About 20/week. With the technology enployed today, payroll goes pretty fast. Time cards are gathered Sunday morning, and signed checks in envelopes are on the desk to be collected by the enployees by Sunday evening. A printer with a special ream of blank check paper and away it goes.
Well we have been on direct deposit for years now with no issues. Our accountant does our payroll, deducts taxes, retirement and health insurance components. The money is deposited into our guys accounts early Friday morning. The guys love it as they know what they are getting and when they are getting it and don't have to go to the bank. We haven't had any pushback. IRS gets their money weekly as well so there is no "hey quarterly withholding is due" and you have to strike a big check all at one time. It helps with cash flow We use BusyBusy for job site reports, project management and payroll. It's a great app for those things if anyone is interested.
It has been very busy at work last week we are doing a major cleanup and moving stuff the old owner wanted to keep. I am getting and hauling all the stuff that can be scrapped . I think and pray this is the last day of me picking up scrap i think it will be done today. I have several things to work on that i have been putting off because of the cleanup. One thing that will be interesting is i think the new owners pay every 2 weeks instead of every week it will not bother me but i bet it will 75% of the workers .
I got to talk to the new owners for a minute . I got to tell them a couple things but we need to talk some more. I asked if they had a shop at their place they do but the mechanic was retiring . They also said they had 14 trucks at a truck repair shop getting worked on. Then they ask if i would travel to there place and work. I told them i couldnt keep up were i was on repairs .
Yeah, but it’s nice to be needed.!!
More problems with the direct deposit deal. For some reason the new owners are taking over in the middle of this week why not the first of the week? Then i found out there is more stuff online i need to do and i couldnt get into it. I think every time i get payed i will have to approve the deal? It would have really helped if they would have sent someone to help us with this stuff. I really hope the hole deal with them taking over isnt the nightmare it seems to be turning into there is other stuff they have started doing that isnt good for us either. Time will tell.
Does anyone get overtime? They might screw some guys out of it
No most are on salary so they add up over time and take off to make up for it. I have had several different answers to my ??? Before i just told the Secretary my hours but i may have to do the time clock that wouldnt be so bad if there was one in the shop.
next they will get all upset if the workers try to organize....... What is the state laws dealing with overtime ?
I had a deal that made me mad . I went to work knowing that i would need to meet a person at the farm around 10:00 . I got to work and there was a guy there to inspect 4 propane trucks. I didnt know anything about it. I ask one driver was this a surprise deal. He said no. Why wasnt i told about it? He pushed it off on the senior guy. I asked him and he went in circles saying he didnt know. If i was smart i would quit but every job has this stuff going on. I fixed a deal that was wrong then left to go to the farm. I will go back after i get the farm deal done.
Here, if your company sells, you get a weeks pay for every year you have worked with that company, at your current rate of pay. We are also direct deposit, there are some guys that still get a cheque. They also started electronic time sheets, and emailed pay stubs
Were does that money come from? That would add up.
No idea. My father worked for the same guy for 32 years, and when he sold the company, my father got 32 weeks pay. It was taxed of course. I know when CN rail sold out to east coast, I had an uncle that got a huge severance. However, when east coast went bankrupt, and CN took over again, there was no package. I guess if you are going to sell out and make a profit, be prepared to payout.
I have heard about a lot of deals over the years that make you wish you worked or lived there. I heard at one time every worker in Germany got 6 weeks a year vacation that would be great.
In Italy you only end up working half a year with vacation and holidays
My sister worked for Dupont Canada plastic films and coatings. The American division had taken over, as the Canadian manager had retired. My sister was told not to discuss her package with her American counterpart. At the time she had worked up to six weeks vacation. One way to look at it, and I think each state is different. I have earned almost $53,000 this year, and have had almost $16,000 deducted from it, and that is tax, federal pension plan, and employment insurance. But I get a paid holiday almost every month by law. I get time an a half after 50 hours a week. That is by law, but if I were making minimum wage, it would be after 40 hours. I can go to my Dr whenever I want, and I walk out without a bill, but that had it's downside, as there are fewer doctors to go around because they can't charge whatever they want, so I might have to wait months or years for procedures that are not considered an emergency. Xrays, and blood work are fast, but knee replacement might take a year or more
I kind of figured that it would be that way with the doctors.
My boss (company owner) had to have an operation on his spine. Not an emergency, it was like a spinal stenosis, and very painful. It was going to be at least 2 years here. He got in contact with a surgeon in Florida. Got in to see him in 2 weeks. This was a monday, he said I can't do you tomorrow, but what about Thursday. That way you can get some testing done. He said the doctor only charged around $12000 for his services, the hospital bill was around $80,000, and once they found out his wife was a nurse, they let her take care of him. He paid the bill right away, then a few months later, the hospital wanted another $40,000. Other fees. He asked for a detailed bill, and they wouldn't provide one. He offered them $10,000 to leave him alone, and they said it had been sent to collections. His daughter, a lawyer, put him in touch with an American law firm. They said it was quite common for hospitals to do that if you are out of country, and it shouldn't be a big deal to get it fixed up.
