I really doubt my company is breaking any laws on this, but it still made me uncomfortable. I was asked, as a new employee, to donate to my company's PAC and told that they have it set-up to be able to do direct-deduction from my payroll which of course means that they track your donations.
quote:I want to stress again that while this is completely voluntary, support is urgently neeeded...
I sincerly doubt the items they advocate for are in line with my political ideals. Sadly they don't give you any information or place to find information on what they do advocate for or how they advocate for it(other than it's for "the good of the company"). I don't know what I would do about this, almost certainly nothing unless there was a clear, leagal violation, but this just make me... uncomfortable. I don't like getting a direct mailer from our CEO, specifically targeting new hires, to set-up a system where they monitor my donations (or lack thereof) to their own PAC. Does anyone have any experience with this?
Hobbes Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
No. But I would definitely look into it.
Posted by Orincoro (Member # 8854) on :
It is inappropriate for them to ask for political donations from you as an employee. They acknowledge their awareness of the impropriety by emphasizing that this is voluntary.
I would consider taking a page from the Carnegie play book: write a personal letter to the CEO, lauding his dedication to the company's future, and his vigorous efforts. Then tell him that, although you appreciate the ease of the direct-deduction approach, you would not wish to be seen as currying favor with your bosses by making donations in your own name.
Or perhaps you tell him that although your political donations have been made for the current year, you would appreciate being sent literature on the PAC, in order to learn more about what you may wish to support.
A courteous note pointing out both that this is inappropriate and unreasonable, without saying so, might make you feel better. Or don't send anything.
Posted by MattP (Member # 10495) on :
When I worked for a large software firm they made it clear that they had a PAC and gave instructions on how to contribute via payroll deduction, but I don't recall them ever directly soliciting contributions. It was just one bullet item on a long list of benefit and payroll items covered during orientation.
They *may* have sent out a company-wide email promotin the PAC at one time, but nothing as direct as an individually addressed letter from the CEO.
In any case, no one felt compelled to contribute and I don't know of anyone that actually did.
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
I'm not really too worried about direct impact on my job. My "division" as it were, is pretty isolated from the rest of the company. But a) it doesn't feel right to me, and b) if I'm actually here for all of, or a large part of my career it might start to matter.
Interesting suggestion Orincoro, I'll have to think on that one.
Hobbes Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
I prefer the "do nothing and see what happens" approach in this kind of situation. Chances are the CEO didn't really send the letter him/herself and isn't camped at the mailbox waiting your reply. This is one time when bureaucracy is your friend. If you never hear about the PAC again, cool. If you get another letter asking why you haven't donated, then it's time to do Orincoro's thing. My 2 cents.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
I'm with AFR.
Posted by Dan_Frank (Member # 8488) on :
quote:Originally posted by advice for robots: I prefer the "do nothing and see what happens" approach in this kind of situation. Chances are the CEO didn't really send the letter him/herself and isn't camped at the mailbox waiting your reply. This is one time when bureaucracy is your friend. If you never hear about the PAC again, cool. If you get another letter asking why you haven't donated, then it's time to do Orincoro's thing. My 2 cents.
Yeah, this seems like the best approach. Especially if you're at a sufficiently large company, and it sounds like you are.
Posted by Parkour (Member # 12078) on :
Best possible solution would be to leak this to the press and such and make it such of a sensitive liability that they quietly drop the practice.
Posted by SpDTheadkeFor (Member # 12471) on :
I wouldn't be too upset, your participation in your companies PAC is at least voluntary. It could be a lot worse, you could be forced to join a union and pay dues as a condition of your employment. But I guess that's really not too horrible, as long as you aren't a republican or conservative. And even if you were, I'm sure you could just have the union donate the portion of your dues that are designated for politics to a charity that the union selects. I'm sure the rest of your dues won't be used to cover the cost of electricity or any other overhead the union uses when it campaigns for democrats or liberal causes.
Let the fire begin! Muhahahahaha!
