A double-edged Sword - Supervisor UPS Employee Review

3.0
Nov 4, 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

UPS is always in need of Part-time Supervisors; this gives all package handlers an opportunity to get management experience on their resumes. They offer excellent medical, vision, and dental benefits at a fraction of the actual costs if you are a supervisor (about 30 to 35 a month if you only want them for yourself). Pay is about average for the position of PT Supervisor compared to other similar positions. They give part-time supervisors a base salary that is supposedly based on your length of service before promotion, but I found this to be untrue, its who you know above. The base salary is based on a 5.5 hour work day/27.5 hour workweek. After you go over the 5.5 or 27.5 hours you are given an extra 10% on top of your broken down wage. Time and a half is given for going over 8.0 hours and 40 hours. Also available is 401k matching which was maxed at 6% for part-time supervisors and in addition there is tuition reimbursement at 4,000 per year for approved courses/degrees. Stock can be purchased at a 10% discount. Part-time package handlers start at 8.50/hr here in Southern California. Benefits are free for the employees after 12 months of employment. Tuition reimbursement is at 3,000 a year. Women are always looked at first for "diversity" and can expect a quick climb up the career ladder.

Cons

If you are management, then dealing with the union is the biggest downside. The union is allowed to have too much power, often leaving managements' hands tied most of the time. From as little as telling an employee to "hurry up," can cause an employee to file a grievance based on "harassment". Often employees will look for any supervisor moving a box or breaking a jam and will file a grievance because the suprvisor is "stealing" work from union employees. From what I understand this a little more exclusive to the Ontario Hub, and I understand it is not as bad in most other hubs. Upper Management does not seem to care about their part time supervisors to the effect that often times they will not defend against the grievances filed simply because they may have a good relationship with a few of the shop stewarts or because they don't want to deal with arguing. A bad relationship with your lead supervisor or manager can make it worse. Raises for Part-time supervisors are supposedly based on a combo of the shift manager or full time supervisor and a peer review. Most of the time 2 to 3% is the common raise given once a year. However, this is where either being buddy-buddy with the Manager or Full Time supervisor comes in handy so you can get a 5 or 6% raise. If you are female and somewhat attractive, it works to your advantage as you will often receive larger raises and more opportunities to advance faster without being necessarily qualified. Part Time Package Handlers only receive 8.50 an hour to start and need to pay union dues and most importantly their initiation fee. The first 4 months of employment are very difficult because you get a small paycheck after all the dues and fees are taken out AFTER taxes. Checks less than 100 bucks a week are very, very common.

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Pros

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Cons

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5.0
Jan 3, 2015
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The pay is excellent .health care is 100 % paid with 100 %coverage...with exception to eye and dental which is about 70%..coverage...pension is outstanding..full package with wages and benefits is worth 130,000 yearly..without a college education I am grateful for the standard of living UPS HAS AFFORDED ME AND MY FAMILY!...and with 27 years of service I now get 6 weeks vacation with 8 sick days..and 9 paid holidays...we work hard like many people in the work force but we are well compensated!.

Cons

The only con is while your children are young you give up a lot of family time..I never got to watch my kids play sports and missed a lot of their growing years...the job can be hard on your home life but if you can make it through those years you and your family will enjoy the financial freedom that UPS provides...and now I look forward to a prosperous retirement!...so hang in there all you young drivers...

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