Reply #97: Again, I think we can agree that people do need [View All]

[liberalhistorian]

to be responsible and reliable and not just waltz into work whenever they feel like it without any consequences and that there are, indeed, irresponsible deadbeats who don't care if they're always late or absent and the affect on their co-workers. Those people should be dealt with accordingly, and I certainly shed no tears for them if they lose their jobs or have "demerits", "points", what have you, hanging over their heads.

But what this policy does is lump those idiots in with those who ARE responsible and reliable but who may have something happen beyond their control. Picking up a sick child, a sudden illness of yourself or a child/spouse, a medical or family emergency, etc.; these things WILL happen to even responsible and reliable people and no job should take precedence over it. I've become ill at times thanks to co-workers who've come to work ill themselves because they didn't want to be disciplined or whatever for being absent, that is unfair to not just the ill worker but to his or her co-workers as well. And the stupidest thing in the world is disciplining workers for being ill and off work for several days, or for having an ill child/spouse, or another family/medical emergency.

Believe me, that DOES happen, I've seen it regarding co-workers, even with deaths of parents or other immediate family, and it's happened to me. Never mind that the worker may be responsible, reliable and hard-working. See, THAT is the problem with the one-size-fits-all attendance/tardiness policies. Discipline should be decided on a case-by-case basis and, frankly, most managers/supervisors prefer it that way because it gives them the flexibility to deal with the irresponsible deadbeats while not punishing those reliable workers with legitimate reasons for tardiness/absence. That's why even some WallyLand managers are speaking out against this policy, it removes their flexibility and discretion.

When I once worked at a place with a draconian one-size-fits-all policy, they had high manager turnover largely due to their frustration and resentment over their hands being tied regarding this issue. While working for this company several years ago (no longer, thank God!), I once became suddenly and severely ill right at Christmas over what turned out to be a nasty, aggressive form of bacterial bronchitis that actually landed me in the hospital for a few days and then I was flat on my back for more than a week afterwards. I was told that I needed to get "approval" from the company's disability insurer, never mind that I was barely able to stand up and my doctor absolutely refused to clear me to return to work for almost two weeks. Then, not long after I finally returned to work, I fell on a friend's icy driveway and broke my wrist, which required surgery and recovery; again, I was off work for several days and, again, was told to get "approval" from the company's disability insurer.

I had normally been a reliable, responsible worker, despite the fact that I had a horrendous commute, especially in winter, but that didn't matter, oh, no siree. The day I returned to work following my wrist surgery, I was told I needed to sign one of their fucking "absence warnings", which warned of dire consequences, including termination, if I had any further absences within a six-month period, no matter the reason. At first, I refused to sign it, but was advised if I didn't, I'd be terminated then and there. Had I not been the single parent of a young son, I'd have told them then and there where they could shove their stupid, fucking job.

If that were to happen now, I most certainly would do so, because I will no longer work for such a company. Did they really think I was absent on purpose? Did they really think I enjoyed being severely ill and then dealing with the pain and hassle of a broken wrist and surgery? Much as I hated that stupid, useless, paper-pushing job, I would much rather have been there than dealing with the illness and broken wrist. I wasn't some deadbeat who'd just decided not to go into work because I didn't feel like it. The one-size-fits-all policies are always bad for employer as well as employees, due to low morale, low unproductivity and higher turnover. That workplace was plagued by all three of those and more.