2009 Pay Rate...5 cent bonus here we come!

If the 2009 applications are offically released and not just testing, I too am becoming increasingly suspicious of the pay rate. If you check the pay and benefits section of the website, the sub-section of Pay, which stated 2009 pay rate coming soon, is now gone. I think if Cedar Point was to raise the base rate to 7.30 with the same 35 cent bonus, they would have already posted it on the website. Why delay it? Unless they are trying to figure a way around giving seasonal employees a raise. I could be wrong, but I don't see them posting the pay rate until the applications have been out for some time.

Edit: Also take into consideration that last year Cedar Point hired 5,000 seasonal employees. And during this economic hard times, even with the bonus being lowered, how many seasonal applications did Cedar Point receive? 14,000, which I assume would be a record. Cedar Point doesn't need to raise their pay other for the reason to keep good with state laws.

So if they received 14,000 applications then what are the chances that I being a new applicant will get a job at cedar point?

As long as you have never killed anyone, I would say pretty good.

Well if there are 14,000 applications submitted and only 5,000 jobs then how can I have a pretty good chance?

^ A LOT of people apply and never accept job offers, I would imagine.

Did anyone else notice that on the part of the application that asks you if you have ever worked at a Cedar Fair park before, that they didn't include Geauga Lake on the list of parks you could put a check by? They had Geauga Lake's Wildwater Kingdom, but not plain ole Geauga Lake.

um thats because Geauga Lake became just a Wildwater Kingdom last year...everyone was upset about it.

And if you apply now, you'll have a highly likely chance, plus some are just not qualified, also many don't accept job offers, etc etc etc.

you mean there are even DUMBER people that apply that don't get hired? REALLY?

adidas said:
So if they received 14,000 applications then what are the chances that I being a new applicant will get a job at cedar point?

If you apply to Cedar Point, no matter what you will get an interview, which is a phone interview. I didn't apply last year till the end of March and three days later I had the job. It doesn't matter when you apply, it matters where they put you and if you accept that or not. If not, you don't work there. Plus, if your assigned to a ride, it doesn't mean you'll be on that ride come May16th.

14,000 people apply, but they all work at separate points during the season. Some only work weekends during Halloweekends, some only work part time during the summer, some work a few months between school years, and there are all the people who apply during the season and take the places of the people who left/got fired already. I've seen some pretty....um......unqualified people get hired and some pretty.......um..........horrible employees keep their jobs no matter how many rules they broke. So it's safe to say if you apply, you'll get hired, and as long as you aren't a complete moron, you won't get fired.

I called today and was told no change in pay or bonus.

That didn't suprise me one bit. Crappy though for employees - I worked my tail off there once upon a time - The employees deserve better as aforementioned threads spell out eloquently.

Last year my bonus doubled during Halloweekends when they went up to $1 an hour. Good incentive to stay for Halloweekends, but very little incentive to employees who can only stay until they start back to school. The bonus used to be something that actually got people to stay until the end of their contract. These days, most people are unhappy enough by late July or early August that $200 or less is not going to make them think twice about whether they should leave.

I still don't believe HR. I have to assume CP hasn't figured out what they can pay us, so when people call HR they probably told to say the same as last year, which is better than saying "Please apply...You want to know about the pay? Um..Er...the Magic 8 Ball says call later k bye now." Paid the same as last year is likely, however I still don't see how the pay and bonus could both go unchanged(Hence the 5 cent bonus theory.) Hell the federal minimum wage is raised to $7.25 in July. And I don't think a company could pay less than minimum wage provided they include a bonus that totals over the minimum wage minimum, a bonus which an employee may or may not get. I also looked everywhere for Amusement/recreational employees exemptions for '09 but the only one that exists as of now is the overtime exemption. Though that doesn't mean that CP isn't fighting for it right now. Again I have to repeat my final point, if the pay and bonus were both the exact same as last year, wouldn't they have posted it already? I don't see why you would have to delay publicly announcing a pay rate when the decision is simply, "Keep the same as last year."

That's exacty why they don't announce it. Why announce no increase? That would be a negative thing. If like any business, C.P. budgets for 09 are already set in stone. Amusement parks are still exempt from federal but the Ohio was the one that was repealed. Remember the "seasons of service dinner" we were to have in 08 that never happened and was never announced. Never announce negatives. IMO

I wouldn't consider keeping the same pay rate negative. No it does not meet expectations, but not negative. Taking away a tradition like the seasons of service dinner or employee pricing in resorts, yes I would consider negative. And even if CP considers it negative, just how long do they expect people to apply without giving them an official pay rate? It won't be long because as soon as the first employee's contract is negotiated, the pay rate will have to be revealed.

The 2009 pay rates are up. $7.00 a hour and 35 cent bonus.

Same as last year. Joygasm!

Good game Cedar Point. Of course for whatever reason I've taken this as a personal vendetta and I'm sending a letter to the Ohio Department of Commerce, Bureau of Wage and Hour, for an explanation. I think I got too much time on my hands...

Obviously they're going to keep the wages low, then give everyone a quarter raise mid summer. They'll be seen as heroes...

lladnar said:
Obviously they're going to keep the wages low, then give everyone a quarter raise mid summer. They'll be seen as heroes...

I definitely wouldn't mind this, and I see it as the most plausible...considering the federal minimum wage coming up.