assembler

packager

production supervisor

customer service representative

press operator

H&H Color Lab Inc.

Before I accepted a position with H&H Color Labs I read all of the negative reviews here. I figured that some of the reviews might just be from disgruntled employees and some might be legitimate. Although I have 20 years experience in the photofinishing industry dealing primarily with printing and digital art I was placed in a department where I had very little experience because it was the only thing that they had to offer. I worked there for a week before deciding that the job was not a good fit for me and I left for "personal" reasons. I felt compelled to review and validate some of the practices that are reported here. Almost every employee has the same look. It can only be described as an exhausted look. Everyone is so tired because they are working 60-80 hours a week. The company saves money by working one employee to death rather than hiring two employees to do the same amount of work. It seems to me that management tries to cut corners to save every penny they can but where is the line between increasing profit margins and greed? Instead of receiving two 15 minute breaks they give you 12 minute breaks and if you are late for one minute they will dock your paycheck that amount of time. If you figure in the time and assume that one employee worked a 40 hour shift every week for one solid year and add up the 6 minutes of rest that you lose every work day it adds up to 26 hours a year per employee. That's over a full day's rest that they take from you. Taking a lunch break is discouraged. They will let you take a lunch but you might get docked the time that you were gone. They like taking money away from you as a "penalty" and I felt that this type of treatment and the long hours only solidifies the comments here that you are only a number and not a human being to these people. I was skeptical of everything up there because of all of these negative reviews although I tried to go into the job with an open mind. I was told in my interview and my training that there are three ways to do things. 1) The right way 2) The wrong way and 3) The way that we tell you how to do things. I pointed out in my interview and my training that there was at least one procedure that was being done incorrectly I was reminded of the fact that there are three ways to do things. I am a knowledgeable, very experienced and competent worker. I am not going to do something wrong because someone else tells me they want it done that way! This is the reason behind all of the negative comments. As far as mean, rude or bad management I must admit that I was not there long enough to give an honest opinion about anyone's character as a person. My trainer was super nice and my supervisor seemed nice to me the short time that I was there. The actual employees did seem friendly and helpful so therefore I will commend the veterans that are there and say that they seem like good people. They are just exhausted! They have quotas which does not necessarily have to be a bad thing but in certain situations these quotas can't be met because of necessary production time. In those cases you must explain in writing WHY you did not meet your quotas. This behavior reduces professional employees' morale and leads to a subservient mindset. I left because I saw a lot of the bad situations that were reported in the short time that I was there and I did not want to stay to witness how much worse it could become.
My superior skill set was not utilized and in some regards just discarded just so I could fill a role in a job that I was not that qualified to do. I am an expert at Photoshop but was never given a chance to show off my skills nor to even submit a portfolio. I am so glad though because I would not want the owner to profit one penny from my artwork.

Working my way through college, I’ve had experience in a variety of industries. At H&H I witnessed the most unprofessional and toxic work environment. The management does not work hard enough to find solutions to problems and instead demeans anyone who attempts to. H&H cares more about profits instead of lifting employees up and promoting professional growth. Unless they need you to step up, they will not give you a raise and give you a bad evaluation to prevent an increase in pay. H&H takes capable and passionate employees and drains their desire to excel and produce quality work. It is difficult to excel in a work setting where you are met with barrier after barrier when offering new ideas. When you first start off, they inform you that your hours are from 8am-4pm, M-F. You quickly learn that is not the case. One day you’ll work 8 hours, the next could be 4 or 12 hours. During the busy seasons, you’re expected to work back-to-back weekend and 12 hours days without the ability to take days off. They consider this the black period. However, managers do not lead by example and can take days off as they please. In your interview, there is mention of this type of schedule and you’re assured it will only happen rarely, but you find yourself doing this most of the time. I often was forced to decide between serious family emergencies and maintaining my good graces with supervisors. I had to choose them every time in order to keep my position and continue to lead projects. H&H claims family is a big value but yet treat their employees and clients with little respect. Their clients responsible for a majority of company profits are discussed badly behind closed doors. Since COVID-19 the work environment has been highly toxic and in my opinion, not enough policies have been implemented to protect employees from the virus. This has shown me how little H&H  values their employees. H&H is also known for firing individuals who give notice before they are allowed to complete their two weeks. This review is not from just another disgruntled employee who was fired and wants to get back at management. This review is from an employee who was smart enough to take their skills and assets and apply them elsewhere.

