how much was the amount from the govt? does anyone know?
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If there was a loan(s), can someone provide some proof of it?
Yeah Follett got denied on their attempt to get a bailout loan from the government. Now they are kicking everyone at the store level out of the bonus program, and making it execs only to keep the money with them. Jen Hatton sold everyone out years ago for her own promotion.
The PPP forgivable loan does indeed require a min of 75% to be used on payroll (it can be used on lease/rent payments and utilities as well) but the important criteria for forgiveness is the comparison to the baseline headcount AND payroll. You can't just pay VPs to reach the 75%, you must also have the headcount as compared to the base period of Jan to March or last year's 8 week period corresponding to the 8 week PPP period. Furthermore even if a company received the loan in the initial funding they must retain those employees thru June 30th even if the 8 week period was mid April to mid June for example.
That all said there are also interest free/very low interest rate government backed loans that companies can apply for (cheaper than bank rate plus bank may not lend it otherwise). These are due 18+ months later. This also provides liquidity.
I don't believe Follett has gotten any loans. Certainly they haven't satisfied any PPP forgiveness requirements. It seems they are clueless.
Furlough is different than lay-off. I’m an ex Follett person who was furloughed from new job. My company got the PPP loan. They are holding our jobs, and paying our health insurance just like before.
If they lay you off, then you are no longer able to get health insurance thru company - you’re done. If you’re furloughed, you will be called back (theoretically with Follett....).
Since Follett has less than 500 per location (even the Ivory Towers), then they would qualify for the loan. Loan is forgiven as long as 75% is used for payroll expenses. So if you have people working from home (like VPs), that takes up a lot of the 75%. Plus there are still people working in stores to fulfill orders.
No matter what, this is a BAD company to work for. Good luck, because it doesn’t seem this model is sustainable with no students on campus, no games, no graduations, no parents weekends, etc.
I don’t know how you guys are so confident they did not receive a loan.
Plenty of large companies applied for and received loans on the basis that they have less than 500 per location.
I also do not think furloughing and laying people off is a sign they did not get a loan. It just means that if they did get a loan that they will not qualify for loan forgiveness?
They received nothing - that is why the pay cuts and furlough happened.
Dido
If you're asking how much money did the company receive in assistance from the governemnt, the answer is likely zero. As a private company with a large number of employees, I can't think of any federal assistance that the company would qualify for. Do your research before hurling accusations.