benefits
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Apple to offer paid parental leave and more sick days to retail employees
The expanded benefits package will apply to both part-time and full-time retail employees.
Google displays unemployment benefit details based on your state
The search engine will display official guidance on claiming benefits by state.
Instacart workers will strike over lack of COVID-19 protections
Fed up with the company's response to the coronavirus, Instacart workers announced today that they'll go on strike beginning Monday. They will not return to work until their demands are met, Instacart Shoppers and the Gig Workers Collective wrote in a blog post. Their dissent is not uncommon. It's reflective of growing dissatisfaction among employees, especially gig workers, who must continue working in public settings while corporate employees work from the safety of their homes.
Amazon-owned Whole Foods cuts medical benefits for part-time workers
Not all is well with Whole Foods in the Amazon era. The grocery chain has confirmed to Business Insider that it's cutting medical benefits for part-time staff who work a minimum of 20 hours per week. A spokesperson said Whole Foods was dropping the benefits as part of a move to a single part-time work structure that "better meet the needs of our business and create a more equitable and efficient scheduling model." The change takes effect January 1st, 2020, and is expected to affect roughly 1,900 workers, or just short of 2 percent of the total workforce.
Facebook increases pay for contractors and content moderators
It's no secret that Facebook depends on contract laborers, who do everything from moderate content to help train AI. But the work those contractors do is often anxiety-inducing and under-paid. In response to an exposé by The Verge earlier this year, Facebook said it would improve moderator job conditions. Now, the company says it will increase contractors' pay and offer additional benefits to content moderators.
Uber covers illness and parental leave for European drivers
Uber and its drivers have been embroiled in a tug-of-war for years over stronger rights for the people ferrying passengers and food around for the company. Drivers want more protections and rights, while Uber has been reluctant to offer benefits. But Uber and Uber Eats contractors in Europe now have a little more security: Uber just rolled out a Partner Protection insurance plan, which replaces a previous insurance plan for Eats couriers.
Sony Online Entertainment changes benefits for subscriptions
It's a fairly common model for free-to-play games that offer a subscription -- subscribers get an allowance of cash-shop currency in addition to other benefits. It's how Sony Online Entertainment's games have worked for as long as they've had the model. But EverQuest II and PlanetSide 2 subscribers are seeing a new version of subscriber benefits, one that removes the usual Station Cash allowance and replaces it with an item worth the equivalent amount or more. Every month, players are given a choice between one of several items worth up to 2000 Station Cash. This item must be selected on a monthly basis, as benefits do not carry over from month to month. While the net amount of rewards should be functionally identical, it will mean fewer options about what you acquire on a monthly basis, especially as Player Studio items are listed as exclusions from the list. If you're unhappy with the change, you've got time to say so, as the change is not going into effect until February 3rd. [Thanks to Balsbigbrother for the tip!]
Collect all the things in Star Wars: The Old Republic's 2.1 patch
The downside of picking up some special items and drops in Star Wars: The Old Republic is that a lot of them are limited. Sure, you might be able to buy Revan's Mask, but you have to decide which of your characters will get to wear it. But that's changing in patch 2.1. A recent interview sheds more light on the upcoming Collections system, which will allow you to unlock items you have obtained on one character for repeated access. Once you've obtained an item on a character, that item will be marked in your collection, allowing you to recreate that item for that character. Pay a few Cartel Coins and that item unlocks for every character in your account, including characters on other servers. The system will include mounts, armors, and pets, with more room for special promotions and the like in the future. So now you don't have to worry about who gets the special mount -- everyone can get the benefit.
Apple gives employees 50 GB of iCloud storage
There's a new benefit to working for Apple -- according to a post by MacRumors blogger Jordan Golson, the company now gives all employees a free 50 GB upgrade to their iCloud storage. Free online storage isn't anything new; the company used to give employees a free MobileMe subscription to use. Since the standard free iCloud account only provides about 5 GB of storage, the 50 GB of storage is a nice benefit worth $100 annually. Other fun things that Apple employees can smile about while being overworked and underpaid include recently-added discounts of $500 off on a new Mac (except the Mac mini), or $250 for an iPad.
