Show some love for Sears (1 Viewer)

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I was reading a post about Sears taking care of it's military reserve employees. It was one of those chain email types and I had my doubts. But it is accurate and Sears just earned a little more of my business. Seems that if an employee is called up for duty, Sears will cover any shortfall in pay and continue all their benefits for two years.

Went to snopes.com to verify...

http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/sears.asp

http://www.searsholdings.com/communityrelations/hero/military.htm

I have shopped from time to time at Sears and can not say I loved it. Can't say I hated it. It seems to be so completely uneventful that I hardly ever even think about going there. They definitely moved up on list of stores to shop at.

I will also express to the employees I come across there that I am shopping there because of their policies. In this day and age of cut throat/profit rules, it is nice to see good American companies taking care of employees.

On a side note, I wonder if Sear's sales would improve if they went back to sending out their big catalogs again. I know in this day in age where everything is online, sometimes having that paper catalog is the best method of finding things.
 
Yes! Automotive Tech 3 right here!! Support Sears and let me work on your vehicle if you are near the Bluebonnet location in Baton Rouge lol.
 
Sears. A wholely owned subsidiary of K-mart.......



Still, it's nice to see them take care of those that take care of us, you know?
 
How much LEGALLY does a company have to do for reserve employees? As far as I know the employees job must be held open if the employee is called up. Is there anything else?

Is the salary difference Sears cover the gross or net salary - deployed troops are tax exempt right?

Don't take this the wrong way - I just don't know. It does strike me as something of an ad campaign without the expense. For the record I apologise unreservedly in advance to Sears if I am being my usual cynical self
 
I was reading a post about Sears taking care of it's military reserve employees. It was one of those chain email types and I had my doubts. But it is accurate and Sears just earned a little more of my business. Seems that if an employee is called up for duty, Sears will cover any shortfall in pay and continue all their benefits for two years.

They go out of their way for customers too. I had a Sears credit card (MC) and a store card. SCRA forces companies to drop credit rates to 6% if the servicemember loses pay during a deployment. That's only effective on purchases made BEFORE deploying.

Sears goes a little further. They drop all interest rates to zero, regardless of whether there's a drop in pay, and allows that interest rate even on purchases made during the deployment.

Seems like a small gesture, but it helped me pay some stuff off on my last deployment. I'll always have that card, even if just for emergencies.
 
I'm a fan of Sears.

Their Craftsman lifetime warranty is outstanding and they honor it.
 
How much LEGALLY does a company have to do for reserve employees? As far as I know the employees job must be held open if the employee is called up. Is there anything else?

Is the salary difference Sears cover the gross or net salary - deployed troops are tax exempt right?

Don't take this the wrong way - I just don't know. It does strike me as something of an ad campaign without the expense. For the record I apologise unreservedly in advance to Sears if I am being my usual cynical self

The employer must only offer the employee his job back when he returns. And all seniority continues as if he didn't leave. That's pretty much all the requirements.

Most servicemembers do not lose money on deployment, they make a good bit more. I'd say that would apply to most Sears employees (unless you're a store manager or something). And most companies that do this ask for LES's to verify, so they probably base it on gross. So yeah, the cost is probably pretty low.

That said, VERY VERY few companies do this, and Sears is the only "big" company or chain that I've personally heard of who does it.
 
Very nice. For many employees, it may not make a difference as their military pay may actually be more (considering what retail pays). However, this is definitely going above and beyond what is required and it is good to see.

A lot of employers give lipservice to supporting the troops, until it actually turns out to require some sacrifice on their part. I recall interviewing for positions after the first Gulf War. Potential employers were all too happy to slap you on the back, ask for war stories, but then turn around and ask, "so would you still have to be out 2 weeks during the summer?"
 
The employer must only offer the employee his job back when he returns. And all seniority continues as if he didn't leave. That's pretty much all the requirements.

Most servicemembers do not lose money on deployment, they make a good bit more. I'd say that would apply to most Sears employees (unless you're a store manager or something). And most companies that do this ask for LES's to verify, so they probably base it on gross. So yeah, the cost is probably pretty low.

That said, VERY VERY few companies do this, and Sears is the only "big" company or chain that I've personally heard of who does it.



The neat thing is that I never heard Sears advertise this in a cheesy effort to get more customers.
 

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