Company Forcing Employees To Donate Their Hard Earned Money

The BBQ Pit
41

Given all the issues (theft, coercion, mismanagement) with UW, has anybody considered starting a petition or something to convince the NFL and/or NFLPA to withdraw their support? 20+ weeks a year we have athelets from the most watched sport shilling for the UW, and I have to imagine that helps foster the notion that there isn’t problems.

[sub]I’d be happy to spearhead this endevour. If every registered member of the SDMB donated $10, I think that could cover my overhead and expenses (at least get that hot tub installed). Donations will not be mandatory, but are strongly encouraged. Non-donors can expect to hear from Mods and Admins.[/sub]

42

Please correct me if I’m wrong, but couldn’t employees who refuse to participate in UW giving get passed up for promotions and such later on?

“Oh look at this: SnoopyFan refused to contribute to the UW. She not a “team player”, guess we’re gonna hafta promote John Q. Giver instead.”

*I hate the term team player, who has ever become great following the crowd?

43

[hijack]

If you’re really hurting for money that badly, then why tithe? Realisticlaly, shouldn’t you make sure that you have enough money for you before you start giving to the church?

sigh I guess I’ll never understand the Christian mentality.

[/hijack]

44

Ergh-- United Way.

Charity begins at home – and it should fucking well have the sense not to follow you to work.

I hate United Way campaigns in the workplace-- they’re divisive and counter-productive.

There are bound to be people who prefer not to give to United Way, and requiring them to explain themselves to a dozen people who come by with their hands out can lead to animosity.

My reason for snubbing UW is fairly straightforward: I have X amount of room in my budget for charity, and it goes exclusively the organizations/individuals that I feel it will benefit most. My perception of United Way is largely coloured by a career UW organizer that my folks used to socialize with. Two cars – both courtesy of United Way. Lots of trips – more perks from UW. Sure, UW charity drives do a lot of good – but they also fund a huge organization with lots of fat & sassy employees that live more comfortably than I do. I’m in no mood to subsidize any of that.

I’ve also seen things turn ugly-- like when a fellow was browbeaten into explaining his reason for not wanting to contribute to United Way – he was a devout Catholic, and considered that it would be unconscionable to give money to an organization which supported Planned Parenthood, since it seemed reasonable to him to assume that doing so (even when funds are specifically earmarked for non-controversial programs,) would logically free-up other resources for PP to enable people to access abortion services.

While I didn’t agree to his views, the whole episode unfolded over a period of a couple of weeks, with increasingly vociferous demands from everyone and their dog for him to either open his wallet or present an acceptable defense of his apparent misanthropy. The whole thing finally exploded in a red-faced shouting match in the cafeteria, during which several employees collapsed into tears.

Oh yeah, we really felt the love that day. That was the day the mailroom girl stopped speaking to just about everyone, but a whole two weeks before she left for good. Very Uniting.

45

Simple: God hates cheapskates.

46

I’m glad I work for my company. Big corporation, all they ask is that you respond to the charity request, you needn’t give a penny. At least, that’s what they say…

47

Yeah, our campaign is just underway. 15-20 years ago if you didn’t donate, you’d actually be called into a face to face meeting with your boss and told that if you didn’t contribute, you wouldn’t be considered for promotion. Period. There was a chart with your salary circled and your “fair share” marked. I don’t make this shit up.

Things have changed now and they no longer openly threaten people to give. But there is still a huge promotion and the fear remains that your name will be on the big honcho’s desk under the “Cheapskate Employees” list.

Personally, I donate to UW because there are some very worthy charities on their roster. I can also designate where I want my money to go, too, which is nice. HOWEVER, I do loathe the campaigning that still goes on. If I believe in your cause, and have some extra money, I will donate. If I DON’T believe in your cause or if cash is tight, no amount of bribery, cajoling, manipulating and pouting will get me to donate to your cause. So stop it already.

