Posted on 07/06/2006 5:16:57 AM PDT by Eepsy
Losing their jobs and even their iPodsBy Barry Shlachter, Jim Fuquay, Maria M. Perotin Star-Telegram Staff Writers National Semiconductor giveth, and it taketh away.
The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company gained loads of publicity last month for announcing plans to give every employee a 30-gigabyte video iPod.
Last week, the company laid off 35 employees at its Arlington plant. To the surprise of some at the plant, the laid-off workers were asked to give back their high-tech toys.
A person who called the Star-Telegram claiming to have been one of the 35 laid-off workers said many employees at the Arlington plant were under the impression that the iPods were theirs to keep. Some had sold them or given them as gifts, according to the caller.
"Nothing was ever said about ever having to give it back," the caller said. "If I'd known it was company property, I never would have picked it up."
At the time, the company had said it was handing out the devices to distribute company information as well as reward its 8,500 workers for its best fiscal year ever. Employees were also allowed personal use of the devices.
It was a natural selection. National Semiconductor manufactures analog chips used in portable devices including Apple's iPods.
And several media reports referred to the iPods as "gifts."
"They were not a gift," company spokeswoman LuAnn Jenkins said Friday. Jenkins said she didn't know whether the company ever intended for the workers to keep the iPods.
On the news release announcing the perk, the company said it was "equipping" its employees with the wildly popular media devices. Employees were informed about the undertaking using the same language, Jenkins said.
"We were very careful on the language we used talking about it," Jenkins said.
Employees who leave the company can return the device or pay "fair market value" for it, she said.
The video iPod normally retails for about $300.
As more than 100 workers enthusiastically received their iPods one morning last month at the Arlington plant, two company spokesmen would not directly answer questions from Star-Telegram reporter Aman Batheja as to whether workers would be able to keep the iPods once they left the company.
"We haven't crossed that bridge," said Scott Kahl, human resources director.
The road to that bridge turned out to be pretty short.
Of course these losers have to return them.
This is like people trying to walk off with a work-issued laptop or Blackberry.
...and yet there is still some confusion.
Here's a language hint: "THESE IPODS ARE NOT GIFTS!"
I'd say the company is outta luck here.
Unless there's more to the story I tend to agree.
Additional layoffs may be annonced soon.
Laid off = loser? Sheesh!
If they were company property, why is there any confusion here at all? You would think they would make them sign out the equipoment and log serial numbers, etc like typically happens with laptops, etc.
I think the comapny should be SOL, the people keep their Ipods.
Hardly.
Laid-off worker who thinks he has a right to walk off with company property just because he lost his job = loser.
Kick 'em while they're down why don't you. I haven't heard of anything this low since a company I worked for laid some people off and then tried to force a couple of them to repay grad school tuition the company had reimbursed them for.
Hmmm.... I think many thought it was a gift, not company property.
Everyone who is still working there should immediately return them so they don't remain liable for equipment they don't actually need.
This company will get such bad PR that it would have been better to just let the 35 that they hired, after their most profitable year, keep their iPods as a going-away gift. Their HR staff needs to be fired, too.
Correction: " the 35 that they fired" Sorry...more coffee, please.
The WSJ spent a fair amount of time on the tax issue. That seems relevant to this ipod case. If the company filed paperwork declaring that the ipods were compensation paid to the employees, then the employees will pay a tax on their $300 gift. On the other hand, if no tax paperwork was filed, then the ipods were not given to the employees.
I don't see much gray area. It is or it isn't.
Aside from the obvious issue, I wonder why they chose IPods. They have a very bazaar interface, and are a bit unwieldy to interface with a PC for more typical storage functions.
Plus, they don't come with a manual!
"Additional layoffs may be annonced soon."
CEO will probably end up in jail too.
"They were not a gift," company spokeswoman LuAnn Jenkins said Friday. Jenkins said she didn't know whether the company ever intended for the workers to keep the iPods.
- i.e. Many a Company = Loser
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