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[Bill Kessinger]

I'm curious if anyone in an A2 type position that works in a venue or roadhouse is employed with benefits?  Is it standard in the industry to offer benefits for this type of position?

About me:  I'm head of audio in a 2,000 seat performing arts center.  Currently, my A2 is paid hourly with no benefits, but works pretty much full time 9-11 months out of the year.  I'm trying to justify making this a 12 month position with benefits. 

Any info would be appreciated. 

Thanks,
Bill     

[Justice C. Bigler]

Well, I'm head of audio at a multi room facility (four theatres, and a banquet hall) ranging in size from 2,400 seats to 96 seats. All of our staff are full time with benefits, except for some of the ticket office people who are part time. We sub out our stage hands, ushers and catering. We have three house theatre technicians (supposed to be four, but one was a casualty of the economic down turn). We are part of the City organization, so our benefits are the same as everyone else in the City.

If you have enough work for a full time A2, then the justification is right there. If that position is full time, then it will probably require benefits, since I believe that U.S. Labor Law (assuming you are in the U.S.) requires benefits for all full time permanent staff members--though I'm sure there are exemptions for small businesses.

[Benjamin Krumholz]

Are you the one cutting the checks? As my boss puts it, " The healthcare check has to go out no matter what." Of course its better to offer your employee benefits but can you afford it?
I am and A2/ System Tech and a W2 employee with FULL benefits. 

I'm curious if anyone in an A2 type position that works in a venue or roadhouse is employed with benefits?  Is it standard in the industry to offer benefits for this type of position?

About me:  I'm head of audio in a 2,000 seat performing arts center.  Currently, my A2 is paid hourly with no benefits, but works pretty much full time 9-11 months out of the year.  I'm trying to justify making this a 12 month position with benefits. 

Any info would be appreciated. 

Thanks,
Bill   

[Steve Hurt]

since I believe that U.S. Labor Law (assuming you are in the U.S.) requires benefits for all full time permanent staff members--though I'm sure there are exemptions for small businesses.

Things like FMLA, and non discriminatory behavior are required by law, but what is normally called benefits (vacation, insurance,  holiday pay, etc) are not required by federal law.

You do have to treat all employees within a class the same.  (Examples of classes: Salaried supervisors.  Full time hourly employees. Part time hourly employees, etc.)
So, if some salaried supervisors are given insurance, all salaried supervisors must be given insurance.

I'm not advocating not offering employees benefits, but what a lot of people think is required by law is way off base.
Obviously, if one wants good employees, you have to offer them a decent package.  Just pointing out that it is not required by federal law.

[Bill Kessinger]

Maybe I should have mentioned that my venue is attached to a major state university in VA.  I usually try to avoid using the university tag, because everyone immediately assumes we're a student run facility, which is not the case. 

Currently, our three department heads (audio, electrics, carpentry) are classified state employees with benefits and all have assistants that are hourly wage employees.  The wage employees are at will, meaning they can be terminated at anytime and have no guarantee of employment for a particular term.  The trick is getting three new classified positions created in order for our assistants to be full time with benefits and have the protection of the Commonwealth.

Bill   

[Adam Wh3tham]

Maybe I should have mentioned that my venue is attached to a major state university in VA.  I usually try to avoid using the university tag, because everyone immediately assumes we're a student run facility, which is not the case. 

Currently, our three department heads (audio, electrics, carpentry) are classified state employees with benefits and all have assistants that are hourly wage employees.  The wage employees are at will, meaning they can be terminated at anytime and have no guarantee of employment for a particular term.  The trick is getting three new classified positions created in order for our assistants to be full time with benefits and have the protection of the Commonwealth.

Bill

That would be a mess for that. If its anything like the university here then you would have to create a job description, submit it to HR. HR would go over it and make stupid requirements that had nothing to do with the original job description. They would then have to put it up on the HR site of job openings for the required listing, Then hope your current A2 meets all the silly HR requirements they just invented, along with a sufficient cover leter.

Then you might get to interview them and other people that applied for the same position...

I wish your A2 luck. The local university has theirs full time with benifits also, and went through this same thing I just described.

[Bill Kessinger]

I am quite familiar with the hiring process of a classified position within a university.  My objective for this post was to find out if it was normal or out of the question in this industry for an assistant, A2 type position to carry benefits with employment.  Sounds like it is the norm, which provides more fuel to my fire.   

[Justice C. Bigler]

Frankly, I think if the new positions are full time and employees of the University as the department heads are now, then you are probably going to be paying benefits, since pretty much every University organization that I know of gives all of their people benefits. Even the grounds keepers and cafeteria employees at the school that I attended had full benefits, including tuition waivers for their dependents. Part-timers and short term contracts, work study etc... are obviously different matters.

It doesn't sound like it would be that much of an uphill battle to get benefits included. The hard part obviously, is to justify the funding priorities to include one or more new full time salaried positions.

[Bill Kessinger]

 

It doesn't sound like it would be that much of an uphill battle to get benefits included. The hard part obviously, is to justify the funding priorities to include one or more new full time salaried positions.

Thats the kicker.  Everyone involved is not opposed to offering benefits.  It, like most things, comes down to funding.  In my organization it's been discussed over the years, but other priorities have taken precedence.  My current situation is that my A2 has decided to move on, so this conversation has come up again.  Obviously, it would be much easier to fill this position if we could offer a little more. 

[Paul Dershem]

I'm an adjunct professor at a California college (where adjuncts receive no benefits). We've been cutting positions and hours at all levels since the recession hit. Providing benefits cost money; there are likely to be several administrative and budgetary edicts in place governing wages, benefits, staffing guidelines, etc. Sometimes, people only find out which guidelines are in effect when they submit the paperwork and find out why it was rejected. 

The HR director can outline legal requirements, job descriptions, and hiring practices. The first hurdle is usually the department chair. Start there.

If you want to do your homework before meeting with the department chair, obtain the written job description for the A2 position, and find out which guidelines govern the existing position.

The institution's written guidelines pertaining to payroll classifications, budgetary guidelines, collective bargaining agreement(s), etc. can help you predict which rules a full-time A2 job description would have to satisfy.  A competent HR director or department head will know the rules by heart, and can provide documentation to support their positions.

Good luck!

[Bill Kessinger]

I appreciate everyone chiming in on this.  I'm very well versed in the HR protocol of hiring and creating new positions.  Thats not the issue I'm dealing with.  The issue is that it appears that similar organizations are offering benefits for A2 type positions, so in order to keep competitive in this industry my organization needs to as well.   

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