Let me start by saying, if you don't have a degree, don't even think about moving up. You will always stay hourly. They will hire some squeaky eared kid fresh out of school that has never even seen the inside of a mill before they will dream of promoting someone who has done many of the jobs and knows the business.
They micro-manage you to death! It's always how much more you can be doing and not what you do well. They have been downsizing recently and putting loads more on the remaining employees. It's to the point now where taking a break or even going to the bathroom is not a possibility without incurring the wrath of your supervisor. Anyone who thinks I'm kidding is in for a shock. YOU WILL NOT GET A BREAK!
Supervisors themselves are extremely LAZY! How they got in the position they are in is beyond me. They all gather in each other's office and hang out. Play on their phones or the computers. When they get bored, they make their rounds and jump down people's throats about what they are or are not doing. Most I have dealt with or observed are VERY argumentative. The managers (department heads) are pretty much the same way so I would say trash talking the hourly employees is par for the course. All management there has no problems yelling at you in front of your co-workers. If you sit there and take it, they will keep prodding you to respond. No sense in that at all. Very unprofessional.
HR is no help at all either. They have replaced almost everyone there in the last few months. Other personnel being promoted to micro-manage other workers in different plants. HR personnel will listen to you intently and show concern, but then report back to your boss that you were bad-mouthing him/her and then you will know no peace. Nothing has been done, as far as I have seen, about the abuse the supervisors dish out.
You will work the entire time you are there. If you have a minute to relax, that is a minute they will be telling you - you need to have a broom in your hand. Some positions/employees have it way better. They spend most of their time in the break room dozing or in the office with the supervisors. It is very much a buddy system there.
They mandatory people to work their off days EVERY week. It is next to impossible to plan anything for your days off, because it will get ruined every time. They are stretching and pushing everyone to their absolute limit.
As far as benefits, they offer the standard helping of "benefits" most companies offer. Paid vacation is an interesting one. You get vacation in the form of hours. Supposedly you can take these in one hour increments, but don't count on it. You get about 196 hours at around 3 years I believe, I really don't know. I have never actually seen an employee hand book or benefits package. You have to take 12 hours for every day you want off since it's 12 hour shifts. You can be mandatory to work even on a vacation day, so you will have to call in and take a point, even though you are on vacation... go figure. The vacation days themselves are not paid. Twice a year they give you a "vacation check" that you are to "put aside and use for vacation, it's not a bonus." You get one in June and one in December. A lot of people call it a Christmas bonus, but Shaw specifically tells us not to refer to it as a bonus, so therefore, you get nothing for Christmas, but a lot of times management will refer to the vacation check as a holiday bonus check... they try to make people feel as tho they are getting both.
They have 401k... who doesn't. They offer a quarter on the dollar up to 3%. You are fully vested after 3 years. Shaw does not let you borrow from your 401k. The provider, Prudential, allows for it, but Shaw does not except under the most extreme circumstances.
Insurance is not the greatest. We have Cigna, (I believe is our insurance provider du jour) and they offer some plan where they give you $500-$700 to use any way you see fit (single) and around $1500 (family), after that you pay 100% up to your deductible, about $2500-$3500 depending on your coverage, after that they cover the standard 80%. Those amounts will be completely burned up in a few visit and some meds, so don't plan to go to the doctor unless you're dying.
Hourly pay starts at around $10+ and goes up into the high teens. Raises seem pretty slim for hourly employees as well. They seem to be rolling around every 3 years or so. Around $0.30 - $0.60 each time.
Bottom line is, don't come here unless you can't make ends meet ANY other way. If you want to know what it's like to be unappreciated, work like a dog, have NO home life, no raises, no encouragement, no opportunity for advancement, feel overwhelmed and stressed out even while you're off... then this is definitely the place for you.
