How Omnicom Stole Christmas Week And Nixed Other Perks From IPG’s Benefits Package

Days after Omnicom closed its acquisition of Interpublic Group, U.S. staff returned from Thanksgiving break to a harsh actuality: hundreds of layoffs, dissolved businesses, and a brand new advantages package deal that employees describe as “the worst [they’ve] ever had.”Worker handbooks and advantages paperwork obtained by ADWEEK present the brand new Omnicom’s insurance policies are a big downgrade from IPG’s legacy package deal within the U.S. These coming from IPG will lose a variety of paid trip days whereas buying and selling in for lowered parental go away and vacation time, new severance limits, well being plans that may end up in larger prices, and a return-to-office requirement that impacts raises and severance eligibility.As one former IPG enterprise supervisor advised ADWEEK, “It’s the worst advantages package deal I’ve ever seen in my life.”Three legacy IPG staff spoke with ADWEEK on the situation of anonymity about how insiders are reacting to the brand new advantages package deal.Omnicom declined to touch upon the modifications to worker advantages.Goodbye, assured 401(ok) matchAmong all the advantages outlined in Omnicom’s supplies, employees say the 401(ok) overhaul is probably the most surprising. Underneath IPG’s former plan, staff obtained a 50% match on as much as 6% of their contributions, vesting over three years and hitting each pay interval, plan paperwork present. It’s a system a number of employees described as predictable and “reliable.”Omnicom’s plan, nevertheless, features a absolutely discretionary match of as much as 50% on simply 5% of contributions, paid yearly and just for staff nonetheless on payroll on December 31. “The truth that it’s discretionary is disgusting and feels bizarre,” the IPG enterprise supervisor mentioned. “It’s determined on the finish of the 12 months when you truly get it or not.”The brand new construction undermines long-term monetary planning, in accordance with a former IPG well being inventive. “You don’t have a assured [match] charge,” they mentioned. “It hits on the finish of the 12 months, so that you don’t get the good thing about constant time available in the market.”“It’s an enormous, big minimize,” mentioned a former IPG worker who works in media. “It’s simply so unhealthy.”PTO and holidays disappearIPG’s 2024 worker handbook, reviewed by ADWEEK, exhibits staff throughout lots of its businesses had limitless paid break day (PTO). Places of work had been closed the week between Christmas and New Yr’s, in addition to throughout an August Appreciation Week. Staffers additionally obtained Election Day and Indigenous Peoples’ Time without work, plus month-to-month wellness days.Omnicom’s new construction wipes a lot of that away. Workers now obtain a set 10 to fifteen trip days, relying on tenure, with strict accrual guidelines and no floating holidays, no vacation closure intervals past the precise vacation, and no wellness days. The utmost quantity of annual trip is 20 days, reserved solely for individuals who have been on the firm for greater than 10 years.A supply acquainted with the transition mentioned the brand new vacation calendar is not going to take impact for IPG staff till 2026, however ADWEEK was unable to confirm this with Omnicom. The enterprise supervisor estimated that former IPG staff had a complete of 38 days off between holidays and wellness days. The brand new Omnicom package deal is “a 60% lower in days off that aren’t PTO,” they mentioned.One element shocked staffers probably the most: if an worker takes trip the day earlier than or after a vacation, they received’t be paid for the vacation.“It’s in all probability the worst PTO package deal I’ve ever had,” mentioned the media worker. Parental go away slashed from six months to 10 weeksUnder IPG, birthing mother and father might mix short-term incapacity, state family-leave packages, IPG’s Worker & Household Go away, parental go away days, and unpaid FMLA to achieve as a lot as six months of break day post-birth. The go away may very well be taken in segments, permitting mother and father to divide caregiving time or coordinate with companions.“You might work it out together with your companion, and be there on your children as finest as you each can,” the enterprise supervisor mentioned.Paperwork obtained by ADWEEK present Omnicom gives 10 complete weeks of paid parental go away, which should be taken as a steady block and used inside 20 weeks of start, adoption, or foster placement. The coverage additionally requires staff to exhaust all state or incapacity advantages earlier than Omnicom pays something.“We’re going from a versatile, most six months to a inflexible, not versatile, 10 weeks,” mentioned the enterprise supervisor. The media worker added the brand new coverage is “so completely merciless to the employees and their kids.”Healthcare prices rise for “decrease high quality” coverageWorkers described IPG’s healthcare plans as comparatively inexpensive, with a number of choices — together with cheap HMOs — and single mixed deductibles that made prices simpler to handle. A number of staff mentioned they beforehand paid into UnitedHealthcare or Cigna plans that felt “easy” and fewer complicated than what they’re now being supplied.In response to Omnicom’s 2026 advantages supplies, staff may have entry to 4 Aetna medical plans: an EPO choice, a Premier PPO with a decrease deductible, a Well being Financial savings Plan and a high-deductible HSA-eligible plan. Staff advised ADWEEK the lineup is extra restricted and dearer, with some plans carrying larger premiums and separate deductibles for medical and prescribed drugs. Workers might also choose right into a dearer plan with broader out-of-network protection.“It’s typically dearer for decrease high quality care,” mentioned the well being inventive. “For those who do need the premier package deal, it’s notably dearer.” Return to workplace–or forfeit your severanceIPG didn’t implement a return-to-office mandate earlier than the acquisition, in accordance with staff; many groups operated absolutely distant or hybrid.A number of employees mentioned Omnicom’s coverage, which requires staff to be in-office three days per week with a said intent to maneuver to 5, represents an abrupt cultural change. Managers have been instructed to start bringing in groups instantly. The coverage additionally permits Omnicom to disclaim raises and promotions to staff who don’t comply, and explicitly states that employees terminated for violating the coverage aren’t eligible for severance.The enterprise supervisor described it as “jarring,” whereas well being inventive added that Omnicom “is obsessive about RTO [return to office].”Omnicom’s severance coverage normally can also be much less favorable than IPG’s, offering roughly one week of pay per 12 months of service, capped at 12 weeks for workers with 5 or extra years of tenure. IPG’s home worker termination coverage, reviewed by ADWEEK, assured staff two weeks’ pay after three months of service, three weeks at two years, and an extra week of wage for every year via their 14th anniversary. Staff there for greater than 14 years earned two further weeks per 12 months — a construction that would simply exceed 20 or 30 weeks of pay.“It’s the worst severance package deal I’ve ever seen,” the well being inventive mentioned of the Omnicom plan.Staff describe a breaking pointMany staff are decoding the brand new advantages package deal as an try to push individuals out voluntarily, along with the 4,000 staffers already minimize from the mixed firm’s ranks. Omnicom declined to touch upon potential future layoffs.“I’m absolutely anticipating to get laid off or fired within the subsequent six to 12 months,” mentioned the media worker. “I don’t suppose Omnicom goes to maintain most of us round.”The enterprise supervisor identified that youthful expertise is particularly disheartened. “Youthful expertise who entered the business within the final couple of years have solely ever skilled layoff after layoff for fairly blatant shareholder worth features,” they mentioned. “We’re on the precipice of it not being sustainable for workers.” Some staff mentioned the upheaval has revived conversations about organizing. “I’ve in all probability talked to 3 individuals about unionization within the final couple of days,” mentioned the enterprise supervisor. “With the way in which these holding corporations are working, it’s so clearly a race to the underside.”“Staff are shafted in each potential manner,” the media worker mentioned, including that the actual impediment is leverage. “If we went on strike, they’d exchange us in 30 seconds.”