The biggest problem is lack of regular hours part of the year, and the expectation that you WILL be working 12 hour days during the busy period. You do not have the choice to opt out. During slow parts of the year, your workday may be as little as 2 hours. You will not know when you go in for the day how many hours you will work and it changes pretty much every day. Management's line is that the OT balances it all out, but MY feeling is that the stress of tiny paychecks one third of the year do not balance the stress of standing in one place for 12 hour shifts for the 3 to 4 months of busy season.

"Blackout days" during the busy season means no days off, unless you want to be fired. Lots of firing, and of really good people who were dedicated to their work. Zero job security.

Most aspects of the work are stunning in their repetition and boredom factor. Standing 12 hours doing the same body motions over and over all day is exhausting mentally and physically. I have RSI (chronic elbow tendonitis) from it. Your every second is clocked.

Management/Ownership. Oh, where to start. It's a family business, and that means there is no loyalty to employees and no possibility for advancing within the company. Toxic environment in some ways, highly paternalistic in others. They do try in some ways to improve, but they never consult the people who are working about say, the ergonomics of their workstations (which are pretty bad). Lip service to how much they value their employees. 

Pay is okay for what the job is. If you actually had a full time job with regular hours, you could live on it, but the uncertain hours make this difficult.

Employees are a funny, smart, very diverse and talented group of people. 95% of the direct managers were great, and sadly, very, very overworked.

I believe any associate would say the following:

A typical day begins with coming in and immediately having to answer to 4 different bosses. They are all in desperate need of sensitivity training, communication and listening and accepting feedback and criticism training. The general morale of the employees is extremely low. Once, a manager of this company said the following to a group of employees, "A monkey could do your jobs better!"

The hardest part of the job was knowing that there is really no advancement opportunities available. The business is run by a family, all of whom are managers and executives of the company. If you're not in the "in crowd", you're not in at all.

If you had to come in late due to a family emergency, managers would rail you with negative comments. If you were sick, you'd have to answer whatever questions your manager deemed necessary to ask you. If you took your telephone into the bathroom with you, a manager would follow you into the bathroom to make sure that you were not using your phone while in the bathroom. (I'm not kidding.)

Every season around Christmas time, this company has a big layoff of associates it deems not necessary to keep around in the slow season. Were you late during your time there? Did you miss a few days? If so, you may not have a job come the new year.

This is a job where you are punished for calling in sick or being sent home because your sick. If you call in sick that automatically disqualifies you from receiving a raise. Points are deducted for any items that may be returned by the customer, but you are never provided with any proof. When items are returned you are again disqualified from receiving a raise. The management is horrible, if it weren't for the management this could be a very enjoyable place to work. Also, you are not allowed to talk to anyone while you are working. If you have a question you must put up a flag and wait for a supervisor to come by and assist you. When I applied for the position I was told it would be full-time. I worked for 12 hours 5 days a week for several weeks straight and then my hours were dropped to 2-3 hours. If applying to work at this particular company you are better off to work as a seasonal. The money is much better as a seasonal, but its a way to trick you. Telling you that a position is full-time a person is more apt to accept the lower pay thinking they would continue to have atleast a 40 hour work week. 40 hours are not guaranteed, because you will be dropped down to 2-3 hours. Always apply for a seasonal position because you will make $3 more than a full-time employee for the same amount of work. I don't know how this is legal, but that is how the company conducts its business. The owner is wonderful, but the management is less than desireable.

