What is the name of your state? Wisconsin
Greetings and Happy Holidays all.
I'll apologize in advance for the length of this but please humor me
I could talk for hours about the things my former employer has done that range from bad taste to outright verbal assaults (any employee was fair game) but I won't because after 8 years of lies and deception I took my show on the road. I didn't want to as I now have to commute 40 miles each way but it was better than working there.
A short history and then a quick question;
I started with this "family" (Manson) business in 1999 having been hired to author and administer a Y2K Remediation program. The first week I was presented with the usual new hire package. I enrolled in 401(k) and chose the areas I wanted to invest in.
So Y2K comes and goes, I'm assigned to provide internal and external computer and network support. Things seem to be going great. The 15th of every month a company meeting was held in which envelopes were handed out to employees vested in 401(k). I was told I wouldn't get one until I hit the one year mark. I'm cool with that (I knew nothing about 401(k).
In the company meeting of my 1yr anniversary the envelopes are handed out but the prez walks right past me. I cleared my throat to get his attention, he turned to face me and I asked where my 401(k) "State of the Union" envelope was. He looked through the remaining ones and said there wasn't one there. He asked me if I enrolled. I answered in the affirmative. He looked to my manager (his brother in law) and asked him to look into it.
I talked with my manager after the meeting and he assured me he'd make the call that day. Well, 2 months of me asking at least once a week later, he informed me "They lost it" and I would have to complete another enrollment form. I asked if I would have to wait another year to be vested again and he said I would. I expressed to him, professionally, how much BS that was that I should be punished, in a manner of speaking, for somebody else's incompetence and if he wouldn't mind pushing the issue harder.
Sooo...I filled out another one. A year goes by. In the interim one of my children died so I wasn't really staying on top of things like that. I did remember (2 months after my anniversary) to ask both my manager and after getting the runaround from him the president. Both were absolutely indifferent. My manager, who fancies himself a funnyman (about as funny as a flood in an AlkaSeltzer factory) says, "Ahh don't worry about it. You're not going to live long enough to get it anyway." Yeah. Funny. I protested alot but who do you go to in a company that's all family and the president, who rules every facet with an iron fist, is the only one who can make things happen?
Within a week I was "loaned" to the copier side of the company (copiers are the company's core biz) and assigned to physically put together copy machines. That despite informing the company in writing (on Empl App) prior to a firm hire offer that I was looking for sedentary work due to 2 previous back injuries. I was told to "take my time". I tried to...but there were always 6 a day scheduled. These things are as heavy as VW's for Pete's sake. 2 months into doing this, I reached over for a screwdriver and blew out disc number 3. It took them 2 weeks to report the injury to the State of WI; the law is 7 days, and the prez literally made calls to every entity involved in the process, from the workers comp carrier (his golfing buddy), to the surgeon who was to perform the surgery.
Almost there. Sorry.
When I returned to work after surgery I was told by the administrative secretary that she was told by the Accts Payable person (the prez's wife) that I wouldn't ever be working on computers again. My punishment for being a good team player and having the audacity to blow out a disc I guess. So I was assigned to the companys Nextel Department as a technician where I languished and wasted away while dealing with the loss of a child.
Anyway, when I left the company this May 15th I requested copies of my records which the prez did electronically (he scanned and converted them to pdf) and received them in an email. The majority of what was in it was all negative. eg, mostly workers comp status reports from the comp carrier. Only 1 application for employment was included and was trimmed and censored. (I filled one app out for a different dept in 1998 and when they wanted me for Y2K work in the IT Dept they had me fill out another in which I stated my physical limitations). I got no copies of my 401(k) enrollment apps (although I saw BOTH in my folder the last day on site when I sat with the prez for my "exit interview". He wouldn't let me handle the folder or look through it...I asked.
So the question...how the hell can I prove they owe me an 8 year 401(k) distribution if they've shredded everything? (I don't know that's what happened of course but it wouldn't surprise me...they sell shredders too).
Like many people I could go on and on...for instance, after the loss of our child I was diagnosed with depression but forced to work alone in a department that Sprint Nextel contractually required to be staffed by 2 people, or that I was prevented from taking lunches and breaks until I ended up in the hospital with atrial fibrillation, or that I sent an email to the prez reminding him that I was now protected under the Americans With Disabilities Act and needed food and breaks, or**************..you get the picture.
Why did I stay is what your all asking. I stayed after the suicide death of our 15 year old daughter because I had a wife on heavy medication for years, and had 3 other children to take care of.
Thanks for listening to my ramblings. Hopefully there's something I can do to get the 401(k) money. I tried lawyers in my city...no good. My former employer provides copy machines to them all. Not one of them called back and I called no less than 20.
Thank you all and again, I wish you a safe and Happy Holiday season.