EVE Evolved: Corporate benefits and new players
In a recent article, I explored the effect that power players have on EVE Online's subscription retention. In particular, I suggested that CCP has stopped developing features with EVE's power players in mind and that this could be the cause of a worrying downward trend in new player retention. It's the responsibility of corp leaders and organisers to give players a place in EVE, to provide them with something to do and to instill them with the ambition to continue playing in the long term. I believe that CCP has let those organisers and leaders down by failing to provide the updated tools necessary to give players a purposeful place in the universe or give them a good start to the game. A similar issue I've touched on before is the importance of corporate goals in EVE. I've always been amazed at the willingness of EVE players to donate their time and effort to achieve a collective goal rather than a personal one. People are far more likely to join a corporate mining op, for example, if the proceeds will be donated to the corp funds or the minerals will be used in a corp production scheme. Similarly, I've found players to be much more enthusiastic about a mission night or wormhole op if the intent is to fund the production of a corp capital ship or the purchase of starbase fuel. With CCP's summer focus aimed at helping new players get into good corporations, this week's opinion-filled EVE Evolved examines some of the developments necessary to make that goal possible.
How to turn an 8-track into a speaker dock
I'm a fan of both silly iPod docks and re-purposing old tech gear, so this how-to at Unpluggd hit me in just the right spot. It's really more of a hack than a how-to -- the guy fixed his 8-track player just by replacing a corroded belt, and then used a cassette adapter to connect the 8-track to his iPod's audio output. But it does sound like a fun Saturday project, taking apart an old player, and the retro design of the thing is probably worth keeping around anyway. The sound quality, as he says, is "interesting," too. But there are probably benefits -- disco just doesn't sound the same through a crystal clear set of speakers playing a digital file as it does going through the dusty old 8-track wires. The funkiness works, in this case. [Via Cult of Mac]
Free Realms introduces T-Rex and flying dragon mounts
Traveling in Free Realms just got a whole lot cooler. Today, the team at Sony Online Entertainment dropped a shiny surprise into the cash shop -- mounts! Currently only available for paying members, these new T-Rex and Dragon mounts come in several different colors for players to pick from. When you consider that SOE treated players to some free Station Cash as part of the recent ConnecDING promotions in EverQuest, EverQuest II, and Free Realms, members may even have part (or all) of their mounts paid for already. (Assuming you haven't spent it, anyway!) In any event, we suspect Free Realms will be full of many dinosaurs and dragons soon -- and perhaps some new members itching to pick up their very own mounts. For a complete list of features on these new mounts, keep reading beyond the cut.
Interview: Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Senior Producer Patrick Bach
The Battlefield: Bad Company 2 celebrity bracket challenge was a lonely event for us gamers -- while there were lots of TV stars and NFL players around to talk to, we had to really search the club for someone who actually had some insight on the game for us. But there in the back, among the PR organizers and "Athlete Relations" representatives, we found the game's senior producer Patrick Bach (second from right in the picture above). He may never have starred on a network drama or celebrated on the field after a touchdown, but the guy knows how to make first-person shooters, and that's good enough for us. After the break, hear what he thinks of celebrities playing his game, just how ready DICE is for release, and what kinds of secret plans his team has for DLC.
Cashing in at the Darkmoon Faire
I just posted a little while back that the Darkmoon Faire needed a change, but apparently there's still some benefit to be had over there -- Valdesta of WoWGrrl has found at least one way to keep the Faire interesting. She's been keeping a character over there, apparently, and periodically checking in on what the vendors have. They sell not only little pets and miscellaneous items like the Heavy Leather Ball (which often sell for a tidy profit on the AH, since people aren't always aware that the Faire vendors sell them), but there are also vendors there who sell profession items like herbs, motes, eternals, leathers, and so on.And as anyone who's ever levelled a profession knows, those are often worth their weight in gold, not just on the AH, but in terms of leveling up your own alt professions as well. As Valdesta says, it's worth camping an alt over there just to check in during raiding downtime or on a flight path with your other character, for the same reason you should always check and see just what other vendors around the world might have for sale -- sure, you won't make much with just one buy, but over time, picking up cheap crafting mats from the DF can lead to some solid profits on the AH.