So today I complete my e-pledge and am told that I qualify for the “prestigious Leadership Circle.” (This just means that I have donated more than my “recommended level of giving.”) Anywho, to reward me for my very generous contribution, they tell me that I am eligible to win one of several fabulous Leadership Circle prizes which have been donated by their generous corporate sponsors. What these prizes are is a complete mystery. A gift certificate for Kroger’s? A bundle of products from P&G? A new car from Ford? Who the hell knows? Anyway, they then request I select from the following choices:

  1. Enter me in the drawing.
  2. Don’t enter me in the drawing.

OR (and you’ll like this one):

  1. Enter me in the drawing, but donate any prize I may win back to United Way.
    :slight_smile:
48

Ahh PunditLisa, how i remember those days at a certain Cinci based company. I was also called into my boss’ office and told ‘either contribute your “fair share” or you’ll never advance in this company’. The first time I complained to HR which told me ‘well, you should contribute your fare share’ and at that point I left the company. I don’t have a problem with UW i have a problem with the draconian measures done to collect. I returned to said company recently and found it still has a tinge of contribute or else, but not as blatently.

49

Isabelle, I think the best plan would be to find out what the minimum contribution is that UW has to send out a charitable donation receipt for, and have every one of your co-workers donate exactly that amount. That way, your contributions might even cost the UW money, with all the banking, data entry, printing, office supplies, and mailing costs for your bunch of $2.00 receipts.

50

Are you kidding?! That one alone will cause fistfights among the staff! :rolleyes:

Is it my imagination, or do many large companies think it’s some kind of privilege to hang out with the high mucky-mucks? Really, who gives a shit?

51

I just ingore all the email. But it’s a pretty large company and they never seem to have any problems reaching the goal.

Just set up an account and leave it at that.

For any not aware of this annual shakedown, a lot of companies do really push their employee’s pretty hard to make donations. Kind of makes me think there is some sort of kick-back scheme going on.

While I would agree that the Untied Way does do a lot of good in communities, it equally as true that they could do much more were it not for the high salaries they pay top management, not to mention the head honcho over there. I believe there are organizations to donate to that are better stewards of the donations they receive.

Just say no! (and if that doesn’t work then tell them “Fuck no!” have your resume updated too)

52

My Division VP has already stopped by my office twice in the last two weeks to give me “friendly reminders” that I “TURN (MY) ENVELOPE BACK IN WITH MONEY IN IT, THANK YOU”.

And once again, employees are being browbeaten and intimidated into giving to the United Way. And the UW doesn’t give a flying fuck about the ill will they generate, so long as they get their fucking extorted money.

My company is laying off people every single week now. Think anyone feels safe enough to turn down a donation? Not me.

But this year, things are different. I’m hearing not only open resentment against the UW from people who in years past have been quietly turning their envelopes in, but have actually heard people seriously say that for every $1 they are forced to donate, they’re going to steal $10 in office supplies. Not that that doesn’t happen pretty much everywhere, but now I have to fight the moral dilmena of hearing people talk about stealing whole boxes of 200 blank CD-RW’s and 5000-sheet containers of laser paper out of “retribution” for the UW drive. Good God, I can’t support that sort of “payback”, but what do I do? Some of these people are ones who would feel guilty about taking a hotel room pen on accident, yet the UW intimidation has made them so angry that all sorts of hidden, primal, destructive urges are bubbling to the surface.

Here’s a question - the day of the Big UW Hoedown and “beenie-weenie jamborie”, should I wear kevlar? :confused:

No thanks. All my President does is bitch about how much Tabasco I put on everything, and how the smell is “spoiling” his breakfast, whine, whine, bitch, bitch…

53

I worked for a law firm in DC a few years ago that went in big time for the whole UW campaign thing, and they were pushing really, REALLY hard for 100% participation. So they assigned one poor staffer to go out and scrounge prizes from various businesses. I will say she did a great job. And the best part was, you didn’t have to donate to win the prizes, just show up at the meeting! So I got a $100 gift certificate to DC Coast Restaurant just for them paying me to waste half an hour of my time. I call that a fair trade.

