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The buyout at the AJC is offered to 290 full-time employees (of 408) in the newsroom. They want to bring the 408 down to 350. The deal is available to almost everyone who has 5 years with Cox (including service at other newspapers); they rounded some people up with 4+ years to make them eligible too. A few senior manager types and a few key people in our Digital department (which is what we call the website) are exempt and may not take the buyout. Those who do will receive 2 weeks pay and benefits for every year, up to a maximum of 52 weeks. The company stops your Flex credit and 401K match on your last day of work, so the health benefits will cost you more.
If they do not get 58 takers (56 now because there’s been a resignation and a firing), they will lay people off to get to that number. Layoffs get 1 week of pay and benefits per year of service, with a minimum of 4 weeks and max of 26.
If they get more than 58 applications, they will decide which ones to accept to keep a balance of job skills within the newsroom. If there are more applicants than they need in any one job title (copy editor, reporter, designer, whatever), they will decline the applicants with the least seniority. Those people would be exempt from this round of layoffs, but not necessarily in any future round of layoffs.
We have til July 31 to decide whether to apply. They will notify us the following week and last day of work is Aug. 30.
Laid-off employees, if layoffs are necessary, would be notified the week of Aug. 11. I think they would leave right away but would be paid through Aug. 30, when severance pay would kick in.
There is a reorganization of sorts which they insist is not a reorg. We separated our two content departments a year ago into Enterprise (primarily concerned with print) and News & Information (primarily concerned with breaking news on the website). They will be combined again into one department, but the details are hazy. A new organizational chart will be released after Aug. 11, and employees whose jobs have been eliminated in the reorg will be asked to reapply for another job. This is the third time in 7 years we have had to reapply for our jobs. It gets old.
They have also eliminated all the zoned editions and a few features sections like Better Health. The content will be squeezed into other sections. The Print Department (primarily designers, copy editors and section editors) will probably have the most positions eliminated because there will be less work.
No idea how many people will take it. Some people think they won’t get 58. Others think many more. There are rumored to be about 31 takers so far.
It is commonly believed that the next round of staff reduction will be layoffs only, so a lot of people are factoring that in. We had 43 buyouts last summer out of a pool of about 80 who were eligible.
There is a separate buyout of advertising people (the Revenue Dept) of a little more than 100 people. I don’t know much about that.
Before you leave the company and go to a new employer, ask HR about a HIPAA Certificate for your insurance company. This has to do with moving all your records — including those of an existing, covered condition — with you to a new employer’s insurance company. It means in most cases, they can’t deny coverage for something that was already being covered by a previous insurer.
Dental or vision, or long-term health care may be exempt from HIPAA and there are other time-imposed restrictions. Google it for more info, but get the HIPAA order now.
Posted to Post staff, July 25:
From Bill Rose:
Q. If I want to sign the voluntary separation agreement and turn it in to HR BEFORE Aug. 11, can I do that? Or do I have to wait until Aug. 11? (Other similar questions that have also been asked: I’ve applied, been accepted, and signed my agreement before leaving work Friday Aug. 8. Do I need to return to work on Monday, Aug. 11? Can I come in Aug. 11 and not come in Aug. 12? Can I skip Aug. 11, show up on the 12th? Can I skip both days? You’re not really going to expect me to do any work on either day if I come in, are you? Can I take vacation on Aug. 11 and 12, since you’re charging me with vacation on Aug. 13, 14 and 15?)
A. You need to come in on Aug. 11 and 12 and work. But IF your supervisor decides he can do without you on one or both of those days and gives you permission to take vacation, then you don’t have to be here. In that case, you can sign the final form before then and we will charge vacation for that time. You would, of course, have to turn in all company property before departing on Aug. 12 or before the agreed upon date.
Q. I have signed up for the voluntary separation and fully plan to take it and retire. If I die before then, would my wife get to take my separation amount and my pension and health benefits?
A. Obviously, you won’t get pension benefits in death because you would have died before becoming eligible to retire. The separation package will not be available for your spouse. Your spouse should contact the Cox benefits number given in the blue FAQs for details on what exactly he or she is eligible to receive.
Q. I’ve heard some editors are quietly asking some people to change their minds and stay. Is that true, who and why?
A. Not true. No editors will ask anybody to stay — or to go. This decision is voluntary and completely up to you. We still have to do our jobs, and editors are naturally going to talk to staffers about upcoming projects. But if you think you can read between the lines and make decisions based on something you think your editor meant, you are very mistaken. Don’t do that. All editors, managers and supervisors understand that this decision is voluntary. We said at the start that the company, paper and staff will become smaller, and that nobody’s job is guaranteed. That’s still the case. We have not completed a plan for what the new newsroom operation will be because we’re waiting to see who’s actually here and what the numbers are. So make your decision based on that, and not on anything you think you heard or understood.
Q. If someone takes the voluntary separation in a lump sum, will that be paid out in a direct deposit to the bank, or will it be by check? I’m guessing that if it is by check, there is a bigger chance that the bank will put a hold on it for two weeks.
A. Not only can a lump sum be paid through direct deposit, we PREFER direct deposit.
The Voluntary Separation Agreement includes a clause that says employees are to refrain from making “disparaging remarks” or comments about The Post, its management or other employees.
Human Resources was asked the question: How long is this edict in force?
HR’s answer: As long as your pay lasts from the separation agreement. If you were paid for 14 years’ service, then you will not speak ill of The Post or anybody in management or otherwise, for 28 weeks.
The Post and every other newspaper going through the buy-outs and layoffs are put out by an entire company of workers. It’s not just a newsroom of writers and editors, though those people are more visible to the communities, both in print and online.
But those who support the newsroom are taking a hit, too.
Who else is affected? Librarians, photographers, artists, copyeditors, clerks, production staff, advertising, community relations, circulation, customer service, tech support, classified, accounting…the list goes on. Adjunct publications, including Pennysaver and La Palma are losing long-time staffers.
If you’re one of the departments outside the newsrooms, or not mentioned in Bob Norman’s Daily Pulp blog posting, add your department’s toll here.
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