business development representative

market manager

technician

supervisor

warehouse technician

Sazerac

This plant is in a constant state of confusion.  Product runs are scheduled and begun only to be stopped because we've run out of something, bottles, labels, boxes, product, people etc.  Entire lines are shut down because other priority lines are undermanned, usually because the needed amout of temporary employees were not scheduled.  These situations cause people to be put in situations to run machinery they are not trained to run and as a result production, quality and safety suffer.
Training is very minimal for both temps and full timers.  The view seems to be "why train them if they're going to leave" which turns into a self fulfilling prophecy.  
The ratio of full timers and temp employees is around 50/50.  Your lucky if your line has the same people working on it for a full week.  Team work is very rare because this constant turnover and makes it almost impossible to get a knowledgeable and productive line together.  
Many employees that should not be working here are.  Usually becasue they either know or are related to someone or they know processes and procedures that most others don't.  Information is not freely shared and held onto as a closely guarded secret by many of the employees as a way to make themselves look better and others look bad.
Safety is all talk as is quality.  Production is all that matters.  Quality problems are often overlooked until the product run is complete or until the end of someones shift so it now becomes the next shifts problem. 
Overtime is mandatory and usually at the last moment with no regard for the employees.  It is also canceled just as quicly leaving many employees showing up for a shift that was canceled or showing up for an earily start shift that was moved back to it's regular start time.

Job Work/Life Balance:
Salary and Office is fine the Production, Maintenance, Processing and Warehouse nope. All Holidays will cost you working Sundays the week before and after on top of most Saturdays being required
  
Compensation/Benefits: 
Pay is based off the local average, benefits are minimal and poor in quality at best 

Job Security/Advancement: 
Turn over is so high if you take the job you will likely be trained by a guy that has only been there for a few months at best. Documentation / SOP are followed some days and others you will be persecuted if you follow it. +75% Temp employee situation aka meat grinder... come summer time it's a rotten meat grinder you can taste it in the air (not kidding).   

Management: 
Most are out for themselves, Most leads are told to let others fail and set up others to fail just to prove their managers point - Zero team work unless it is forced and you will pay for it. Do not comply with this mandate and vindictive natures become absolutely clear.   

Job Culture:
"Safety First"... but only after getting the product out the door. 0 sick time icy roads 6 feet of snow sorry but the site only closes when I95 is actually shut down. Bonus if you get hurt doing what you are told to do expect to be fired within the next week. 

Exceptions to these situations are the select few who either are slick enough to become "legally protected" by claiming harassment of some sort ex) "say so and so said you're into bestiality" (yup that ones for real and they don't even have to work just show up for a pay check) Or polish the big guys apple to a mirror shine.

This place wouldn't be so bad if there was a single manager here that was aware of what was actually going on.  They either don't care at all or only care about themselves.  from the office to the line leaders on the floor and everyone of them in between. 
We're forced to do overtime because someone in the office screwed up and then you get here and we don't have what we need to do the job.  everyday we run out of something.  boxes or liquor or bottles you name it and we don't have enough to do what they want us to do.  the equipment is old and mostly junk.  it breaks down all the time because it's not taken care of or because people aren't properly trained on how to run it.  

Safety is a joke and the worst that i've ever seen in any job i have had.  they tell you one thing and a second later they have you doing the exact thing they said wasn't safe.  Don't over reach, but you have to reach over a conveyor belt to grab the bottles that you need to pack in the boxes that you had to reach over a conveyor belt to also grab.  The physically demanding jobs are supposed to rotate people so you don't over do it and get hurt, but there are so little people that the can't rotate you so you spend an 8 hour shift loading thousands of boxes of bottles on to the conveyor belt.

The pay may seem good, but for the amount of garbage you have to deal with and the work you have to do it's really not worth it.

A lot of the regular employees were cool but there were constantly tons of temps on every shift. Management would constantly make mistakes or not know how to deal with problems that came up. They would make us try to run lines with a lack of employees when temps wouldn't show up or regulars would call out. They have a stupidly strict no-fault attendance policy meaning your reason for calling out does not matter. Management/Human Resources constantly bends their own rules and ignores their own policies to discipline workers and to get away with breaking the rules themselves. Seems to me like you have to have a personal relationship with members of management in order to stay in the company. People that have been there for 10+ years can get away with some of the most ridiculous and detrimental stuff (even things done on purpose) and yet, the new guys get in trouble for minor mistakes. They also make you waive the 30-consecutive minute lunch that is required by law when working shifts longer than 6 hours in Maine. I would advice any temps to avoid working here and for people to not even bother trying to get hired on. They fire good employees and let idiots stay and run the place.