I did have one coworker, however, who knew a couple great small charities in Southwest DC that she asked us to designate donations for, so I was willing to do that for her – not for them. My boss, a partner in the firm, was one of the last holdouts, but even SHE was finally pressured into a $10 donation. She felt ambushed like the rest of us.

54

Well, I work for local government, and we have the same pressures that private companies have with UW. I think the scandals that UW has had contributed to a softening of management’s stance.

We still have to attend the ‘presentation’, but we no longer are forced to contribute.

55

I don’t want to hijack this thread too much, but Planned Parenthood provided birth control pills for my friend who couldn’t afford them. Planned Parenthood gave me my pregnancy test and helped me with nutritional advice and so on for my pregnancy, and would have helped me with other medical things had I needed it. Your characterization of them is misleading, disengenuous, and unfair.

56

Opal: Adolph Hitler had a fondness and appreciation for fine art and classical music. So I guess that made him a good guy, huh?

57

Who would have thought that Godwin’s Law would enter into a thread like this?

58

[liking art and classical music doesn’t help anyone. Providing birth control and medical services on the other hand HELPS A FUCKING LOT OF PEOPLE. I’m sure that PP does a lot more of that sort of thing than the abortion thing. A LOT MORE. Not that I’d expect morons to understand this.]

59

The last time I contributed to the Combined Federal Campaign (I think it includes UW) was in late 1999. That’s the year I had my gallbladder attack at work and thought it was a heart attack. The county rescue folks picked me up at work and transported me to the hospital, treating me as if I was having a heart attack. They were thoroughly professional and they truly helped me feel better.

I designated the county Fire and Rescue as the recipient of my donation. I hope they got every penny I donated, as the literature said they would. We moved the next year, and I ignore the pleas here. My charitable donations are most certainly not the business of anyone but me. I do feel sorry for the poor schmucks who have to distribute and collect the pledge forms, having been stuck with that job 20 years ago. I thank them when they give me the form, then I drop it in the garbage. Life goes on.

60

I’m still tripping out over the lunch with the CEO. Most employees spend most of their day ducking their boss! Who the hell would want to wake up and then see 'em first thing over breakfast? “Oooh! I get to have my scrambled eggs with Somebody Special!”

:rolleyes:

The thing that pisses me off about stuff like this is that almost every corporation does it. Mr. Levins used to work for Chili’s, which is owned by Brinker International…and every Christmas, Chili’s found some needy family and would give them a Christmas. (Gifts, turkey, all that crap.)

But they solicited donations for the Needy Chili Family amongst their waiters, hostesses, bussers, line cooks, etc…all the people making the least amount of money in the whole company.

And when Mr. Levins inquired of one of the managers during this yearly high-pressure fund-drive if Brinker International were going to, say, donate anything themselves, or match their staff dollar-for-dollar, the answer was…

“Well, you know, we organize it. That’s our contribution.”

And Mr. Levins says, “So…lemme get this straight. We all donate our hard-earned dollars to this family, and Chili’s doesn’t donate a dime…and who gets the positive press coverage in the community? Who gets the big engraved award?”

The answer was, “You’re not seeing the point.”

And Mr. Levins, ever the nosy, says, “And what’s the management incentive to go to so much trouble?”

Yep. The store with the highest amount of donations from the staff would be rewarded by Brinker with management bonuses.

So yeah. Brinker would “organize” the fund-drive by hounding its lowly employees to donate to a needy family. And then Brinker would get the kudos, without donating anything themselves. And then the management would get bonuses for “encouraging and promoting” the fund drive. Without actually donating anything either.

Makes the head spin, doesn’t it.

Talk about killing the spirit of Christmas…where’s George Bailey when you need him?