Talk about Bartlett

[dks860]

Something doesn't make sense about this whole thing to me.  Getting your first per diem check when you arrive generally doesn't affect anything you have to pay back at the end.  What you end up paying back is when you get paid on Thursday (say that's your last day) and the per diem check you get THAT week ends on the following Sunday.  Then you pay back Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  The only reason I can think of that the first per diem check would affect a payback is if for some reason you couldn't stay out the week or failed ffd or something like that.

[Already Gone]

Yea, but get this, I heard you get the $750.00 advance (if you ask for it), but they take it back as pay, not per diem. So that you have to pay taxes on your advance, because it's a loan, not per diem.

That doesn't make any sense at all.  If they give you money and then take it back, there is no tax liability.  You only get taxed on money you get to keep.  Loans are not taxed as income, even if they come from your employer, unless you fail to repay them.  Otherwise, nobody could ever afford to buy a house with a mortgage loan.

As GWB said, if you want the straight dope on this policy change, it is better to ask Bartlett than to spread uninformed rumors here.

[alphadude]

always, always, always get it in writing.......... professional agreements and policy in black and white is a must for this business... hence the miscommunication

[Lorrie Henson]

I was unaware the PD policy was changing.  Guess I'm way out of the loop.  Eric, please clarify ))))

Lorrie

[vikingfan]

was told the policy was changing effective the first week of august. When i called to confirm for a job in september, anyhow a lot of companies have similar policies so really no big deal.

[Eric_Bartlett]

So Eric, what's the new deal with per diem? I hear techs going to jobs will get their first pd when they get their first pay so they won't have any pd to pay back at lay-off time.

Yes – perdiem will now be paid in arrears instead of in advance.  This is happening for 2 reasons.  First of all is that over the last few seasons we have had a record number of complaints about technician’s last paychecks and/or bonus checks being docked pay in order for us to recover overpayment of perdiem and second we have had a record amount of perdiem overpayment in the past few season as well.  The new perdiem policy should go into effect the 1st week of August.  Before I explain how the “new” way will work, I will explain the old way.

The way perdiem was paid in advance was as follows – When and individual reported to site (say Monday for simplicities sake) they would receive a perdiem check covering that 1st week, aptly named week 1.  Now that first Thursday(week 1) on site they would receive a second perdiem check that would cover the following week (week 2).  Now on the second Thursday (week 2) they would receive their first hourly paycheck for the hours worked during week 1 and we would skip a perdiem check so that by the third Thursday (week 3) on site the individual was being paid their hourly pay from the hours worked the week before and receiving a perdiem check for the week that they were currently in.  This of course has led to problems, basically over payment of perdiem that we have been forced to recoup from individuals last pay checks or bonus checks.  When someone was laid off or quit on a Thursday or Friday, 9 times out of 10 they had already taken the perdiem check for that week, thus getting overpaid perdiem for Saturday, Sunday etc…

Now the “new” way that perdiem will be paid is when an individual shows up on site (once again lets say Monday for simplicities sake) they will no longer have a perdiem check wait’n for them.  Likewise there will be no perdiem check for that first Thursday on site.  The second Thursday on site the individual will receive a pay check for the hours worked the week before and a perdiem check for the prior week, thus paying perdiem in arrears as the majority of the other vendors in this business pay.  Now if someone is in financial straits and is in need of an advance we will arrange for a $750.00 advance to waiting for them the first day.  This will be considered and advance on their perdiem which will be recovered $250.00 per week out of the 1st 3 perdiem checks issued.  This should alleviate the overpayment of perdiem and the docking of final paychecks that followed. 

I hope I have made sense to you  , if not feel free to give our office a call and we will be more than happy to explain it all one on one. 

Eric Bartlett

[Rennhack]

Eric,

Thanks for explaining that to us.  (As a Bartlett employee, I was interested myself).  I'm also glad that there is the $750 OPTION available, as I remember when I was starting off; I could barely get enough money together to buy gas to drive to a site.

[Already Gone]

Eric,
Thanks for the time you took to explain that.  As one who has worked for lots of other firms, I'd have to say that the "old" way was not the industry norm.  It was confusing and seemed to be unfair even when it wasn't.  I always felt that it was a bit risky to trust us with 14 days worth of per diem before we had even finished the 4th day (thursday of week one).
Most of all, I never appreciated the last week policies (or lack thereof).  If I got laid off on Thursday, I would sometimes be handed a per diem check on the way out that included three or four days' worth that I knew I would have to pay back.  Conversely, there were times when the Site Coordinator would not give me my last per diem check in such a situation.  Then, I'd have to wait for that check to get cancelled and a new one issued to replace it.  Not that it was such a big deal, it was just never the same from site to site, and that led me to wonder if a mistake was going to happen.

The $750 advance looks like a really good deal for those who are strapped for cash, and the 3-week repayment schedule should be no problem for anyone.  It seems to correlate well with the fact that 3 per diem checks is as many as you will get at any one site anymore.  I especially like the idea that you don't have to take it if you don't need it.  Most of the time, most techs won't require an advance, so they won't be on the hook for paying it back.

Of course, there will be some folks who are either so against change of any kind, or so convinced that they are always getting screwed, that they will just see this as a negative development.  There's nothing you can do to please them anyway, so don't sweat it.

[Rennhack]

Of course, there will be some folks who are either so against change of any kind, or so convinced that they are always getting screwed, that they will just see this as a negative development.  There's nothing you can do to please them anyway, so don't sweat it.

Amen.

[RemBoy]

Soooo, for the sake of simplicity, no jingle-jangle for 11 days  .
The 750 bits of paper as an advance is prob a good idea.