I loved working for H+H.  It is a truly professional, no nonsense work place with clear expectations.  You don't really get chummy with the rest of the employees, because the expectation is that you are there to work, but if you have a solid work ethic and would prefer to keep your head down, then it is an ideal setting.

In my department, I had three roles, laser cutting and engraving, dye sublimation, and jewelry making.  I liked the fast paced nature and different types of products we made.  The large amount of work made the shift go by quickly.

The only big downside to this position was the seasonal nature of the photography industry.  There were big rushes to fulfill school, sports, and event orders, that happen mostly in the fall and spring, so hours became long during those days and very short  in the off season.  Had there been a more consistent schedule year round, I would have stayed there forever.  

If you like making things with your hands, don't mind working without music, and are able to do repetitive tasks, this might be the job for you.  

If overtime and 12 hour shifts aren't your thing, this might not be the place for you.

Overall, I really enjoyed what I did at H&H. I was in charge of the marketing for the lab. I got to create ads that appeared in national magazines, manage marketing projects, retouch images, and design really cool (award-winning) trade-show booth displays. My co-workers were awesome and I'm still friends with a lot of them today. However, my manager was terrible. She talked down to everyone, including customers. Many customers actually refused to talk to her. Many managers would bypass her and come directly to me with project requests simply so they didn't have to deal with her. She has a false sense of entitlement, and an "I'm smarter than you" attitude that is abrasive and difficult to work with.

Again, I very much liked the work. It challenged me, which I loved. I got to work with a lot of talented photographers, and learned tips and tricks from each of them. The job was very cool. My boss? Not so much. As long as she is manager in the design center, I would not recommend working there.

You are not a person at H&H. You are an expendable asset. There is ZERO possibility for pay increase because instead of being honest with its employees and simply telling them it isn't in the budget, the belligerent management will remorselessly shame you into thinking you just aren't good enough.

This is reinforced with a nonsense group system that makes it impossible to reach their absurd productivity requirements that demand perfection. There will always be someone in your group not up to par and you won't be allowed to advance because of them, even IF you DO manage to reach their requirements personally. Working here was the most insulting experience I've ever had.

You are expected to "make up" any lunch breaks you take. So really, you don't even get one. But hey, robots don't need a lunch break, right?

Don't even think about applying unless you like being treated like a drone - and one without common sense, at that.

The Kardashians would be proud of this heartless little sweatshop.

The days are busy.  There is no time to stand around.  If you are an honest hard working person, then this is the place for you.  Recently, the company has implemented a new work schedule (4 10-hour days and a weekend shift working 3 10-hour days).  Awesome compared to what we had work last year.  Better life/work balance.

This year, the management has the company participating in a state program  that allows them to keep more people.  Where they would normally lay off employees they are keeping the employees and this program allows the affected employees to receive some (not all) unemployment benefits.  What else could you ask for?  I think they are working very hard to build their employee team and retain experience.

Overall, this is a good place to work. Many talk bad about it as seen in other reviews but they (company, ownership, leadership) do care about their people.

When you pull into work there is a large DEAD END sign, So very appropriate. It is similar to a "Sweat Shop," comparable to Foxconn. There is NO Job security and they will tell you this. You are not allowed to talk to coworkers, they want you to be robots. Get 12 min. breaks, No lunches (unless you want to stay later to make up that time.) Oh, they want you to use the restroom on that 12 min break, not on their time. You cannot make plans because work schedule changes constantly. There are goals that are unattainable, therefore, you usually will not get raises. The reviews are more like a personality contest. The hardest part of the job is showing up. The most enjoyable part of the job is going home.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Assembler 2 salaries reported	$18.84 per hour
Packager 1 salary reported	$18.00 per hour
Production supervisor 6 salaries reported	$24.00 per hour
Customer service representative 2 salaries reported	$22.00 per hour
Press operator 2 salaries reported	$19.50 per hour

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