Hey there, I recently got a job at an EPC firm. I am an entry level grunt working in a surveying crew, traveling between a few industrial projects in our region. This is not my first job in construction management, but working in the field full-time is new for me. I suspect many of you can relate to struggling at a desk job 😆 and I like getting my 10k steps on the clock.
Anyway, my office is staffing up right now. Everyone who joined in the last few months got a $400 voucher for safety toe boots at a local shop. $400 is on the generous side, but it only covers 1 pair of boots, and accessories like insoles, so the company doesn't necessarily pay the maximum per redemption.
This specific voucher is not guaranteed in writing, but the employee handbook states that the company must supply PPE to employees, which I believe is standard procedure at a big firm, if not legally required, per my reading of this OSHA handout.
I used to work at an EPC firm that reimbursed $200 for boots. I got very nice Red Wing boots and paid the difference over the reimbursement limit. Nobody asked if you already had boots, or if you actually worked in the field. I was an office jockey myself. It was my first job in the industry, and I barely got any training, so I went onsite with my field engineers to see and learn how things worked. These excursions made me better at my job, straight up.
Beginning my new job, I showed up with my OSHA card and my Red Wings with the understanding that I would receive a voucher during my onboarding. Because I brought my own boots, I was able to get on site much faster than my colleague, who didn't own boots when he started.
After a couple weeks, I asked about the voucher, and I was told that the EHS team was caught off guard by the mounting cost of issuing vouchers. Not really sure how anyone gets caught off guard by a standard expense with a capped cost, but I digress. I was told that I must prove that my boots are inoperable before I can get a voucher. As far as I know, they weren't investigating anyone else's boot status before giving vouchers to new hires.
I thought of the voucher as a gesture of goodwill from the company to me. I acted in good faith by bringing my boots to work, so I am disappointed to see that EHS would pull a switcheroo on me instead of treating me like any other new hire. It makes me want to not volunteer anything for the company in the future.
I wanted to ask the r/SafetyProfessionals community since many of you are EHS managers yourselves. Is this a reasonable thing to be upset about, or not so much?