This message was sent to all employees of Motorola's Computer Group in Tempe, Arizona. Motorola has been forcing employees to take mandatory vacation leave in order to cut costs. If they don't have vacation they have to take unpaid leave. Motorola is exploiting a loophole that says unemployment cannot be used for the first seven days an individual is without work and pay. 

Guess who gets to stay working? H-1Bs because they are protected by federal law.

 
Subject: Q & A's for Apr 30th - May 5th
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 15:03:26 -0700
To: MCG-All Diablo 

The following are responses to the frequently asked questions we have received regarding the week of 4/30 - 5/05. If you have additional questions or need additional information, please contact your HR Manager. 

Q & A's for April
30th-May 5th. 

Q. Can I take use my accrued vacation rather than take time off without pay?
A. Yes. Instead of taking take the time off without pay you can use your accrued vacation. Non-exempt employees may also use accrued sick time.

Q. I will not have enough accrued vacation to cover the required time off. Can I borrow against future accrual?
A. No. You may use only available compensatory time (accrued vacation). Non-exempts also may use accrued sick time.

Q. If I do not have enough accrued vacation to cover the required time off and another employee is willing to let me use some of his/her vacation hours, can I use another employee's vacation accrual?
A. No, you cannot borrow the time from another employee.

Q. How do I enter my time for this non-work week?
A. Non-exempt employees:
Vacation Code 01
Sick Leave Code 02
Unpaid Code 09

Exempt employees:
Vacation Code 01
Zero out exempt non paid hours!

* Exempt employees cannot take unpaid time within the same week in which the employee has performed work. Please contact your HR Manager if you have any questions. 

Q. What if I have scheduled training during the week of April 30 through May 6?
A. Discuss with your manager whether to attend, postpone or forfeit the training. 

Q. Can an exempt employee take only a portion of a week off unpaid?
A. If an exempt employee is going to take any portion of a week off unpaid, s/he must not work for the entire scheduled workweek. However, to the extent the employee has accrued vacation days, the employee may use that accrued vacation for some of the days that week and unpaid time off for other days that week.

Q. If I am not required to take time off that week, am I allowed to take vacation days?
A. If you are not required to take time off that week, you may still choose to take one or more vacation days to the extent you have accrued vacation and your manager approves in accordance with usual practice.

Q. Do I have to take the required time off during this particular week, or can I take it a day at a time?
A. The time off must be taken in a full workweek, and during the week of April 30 through May 6.

Q. As a non-exempt employee, can I use my accrued sick time or vacation accrual to offset the required time off?
A. Yes.

Q. I work part time. How much time off must I take?
A. Part-time employees are expected to take the full workweek off, consistent with an employee's regularly scheduled hours. 

Q. How will this policy be applied to employees who are on leaves of absence (LOAs)?
A. Employees who are on LOAs from the manufacturing or support areas impacted by this week of time off from work will not be scheduled to return to work until his or her next regularly scheduled shift beginning May 6 at 5:00 AM.

Q. If I have accrued vacation available, can I enter the vacation in the time-tracking system and not actually take the vacation until some time in the future?
A. No. Each employee must take off the week of April 30 through May 6 and not perform any work during that week. It is not acceptable for you to receive vacation pay for a period when you are actually working; conversely, it is also not acceptable for you to receive your regular pay during a future week when you are actually on vacation Motorola pays vacation for time away from work. If you are performing work for Motorola, we pay your regular salary for that period.

Q. I have my child in the Motorola Child Care Center and I am required to pay for the full month. Will I get any dispensation for the week I am required to take off? 
A. No. The Child Care Center is managed by Bright Horizons and not by Motorola. The monthly fee for the Center is a fixed expense. The monthly fee does not vary based upon the number of days your child is at the center in a given month. 

Q. Can I apply for unemployment compensation?
A. Anyone can apply for unemployment compensation benefits. The state unemployment compensation agency, not Motorola, will determine whether you are eligible for benefits. Most states do not pay unemployment compensation benefits for the first seven days an individual is without work and pay. 
Department of Economic Services: 602-364-2722.

Q. If I have more questions, whom should I call?
A. Please talk with your manager or Human Resources representative.

Questions and Answers

Time-Off Requirement for MCG Employees on an H1-B Specialty Occupation VISA

Q. How much time-off am I required to take under this program?
A. You must take the week of April 30 through May 6 off, but only if you have sufficient accrued vacation time so that you can receive full pay for this period. If you do not have sufficient accrued vacation, you are required to take time off equivalent to your total amount of accrued vacation. 

