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The absolute worst scenario happened

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Re: The absolute worst scenario happened

#331

What exactly happens if you break a three month resignation period? I don’t advocate doing this in generally but as a hypothetical exercise if this person just stopped showing up for work, what exactly could the company do?

Well, for one, your work references probably won't be the best. Even if you're not responsible for the problem itself, leaving your employer in the ditch, when there's a major outage - well, it just doesn't look good (barring some scenario where your employer is completely unreasonable - like not paying you). It's kinda like a firefighter that decides to turn off the hose and go home, in the middle of a raging fire.…

> It's kinda like a firefighter that decides to turn off the hose and go home, in the middle of a raging fire. Who in their right mind would want to hire him/her in the future?

The firefighter who recognizes when the building is about to collapse and gets out of there is a good firefighter.

Re: The absolute worst scenario happened

#332
post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These types of situations always wind up being the most fun I have at work and leave me feeling most fulfilled. I wish I could do that all day instead of going to standups.

Constant "emergencies" soon wear you down. Sure it is fun, but the stakes can be high and the stress gets piled on. It starts with congratulations all-round. You are a hero! Good job! Nice save! Your boss's boss's boss's boss comes over and thanks you personally. Take the rest of the week off! Later, its people asking when will you fix it? Why haven't you got this back working yet? Didn'y you fix the same thing last…

I remember stuff like that, once the COO called the entire company to the common room to present me a bottle of champagne for my efforts (another time I was given a fancy bottle of whiskey that some marketing guys drank 3/4 of before I ever got around to it). I rather not work any overtime instead.

Re: The absolute worst scenario happened

#333

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here in america farmers hire illegals to harvest crops, claiming that no american would do the work. This has always struck me as a really terrible excuse. I'm sorry, you can't simply break the law because you'd have to pay an american $20 / hr to do the work. Sure, it means that your tomatoes are more expensive, but also, now there's a hell of an incentive to apply automation to the problem yes? If you don't like th…

If farmers paid enough to get Americans to do seasonal farm labor their produce would cost twice as much as central/south American produce and they would immediately go out of business as everyone buys cheap imported fruit.

You can fix this with import duties. If the country you are importing from doesn't have good labor laws, you charge them 100% extra.

Re: The absolute worst scenario happened

#334

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love this with all my heart. You did exactly the right thing at every step.

Funnily enough it made me sick to my stomach. I manage a small company and the idea of being extorted in such a blasé and psychopathic fashion terrifies me to even think about.

> Funnily enough it made me sick to my stomach.

That an overworked employee who had already left the company would stick up for himself? Or that a company would go to such efforts to try to manipulate a former employee?

I realize my tone doesn't hide my feelings, but even if we disagree I'd still be curious to hear more.

Re: The absolute worst scenario happened

#335

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The exact same thing is happening in Australia in regards to farmers and fruit picking labour. With international borders shut they are unable to exploit foreign workers and complain that young adults are refusing to relocate for $5 an hour hard labour jobs.

Here in america farmers hire illegals to harvest crops, claiming that no american would do the work. This has always struck me as a really terrible excuse. I'm sorry, you can't simply break the law because you'd have to pay an american $20 / hr to do the work. Sure, it means that your tomatoes are more expensive, but also, now there's a hell of an incentive to apply automation to the problem yes? If you don't like th…

Here in america farmers hire illegals to harvest crops, claiming that no american would do the work

This is a political talking point that has been repeated so often that people believe it is true.

During the recession of 2008, there were stores on local TV news in many places showing unemployed Americans waiting in long lines for the opportunity do do those jobs that the politicians kept saying no American wanted to do for those wages. Meatpacking plants, especially, had more than enough Americans to choose from who were willing to work for low wages.

Because these things happened in "flyover" states, they were only very rarely shown on television on the coasts, and so the meme stuck.

A similar oft-repeated lie is that American farmers are all a bunch of Republican hillbillies who hate brown immigrants.

Around 2010, I attended a conference in Seattle for farmers in the Pacific Northwest. The main topic of discussion was how to increase legal immigration from Mexico so that they could have more farmworkers to pick the cherries and apples and mint and whatnot. These people were talking about goals of making people from Mexico and Latin America U.S. citizens in staggering numbers.

The more you actually go places and do things and meet people and talk to them, the more you realize that the words coming out of the political organizations on the coasts are mostly for their own benefit, and do not reflect reality.

Re: The absolute worst scenario happened

#336

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Funnily enough it made me sick to my stomach. I manage a small company and the idea of being extorted in such a blasé and psychopathic fashion terrifies me to even think about.

> Funnily enough it made me sick to my stomach. That an overworked employee who had already left the company would stick up for himself? Or that a company would go to such efforts to try to manipulate a former employee? I realize my tone doesn't hide my feelings, but even if we disagree I'd still be curious to hear more.

My apologies, I edited my comment as you were typing I think. I added some more.

Re: The absolute worst scenario happened

#337

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love this with all my heart. You did exactly the right thing at every step.

Funnily enough it made me sick to my stomach. I manage a small company and the idea of being extorted in such a blasé and psychopathic fashion terrifies me to even think about.

This is not extortion. The company made choices that left significant leverage in the hands of another business. That business correctly perceived the value of the services it could render and priced them accordingly.

This is exactly the free market at work regarding labor. Have a problem with the free market if you like, many of us do but do not accuse this poster of criminal action equivalent to a protection racket.

Re: The absolute worst scenario happened

#338

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here in america farmers hire illegals to harvest crops, claiming that no american would do the work. This has always struck me as a really terrible excuse. I'm sorry, you can't simply break the law because you'd have to pay an american $20 / hr to do the work. Sure, it means that your tomatoes are more expensive, but also, now there's a hell of an incentive to apply automation to the problem yes? If you don't like th…

A couple of years ago, a serial offender food producer was raided, multiple times. 600+ undocumented workers were found, and all spoke of management knowing their status. The workers were detained, deported, and so on. After several raids, not so much as a misdemeanor was levied against a single person, nor a fine to the company in general.

See Postville Raid [1] That was in 2008. The company owners were some prominent Jews, and the political fallout was so severe that immigration raids pretty much stopped after that.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postville_raid

Re: The absolute worst scenario happened

#339

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love this with all my heart. You did exactly the right thing at every step.

Funnily enough it made me sick to my stomach. I manage a small company and the idea of being extorted in such a blasé and psychopathic fashion terrifies me to even think about.

How is it extortion? If you need 1 resource in the whole world, the supply is 1. If your demand is great then you get to pay the price.

This person left the company, and documented everything. What should they do, come in and save the day for $15/hr?

Re: The absolute worst scenario happened

#340

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love this with all my heart. You did exactly the right thing at every step.

Funnily enough it made me sick to my stomach. I manage a small company and the idea of being extorted in such a blasé and psychopathic fashion terrifies me to even think about.

It's a fair fee for such valuable work done for an apparently abusive, and possibly litigious, company.
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