Karps TA
01-15-2010, 10:13 AM
Briggs & Stratton Corp. said Friday it would reimburse salaried employees 75% of wages lost during a temporary wage reduction from July 1 through Dec. 31, 2009.
A decision on the remaining 25% will come in the spring, Briggs said Friday.
In mid-2009, the Wauwatosa-based company implemented a 10% pay reduction for all of its domestic salaried employees and also suspended 401(k) contributions.
"We had some difficult decisions to make during the recession and our employees really pulled together as a team to help the company," Todd Teske, president and CEO said in a statement.
"While there is still a lot of uncertainty with the economy, we are in a position to pay back our employees for a portion of their lost salaries."
Briggs, a lawn-and-garden equipment manufacturer, will wait until the spring selling season before making further decisions on reimbursing salaried employees for wage cuts.
"We will try very hard to make that happen," Teske said, adding that only after all salaried employees are reimbursed 100% will officers and key executives become eligible for reimbursement.
Teske has been president and chief executive officer since Jan. 1, replacing John Shiely, who retired after 23 years at Briggs.
"During this fiscal year, we have had to make some difficult decisions. I really appreciated the way our employees pulled together to not only help us through these difficult times, but also make us a stronger enterprise for the long-term," he said.
We got our pay and merit increases back starting January 1st. I'm not sure how many companies work to reimburse the employees for the paycuts they took.
Had Briggs still been a big union shop, it would have been interesting to see how things would have played out.
A decision on the remaining 25% will come in the spring, Briggs said Friday.
In mid-2009, the Wauwatosa-based company implemented a 10% pay reduction for all of its domestic salaried employees and also suspended 401(k) contributions.
"We had some difficult decisions to make during the recession and our employees really pulled together as a team to help the company," Todd Teske, president and CEO said in a statement.
"While there is still a lot of uncertainty with the economy, we are in a position to pay back our employees for a portion of their lost salaries."
Briggs, a lawn-and-garden equipment manufacturer, will wait until the spring selling season before making further decisions on reimbursing salaried employees for wage cuts.
"We will try very hard to make that happen," Teske said, adding that only after all salaried employees are reimbursed 100% will officers and key executives become eligible for reimbursement.
Teske has been president and chief executive officer since Jan. 1, replacing John Shiely, who retired after 23 years at Briggs.
"During this fiscal year, we have had to make some difficult decisions. I really appreciated the way our employees pulled together to not only help us through these difficult times, but also make us a stronger enterprise for the long-term," he said.
We got our pay and merit increases back starting January 1st. I'm not sure how many companies work to reimburse the employees for the paycuts they took.
Had Briggs still been a big union shop, it would have been interesting to see how things would have played out.