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American Red Cross

Is this your company?

Excited at first, but now I know how they actually are. - Mobile Unit Assistant American Red Cross Employee Review

1.0
Mar 5, 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

They have a great mission and do a lot of good for many people. With that mission they attempt to foster in the employees a sense of pride in having that mission. My particular location is one of the better paid areas. I cannot complain about the wages. However, in a different location the wages are almost guaranteed to be substantially lower. When I came onboard, I was excited to work for such a noble company. However, once I learned the inside details, I was sad.

Cons

They nickel and dime the employees. The Red Cross would step over a dollar to take a dime from an employee. Every bit of extras we get, such as meal vouchers, travel pay, differential hourly pay, etc. they are trying to take away from us. The hours are bad. I work a variable schedule and am full time, but most weeks I never get over 33 hours. Somedays I work until 3 am and have to be back at 8 am. Sometimes I work 3 overnight shifts, then immediately switch back to early morning shifts. That can be very hard on the body and moral. Management is terrible. Way too many chiefs and not enough indians. Many people act as if they are supervisors even though they are not. The management will institute a policy that holds certain people responsible for other people's mistakes, even though the punished employee had absolutely nothing to do with the mistake. The managers lied in the interview to get me to accept the offer. No overtime pay on weekends. No available overtime to build up hours. No accountability. The benefits are very very expensive and are almost worthless. No promotions, you have to apply for the positions to move. They don't give the positions to the best candidate, rather the one they like personally and know outside of work. They are in the process of ending my position and blending it into another. During this phase, they are making it hard on us in the position. In addition, we will have no guarantee of transition into the new job. Constantly put on hiring freezes. Denied positions that you are overly qualified for while they say your not qualified. Vacation is denied constantly. You get crap over taking a sick day, even when you have never used one. Your lunch break is scheduled for the first 30 minutes of your day. Meaning, you get no lunch break. They will make your drive in a blizzard and/or ice storm and could care less if there are 100 crashes and multiple fatalities on the road. If you are delayed due to weather, they will argue that its not snowing at the center so it must not be snowing anywhere else in the state. There is so much bad to list about them its unreal.

Explore other reviews about American Red Cross

5.0
Apr 16, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

My experience working with the Red Cross has been great. The work is fulfilling and the people are passionate. Benefits are good - Kaiser is $6 a month!

Cons

There is work life balance, but there is an expectation to work nights and weekends.

2.0
Mar 15, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

You feel connected to a larger mission, and go to bed knowing you did good work. Most of the volunteers are amazing people. The job is a good stepping stone to other disaster management jobs elsewhere. PTO policy is generous and Healthcare is decent.

Cons

You are INCREDIBLY overworked and GROSSLY underpaid. You get zero work-life balance. Even when you're not on call, you'll still get tons of calls from volunteers with questions and concerns. If a volunteer is unavailable to respond to a fire call or tend to any other responsibility day or night, you're on deck. You're salaried, so there's no overtime pay. Your pay barely covers the basic cost of living in today's economy ($40k-$50k). Diversity is bottom heavy, meaning there are lots of employees of color in entry level or lower management roles, but beyond that there's a steep drop off. Most of the volunteers are great, but the Red Cross is so desperate to keep them, that poor behavior and language (racist/sexist/phobic) is not properly disciplined or responded to, if at all. Employee retention is poor, especially in the Disaster Specialist role, because they burn you out so quickly without decent pay.

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