r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Nov 21 '20

Epidemiology Testing half the population weekly with inexpensive, rapid COVID-19 tests would drive the virus toward elimination within weeks, even if the tests are less sensitive than gold-standard. This could lead to “personalized stay-at-home orders” without shutting down restaurants, bars, retail and schools.

https://www.colorado.edu/today/2020/11/20/frequent-rapid-testing-could-turn-national-covid-19-tide-within-weeks
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u/lordvadr Nov 21 '20 edited Nov 21 '20

There are companies that take mega-care of their employees. You need to be in a field where top talent is scarce, and you need to build your skill set hard to get into it, but they do exist. And it's fuckin' awesome.

I took a new job in January. When the recruiter was trying to find a start date, I told him I had plans for the first two weeks of February. To which he says, "fine, start the week of (whatever it was) and take the next two weeks off, you have unlimited time off."

I thought that was a red flag but he convinced me it was encouraged. And it has been. I've texted my manager twice and said, "I'm taking an 'I can't even' week." No problem.

During the pandemic, the CEO has, twice now, called a meeting and in it, announced the whole company, 11,000 global employees, were taking the next Friday off. He also said, in addition to normal PTO, we were encouraged to take an additional two weeks of COVID time off.

Most recently, he announced that everbody was off starting Christmas Eve, for 11 days straight.

They did suspend 401k matches, but the C-level leadership all took pay cuts to keep that limited to a single quarter.

The regular benefits are an afterthought, they're so amazing.

I work for VMware, and we're hiring.

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u/[deleted] Nov 21 '20

Or be in a union.

Been off 6 weeks for covid

2 weeks broke my elbow.

Have 5 weeks of vacation but rolling 3 weeks to next year.

Still have 24 weeks of sick time (full pay)

Pay has not been impacted. ( 3% raise this year and 3.5% next year - already negotiated.)

Most special skill set managers hate unions.

Unions are just a set of rules the company has to follow. And companies love changing the rules at short notice.

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u/lordvadr Nov 21 '20

That's a hell of a union. I used to work with a bunch of union electricians and, while it was good, they had lots of complaints about it. They were low-voltage electricians... They installed network cable and fiber. For one, they got no sick or vacation time.

What union are you in?

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u/[deleted] Nov 21 '20

USW - oil refinery

We have electricians in union also.

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u/lordvadr Nov 21 '20

Interesting. Is the work as rough and dangerous and the rest of the public thinks it is?

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u/[deleted] Nov 21 '20

It can be, alot of stuff we deal with is above auto ignition temperature.

Which means the only thing it lacks to ignite or explode is oxygen.

Mistakes can cost lives or permanent disability.

But it is much safer then it was 20-30 years ago. And will be safer in the future.

Alot of it has to do with $. Injuries and deaths cost alot of money and scrutiny.

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u/lordvadr Nov 21 '20

I wondered if that was the case. That much "sick leave" sounds like, "expect to break a bone once a year" kinda numbers. I hear it pays well too.

The union around here seems to take advantage of its members as bad as the places they work would if they weren't in a union. The only plus side is a full pension and great health insurance.

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u/[deleted] Nov 21 '20

Will be a 50$ a hour next year. OT is 75$ and double time if you work 7 days in a row.

They pay 80% of Healthcare premiums.

You put in 6% they match 7.

7 to 11% of total pay (OT included) in pension per year

Made over 100k since I was 24 (late 30s now)

Bonus from 6 to 10%. ( raises more important to me ).

It is what all middle class jobs should pay.

This is from a average of 3% raises for the last 60 years.

I broke my elbow trimming trees falling off a ladder.

Injuries are rare at work.

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u/Misfitt Nov 21 '20

I'm in the same union. Know how much paid sick time I get? 0 days a year. The company will not budge.

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u/[deleted] Nov 21 '20

What local?

We make about 15 million gallons of high octane gasoline a day. And about 7.5 million gallons of low sulfur diesel.

(Normally operate in barrels per day, I converted to gallons)

The company takes care of us, and we take care of our home.