The following examples demonstrate the possible ways you can take time off under this program depending upon the number of days of accrued vacation you have available:

* If you are regularly scheduled to work five days during the week beginning April 30 and you have accrued five vacation days, you will be required to take one full work week of vacation beginning April 30. 

* If you are regularly scheduled to work five days during the week beginning April 30 and you have only three accrued vacation days, you will be required to take three consecutive days of vacation during the week beginning April 30 and work the remaining days of the week.

Q. I will not have enough accrued vacation to cover the required time off. Can I borrow against future accrual?
A. No. You may use only available accrued vacation.

Q. Do I have to take the required time off during the week beginning April 30, or can I take it a day at a time in the future?
A. To the extent possible and dependant upon your accrued vacation time, you will take this time off during the week beginning April 30 and consistent with your regularly scheduled hours. 

Q. Can I take time off without pay rather than use my accrued vacation?
A. No. Recently issued U.S. Department of Labor regulations preclude foreign nationals working on H1-B Specialty Occupation Visas from taking time off without pay under these circumstances.

Motorola is an Equal Opportunity/
Affirmative Action Employer

Disclaimer

The Motorola bat wings are part of the Motorola Logo. The logo at the top of the page is not meant to disparage bats. Bats are essential to controlling the population of disease carrying mosquitoes. The North American species have mouths that can crush insects, but which cannot even break human skin. In all, American bats are no more ferocious than rabbits; in fact, less so. Furthermore, there is no documented instance of a bat becoming tangled in someone's hair, even after a request was made for people to send in information if they had any.

Vampire bats at Motorola are the one species that cause tremendous harm. They can be identified as the bats that walk on two legs and they think replacing American workers with H-1Bs is a great way to save money.

This Memo is Also Being Circulated at Motorola
 

MOTOROLA TO CUT WORKFORCE 120 PERCENT

NEW YORK, N.Y. (SatireWire.com) - Motorola will reduce its workforce by an unprecedented 120 percent by the end of 2001, believed to be the first time a major corporation has laid off more employees than it actually has.

Motorola stock soared more than 12 points on the news. 

The reduction decision, announced Wednesday, came after a year-long internal review of cost-cutting procedures, said Motorola Chairman and CEO Chris Galvin. The initial report concluded the company would save $1.2 billion by eliminating 20 percent of its 108,000 employees. From there, said Chris, "it didn't take a genius to figure out that if we cut 40 percent of our workforce, we'd save $2.4 billion, and if we cut 100 percent of our workforce, we'd save $6 billion. But then we thought, why stop there? Let's cut another 20 percent and save $7 billion. "We believe in increasing shareholder value, and we believe that by decreasing expenditures, we enhance our competitive cost position and our bottom line," he added.

Motorola plans to achieve the 100 percent internal reduction through layoffs, attrition and early retirement packages. To achieve the 20 percent in external reductions, the company plans to involuntarily downsize 22,000 non-Motorola employees who presently work for other companies. "We pretty much picked them out of a hat," said Chris.

Among firms Motorola has picked as "External Reduction Targets," or ERTs, are Quaker Oats, AMR Corporation, parent of American Airlines, Lockheed, Boeing, and Charles Schwab & Co. Motorola's plan presents a "win-win" for the company and ERTs, said Chris, as any savings by ERTs would be passed on to Motorola, while the ERTs themselves would benefit by the increase in stock price that usually accompanies personnel cutback announcements. "We're also hoping that since, over the years, we've been really helpful to a lot of companies, they'll do this for us kind of as a favor," said Chris. 

Legally, pink slips sent out by Motorola would have no standing at ERTs unless those companies agreed. While executives at ERTs declined to comment, employees at those companies said they were not inclined to cooperate. "This is ridiculous. I don't work for Motorola. They can't fire me," said Kaili Blackburn, a flight attendant with American Airlines. Reactions like that, replied Chris, "are not very sporting." 

Inspiration for Motorola's plan came from previous cutback initiatives, said company officials. In January of 1998, for instance, the company announced it would trim 18,000 jobs over two  years. However, just a year later, Motorola said it had already reached its quota. "We were quite surprised at the number of employees willing to leave Motorola in such a hurry, and we decided to build on that," Chris said. 

Analysts credited Chris's short-term vision, noting that the announcement had the desired effect of immediately increasing Motorola's share value. However, the long-term ramifications could be detrimental, said Bear Stearns analyst Beldon McInty. It's a little early to tell, but by eliminating all its employees, Motorola may jeopardize its market position and could, at least theoretically, cease to exist," said McInty. Chris, however, urged patience: "To my knowledge, this hasn't been done before, so let's just wait and see what happens."

 

03/31/08