Last year, Ford Motor Co. said it would suspend merit pay increases for salaried workers this year as part of its belt-tightening to get back on track financially.
But lately, some workers have been getting a little financial pick-me-up for pitching in on all the extra work left behind when one-third of the company workforce volunteered for buyouts.
The financial boost has been the talk around the water cooler, as workers have been wondering how some people were selected for what they consider merit pay increases and others were not.
Ford spokeswoman Marcey Evans confirmed that some salaried workers might have received pay increases or lump-sum payments, but she said the compensation is not a merit pay increase.
She also would not divulge the number of recipients, except to say it was “very small.”
“There are no merits being paid,” Evans said.
Ford's Way Forward plan, announced in 2006, aims to restore profits to Ford's North American operations by 2009 by closing 16 plants, eliminating 44,000 workers and strengthening the company's product lineup.
Among the departing workers, about 10,000 are white-collar professionals, such as engineers and accountants.
The payments were a reward, she said, for picking up the slack caused by the exodus of thousands of those workers.
“There is money set aside that can be used throughout the year to recognize somebody who has taken on extra responsibility,” Evans said.
Evans said the extra compensation is available to workers worldwide, and supervisors selected workers who ought to receive the benefit.
“The No. 1 reason is that they took on additional responsibility,” she said.
