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I didn't want to de-rail another thread, but would love to hear your anecdotes about people (coworkers, friends of family members) that you know have taken advantage of -- exploited -- a given policy at work.
They were sly like a fox and IMO -- got away with it.
It's a case of the "unintended consequences" of an on-the-books policy -- or legitimate contract clause....that someone exploits in their favor.
I'll start....
A friend worked at a place where people could telework or not. They could not be FORCED to telework.
Well, when Coronavirus hit and their employer shutdown their building:
... some people were already teleworking sometimes so they just went full time telework
... others who had NOT teleworked, got up to speed on it, made the arrangements, got what they needed to keep working.
BUT ONE GUY....who happened to be close to retirement 1-2 years out....who NEVER teleworked in all his time there. And it was known, that he doesn't telework. Never wanted to. Well, he, got to sit home for almost TWO YEARS.....because for whatever reason his company never set up an alternate work site...other offices, another building, rented space elsewhere, whatever.
You mean to tell me his company couldn't figure out how to get this guy back to work?
And he would call co-workers bragging about how they couldn't make him work. He didn't have Internet. He'd never signed up for telework. Had never been approved for it. And didn't do it.
Needless to say co-workers were beyond angry. And supposedly his supervisors were pihssed.
So why couldn't they figure out how to get this guy working in another location?
Anyway...that's my example of milking a policy.
Oh, and of course he never came back.....retired after his two years of getting paid to literally to nothing.
I didn't want to de-rail another thread, but would love to hear your anecdotes about people (coworkers, friends of family members) that you know have taken advantage of -- exploited -- a given policy at work.
They were sly like a fox and IMO -- got away with it.
It's a case of the "unintended consequences" of an on-the-books policy -- or legitimate contract clause....that someone exploits in their favor.
I'll start....
A friend worked at a place where people could telework or not. They could not be FORCED to telework.
Well, when Coronavirus hit and their employer shutdown their building:
... some people were already teleworking sometimes so they just went full time telework
... others who had NOT teleworked, got up to speed on it, made the arrangements, got what they needed to keep working.
BUT ONE GUY....who happened to be close to retirement 1-2 years out....who NEVER teleworked in all his time there. And it was known, that he doesn't telework. Never wanted to. Well, he, got to sit home for almost TWO YEARS.....because for whatever reason his company never set up an alternate work site...other offices, another building, rented space elsewhere, whatever.
You mean to tell me his company couldn't figure out how to get this guy back to work?
And he would call co-workers bragging about how they couldn't make him work. He didn't have Internet. He'd never signed up for telework. Had never been approved for it. And didn't do it.
Needless to say co-workers were beyond angry. And supposedly his supervisors were pihssed.
So why couldn't they figure out how to get this guy working in another location?
Anyway...that's my example of milking a policy.
Oh, and of course he never came back.....retired after his two years of getting paid to literally to nothing.
How was this guy teleworking? Sounds more like he was just staying at home. To be teleworking you actually have to work.
I had a co-worker with a drinking problem. Got into trouble with wrecking a company car and falsifying his time. He got put on a paid suspension pending removal. That got drawn out for more than a year. Don’t know why or how, but he got his job back. The Powers That Be decided he was “damaged goods” in our office and transferred him to Denver. Of course he loved to snow ski so he got rewarded for all his bad deeds.
I had a co-worker with a drinking problem. Got into trouble with wrecking a company car and falsifying his time. He got put on a paid suspension pending removal. That got drawn out for more than a year. Don’t know why or how, but he got his job back. The Powers That Be decided he was “damaged goods” in our office and transferred him to Denver. Of course he loved to snow ski so he got rewarded for all his bad deeds.
He probably got his job back after his attorney claimed he had a debilitating disease: alcoholism. It's very difficult to fire someone who is disabled. These a long drawn-out legal battles. Many times it is easier for the company to "accommodate" the disability and forego the legal challenge.
Are alcoholics protected by the ADA?
They may be. While a current illegal user of drugs is not protected by the ADA if an employer acts on the basis of such use, a person who currently uses alcohol is not automatically denied protection. Alcoholism is an impairment, and if it substantially limits a major life activity (e.g., learning, concentrating, interacting with others, caring for oneself) it will constitute a disability. An alcoholic may be person with a disability and protected by the ADA if s/he is qualified to perform the essential functions of the job. An employer may be required to provide an accommodation to an alcoholic, (e.g. a flexible schedule to enable the employee to attend counseling appointments).
He wasn't. That's the point. They were supposed to make other arrangements for him, but never followed through. lol
This guy was under another supervisor (not my friend).
I asked her how did they let this guy sit home for close to two years and pay him to do nothing.
Why didn't they find another location for him to -- oh I don't know -- GO TO WORK!?!
She said she didn't know.
Everyone was supposedly PO'd about it. But somehow it was allowed to continue.
She never said WHY her friend couldn't do anything about it.
The co-workers were mad at him -- AND management!
How is that for building morale?
They wanted to blame him for being an A-hole and not doing what he needed to in order to work from home.
Everyone else stepped up he didn't.
But, IMO, don't blame him. Blame management.
In my pervious job I also did not work from home. Never signed up for it. Didn't want to. Even so I don't know that I would have had the cojones to pull what he did.
But now that I know it CAN be done.....I can't say I wouldn't think about it......especially being close to retirement...oh, heck yeah, I might try it....
Even the workers who had worked from home before COULD have said I don't want to work from home anymore. And you can't FORCE me to. If he can do it so can I.
But -- does that put a target on your back, that's not worth it, if you're NOT close to retirement.
Now that the crisis of coronavirus is over, do you want to have been that person, that co-worker, that employee?...
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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This was long ago, but I was working at a major utility in California when the Design Engineering department went to computers and AutoCAD, in the early 1980s. One old guy who had only done hand-drawing his whole career didn't want to have to learn something new so close to retirement, so for about a year he sat at his desk and played games on his new computer.
^^ So let let him do that, versus at least keep working and just doing the hand-drawings?...an have someone -- or have someone show him -- how to perhaps put those into some kinds of system? IF that were possible to be integrated?
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