Hands-on with Puggable
We first heard about Vivox's Puggable service back at the Austin Game Developers Conference -- Vivox is a company that runs voice chat for online games, and Puggable is their attempt to target the WoW audience with a quick and easy way to put a group into voice chat. The site is still in a closed beta, but it's slowly opening up, and so as soon as we got a chance to jump in and test the service out, we took it.So what's the verdict? While Puggable's basic mechanics seem to work (by following their instructions, you can get a group into voice chat), the system itself is not quite ready for prime-time. Not only does it have an installation process that most cautious WoW account holders will scoff at (you have to install an Internet Explorer or Firefox addon, and restart your browser to use the service), but the real draw of the system, being able to browse and see player information at a moment's notice, aren't all there quite yet. Read on for our experiences.%Gallery-75677%
Motorola's co-CEOs graciously cut own pay in cost-cutting plan
Motorola was already in the hurt locker well before this latest economic crapstorm went into overdrive, so it stands to reason that pennies are being pinched and belts are being tightened across the board out in Schaumburg. 'Course, all sorts of jobs have already been cut, so what else can you do? For starters, you can trim a few bucks off the salaries of two of the companies' more well-paid individuals -- co-CEOs Greg Brown and Sanjay Jha -- both of whom will "voluntarily" take 25 percent pay cuts in 2009 (don't worry, they'll still be able to make ends meet). Additionally, Brown will skip out on his 2008 bonus while Jha will have his bonus reduced by the total amount of Brown's forfeited bonus, and he'll take the remainder as restricted-sale stock instead of the cold, hard cash that might be a little more valuable than shares of Motorola should the company go south. For employees without seven-figure salaries, they're looking at frozen pension plans and an elimination of the company's match into retirement accounts for '09. Sign of the times, eh?[Thanks, Joe M.]
Working at Blizzard: Sunshine, rainbows, claymores, backrubs
I know what you're thinking! "If anyone could write up a scandalous exposé of what working at Blizzard is really like, it'd be our old pal Mike. I bet he's got the inside scoop of what goes on at Big Blue behind closed doors. I paid for the whole seat but I'll only need the edge."Yeah, well. I'm going to disappoint you here and instead link you to an article from the OC Register, longtime reporter of all news Blizzard given the company's stature in the SoCal business world. They interviewed Blizzard COO Paul Sams about the studio's recent award of "One of the best places to work in Orange County" and why that award was deserved.
Breakfast Topic: When do you start working up a profession?
I'm not entirely sold on leveling trade skills in World of Warcraft. By leveling up professions you can create armor, weapons, and goods that theoretically benefit your character. With a little luck, you can even make some money from your trade. It usually takes a major investment maximize your professions and get the goods that you want. In most cases I prefer to wait until I've reached the level cap to start professions. There are two exceptions to this. Whenever I roll a character on a server that's new to me, I invest in skinning and mining and sell the materials for gold for my mount and equipment. I used to level fishing too. Until Blizzard added the aggressive mobs on the shore of Dustwallow Marsh, I would swim past the Mirefin Murlocs and fish among the turtles for loot that was much higher than my level. I don't usually level anything useful for my class until I've crossed through the Dark Portal.
Rewarding the old timers of WoW
I like Zymm's idea over on the forums-- he suggests that people who have been playing WoW for a while, or just "older" characters, should get some sort of special recognition or title as a WoW "old-schooler." Not just because I am a WoW old-schooler, but because it'd be nice of Blizzard to give out a little recognition for players and characters that have been active and playing for a while. I'm not saying that they should start handing out Epics just for standing around, but a special tabard or title would be kind of nice.And there are other benefits, too. It'd be a quick and easy way of telling who the veterans are in-game-- as in, who should know what they're doing and who might not. Plus, our characters don't actually age, so while gear is some indication of where they're at in progression, it doesn't tell you who's been on for years and who just powerleveled to 70 in the past few months. Some common indicator of age would set a milestone for how long characters and players have been around.Eyonix jokes about "Old School Zymm," but it's a good suggestion-- we should have some way of showing off how long both we and our characters have been around Azeroth.
Thank a Tank (and everyone else) Day
I find it really interesting how class roles, originally created completely by Blizzard, have been given their own flavor by the people who play them. Take a main tank role, for instance-- sometimes it's the raidleader (although it doesn't have to be), but usually it's someone dedicated to the success of the raid, a person who likes getting their hands dirty, is super knowledgeable about both the bosses and their own gear, and both supports and benefits from (in the form of gold for repairs or first choice on equipment) the entire raid. The main tank (just like the top DPSer or the main healer) is a position created partially by Blizzard, and partially by the people who play it.Donaven (quite randomly) calls today "Thank a Tank Day." Unfortunately, he himself is a tank, so the actual proclamation sounds more like whining about being a tank rather than a sincere thanks for a tank who knows what they're doing, but the thought is noble. Instead of just thanking tanks, how about we thank all players who take a role and fill it out to the best of their ability-- who take a job, whether it be grabbing aggro, laying down damage in the right places, or playing the whack-a-mole game of healing, and do it well and without question.For all the QQing about PvP and all the crying about how Arena is unbalanced, the best times I have in this game are in PvE situations, where everyone is working together and doing what they're meant to, all the way until the boss' health reaches zero. The main tank plays a huge part in that, by standing where they need to stand, and laying down sunders when it counts. But when a raid is really working together, everyone does what's needed, and that's when it's really great. I'll thank everyone for that.
