Thread regarding Hy-Vee layoffs

In late November Hy-Vee announced it wanted to hire 10,000 new employees. Overstaffing the stores with part-time help will facilitate laying off full-timers when covid calms down.

The Hyvee store I have worked at for 7 years has started to show it's "second wave" of job cuts. I was surprised to see they were offering Part Time benefits, I have worked more close to 40 hours a week and never been hired to full-time at any point all these years working for this store. During when the Covid started and the store was letting go "fired" people, we lost 6 employees in our department. My job load increased 3 fold...I was working 11 hours with only 1 break, the department manager made cuts and stopped ordering supplies for our department, we don't have sometimes enough gloves for everyone, and we have pumping issues they won't fix. I was told the other day when I asked about a co-worker I hadn't see for a few days (thought she was sick maybe) the department manager told me...she had to take some time off because she went over her hours and they would have to "FIRE HER" ...wait!!! WHAT??? Yes, now HyVee can fired you if you are working more that your scheduled hours...so if you are a Part Time worker and you go over your hours instead of Hyvee hiring you full time, they have to " Fire" you or you have to take some time off. so...if I was working 40 hours a week for 3 or 4 weeks in a row...I will have my hours cut down to under 30 hours a week...and if that doesn't stay under 30...they can fire me??? Yep...even us hard worker.

The federal minimum wage increases to $15 an hour in 2025. The way this business has built it's infrastructure won't be able to sustain these changes. They have always prided themselves on paying employees above miminum wage. Can you imagine checkers making $17 an hour? It's no surprise they brought in self checkout lanes. My speculations is that they are scrambling to fix a broken business model.

HyVee wont be having a second wave of layoffs until this covid thing is over. Once their is a vaccination HyVee will start it’s way back down the drain. Randy will then freak out on everyone asking why profits are down and blame it on you. They will start firing again. If Randy think this record quarter is his doing he is wrong. HyVee just hit the jackpot with covid 19.

Thank you for the heads-up, but i would like to respectfully reply here that this probably is not “news” at this point. Although your worry and concern may be well-founded if you are still considered a full-time employee with benefits who fears the job cuts are not over.

In the “first wave” of the job cuts in March those who lost their full-time jobs completely or were forced to sudden part-tIme status also lost ALL of their benefits effective that day. That includes insurance, vacation, seniority, etc. It is my understanding that any vacation hours accrued at that time were paid out to the employee.

As for insurance, the law requires that COBRA coverage be offered for a period of 90 days. If you accepted that offer to remain a part of HyVee’s group plan at that time you would still have insurance coverage, but you would be personally responsible for paying the premium. If you completely lost a full-time position i would assume you would be billed by mail, if still working part-time those premiums were deducted right off the top of an already painfully small paycheck. It was understood that you would automatically be dropped from coverage once the 90 days had passed or you quit paying the premiums, whichever came first.

I know a couple employees who were cut from full-time to part-time status in the “first wave”. They have reported that their COBRA coverage ended somewhere around the end of June and they had to find coverage on their own.

Something to consider; the employees caught in the “first wave” had COBRA coverage from roughly March to June.

IF there are to be further workforce cuts making good on the expressed intention to reduce HyVee’s responsibility to provide health insurance, then count roughly 3 months out from the date of the commencement of the feared “second wave”. Depending on if/when that happens, HyVee would very likely be making good on the information you have received. Either way, whether it be the end of the “fiscal” year as you guessed or the actual calendar year - they will achieve their goal.

I pray for the sake of you and your family and everyone else that there will be no “second wave” of job cuts. Its hard enough to watch the wreckage the “first wave” has left behind. Nobody deserves this. Nobody. Take care of each other.