That sounds like a mess . I went to the doctor yesterday . I had a heart operation when i was 9 . I went several years ago for a checkup on my heart they wanted me to get it checked regularly but i haven't been in maybe 4 years. I am working on an appointment with a heart Doctor to get it checked but not every place will take my insurance.
The new owners have come up with several things. One that is hard to understand and makes me wonder how its done other places ? The deal is they want us to make a ticket out for stuff we get out of the warehouse. So if i change oil on a company truck i will get the oil from the warehouse make a ticket then make another ticket selling the oil and whatever else i use on that oil change back to the company. How do other places do this?
Who said they are "Selling" it ? They want to keep track of the cost's from both the warehouse and onto which truck it get's spent. It's just accounting, play along.
I think they are worried were its going or workers stealing it but i think there should be a better way? Its not a big deal to PLAY ALONG i just think there is a better way that makes more sense .
Well, if you don't sell it to the company then it shows up missing when inventory is taken at the end of the year. Also you don't know which truck it went to, for accounting which truck is taking money to maintain. Just a thought.
...and that would be ?
I dont know if i made this clear but i have always made a ticket for oil , parts and labor. This just seems like a double ticket. Another bad deal is the building i work out of is one of the ware houses. It would be good if they had a shop building with shelves where I had oil and stuff that was billed out to the shop.
Do you make out 1 ticket for oil & filters when doing more than 1 machine ?
No separate tickets, and everything has a unit number.
so how does accounting verify how much oil, filters, and labor is on each machine then ?
I doubt they ever do know or care about it till now.
Idk man it does sound like your making a bigger deal than it is, but I'm over here so I really know. When they start laying off the "extra" people lut us know though
I dont mind doing it but i cant see it working like they think it will unless they put more manpower into it than i bet they want to. My main deal was i wondered how other places did it but there may not be many places that sell stuff they use . I wouldnt mind getting layed off and i am going to try my best to work fewer days . I was going to take off Friday but they had me service 2 trucks and fix a coolant leak on another. I hope every thing works out and there in business along time but they are doing several things that make me not want to buy stock in there company.
Today they were going to send a driver with a load on a trailer that had a pto pump converted to hyd . He was coming to the place i work so someone could show him how its done . The truck had never been hooked to this trailer before trailer hadnt been used before. The couplers on the hyd lines were wrong . The steel lines on the trailer were the wrong size . They came to the shop and got me i did away with the quick couplers and fixed a bad leak. There was some debate on trailer pump rotation thats when we saw hyd motor wasnt bolted to the trailer pump. We couldnt locate any allen headed bolts so i ground the heads down on some regular bolts. What a mess at the same time another place was calling me they bought some stuff 60 miles away. Tomorrow is the last day a forklift will be on site so they are in bad need of someone to haul the stuff.
I met with one of the bosses he wanted to talk about the problems with the trailer. Every problem we talked about he wanted to argue about the way i told him it could be fixed ??? Next time we have a talk like this will be the end of me working for them. I am not an expert but the old company has bought alot of used equipment that wasnt easy to use and i made them very usable.
Sounds like its already time to walk, Doug. You have plenty of other stuff to keep you busy, I don't think you need their crap too. Get the farm and other projects squared away, and if you need work when that stuff is settled, look for something then. You have plenty of desirable skills, work will find you if you need it.
Sorry to hear that Doug.. Next time it happens, just start packing your tools while he’s still “talking”… & when/if he asks what yer doing tell’m, u seem to know more about this than me, u don’t need me here. I did that once out on a job.. the guy just wouldn’t leave me alone.. I packed my tools as he was running his mouth and gave him the answer to his question, as above.. I was called back out the next day and he was no-where to be found.. lol
That's probably the best advice I've ever seen on that lol
We went through the change from “free for all“ with parts and labour to tracking everything that went into a piece of equipment. The only way to know the cost of a machine is to track everything. Then, knowing the costs you can decide whether to invest in the machine or send it down the road and replace it. It’s a tough change to make. I had too and eventually figured out the thought behind all the “wasted time documenting “. If management wants it that way, you have to go along or head to greener pasture. Cam
I am really thinking about quitting this job. I stress to much about everything that is going on there . The money is not a big deal I don't have a lot of bills and have other ways to make some. I am going to think it over and talk it over today.
Come at them as a friend and see what they say, you might be able to take on less
Those 3-4 day weekends are NICE.!!!
Wait until you try the seven day weekend…
lol.. how true.. how true..