A couple of years ago Mac-Sys got a commendation for their working practises with regards to work/life balance and teleworking. We did bend over backwards to assist employees who had children and also in some cases were able to allow people to work from home. It’s something that I valued when I was at Nortel and something I miss a lot now. $BIG_COMPANY has positively archaic policies when it comes to home-working, teleworking and catering (technology as well as in terms of human resources) for people who work the 9-5 and are also expected to pick up the telephone when it rings.
From The Times:
“You think that just because you have lovely babies or terrible teenagers you have a God-given right to leave the office any time you like, to go to their nativity plays or their parents’ days, while the rest of us do your work for you and keep your lovely job warm for you, without any thanks, until you see fit to come back from your blissful maternity leave or your half-term holidays.â€
It’s a fair point but can equally extend to just about anyone who’s not in the office every second from 9 am to 5:30 pm. It’s easy to start with the parents – people who need to work but also want to spend quality time with their kids. Attack their insistence on a good work-life balance. Question their dedication to the job when their ex-wife dumps the kids on them early in the day and they have to leave work early. And when little Jimmy needs to go to the hospital, then again complain in muted tones about how you have to do all of this extra work.
Downing Street announced last week an inquiry into extending the right to flexible working (currently restricted to parents of children under six) to parents of children under nine, 12 or even 17. About 6.25m parents have the right to request conditions such as flexitime or working at home; if all parents of schoolchildren were included, 4.5m more would have this right. This would include the right to time off to help teenagers with their exams.
When done with the parents, turn your baleful eye to coffee breakers and extended lunchers. Better to be sitting at your desk and be unproductive than actually having time to enjoy your food. Or is it better just to resent the fuck out of people who seem to be getting more out of life?
While we’re haranguing people, spare a thought for the social leper that is the smoker. Relegated to hanging outside your building fulfilling a crippling addiction that is slowly killing them. They’re laughing it up of course because they’re working less and they won’t have to worry about the shit company pension plan going tits-up.com because they’ll be long dead of something pink, grey and heinous. Worry more about the growing heap of fag butts that end up piled outside your building because it’s a proven fact that someone who doesn’t mind inhaling tar into their lungs wouldn’t think twice about littering with the scrag ends of their disgusting habit. At least they should have the decency to die rather than clogging up hospitals with their addiction-induced illnesses whether these be cancer, punctured lungs, bronchitis or any other shit. Oh, no, that’s right – they expect the same care as the rest of us. It becomes obvious that they’d spit on you, they’d litter on you and given the chance they’d force you to breathe their smoke and justify themselves with nonchalant phrases like “Oh, I was outside” or “Sure it’s just a little bit”. Stick it up your ass you sanctimonious bastard.
A Florida company has just banned smoking amongst its employees whether they are on the clock or not.
“If you are too stupid to understand that smoking is going to kill you, then we are going to tell you that if you want to work for our company, you will not smoke,” Seigel said.
…
Seigel said when the non-smoking policy initially went into effect he gave employees a year to stop smoking and opportunities to receive counseling, patches and other smoking cessation programs.
Right on. It’s one thing to take time out of work to eat or spend time with children and another thing entirely to indulge a stupid addiction.