Live data from Hacker News

We demand BuzzFeed pay out earned paid time off to its recent laid-off employees

medium.com

21–30 of 102 posts

Re: We demand BuzzFeed pay out earned paid time off to its recent laid-off employees

#21
post #3

This seems like an excellent thing to ask for the next time they're negotiating a contract. But it seems a bit late to complain about the terms of a contract after said contract has ended.

That's pretty much the classic mistake individuals make when dealing with businesses though. There's no reason to restrict yourself to the legal system and terms of a contract if you think you have leverage enough to do better.

Re: We demand BuzzFeed pay out earned paid time off to its recent laid-off employees

#22

The same people who wouldn't think twice about some PC expose that ruins a person's life forever, same people will fight for a couple days vacation time... Before you down-vote, what am I missing?

I think you're missing making the same comments about other people who ruin lives in an instant, like police, soldiers, prosecutors, lawmakers, BuzzFeed's board of directors, etc. yet also demand vacation time.

Re: We demand BuzzFeed pay out earned paid time off to its recent laid-off employees

#24

The same people who wouldn't think twice about some PC expose that ruins a person's life forever, same people will fight for a couple days vacation time... Before you down-vote, what am I missing?

Because not every employee was complicit in that....... And those that weren’t most definitely DO deserve their PTO.

The problem is when you say “same people” you’re just lumping everyone together and implying everyone at Buzzfeed news was trying to run articles that ruins a person’s life forever. That’s what you’re missing.

Re: We demand BuzzFeed pay out earned paid time off to its recent laid-off employees

#25
post #13

Why, why do so many "trendy" companies shit on workers rights?

Because it's a company with at-will employment. Businesses are operational functions that maximize value for a pool of shareholders. Unless you're in the pool, you're a cost and a liability.

Re: We demand BuzzFeed pay out earned paid time off to its recent laid-off employees

#26
post #16
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You missed that people are employed with rights to accrue leave, but only some have it bound in states rights laws and that BuzzFeed is trying to avoid honouring the spirit of employment conditions their staff worked under?

I think they’re saying if they played loose with ethics in their management encouraging suspect reporting that one can expect the same ethics when it comes to their business end of things.

Sounds similar to Vice Media and their sexual harassment problem...

I really wish these companies did a lot better because honestly now I just feel cynical about paying attention to what they’re publishing that I just try and avoid online media altogether.

Re: We demand BuzzFeed pay out earned paid time off to its recent laid-off employees

#27
post #19

The same people who wouldn't think twice about some PC expose that ruins a person's life forever, same people will fight for a couple days vacation time... Before you down-vote, what am I missing?

> what am I missing? That this is about Buzzfeed News, a serious news site which has won serveral awards and honors for its reporting [1], not Buzzfeed, the listicle, pop culture, click-bait, gossip site [2]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BuzzFeed_News [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BuzzFeed

The layoffs affected all areas of the company, not just BuzzFeed News.

Re: We demand BuzzFeed pay out earned paid time off to its recent laid-off employees

#28

The same people who wouldn't think twice about some PC expose that ruins a person's life forever, same people will fight for a couple days vacation time... Before you down-vote, what am I missing?

Laborers deserve to be paid for their labor, and compensated fairly. Regardless of what one thinks of the labor.

The concerns of labor should be given as much weight as the concerns of profit maximization.

Re: We demand BuzzFeed pay out earned paid time off to its recent laid-off employees

#30
post #13

Why, why do so many "trendy" companies shit on workers rights?

Because just as individual contributors change employers a lot, managers also change employers often enough that the reputation of mistreating workers doesn't stick to anything.

My own employer recently hired a handful of senior HR folks from Uber. They started after I joined. I hate it, but what can I do? I know they were present at Uber during Susan Fowler's very strange year; I don't know if they were actually the people making decisions. And if I preemptively quit, what is my guarantee that the next place will be any better?

Post reply on HN