Thanks for clarifying 

[pappy]

Bartlett already was using the $750 advance when I got to Fernald in June. Makes plenty of sense to me, clear on the P/D checks what goes where. I think it will stop all the confusion for a lot of people....

[Twinkie]

I understand that our dear friend Mark Phillips has been “released” from Bartlett at the INL to pursue other career paths. I wonder what took so long?

[wlrun3@aol.com]

On 5/18/98 twelve technicians arrived at rocky flats...none knew anything about plutonium, the doe, weapons, the union, the fbi, the epa, w88 warheads, glove boxes, lung lavage, inner tent chambers, level b suits, 1E6 DAC plutonium, pyrophoria or q and l clearances,...they had never seen road techs...they had never seen 100 R... they didn't know how to train us, where to put us and they didn't trust us...

Mark Phillips was, by default, tasked with leading us, representing us and sustaining us...it can be said that had there been no Mark Phillips, there would have been no bartlett at rocky flats...

[USMCRADCON]

With 20 years in the Biz, I have had the opportunity to work for "Big Blue" on several occasions.  Back when Bruce ran the show, I had several issues at one time or another, and Mr. Bartlett made himself available to listen and never "porked" me.  While I currently do not work for them, I have no problem doing so if the situation calls for it.

How many of ya'll remember back in the days the bouncing checks from "the company the spelled like what Noah built" then Bartlett coming in, taking over, and cutting checks on the spot to us.  

[klsas]

I've had a couple payroll problems with Bartlett the past few years. Both times were my fault. One time involved other people's paychecks and payroll covered my tail on that one. The other problem was corrected by payroll within a couple weeks after my mistake. Now Bartlett is going to pay like the rest of the civilized world. OMG, now we have to work to get paid and not get paid to work, what is the world coming to. It is real simple, if you think Bartlett is trying to screw you, get a job at one of the other 5 million + business's in the country.
Keith

[hamsamich]

the only problem I had with them was the bonus we were promised took about 4 months to come in after we were laid off one time.  didn't bother me too much but I thought it was a bad way to do business.  yeah, yeah, so Entergy hasn't paid bartlett yet, but so what.  we get only a cut of what bartlett is paid, so they have already made a good bit of money off of us, and I understand that needs to be that way to run a business, but the least they could do is pay us our bonus within a reasonable time so we don't have to worry about it....they seem to be a bit better about it recently

[retired nuke]

On 5/18/98 twelve technicians arrived at rocky flats...none knew anything about plutonium, the doe, weapons, the union, the fbi, the epa, w88 warheads, glove boxes, lung lavage, inner tent chambers, level b suits, 1E6 DAC plutonium, pyrophoria or q and l clearances,...they had never seen road techs...they had never seen 100 R... they didn't know how to train us, where to put us and they didn't trust us...

Mark Phillips was, by default, tasked with leading us, representing us and sustaining us...it can be said that had there been no Mark Phillips, there would have been no bartlett at rocky flats...

Quite true- - I was one of the ones there, and I got shanghaied over to Trench 1, leaving Mark to handle everything else. And he did.
He is quite a cowboy, had neat stories, and ensured that Big Blue had a good rep and plenty of work at RFETS.

[Rennhack]

July 18th, Bartlett sent out a letter to current employees telling us about the Per Diem in arrears, as mentioned above. (They are converting us all over to the new system, not just new hires.  8/13/2006 will be the week we skip a diem check)  However, there was another policy change mentioned in the same letter, that many people have been asking for... Direct Deposit.

Here is what the letter I recieved says:

Direct Deposit
Direct Deposit is also a topic where employees have suggested a change, especially employees who support outages. To that end, employees will be eligible for direct deposit once they have worked 1,000 regular (excluding overtime) hours.  Regular hours will be tracked begining January 1, 2006.  The 1,000 hours will be based on total regular hours worked, not continuous employment.

The changes will go into effect on Monday, August 7, 2006.  As we move forward, we will continue to solicit feedback from our employees.  Please let your site coordinator know if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Bob Decensi, President BNI
Mary Barletta, CFO Bartlett

[Dream Tar Heel]

FINALLY!

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

[Rennhack]

For the outage workers:  1000 hrs regular time is 25 weeks of work.  The average outage is 4 weeks long.  You will need about 6 outages AFTER Jan 1st to be eligible. That equates to about two seasons worth of outages, so everyone should be eligible by the end of this year.

[RRhoads]

figures that Bartlett would tie in some time frame to be eligible for DD now that 1/2 the year is over! Seems like they just bought themselves another YEAR for MOST to get into the program.
Who's working fer ya! 

[RRhoads]

well, Daniel, "my brother"
my apologies for not reading the entire post my Mike...
It seems that it will be a good deal for the outage workers...
Glad Bartlett is finally doing it!..One less burden for contractors..that is the important issue...not that i make you sick or that people will never be happy!
Perhaps you are frustrated on the new book!
Looks like your Karma sux!

[alphadude]

wow! slammed by a nuclear ICON.. can i have yer autie graph?

[stownsend]

Is this 1000 hr/yr so you have to requal annually? If you qual one year is this good for all subsequent years? Does it work like their 401 contribution and insurance eligibility once your in, your in?

[nuke_girl]

ok ..as GWB was saying..go to the source... so i called payroll at Bartlett and asked ..the policy is that they backed it up to Jan 2006..and it counts regular 40 a week..so no overtime accumulated is in effect for this policy. when you have 1000 hours accumulated of REGULAR plant time..you are eligible for direct deposit when you work. Perdiem will always be delivered to the plant as this is for living expenses..