Employers Supporting the Guard and Reserves

Tsyroc · Post by **Tsyroc** » 2007-12-04 03:27pm

I recently recieved an email making a point about how Sears supports it's employees who've been activated as part of the National Guard or Reserves more than is required by the federal law.

Usually this sort of email turns out to be an Urban Legend but this time it is not the case. http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/sears.asp

Better yet that article led me to this site. http://esgr.org/

There you can click on or select a state and list of businesses which support their activated Guard and Reserve members more than the minimum the law requires. So if you are in the US this holiday season (or more) it might be worth the extra effort to patronize one of the employers listed on this site.

It looks like the listings of employers include a star rating system which isn't fully explained. At least not that I could find, but based on the form in which a person can nominate their employer the more stars the more support the employer shows it's activated employees. I'm a little skeptical of the employers with one star since the place I work is listed with one star. Maybe it's how my department and director has acted about one of my activated co-workers but I don't get the impression that the hospital is any more supportive than it's required to be.

I might have to look into this at work.

NeoGoomba · Post by **NeoGoomba** » 2007-12-04 03:50pm

Wow good on Sears. This is probably the first story I've heard in a long while about how a corporation treats its low-to-mid level employees FAVORABLY at the expense of the company.

Tsyroc · Post by **Tsyroc** » 2007-12-04 04:20pm

Sears is also in a bit of financial difficulty so they can probably use any sort of boost they can get.

US: Sears quarterly profits slump 99%

Retailer Sears has seen quarterly profits tumble 99%, after poor sales at its Sears and Kmart outlets.

The firm saw profits drop to $2m (£970,000), or 1 cent a share in the three months to 3 November from $196m or $1.27 a share, a year earlier.

Sears sees more problems ahead, as the credit squeeze dampens consumer spending over the holidays but also said there were other issues at play.

The firm's shares fell 13% to $16 - nearly half what they were in April.

Free-fall

"Kmart and Sears have been in a downward spiral for the last two years," said Britt Beemer, founder of America's Research Group, which examines how consumers behave.

"I think [they are] in a major free-fall.

Analysts say the latest results raise questions about the direction of the firm, which was the result of a tie-up between Sears, Roebuck and Kmart in 2005.

In a research note called "Death Spiral?", Gary Balter, an analyst with Credit Suisse, wrote there was "nothing good" to emerge from the results.

While highlighting broad issues that have hit other retailers, chief executive Aylwin Lewis, said: "We are very disappointed in our performance for the third quarter. We cannot blame our results entirely on the retail and macro-economic environments."

He added: "We have much on which to improve and are working hard to do so."

Revenue dropped 3% to $115bn, while overall US same-store sales dropped 4.6%.

Taken individually, same store domestic sales fell 4.2% at Sears and Roebuck while Kmart's same store sales fell 5%.

Source: bbc.co.uk

Publication date: 12/3/2007

I had forgotten that Sears had purchased K-Mart.

Gil Hamilton · Post by **Gil Hamilton** » 2007-12-04 04:45pm

NeoGoomba wrote:Wow good on Sears. This is probably the first story I've heard in a long while about how a corporation treats its low-to-mid level employees FAVORABLY at the expense of the company.

Sears historically has been unusually favorable to all its employees. It was one of the first companies to offer stock options to all its employees, which at the time had alot of people in business recoiling in horror and calling Sears himself a communist. In fact, there was a famous story where a Sears employee was found, years after he left the company in a run down house in the South, flat broke, and was presented with a check for nearly 25,000 dollars, which at the time was a tremendous amount.

In alot of ways, Sears had an unusual history as a company. The Sears Catalogue itself virtually revolutionized how Americans lived, particularly in the Midwest, for instance.

NeoGoomba · Post by **NeoGoomba** » 2007-12-04 05:38pm

A pity then that they seem to be on the ropes, financially. I have no problem supporting a company like that.

Knife · Post by **Knife** » 2007-12-04 06:43pm

Not really wanting to google fu it; this November I've heard quite a few second hand advertisments about 'Golden Corral' around Veterans day giving free food for all active duty and Vets on Nov 11th. That's a lot of people and a lot of impoverished people to feed for free in a resteraunt.

Edit: since I'm old; back in the day- Walmart used to have an automatic (as such things can be in business) hiring policy for vets. Before super Walmarts anyways. If you had a DD 214, you had a job for good old Sam.

Stile · Post by **Stile** » 2007-12-04 06:45pm

Knife wrote:Not really wanting to google fu it; this November I've heard quite a few second hand advertisments about 'Golden Corral' around Veterans day giving free food for all active duty and Vets on Nov 11th. That's a lot of people and a lot of impoverished people to feed for free in a resteraunt.

They've been doing this for years. I've seen it myself since at least 1998.

Knife · Post by **Knife** » 2007-12-04 06:48pm

Stile wrote:
They've been doing this for years. I've seen it myself since at least 1998.

I don't personally like the resteraunt myself so I've never done it. What's the documentation they want for vets? There is constantly a good chunk of RV's and what not there (locally) so the atmosphere isn't really for me. Plus I don't generally like buffets.

Edit: lol; I'm old enough to remember the servicemans discount on the bunny ranch too. That's a good deal. Free hookers, only in America.

Stile · Post by **Stile** » 2007-12-04 07:07pm

Knife wrote:snip

I wouldn't know what the requirements are; I avoid it like the plague on those days because the line is usually extremely long. I don't go there a lot normally either because the prices encourage you to overeat.

On Topic. My employer has less than 200 employees and he has someone in the Navy Reserve and he supports him pretty well.

CmdrWilkens · Post by **CmdrWilkens** » 2007-12-04 10:54pm

ESGR is one of those organizatiosn that can honestly puff about Supporting the Troops and its encouraging to see how many employers are onboard with it. Honestly at my current employer I'm one of very few former or current reservists so I've become the unofficial duty expert in how to handle reserve affairs in my region. So I'm hoping that I can get my team added onto the list for going the extra step.