Pros
I work for an offshoot of ECHN. My company is great; the flexibility is fantastic (I'm able to do last minute errands and they don't care as long as my hours are met and my job is done). I would recommend the job because of this alone. Medical insurance is great as long as you stay within the network. If you need a specialist, for example, a neurologist, you're outta luck because we don't have one. The closest neurologist in network is in the Waterbury area. They do cover hearing aids, surprisingly (most insurances don't), but there's only a $2000 total allowance per year. Good luck if your hearing aids cost more than that. Dental is so-so. Standard cleanings & X-rays are covered 100%, but if you need orthodontic work, the lifetime maximum is $1500, & all orthodontic office visits are only 50% covered by the insurance, with the rest falling to you. Vision is decent.
Cons
ECHN is miserly when it comes to giving raises. The average raise is 2% and is done at the beginning of the year (when they decide to give one). There are no merit raises. It's nearly mid-February as of this writing, and there has been zero news from C-Suite on raises this year. They know we're hurting, especially because of inflation and COL increases; they just don't care. The salary band for all positions are embarrassingly low, unless you're in C-Suite. If you hit the ceiling in your position, you cannot make more money unless you make a move elsewhere in the company or by leaving the company. I have no children and have no partner, so I work a ton of overtime to just barely keep my head above water. I would love to stop since 2.5 years of constant overtime does wear on the body, but I can't because they pay too little for me to make it on base salary. The pay rate goes to 4 decimal points, for no other reason than "the system's set to it." When asked to bring it down to the standard 2, the response was "No, it'd mess with your pay rate." Annual reviews are straightforward (meets/doesn't meet expectations)...when it's done at all. They procrastinate on creating positions in departments that need them and would prefer to shove them to the side because it's not as important. We've been begging HR & higher ups to add a position to a department for the last 2.5 years. They've ignored us the entire time or done the "We need to discuss XYZ first then we'll talk." game. I've been waiting for a promotion and to be trained in a different department for 2 years. We're so shorthanded that bosses are stretched thin trying to cover people's leaves and vacations that I've gotten shunted to the side. Work/life balance was great pre-COVID. As of now, it's nonexistent. Again, because we're chronically shortstaffed we're constantly on high stress mode to keep on top of things before month end.
