Pros
The very best reason to work for Lifetouch in the candid department in Baltimore Maryland is that you get laid off when schools close in the summer. The second best reason to work here is the much touted ESOP (Employee Stock Option Plan) program. This retirement plan is contributed 100% by the employer. Even though it has not grown much in recent years despite the many acquisitions by Lifetouch and it is possible to lose value, it is still something to look forward to. It keeps me in the saddle. Lastly, you meet a lot of good people. Although there is the flip side to this, you meet wonderful kids, faculty, staff, and members of the administrative team. Not to mention good camaraderie with fellow photographers.
Cons
Even though I am considered a full-time candid staff photographer I rarely get forty hours a week consistently. Pay period is every two weeks. If I work fifty hours the first week it’s as though my hours are monitored and the second week I’ll get maybe thirty hours. If the hourly wage was consistent with the quality and professional demeanor required of us this would not be a problem. As it stands, overtime is crucial to make ends almost meet for a modest person. I have been with Lifetouch for twenty years and make fifteen dollars an hour. I’ve not seen a raise in years though others who have been here for less time and have comparable or lesser photographic and customer service skills have. One of the biggest drawbacks to working here is watching this type of favoritism blossom. There is no apparent logic to this except that some of us are simply liked more than others by management. I am not the best liked. Advancement? Does not exist unless you are one of the favorites or very well liked. And even then there is no real advancement. It will have nothing whatsoever to do with your job performance. Commissions and bonuses? Within the candid department we have a for profit sub-department known throughout the nation as Memory Mates. I believe Lifetouch calls it, Championship Sports or Wow Photography. This is where we go out to high schools, middle schools and private schools to shoot their sports team pictures as well as individual athlete pictures for profit. We create a ‘memory’ by taking the team picture and marrying it with the athletes individual picture ‘mate’ all at a reasonable price. Years ago we received a dollar commission for every envelope turned in. It didn’t matter whether the kid paid for it on the spot or not. If there were three shooters on a job one would be relegated teams while the other two would do individuals. The dollar would be split in thirds. Otherwise the team shooter who has a harder job would receive nothing. This commission was taken away without explanation. A few years later it came back as a twenty-five cent per package point of sale commission not including team only envelopes. This was applauded because eight cents a package was better than nothing. It helped to offset the inadequate mileage reimbursement. Well, there was a change in accounting personnel. No one is quite sure of what accounting does but we are sure that they do not like to count money. They successfully argued to management that counting commission for photographers was too labor intensive and required too much of their time. As a result we receive no commission of any kind. We receive no bonus whatsoever of any kind. We do however receive a 12 lb frozen turkey come Thanksgiving. The last drawback I will speak of would be the excessive wear and tear on your vehicle. During the course of my twenty years and through several vehicles I have replaced two transmissions and one combustible engine. Not to mention dozens of tires, brake shoes, rotors and a host of incidentals that have to be replaced three to four times more often than the suggested maintenance schedule. The mileage reimbursement they provide does not cover these necessary repairs.
