Good Place to Work, Bad Place to Get Fired
Pros
Exceptional employee benefits (easy to take for granted, as the majority of people there complained about them, but coming from jobs that offered absolutely no benefits or job security and coming into their no-layoff policy and paid holidays is astounding), tries to achieve a positive atmosphere and offers competitive pay even in the most entry level position. Management seems to be surprisingly professional (at least in this department) and works as hard or harder than their staff under them which is the equivalent of a unicorn in the workplace. However if they did not have these things their company would fall apart. Erie wants to look good on paper as an excellent employer, but they have a long way to go to be the real deal.
Cons
They do not take action to improve workloads and efficiency and they only implement changes that do not take real work but cause annoying extra work that requires you to do something pointless like write the same information two more times, which tacks on an extra two minutes to your day. Each department may be different but from what I saw it looked like they stress busy work to the max to cover up how lazy and/ or understaffed their other departments are. I got hired in during a supposedly busy season but there was so little real work to do that often times by the time another shift got done working there was nothing left to do except twiddle thumbs. However apparently it is better to sit around and talk to coworkers about things like new iPhone upgrades or study for your finals than to go to the bathroom, as I was fired under the reason that I had used too much "personal time" including after and before breaks, which means I took too many bathroom breaks. I mentioned that I am able to provide doctors notes stating I suffer from stomach ulcers that do cause me to frequently go to the bathroom. However I refused to show them as I do not ethically or professionally need to provide reasons why I need to pee, I do not need get paid breaks just to pee, and as it does not change any of my work performance. (Also because I was already fired, so I'm not going to bed for my job.) Additionally while I had no complaints about the professionalism of the management I worked directly under, employees are not able to provide feedback on their supervisors, so in theory a group can get away with years of abuse. In addition, I was escorted off the premises by a security guard when I was informed I was terminated. I understand in large companies that is a common occurrence as people tend to go postal, but I was both embarrassed for myself and the company for their lack of sensitivity. He not only followed me in and out of the building in an uncomfortable and threatening manner, but he stood outside my car to reclaim their $1 parking sticker, and as I made calls upset to explain the situation to people and expressed my financial concerns, he tapped his watch and made motions that I needed to leave immediately as if I had made threats or been fired for something insane. In addition I now have to wait for permission to have my desk items sent to me. Again, something common in jobs so people do not steal computers and large office items. But do you really need to hold onto 10 pens, a picture of my family and a notepad? Cold move. And unrelated to the job itself, but worth mentioning. This business prides itself on "customer satisfaction" but can not offer even an adjuster to confirm coverage outside of "normal business hours" for long term policyholders going through a crisis like their home flooding. In this day and age I see the future of this company being shaky just based on that as agencies are increasingly unpopular for these reasons.
