my profile | my password | search | faq & rules | forum home

» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Operations   » Ground Level   » Sending employees home (Page 1)

This topic comprises 3 pages: 1  2  3

Author Topic: Sending employees home Brandon Willis Expert Film Handler Posts: 216 From: Richmond, VA, USA Registered: Apr 2004 posted 08-02-2005 12:26 PM                     What are everyone's thoughts on sending employees home to cut payroll? I personally HATE sending people home. I refuse to do it as much as possible. It's always my luck that it rains or something right after we send a bunch of people home and we get slammed. Plus, if we cut everyone's hours, they're going to quit and when we have a big movie opening we'll be screwed.  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 08-02-2005 12:43 PM                        I had not heard of this practice until about a year ago. If an employee is scheduled to work on specific hours of specific days and is sent home from work involuntarily (after showing up for work and possibly having given up other opportunites for work elsewhere) to cut payroll, that seems pretty unethical to me. The employee didn't do anything wrong, and it seems blatantly unfair for him to suffer due to a management error in scheduling. The burden for efficient use of payroll should fall upon the managers, not the floor staff. I see no problem with giving employees the option of taking the day off, and only sending home those who volunteer to leave. Similarly, I don't see anything wrong with schedule changes, as long as they are made (and communicated) several days in advance.  |  IP: Logged Paul Mayer Oh get out of it Melvin, before it pulls you under! Posts: 3836 From: Albuquerque, NM Registered: Feb 2000 posted 08-02-2005 01:10 PM                        It's a completely routine and normal practice here. And not just at the theaters. All of the hotel/casinos here work their hourly labor that way. Anyone that doesn't like it can just quit. Minimum-wage workers are plentiful here and it's not like the employer is losing some huge skill set when someone walks. Replacement training takes all of half a shift or so. So it's no big deal. It's one of the beauties of "at will" labor laws.  |  IP: Logged Mark J. Marshall Film God Posts: 3188 From: New Castle, DE, USA Registered: Aug 2002 posted 08-02-2005 02:00 PM                    Most of our employees are young and would rather not be at work anyway most of the time. ...I guess it hasn't sunk in yet that if they leave their pay check goes down. But whatever the case, when we ask for volunteers to leave because we're not as busy as we thought we'd be, they usually line up to go home. The people who work because they want to make money usually end up staying, and almost all the time, everyone wins.  |  IP: Logged Bill Gabel Film God Posts: 3873 From: Technicolor / Postworks NY, USA Registered: Jan 2002 posted 08-02-2005 02:13 PM                     quote: Scott Norwood I had not heard of this practice until about a year ago. As Paul posted Its a completely routine and normal practice. Its been done for years now. We did it way back when I was in management in the late 70's. We would first ask who would like to go home early. Pacific Theatres the company I worked for had a staffing guideline to work from for our budget. If we fell below that special number that they came up with. We had to cut staff hours, as you know in this business. You never truly know how busy you are going to be. Unless you are working the flagship theatre for the company.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 08-02-2005 03:37 PM                        I never make anyone go home. I figure if they're scheduled to be here, they can be here. I can find things for them to do -- there's always something to clean, or a sidewalk to be swept, a storage room to straighten up, etc.  |  IP: Logged Matt Fields Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 545 From: Ohio, United States Registered: Jun 2005 posted 08-02-2005 04:36 PM                     I usually don't send people home, but on the rare occasions I do, I always ask for volunteers. If no one does, the person who got there first usually goes home.  |  IP: Logged Bruce Hansen Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 847 From: Stone Mountain, GA, USA Registered: Dec 1999 posted 08-02-2005 05:09 PM                     How do you expect your employees to care about the company, if the company doesn't care about them. When you need them, they may just decide that it isn't important to show up. What goes around, comes around. If the manager isn't very good at scheduling, then maybe HE (or she) should go home without pay. When someone books me, and then tells me they don't need me, at the last minute, I still bill for the day. It is not my fault that someone cannot schedule, and I will not pay for someone elses screw-up.  |  IP: Logged Brad Allen Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 688 From: Evansville, IN, USA Registered: May 2000 posted 08-02-2005 05:56 PM                     I've always asked for volunteers to go home, and never had a problem getting them.  |  IP: Logged Bill Enos Film God Posts: 2081 From: Richmond, Virginia, USA Registered: Apr 2000 posted 08-02-2005 06:06 PM                     Our situation is pretty much the same as Brad's, there is always somebody who would like the evening off.  |  IP: Logged Tracy Bellar Film Handler Posts: 72 From: Sciotoville, Oh. Registered: Mar 2005 posted 08-02-2005 06:17 PM                        I heard two guys talking once. One guy said, "why do you only work four days a week?" The other guy said, "because I can't make it on three."  |  IP: Logged Dan Bouvier Film Handler Posts: 70 From: Sylvan Lake, Alberta, Canada Registered: Aug 2004 posted 08-02-2005 07:13 PM                     Here in Alberta, as far as I understand, you can send someone home whenever but you have to pay them for at least three hours at minimun wage, per shift. If the person normally makes $18 an hour (obviously not at a theatre), and they only work an hour, no big deal. But if they're making minimum wage and you want to send them home after an hour, you legally have to pay them for three hours, so you might as well keep them around for a while. However, if it's slow and you need to send people home, and you ask "Who wants to go home?" and some kid volunteers, I guess you could say that it was his choice and then ignore the three hour rule, but I'm not sure how legal that is.  |  IP: Logged Carey Barber Expert Film Handler Posts: 143 From: Newport News, VA, USA Registered: Jan 2003 posted 08-02-2005 07:50 PM                     Its a very common practice at our theater also - And has been for quite some time. With most of our staff being in the 16-17 year old range, they are not usually concerned with paying bills so they don't mind having the day off. In fact, most of the time they are happy Edit - I am not saying I support the practice... I am not saying that it isn't unethical - Just that it exists and does not cause many problems.  |  IP: Logged Aaron Mehocic Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 804 From: New Castle, PA, USA Registered: Jun 99 posted 08-02-2005 09:06 PM                     When I worked the floor and it was slow, I lived by the old phrase "out of sight, out of mind". I hardly ever got sent home. Later, I would find some stupid task to do and that often kept me around too. Some workers just hover around the box or concession stand and get picked off everyday by management. Then on pay day they'd bitch about money . . . or the lack thereof.  |  IP: Logged Dave Williams Wet nipple scene Posts: 1836 From: Salt Lake City, UT, USA Registered: Jan 2000 posted 08-03-2005 12:01 AM                        My owner was always calling me telling me to send people home, you know, after a slow five o clock set, so that way we could have NO ONE for the seven. My philosophy is simple. You schedule to the best of your ability, and make sure your employees are taken care of. If you don't take care of them, they will not take care of your customers. Ciao  |  IP: Logged

All times are Central (GMT -6:00)

This topic comprises 3 pages: 1  2  3

Printer-friendly view of this topic

Hop To: Select a Forum: Category: Operations -------------------- Digital Cinema Forum Film Handlers' Forum Large Format Forum Ground Level Feature Info, Trailer Attachments & REAL Credit Offsets Category: Community -------------------- Film-Yak Film Handlers' Movie Reviews The Afterlife Bob Maar's Joke-A-Thon Category: Classified -------------------- Equipment and Supplies Wanted/For Sale Help Wanted/Seeking Employment Category: System -------------------- Software Beta Testing Forum

The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.