Working for a company where the directors and new CHRO are out of touch with the realities of the workplace are frustrating and demoralizing experience. Unfortunately, this is precisely the situation at Sazerac, where high level management seem to be living in a different world altogether.

The CHRO and the HR directors at Sazerac often make decisions that leave employees scratching their heads. It's clear that they have little understanding of the day-to-day challenges faced by their staff. Their disconnect from reality results in unrealistic expectations and goals that are nearly impossible to achieve.

Favoritism is a prevalent issue at Sazerac. Certain employees are treated with preferential treatment while others are left to fend for themselves. It's not uncommon to see promotions and opportunities go to those who are in the good graces of the CEO, CHRO, or Directors, rather than to those who have earned them through hard work and dedication.

Managers, who are the backbone of any organization, are often subjected to unfair treatment by the directors. They are given little support, overloaded with unrealistic expectations, and criticized for factors beyond their control. This mistreatment creates a toxic atmosphere.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Working 7 days a week and now we're starting 12 hr days also and on top of that our union doesn't care about the workers just their dues we were offered two raises for maintenance and both were denied but then 12 hr days were implemented and now no more double time on Sundays also when I asked the union about the raise for maintenance the told me it was none of my business so don't work here if u want a life 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The lies we are presented with on a weekly basis 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Unhappy,lots of snitches over worked under paid compared to surrounding facilities lots of unfulfilled promises

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
As a maintenance technician u come to work have a face to face meeting about your line most of the time they will tell u lines running great but then u get to your assigned line to find out they bandaided your line for u to fix and 2 mins into work your killing yourself covered in grease n old nasty debris every single day we are just numbers also hr messes up pay checks to their advantage on a weekly basis this place sux

The only positive thing I have to say about this company is that there is plenty of room for advancement and job security is high.  The reason that is the case is the core of the problems associated for working for Sazerac.    After working for Sazerac I would never under any circumstances return.   It was the worst ran company I have ever been a part of.   I would go to work as a Walmart greeter before I would work for them again.  The reason there is so much room for advancement is that no one who can find another job stays any longer than they have too.  The high ranking in the job security area is much for the same reason.   Sazerac is constantly looking  for help they can’t keep skilled / educated employees so the last thing they are going to do is fire you.   The only possible reason that I could imagine someone resigning themselves to working for Sazerac is if they were desperate to break into the spirits industry.   And needed to get some experience.  I guess the good part about working for Sazerac for your first distillery position is that you will learn what NOT to do.

I absolutely loved my time at Sazerac the first year and a half and then it all changed. The once great salesforce is leaving one after another and they can’t seem to figure out why. Let me help. 
What changed?
1. Ridiculous SOP’S that completely disrupted work flow, creativity and the attitude and culture of the entire sales team.
2. Employees no longer felt trusted, supported or valued.
3. The extreme new way of micromanaging often left employees scared of being reprimanded or questioned for doing their jobs if it didn’t adhere to the invasive tracking system of the new SOP. 
4. There is 0 upward mobility 
5. Incentive payouts take several months to receive and are not paid in full. When addressed with management they brush you under the rug confirming their lack of integrity and desire to do the right thing. 
6. They encourage sales practices that promote over consumption. 

It’s very difficult to run a facility the way Glenmore is currently. 24/7, no downtime, no maintenance because of it, no materials or product to run on a weekend or after so basically forcing people in all weekend and making them sit there and waste their time and the companies. Managers are in over their heads. Operations is not being lead by the right people. Not sure of all their backgrounds or who’s picked them but the talent level is low. Promoting those that brown nose and sound like a broken record. There will be a new plant manager and operations manager within the year. The way they treat all employees is unreal. Basically setting people up to be fired as scapegoats.  I watched it happen to two people but the rest of the competent managers and supervisors are on their way out. Most of the executives are horrible individuals as well. They care about cases and not much else.

Management favors certain individuals over others and targets those who don’t follow their bad leadership standards. If you stand out, in a positive way, they will find a way to get rid of you. They draft daily. They work every weekend. They do not care about work/life balance nor production as a whole. Something is severely wrong with this particular plant and I wouldn’t refer my worst enemy to this place. The plant never shuts down, even in a state of emergency. The bottling house floods during washouts due to lack of drainage (4 years going strong). Hardest part of the job is trying to remain stress free and getting enough sleep. I can’t honestly remember when I last enjoyed the job. Mostly I got anxious showing up.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Business development representative 110 salaries reported	$73,027 per year
Market manager 32 salaries reported	$94,046 per year
Technician 2 salaries reported	$22.61 per hour
Supervisor 13 salaries reported	$82,192 per year
Warehouse technician 2 salaries reported	$22.01 per hour

Working at Sazerac: Company Overview and Reviews

Sazerac

Sazerac Ratings

Popular jobs at Sazerac

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected