Hi, I work at an Amazon warehouse in Pennsylvania. I agree with one of Amazon's sentiments regarding these changes - that it's better to get more direct pay than to "hope" for a bonus" However, the nature of our VCP (variable compensation pay) bonus is such that half of it is actually completely and fully within an individual's control. Half of the VCP bonus is given based on our own personal attendance. If we use personal time or approved vacation time that's all fine and dandy, but using something called "Unapproved Time Off" (UPT) is what will end up lowering or negating our monthly VCP bonus for attendance. The other half of VCP is granted based on building productivity. So yes, that's largely out of control by the individual. But it also provided actual incentive for us to do well. Now we don't really have any incentive to do anything more than the bare minimum. In any case, the personal attendance thing is completely within an individual's control and is not just mere "hope" for a bonus.
VCP is up to 4% for attendance and 4% for building productivity normally. But during Oct-Dec (peak season) these figures double to 8% each. If you average together the 4% attendance VCP (totally within our control) for 9 months and 8% for 3 months, you get a yearly average of 5% bonus, totally within our control.
I was earning $15/hr prior to this "wage boost". A 5% bonus on top of that would make my effective wage $15.75. This is without receiving any VCP bonus in regard to building productivity. This is also before you consider any "income" we were receiving through stocks. After the wage boost, my hourly wage is becoming $16hr. But I will never be able to increase that through VCP and I will never receive company stock again.
I am glad that employees across the country who were previously at $11/hr and that new starts at my warehouse are jumping from the starting $12-$13 immediately to $15, but it's hard for existing employees such as myself to see these changes as anything but a pay cut.
Slightly off topic, but I'm from Europe, and when you are saying "you get $15 an hour", do you include taxes or not and how much taxes do you have there?
From Europe too, they have progressive system same as we do, if you earn below certain threshold you pay no taxes, and amount specified $15/hr is before tax.
Someone from US can probably elaborate on the exact numbers where you start paying the tax, as far as I know it depends if you have children etc.
Yes, hourly earning in the US is customarily gross earning (before taxes).
The median rule of hourly earnings to yearly earnings is 40 hours/week and 50 weeks/year, which results in every $1/hour == $2000/year in earnings.
For $15/hour, that's about $30,000. For a single person in California, without dependents and claiming themselves for one exemption, it would be 4,264.50 (14.22%) in Federal taxes and 579.35 (1.93%) in State taxes for a total of 4,843.85 (16.15%) in taxes.
Many people in the US don't even get that. Having two weeks vacation is usually waved in peoples faces as an incentive not to leave after a few years of full time employement.
Presuming the previous lives in Allentown PA (ABE2 fulfillment center?), and presuming 2000 hours of work per year at $16/hour ($32,000/year), the tax calculator I found online says that taxes and social security add up to around $5222. $500 less under the tax changes Trump passed for next year.
I'm a front line warehouse associate that has been working in one of their facilities for over 3 years. There are parts to this puzzle that the media isn't focusing on and some insights I'd like to offer on their general pay philosophies. I'm not very smart but perhaps I at least have interesting perspective to offer.
VCP is up to 4% for attendance and 4% for building productivity normally. But during Oct-Dec (peak season) these figures double to 8% each. If you average together the 4% attendance VCP (totally within our control) for 9 months and 8% for 3 months, you get a yearly average of 5% bonus, totally within our control.
I was earning $15/hr prior to this "wage boost". A 5% bonus on top of that would make my effective wage $15.75. This is without receiving any VCP bonus in regard to building productivity. This is also before you consider any "income" we were receiving through stocks. After the wage boost, my hourly wage is becoming $16hr. But I will never be able to increase that through VCP and I will never receive company stock again.
I am glad that employees across the country who were previously at $11/hr and that new starts at my warehouse are jumping from the starting $12-$13 immediately to $15, but it's hard for existing employees such as myself to see these changes as anything but a pay cut.