Greg
Greetings and Happy Holidays all.
I'll apologize in advance for the length of this but please humor me
I could talk for hours about the things my former employer has done that range from bad taste to outright verbal assaults (any employee was fair game) but I won't because after 8 years of lies and deception I took my show on the road. I didn't want to as I now have to commute 40 miles each way but it was better than working there.
A short history and then a quick question;
I started with this "family" (Manson) business in 1999 having been hired to author and administer a Y2K Remediation program. The first week I was presented with the usual new hire package. I enrolled in 401(k) and chose the areas I wanted to invest in.
So Y2K comes and goes, I'm assigned to provide internal and external computer and network support. Things seem to be going great. The 15th of every month a company meeting was held in which envelopes were handed out to employees vested in 401(k). I was told I wouldn't get one until I hit the one year mark. I'm cool with that (I knew nothing about 401(k).
In the company meeting of my 1yr anniversary the envelopes are handed out but the prez walks right past me. I cleared my throat to get his attention, he turned to face me and I asked where my 401(k) "State of the Union" envelope was. He looked through the remaining ones and said there wasn't one there. He asked me if I enrolled. I answered in the affirmative. He looked to my manager (his brother in law) and asked him to look into it.
I talked with my manager after the meeting and he assured me he'd make the call that day. Well, 2 months of me asking at least once a week later, he informed me "They lost it" and I would have to complete another enrollment form. I asked if I would have to wait another year to be vested again and he said I would. I expressed to him, professionally, how much BS that was that I should be punished, in a manner of speaking, for somebody else's incompetence and if he wouldn't mind pushing the issue harder.
Sooo...I filled out another one. A year goes by. In the interim one of my children died so I wasn't really staying on top of things like that. I did remember (2 months after my anniversary) to ask both my manager and after getting the runaround from him the president. Both were absolutely indifferent. My manager, who fancies himself a funnyman (about as funny as a flood in an AlkaSeltzer factory) says, "Ahh don't worry about it. You're not going to live long enough to get it anyway." Yeah. Funny. I protested alot but who do you go to in a company that's all family and the president, who rules every facet with an iron fist, is the only one who can make things happen?
Within a week I was "loaned" to the copier side of the company (copiers are the company's core biz) and assigned to physically put together copy machines. That despite informing the company in writing (on Empl App) prior to a firm hire offer that I was looking for sedentary work due to 2 previous back injuries. I was told to "take my time". I tried to...but there were always 6 a day scheduled. These things are as heavy as VW's for Pete's sake. 2 months into doing this, I reached over for a screwdriver and blew out disc number 3. It took them 2 weeks to report the injury to the State of WI; the law is 7 days, and the prez literally made calls to every entity involved in the process, from the workers comp carrier (his golfing buddy), to the surgeon who was to perform the surgery.
Almost there. Sorry.
When I returned to work after surgery I was told by the administrative secretary that she was told by the Accts Payable person (the prez's wife) that I wouldn't ever be working on computers again. My punishment for being a good team player and having the audacity to blow out a disc I guess. So I was assigned to the companys Nextel Department as a technician where I languished and wasted away while dealing with the loss of a child.
Anyway, when I left the company this May 15th I requested copies of my records which the prez did electronically (he scanned and converted them to pdf) and received them in an email. The majority of what was in it was all negative. eg, mostly workers comp status reports from the comp carrier. Only 1 application for employment was included and was trimmed and censored. (I filled one app out for a different dept in 1998 and when they wanted me for Y2K work in the IT Dept they had me fill out another in which I stated my physical limitations). I got no copies of my 401(k) enrollment apps (although I saw BOTH in my folder the last day on site when I sat with the prez for my "exit interview". He wouldn't let me handle the folder or look through it...I asked.
So the question...how the hell can I prove they owe me an 8 year 401(k) distribution if they've shredded everything? (I don't know that's what happened of course but it wouldn't surprise me...they sell shredders too).
Like many people I could go on and on...for instance, after the loss of our child I was diagnosed with depression but forced to work alone in a department that Sprint Nextel contractually required to be staffed by 2 people, or that I was prevented from taking lunches and breaks until I ended up in the hospital with atrial fibrillation, or that I sent an email to the prez reminding him that I was now protected under the Americans With Disabilities Act and needed food and breaks, or**************..you get the picture.
Why did I stay is what your all asking. I stayed after the suicide death of our 15 year old daughter because I had a wife on heavy medication for years, and had 3 other children to take care of.
Thanks for listening to my ramblings. Hopefully there's something I can do to get the 401(k) money. I tried lawyers in my city...no good. My former employer provides copy machines to them all. Not one of them called back and I called no less than 20.
Thank you all and again, I wish you a safe and Happy Holiday season.
Greg
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