Our Feet on the Ground in Europe

This is Teddy Dworakowski. Teddy is based in Poland as a Case Manager for the Red Tab Foundation (RTF) to help provide emergency assistance for manufacturing employees in LS&Co.’s owned-and-operated manufacturing facility in Plock. The Plock facility employs more than 800 people, including his own wife for 11 years, before Teddy joined RTF four years ago. 

“I’ve always been very grateful for this work. It’s rewarding and satisfying to have work where the results that are so tangible — I see how we help people in Plock, I live amongst them,” Teddy said. 

Teddy doesn’t just support Plock employees, however. He is also a key part of how RTF facilitates cases to help employees undergoing emergencies throughout various parts of LSE, work that has been particularly impactful as RTF responded to a 300% increase in grant applications this spring due to COVID-19.

“We’ve had to move quickly to help people. I’ve managed around 20 cases across Italy, France, the U.K., Turkey and the Czech Republic,” he said. “My work is to follow up with requests for assistance, review those applications and ask the employee or retiree pointed questions about their situation to gather a full picture of what’s happening and why.”

In the past few months, Teddy has helped furloughed students pay their rents, offset funeral costs for families facing losses from the disease and helped with general living expenses for employees with lost hours. He has to navigate all the different safety nets available to employees by HR departments and governments that vary from country to country, providing employees a sense of hope in the midst of a global pandemic. There are also other challenges that come with new markets — like not speaking the same language. 

“I’ve been using Google Translate to communicate with people across the continent in Polish, English, Italian, Turkish and more,” Teddy explained. “Surprisingly the translation software has been pretty successful, and we’ve found stable middle ground between our language and cultural barriers.” 

Although this work is challenging at times, Teddy is proud of the way RTF has stepped up to support employees in need. “Even I have been surprised by how generous this foundation is,” he shared. “People are more important than criteria. After all, the criteria are meant to serve people, not the other way around.” 

The RTF team’s hard work hasn’t gone unnoticed, either. “It is rare these days to deal with such dedicated and efficient people. My children and I are smiling today thanks to Red Tab Foundation. I was already very proud to work for LS&Co. and now I am even more so,” one grantee from France said about the assistance she received.

RTF supports our community in all of the 30+ locations around the world where LS&Co. operates, from owned-and-operated factory workers to retail stylists to regional office employees. RTF assistance will also be available to anyone affected by workforce reductions for a year past the date of separation; employees can apply for assistance at any time at redtabfoundation.org. 

Learn about RTF’s work in their 2019 Annual Report, or find ways that you can help here.