Archived Pay discussions on TBR

[IWishIKnew]

Because I'm a giant nerd, this post from HRZone another thread caught my attention:

I was warned about posting the pay info when they announced the raises.

I'd be curious to hear their logic behind this, as federal law protects the rights of employees to discuss pay--employers can't stop employees from discussing pay.

On the one hand, this site isn't exactly employees discussing their pay rates, but on the other hand, it is (mostly) employees discussing pay rates and seems to hold very much within the spirit of the laws around workers rights and organization, etc.

Not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV, which is a bummer, because I'd love to hear a lawyer's take on this. Target can't be the only company that has a similar online forum, and at some point the legal system may be formally involved to define what sort of employee protections might spill over into this type of medium.

 

[commiecorvus]

It wasn't about discussing the pay, it was about posting Spot info on the site.
We have to be careful when it comes down to things like pictures of things they consider confidential information or they will send their lawyers after us again.
Sometimes we will ere on the side of caution especially if it is something major like their new pay policies.
Policy on flat stacking, not so much.
You guys are amazing about getting this info out so far ahead of the ETLs/STLs that sometimes it draws some serious fire to the site.
We just have to be careful.

But yes, you guys can talk about your pay until the cows come home.

 

[IWishIKnew]

Ah, ok, pictures. That I can see, though it's still kinda ticky-tacky, as I can post a pic of the policy or transcribe or post the main points and it amounts to the same thing.

I can also see them being salty about stuff being posted here before it's made its way down to the TL level or been made public. Particularly if there's anything that could get them into trouble with the SEC or other regulators.

 

[JohnSith373]

We have to be careful when it comes down to things like pictures of things they consider confidential information or they will send their lawyers after us again.
We just have to be careful.

How many times have Target come after this website? Aside from posting pictures of target material, nothing is per-se illegal according to the law. They can’t really take down this website, can they?

 

[NPC]

Earlier this year, they had everyone sign those confidentiality/etiquette on social media things. The papers called it "social media" but I wondered of it was in to reference to this site.

 

[NPC]

Ah, ok, pictures. That I can see, though it's still kinda ticky-tacky, as I can post a pic of the policy or transcribe or post the main points and it amounts to the same thing.

I can also see them being salty about stuff being posted here before it's made its way down to the TL level or been made public. Particularly if there's anything that could get them into trouble with the SEC or other regulators.

What I really want to know, is what does corporate think of our "off the clock" section. Lmao.

 

[JohnSith373]

Earlier this year, they had everyone sign those confidentiality/etiquette on social media things. The papers called it "social media" but I wondered of it was in to reference to this site.

At my orientation, I don’t think we signed a social media paper. I recall confidentially of Target information and any inventions I may create a target, belong to Target.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

You did see some social media/information sheet. Spot made certain that all tm/tl’s signed after reading it, at my store.
The site has been shut down, at least twice by spot.

 

[signingminion]

At my orientation, I don’t think we signed a social media paper. I recall confidentially of Target information and any inventions I may create a target, belong to Target.

information policy is what they called it last maybe? You definitely signed one. Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, forums. Its all places where idiots share privileged info and images we get paid dearly to keep secret.

 

[IWishIKnew]

Mine talks about "non-public information" but doesn't specifically mention the internet/social media, etc.

 

[can't touch this]

If I had access to confidential Target info I would be scared shitless of sharing it here, even with all the seemingly identifying details blacked out. What if they start slipping canary traps into their internal documents/emails/whatever that they can use to identify you? Some other companies do this all the time...send a bunch of ever-so-slightly different versions of the same email to different people and see which one pops up in the wild. "Oh isn't this strange," says corporate, "We sent a mass email to all STLs saying we're cutting 999,999,999,999 hours starting January, but we sent only ONE saying we're cutting 999,999,999,995.25....to HRZone!" and then the trapdoor opens and down he plunges into a yawning abyss...just BOLO for any corporate hijinks friendo

 

[HRZone]

Not afraid of corp. I don't have the balls to post my face here like kartman but I post a lot of conflicting information intentionally to keep them off my trail

 

[redeye58]

How many times have Target come after this website? Aside from posting pictures of target material, nothing is per-se illegal according to the law. They can’t really take down this website, can they?