Holy crap! After a decade of lurking these forums, I actually posted something! Now the question is will I be able to keep my vow of silence when the evil Libs attack my post? I kid...I kid...or do I? I doubt I'll even find out cause my wife is probably gonna kill me for wasting my time with online forums.
Posted by Mucus (Member # 9735) on :
quote:Originally posted by SpDTheadkeFor: ... But I guess that's really not too horrible, as long as you aren't a republican or conservative.
Incorrect. It could also be horrible if you're a Liberal with a big L Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
quote:Originally posted by SpDTheadkeFor: Holy crap! After a decade of lurking these forums, I actually posted something! Now the question is will I be able to keep my vow of silence when the evil Libs attack my post? I kid...I kid...or do I? I doubt I'll even find out cause my wife is probably gonna kill me for wasting my time with online forums.
If your wife has kept you from posting for ten years, she's doing God's work.
Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :
Hobbes, I'm with AFR. Ignore it. Assuming that this is a large company and you are in an entry level position, the CEO doesn't even know who you are. Sending him a letter in response, regardless of what it says, would be a decidedly poor way to introduce yourself to him.
Anything you get from the CEO is more likely a form letter than a direct communications. Most likely, they aren't so much "targeting" new employees as they are avoiding sending repeated requests to older employees. The most likely scenario is that they sent one similar letter to all employees when the payroll deduction scheme was first created and now they send it once to new employees.
Ignore it. Don't worry about how it might affect you 10 years down the road. Ask yourself this question: Do you really want to spend your career with a company that's going to use PAC contributions as a criteria for promoting people? Focus on doing the things you think a good company should reward. If this company doesn't value those things, build a record that will impress the companies that do.
[ June 12, 2012, 09:31 AM: Message edited by: The Rabbit ]
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
quote:Do you really want to spend your career with a company that's going to use PAC contributions as a criteria for promoting people?
Sometimes it is a very good and pressing question to people as to whether or not they would like to make a principled stand or go through the minor moral and personal inconvenience of being coopted into an exploitative structure due to unease over, you know, having a job, needing a place to live, having mouths to feed.
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
I'm less worried about how it will impact my career than the fact that it makes me feel dirty. I probably wont do anything, it's true, but I'm not feeling great about that either.
Hobbes Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
I'd definitely protest it openly, but that is because I am an outspokenly principled schmuck speaking from a position of personal privilege where I wouldn't necessarily have to worry about things like "oh god but i really need this job"
but if I put myself in the position of, say, making my own way, paying my own rent, my attitude and my behavior would change significantly and I'd be in about the same position; looking at this in terms of how much it's really not worth it to make waves, because I really do have my income to think about.
Posted by GaalDornick (Member # 8880) on :
Bite the bullet and donate your entire paycheck every period the the PAC. It's the only way.
Posted by Tovarich Volk (Member # 12847) on :
I'd ignore it. While the PAC,(whatever it might be for) may serve the best interests of the company that you work for, it may or may not serve your interests, or anybody else's in the long run.
On the other hand, NOT donating to the PAC may impede your chances at career advancement with the company. If this is the case, you should be asking yourself if this is a company that you really want to invest yourself in.
Either way though, the answer for me would still be 'No'.
I'm also of the belief that PAC's should be illegal, as the principal behind them is giving money to politicians for favorable votes on legislation is corruption by any other name.
Posted by Darth_Mauve (Member # 4709) on :
I worked for a couple of companies that played the "Donate to United Way" game. This is where a plaque goes to the CEO of any company where 100% of the employees donate to the United Way.
So the CEO tells the managers that their ability to manage will be judged by the donation % of employees that donate.
And that anything less than 100% would be considered a failure.
Twice I had this happen at the same time the company was cutting pay (commission % to be exact). I explained to my managers that I could not be giving to the United Way because due to the new pay plan, I would be asking them for help soon.
Twice managers made donations from their own pocket, in my name. That made me feel dirty, and truthfully, I have never donated to the United Way since.
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