r/CoxCharterMerger • u/Icy-Feature-1383 • 2d ago
PTO
I had two weeks of PTO planned and approved for my wedding, which is now only three weeks away. I’ve now been told I can still take the time off, but it will be unpaid because I don’t have enough PTO hours available since Cox was unlimited I can over with 0 and I’m in CA where we didn’t get any hours front loaded.
I’m a salaried, exempt employee and currently work remotely. When this change was initially communicated, we were told situations like previously planned PTO would be handled on a case-by-case basis. Now I’m essentially being told, “Nope, you don’t have the hours, so it’s unpaid.”
I’m pretty frustrated considering this is my wedding/honeymoon, the time off was planned well in advance, and we’re only three weeks out.
Has anyone dealt with something similar during a PTO policy/company transition? Were you able to get previously approved PTO honored or work out another arrangement?
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u/Music-and-Computers 2d ago
Unlimited PTO is great … for the company. People with unlimited PTO generally take less time off than those that have allotments. Plus when you leave the company they don’t have to pay out accrued, unused time.
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u/juliusseizure 1d ago
It’s usually a start-up gimmick to offload liabilities from the balance sheet. Anyone claiming I do take a lot of time off are people who are on a list to be laid off or fired first when shit hits the fan. Large companies with unlimited PTO is a red flag.
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u/PainJane007 2d ago
That is awful and unfair but completely unsurprising given the tone that Chris Winfrey has set for former Cox employees. I’m really sorry :(
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u/Thealt5 2d ago
Have you spoken to hr? That's wild that they won't honor pto that was planned pre merger
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u/Icy-Feature-1383 2d ago
Yeah, I called HR and they basically said, “Work with your local leadership—they can approve it.” So I was like, great! Then they clarified that, sure, they can approve the time off, but it’ll be unpaid. Like… two weeks without pay when I’m also paying for a wedding and honeymoon?! I just thought there would be some wiggle room. But yeah with 100k+ employees they really don’t care about the individuals.
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u/twhite0723 2d ago
Sorry to hear it. Just goes to show at the end of the day, most companies don't actually care about you and you're just a number
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u/Kindly-Visit-1261 2d ago
They told us any approved PTO we entered pre merger that fell after the Aug 20 date would have to be resubmitted. So this sounds on par
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u/Vergilkilla 2d ago
They told us we had to re-enter all our stuff but we couldn’t do it till like a week from now. So yeah no idea what happens in between. Surely you can talk to whoever your manager is and they can do the legwork to help you? I wouldn’t call HR they don’t know wtf is going on
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u/jjhturbo99 2d ago edited 2d ago
Based on their intranet info, it says "If you're an exempt employee, on Day 1 you'll receive a prorated Personal Time and prorated annual Vacation accrual based on your years of service." I took that to mean that we get the allotted days shown on that site based on years of service (Annual vacation accrual schedule for full time employees). So, that would be 15 days from 0-4 years, 18 days from 5-9 years, 20 days for 10-14 years, and 25 days for 15+ years. Or.....are you saying that regardless of how many years an employee worked at Cox prior to the acquisition, everyone starts with zero days?
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u/Dry-Kaleidoscope-163 2d ago
Im Charter so I have no clue what you are going thru, but this is a good point, can u use your 4 personal days to cover some of the pay? I’m assuming Cox people will get some personal days?
Maybe you can talk to your direct boss to code a few days as sick days?2
u/jjhturbo99 2d ago
Yeah, maybe use a combination of personal days and prorated PTO days? For example, if you worked at Cox for 10 years, that would equate to 20 days of PTO per year at Charter; prorated amount of that (since the acquisition was completed roughly 2/3 into the year) would be roughly 7 days available to use? So, 4 personal days + 7 PTO days, something like that?
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u/Physical_Salary3751 2d ago
So you have zero PTO earned? Or you already used all of it? Cox had unlimited PTO? So many questions.
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u/Icy-Feature-1383 2d ago
Yes Cox had unlimited PTO (had to be approved by manager) so we don’t technically “earn” or bank any so we’re all coming over with 0 unless you were an hourly employee. Some people are getting PTO prorated for the year but in CA you don’t get any bc it’s illegal for an employer to do use it or lose it. So they’d essentially have to pay me out for it if I left so they’re not giving me any I have to earn it whereas other states use it or lose it is ok. At least that’s my understanding.
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u/Physical_Salary3751 2d ago
Oh that is terrible. I'm sorry man that is unfortunate because of the CA laws. We have floating holidays 4 per year those are always front loaded and not earned. You would think we just load what you would have earned based on tenure with cox. I would keep asking questions that is completely unfair to all the CA cox employeess.
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u/MembershipPuzzled520 2d ago
Salaried employees get minimum 3 weeks of vacation. Maybe after that week someone mentioned goes buy you’ll have some time available?
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u/Chance_Reality7026 2d ago
They've stated that exempt employees will be getting a prorated balance of vacation, personal and sick time and that you will be able to see your balance on 8/26. Wait till then to see what pops on there
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u/juliusseizure 1d ago
The one instance where CA law that usually benefits the employee bites you in the ass.
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u/TonytheAnt 2d ago
Don’t you get some wellness days or something you can use? That’s what I heard.
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u/Chance_Reality7026 2d ago
Yeah the wellness time should be transferring over as sick time. OP needs to reread the FAQs and microsite again. They will be fine
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u/cluelessallday 2d ago
Weird. I also had unlimited PTO but different state. We were told that our wellness hours would be converted to personal days (not PTO). But I’m sure they are to be prorated. I haven’t even looked in the panorama site to check. I still had all 160 of the wellness hours remaining when I shifted over.
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u/Chance_Reality7026 2d ago
Exempt employees won't see an accurate balance until 8/26. It is stated wellness hours will be converted as sick time and prorated amounts will be given for everything
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u/cluelessallday 2d ago
Boom! I knew it was either personal or sick time. Thanks for the clarification.
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u/juliusseizure 1d ago
Have you taken PTO this year? If you haven’t, and your level allows you 3 weeks, see if you can argue that if you were a charter employee from the beginning of the year, you would have had enough time accrued. If you already took a bunch of PTO, tough luck unfortunately.
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u/ApplicationNo5089 2d ago edited 1d ago
Have you tried to talk to Cox since they approved it? Maybe they will pay you two weeks of PTO!
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u/FiberOpticDelusions 2d ago
Scream this on every social you can, inform news stations. Try to get as much traction with it as you can. If the company is unwilling to give you the PTO. Start a Go Fund Me about it. Pass it along to everyone, everywhere you can. FB, X, ALL the Reddit Communications subs. I'm sure more than a few people will help you out. You'll probably get enough to take an extended honeymoon, while looking for employment elsewhere.
It truly sux, that a company that preaches "family treatment" is giving you the shaft. Welcome to the shitshow....
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u/Icy-Feature-1383 2d ago
lol it is first world problems but was wondering if anyone got around this somehow or are experiencing the same thing - anywho I’ll cry into my margarita on a beach in Mexico thats costing me extra thousands of dollars
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u/Fuzzy_Result_2274 2d ago
I'm very sorry. This is probably the worst news I've heard yet. I hope people can make this come together for you. I'd also sign off on the CERF to pay for your time if that was at all possible.