“I didn’t tell them they couldn’t eat! I just implied that them not eating at their desk will be punished!”
Don’t get it twisted - they only intervened because it would be a bad look if word got out. HR exists to protect the company, not the individual employees
Well, it exists to smooth over friction between staff in order to maximize profits.
Sometimes that means telling a middle-manager to stfu. Sometimes it means pulling up a bunch of bullshit to justify a firing “with cause”. Sometimes it just means putting down a notice of events in a registry that nobody will ever read, on the off chance it needs to be recalled in an employment lawsuit.
Boy did I learn that the hard way. My hr also was my manager and I discussed too many details of my life during shifts. She moved me to a different store.
My boss and I always work through lunch and end up working after-hours.
We got a new, young person right out of college in the office, and my boss and I have been very clear that she is not expected to work extra or skip lunch, and not to use us as examples. And if other employees mention that she doesn’t work as much as we do, we correct them and explain that she’s the one doing things right and not us.
We want the next generation to be better than us when it comes to work-life balance.
It’s good what you’re doing, but I believe that if you want people to do better in work-life balance, the change will have to start with you. If it doesn’t, I’m fairly certain that young people will start to emulate your work habits either out of shame, guilt or a misguided image of what the path to success looks like.
Had a boss with the same attitude. He loved his vacation ski trips and would make us stay “off the clock” and not work when off.
I carry the same attitude, I’ll figure it out of necessary if someone is off unless it’s a true emergency (almost never is).
Be the team leader you wish you had. Hell yes.
I used to eat at my desk, until I read research that showed you are more productive when you take a real break, time away from the work context, etc. Now I’m in a position to exploit a team of people by making them take a real break, too. Same with vacation, I’ve had to chew people out for checking in on work when they’re meant to be optimizing their brains.
Research also shows that walking breaks, and 7 hour work days help total productivity, so I’m trying to make those happen… But corporate culture is strongly indoctrinated into the “I spent more time on it, there must be more accomplished” cult… Even though what we produce is code. Sigh.
I work through lunch so I can get off earlier, but I also work from home
For years I had asked people to reach out on my vacation because I thought it would keep things from piling up and give me a less stressful return. This past year they actually were calling me everyday and while it felt cool to feel needed when I came back I did not have the same energy I had when they wouldn’t call. Like I never took the vacation in the first place.
Take real time off people. Those moments of rejuvenation matter.
I work from home for past 12 years but prior when I was in the office I would bring in a large thick old navy hoody and a small travel pillow. I would put my headphones on, my hoody over that and lean my head down on the pillow and nap.
It’s my hour.
first year i let my vacation time build up, the company told me not to do it again. guessing they arent real happy with the sudden large cash outlay
I’ve been arguing with my HR department for 13 years. How can I accrue vacation each week, use my vacation in the same year I earn it? If my last earned vacation doesn’t stay until the last period expires I December, I can’t use my vacation…
It’s frustrating trying to explain the rules to them and not understand.
Much like that old clip about someone trying to explain their data charges to the ISP customer service rep
my company created the rule that if you didn’t use the year’s accrued vacation, come jan 1 of the following year it went away. no stacking
You should accrue vacation this year, for next year. Starting Jan 1, hire date, or whatever year end/beginning is chosen. Then you should have the entirety to take during that second year on Jan 1.
My company seems to think that when I accrue my vacation on December 31 I should have used it already
shoulda/coulda/woulda is not part of my company’s policy. its either do or do not. do not and you never will
I eat at my desk but that’s just because the stuff I bring in for lunch usually has a pretty powerful smell.
Good. I’m tired of these BS jobs that have rules to act like they’re in compliance. Then do the crap where they use peer pressure to have you give it up “voluntarily”.
