Workplace Gripes – Vent Here! ! (or just share workplace stories)

[SonofDjugashvili]

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2. In most states they CAN fire you any time they want for any reason. But they do have to pay unemployment unless they can show that they fired you for "cause", at least in Missouri.

Also, I'm a fan of the "performance review" because that's usually when they give me a raise. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

I probably shouldn't vent because I'm supremely unhappy in my job at the moment and the post would probably turn into an encyclopedia of gripes.

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I don't know much about how this unemployment stuff works. If they fire you then you're not eligible for unemployment, is that what you're saying? And they wouldn't fire you unless they have documented cause? So would you say that a performance review is more for the employer's benefit or is it a favor they are doing for us employees?


p.s. VR, you must share at least one of your gripes with us. Please? [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

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With respect to firing, I covered this in the B&M forum, but basically, unless your particular jurisdiction is somehow extraordinary, your employer can fire you any time for any reason. Under typical labour statutes, all they owe is 2 weeks notice or severance. However, by virtue of common law (legal precedent in jurisdictions whose legal system originated in Britain, that is US, Canada, Australia, NZ, etc), they owe you notice or severance based on your term of service and how senior you are. For your average white-collar employee that notice/severance amount is 1 month for every year of service. The older/more senior you are, the more you are entitled to.
Now, if they fire you for "cause" they don't owe you anything (you can still collect unemployment insurance). However, it's not that easy to fire for cause, unless you do something really stupid like assault a co-worker. That's why they build files on you to show that your performance was inadequate and you were repeatedly warned, etc. If they build up enough of a history, they can argue that you were fired for being a "bad" employee.
Hope that helps.

[Zurvan]

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Why are we paying these people so much money to coordinate things when they can't even remember a simple, basic process that happens on EVERY project?



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So, could the coordinators be eliminated do you think? Do they actually serve a purpose? I have often wondered if phase managers and project coordinators are even necessary. I wonder if there is too much redundancy (as they called it on The Office) in American businesses as it seems to me that it is often the programmers, techinicians and engineers who are explaining things every step of the way and pretty much making sure that the job gets done correctly. (From my own personal observations [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img])

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They do serve purpose here. There's a couple of good ones, and there is a very obvious difference between studies managed by a good one, and a bad one.

Obviously, the key to any sort of coordination position is a basic understanding of the process and life cycle of a project. I know that some of them can't be bothered to learn it, because they can just ask someone else.

[Colt McCoy]

Wtf is with people who have no idea how to dress for work? There's one guy here who wears polo shirts every day and somehow can't manage to button the damn things so every day we're all treated to a view of his ridiculously hairy chest. There used to be another girl here who occasionally wore this pink suit something like this, except she wore it with knee-high, spike-heeled hooker boots. Wtf?

[katyseagull]

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1. It's really tough from a management perspective to be staffed correctly all the time. The last job I had did just what you suggested, waited until we had more work to hire more people, but the result was that it was a good month before they could find qualified people to give offers to and a few more weeks before they started, and then another week before they'd had enough training to actually be helpful at work. This resulted in the rest of us pulling 70-80 hour weeks, sometimes on Saturday and Sunday, during the lag time between needing more people and getting more people. At a salaried job, I'd rather have nothing to do than be putting in overtime without overtime pay...



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Hm. I can see where ActualGirl might have a point. It's a difficult call. But I would think that the promise of a potential contract looming on the horizon would have to be practically imminent before I would go hire on 3-4 more staff and then proceed to watch as everyone in the office sat around surfing the internet for lack of anything to do. As a boss I would feel guilty for leading on the new hires.

[Fishmonger]

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There used to be another girl here who occasionally wore this pink suit something like this, except she wore it with knee-high, spike-heeled hooker boots.

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Whether this is acceptable totally depends on how hot she is.

My gripe is that one of the women I work with is still getting used to me having alphabetized the filing system(six weeks ago). Now whenever a client comes in and she can't find the right file immediately she tells them "Sorry about this, he's put them into alphabetical order," in a rueful sort of tone as though this is some mischievous prank I have played on her. Also she gets my name wrong on a fairly regular basis.

[diebitter]

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Now whenever a client comes in and she can't find the right file immediately she tells them "Sorry about this, he's put them into alphabetical order," in a rueful sort of tone as though this is some mischievous prank I have played on her.

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This made me laugh out loud. People are funny.

[katyseagull]

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There used to be another girl here who occasionally wore this pink suit something like this, except she wore it with knee-high, spike-heeled hooker boots. Wtf?



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knee-high, spike-heeled hooker boots? What the heck kinda company you working for there? [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] I've never seen anyone dress in spike-heeled hooker boots at an office before.

[AnActualGirl]

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Now whenever a client comes in and she can't find the right file immediately she tells them "Sorry about this, he's put them into alphabetical order," in a rueful sort of tone as though this is some mischievous prank I have played on her.

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This made me laugh out loud. People are funny.

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LOL...please tell me the clients give her "wtf" looks when she says this.

[Fishmonger]

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Now whenever a client comes in and she can't find the right file immediately she tells them "Sorry about this, he's put them into alphabetical order," in a rueful sort of tone as though this is some mischievous prank I have played on her.

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This made me laugh out loud. People are funny.

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LOL...please tell me the clients give her "wtf" looks when she says this.

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A wtf look is usually shot my way. I think people worry that she might be losing it because she's quite old.

[Mrs. Utah]

Utah has had the pleasure of consulting for a crazy consulting group. For example, they once asked him to put on a black 'afro' wig and dance around a client meeting to the song Rubber Band Man ala the Office Max commercials.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dTmck-vD-U



edited by katyseagull upon request.