They sued the founder, Scram, during the early years. He paid a fine & began a self-policing policy that the mods have continued to this day.
Later we were shut down while corp tried to subpoena info but Formina Sage successfully blocked that so mods do their best to keep company proprietary info to a minimum & we encourage folks to keep things anonymous so as not to invite trouble.

 

[HRZone]

They sued the founder, Scram, during the early years. He paid a fine & began a self-policing policy that the mods have continued to this day.
Later we were shut down while corp tried to subpoena info but Formina Sage successfully blocked that so mods do their best to keep company proprietary info to a minimum & we encourage folks to keep things anonymous so as not to invite trouble.

Self policing how so? Was the site a lot different back then?

 

[redeye58]

IIRC, people posted whatever they had copies of (not so many screenshots back then) without regard to company confidentiality.
Nowadays, mods will post reminders about posting info/screenshots of info that may be deemed sensitive.
Used to include specifics like leadership interview questions, AP info, etc.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Then the server shuts down for a few days & TBR withdraws begin.
Thanks FS, for your hard work.

 

[can't touch this]

How many times have Target come after this website? Aside from posting pictures of target material, nothing is per-se illegal according to the law. They can’t really take down this website, can they?

Not illegal but corporations tend to see themselves as autonomous governments in their own right and their own arbitrary policies superseding civil law. The very fact that someone literally had to pay a fine of real money at the behest of a court for making a corporation mad is "America.txt"

 

[NPC]

I can't imagine what exactly could be so confidential that wouldn't just be personal TM information. Like, what company info do we have that's really THAT confidential? Are they afraid we'll just make Target look bad?

 

[IWishIKnew]

Are they afraid we'll just make Target look bad?

Probably, and the people trying to shut the place down not being familiar with the Streisand Effect. Relatively few people know about this place, but a particularly thuggish attempt to shut it down could go viral and not only do the discussions here become much more public but then Target looks even worse for trying to shut it down.

 

[Bosch]

Why when posting good shit do it from a burner account. Always have a burner account.

 

[signingminion]

I can't imagine what exactly could be so confidential that wouldn't just be personal TM information. Like, what company info do we have that's really THAT confidential? Are they afraid we'll just make Target look bad?

the most guarded secrets in business are things like how the backroom is setup, how the line is run, how the register works, etc. Its the reason you can't take photos inside McDs. Their grill and prep table setup is a valuable secret (not that is not provably out there these days) to how they can make a cheeseburger in 45 sec. Target policies, setups, etc are the same way. Its the real business essentially.

 

[Kartman]

It's importants info.

 

[NPC]

the most guarded secrets in business are things like how the backroom is setup, how the line is run, how the register works, etc. Its the reason you can't take photos inside McDs. Their grill and prep table setup is a valuable secret (not that is not provably out there these days) to how they can make a cheeseburger in 45 sec. Target policies, setups, etc are the same way. Its the real business essentially.

I bet it's more about not being able to control what people decide to show, like dirty or unsafe working conditions.

 

[IWishIKnew]

Dirty or unsafe might be covered under whistleblower protections, though, whereas pages from corporate policies or manuals or stuff about team members or guests would be a different deal. Similar I could see for, say, how the freight line is setup. If Target thinks it has something in that setup & process that provides a competitive advantage then it can fall into trade secrets category or similar and they wouldn't want that all made public, necessarily (just an example). And anything that gets near financials or SOX compliance or something is going to be seriously (and legitimately) policed as anytime you risk crossing the SEC or something that's a big deal.

 

[SFSFun]

What if they start slipping canary traps into their internal documents/emails/whatever that they can use to identify you?

This is Target, not the NSA...