Business

Dish gets dirtied: Ergen outfit under fire from employees

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Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen ran the meanest US corporation in 2012, fingerprinting staff to make sure they’re at work before 9 a.m., haranguing colleagues in public and deducting money from employee paychecks if they tip more than 15 percent, according to a recent report.

The story, from Bloomberg News, citing a report by employee review website, http://www.glassdoor.com, related a huge dissatisfaction rate among Dish staff. Only 91 reviewers were either satisfied or very satisfied with the satellite TV company versus 390 who were either dissatisfied or very dissatisfied.

The mostly negative comments turned generally positive after the Bloomberg story was published, according to a review by The Post.

A spokesman for Dish said the fingerprint scanners were for security purposes. “It is a challenging place to work; so is the New York Post.”

The spokesman admitted that executives are still required to share hotel rooms when on the road for business.

“We are a cost-conscious company, focused on delivering the best value in entertainment. It is not for everybody, but it is for someone who likes a rich, dynamic place; it is exhilarating.”

Meanwhile, current CEO Joe Clayton defended the firm in a Denver Business Journal article published over the holidays. Clayton said: “Happy employees are more productive employees. I’ve had concerts out there on the lawn.”

Clayton added that some people can’t hack life at Dish, “They’re 8-to-5. I get here at 6:45 every morning, and sometimes leave before 7 p.m. because I need to get my dry cleaning turned in.”

Dish is controlled by Denver-based entrepreneur Ergen, who increased his net worth to $9 billion last year, thanks to placing successful bets on spectrum.

Dish stock has risen 30 percent over the past year.

It closed yesterday at $36.93, off 3 cents.