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The health care toll today’s work culture exacts on employees

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Re: The health care toll today’s work culture exacts on employees

#141

Post by zdragnar »

sjg007 wrote: post #130
onezerozeroone wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really the company's fault here. Policies like this exist because candidates have and will sue the shit out of you for any flimsy accusation of discrimination they can cobble together. Companies didn't create these policies arbitrarily and unprovoked. They became necessary because of some people who took advantage of the legal system to get settlements. It's in the company's best interest to protect itself from f…

This fear is overblown in my opinion. If people really want to sue then they will sue based on the fact that companies hire H1Bs into the position that they applied for. Then the company would have to prove not that the H1B was the better candidate but that the American was not qualified. Who decides on that qualification? Well a judge/jury based on the job description. If your resume matches those qualifications and…

I worked for a company who was sued because a candidate told us he was the second coming of Christ. We didn't really address it, and ended up not hiring him. He used The fact that he mentioned it as grounds for religious discrimination.

He didn't win, but we still had lawyer costs and what not. It is not an overblown fear at all.

Re: The health care toll today’s work culture exacts on employees

#142

Post by osrec »

stuaxo wrote: post #115
osrec wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh I'm very aware of it. I tried once before to quit my job and go it alone, at the ripe old age of 22! I failed spectacularly. Reason - I only had 7k GBP in my bank. That simply wasn't enough money for me to live on and pay my mortgage till I found clients. I then put aside 10x times that amount, and things started to fall into place. Exactly the same skills, idea and enthusiasm as before, just a bigger cushion that…

Fuck me, wish I had 7k at 22, just around the time the internet bubble burst, basically fucked and went back to data entry for a while.

That 7k was very hard earned. I basically existed much like a pauper despite having a steady job. The amount felt like a lot to me back then too. 4 months later, I realised how little it was! If anything it made me realise how undervalued I was at work.

Re: The health care toll today’s work culture exacts on employees

#143

Post by kolpa »

mathattack wrote: post #32
someone7x wrote: post #19

> I see a workplace that has become shockingly inhumane. A thousand times this. Very few of the lessons my parents taught me apply in the corporate world. Be honest and straight with people, assume good intent, take responsibility, etc. All that behavior will do is paint you as naive. Sure there's room for honesty and responsibility, but only when used appropriately (strategically). Strikes me as acutely inhumane eve…

There are liability reasons for not giving feedback. If I’ve had a good connection then I will give informal feedback on the phone only.

There are reasons for everything. The liability isn't so great that is outweighs the benefit; it's simply that the corporation ascribes 0 value to helping the candidate improve.

Re: The health care toll today’s work culture exacts on employees

#144

Post by kolpa »

mancerayder wrote: post #58
ekanes wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sounds less like workplaces are broken, and more that you're working at a broken workplace. Go somewhere better - don't give your best efforts to the place you're at. There are workplaces where being honest and straight, assuming good intent, taking responsibility etc will move you UP.

Comments like these are naive, if well-intentioned. Work cultures permeate industries, cities and more. Moreover, for most people, even in the lucrative tech industry such as ourselves, don't have the luxury to peacefully and calmly pick and choose the ideal job: rent is due, mortgage is due, savings go down, or anxiety goes up and we take what comes up. The myth of equal contactual relationship between employer/empl…

That's non-responsive to the comment you replied to:

> "if you don't like it, find somewhere else."

>> don't give your best efforts to the place you're at

Re: The health care toll today’s work culture exacts on employees

#145

Post by lostcolony »

saas_co_de wrote: post #42
retrac98 wrote: post #27

I’ve always found it very effective to use a “just say no” policy to out of hours work or more work than I can handle comfortably. People stop taking advantage when you stop letting them. More than you might expect actually respect it. I don’t think this way of working has hurt my career progression, and it’s certainly done wonders for my mental health.

100% true. > I don’t think this way of working has hurt my career progression I am sure it has helped.

Yep.

The "if you give them an inch they'll take a mile" philosophy applies. My wife tends to try and accommodate, and it has meant she isn't respected in her current position.

Meanwhile, same company, I've made it clear that I have boundaries. I may allow some time after my usual working hours; if I do, I will leave early/arrive late the next day. I'm not putting in over 40 hours, and -I- get to determine when my schedule changes.

And, perversely, it's led to greater recognition, promotion, etc. The fact I act like I am in control leads people to believe I am, and should be given, control.

Re: The health care toll today’s work culture exacts on employees

#146

Post by osrec »

ThrustVectoring wrote: post #128
DeusExMachina wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find this idea bizarre. It's like humans enjoyed their time for millennia and only now we have to work. For all human history, the conditions of people were dire. Today people might be stuck in an office in their "best year", but people in the past had to toil all day to barely scrape by and didn't even have that many years to live. It's only now that we live these comfortable lives with houses, heating, electricit…

Yes, we're better off in material terms, but today's work is the most meaningless it has ever been.

Could not agree with you more. Satisfaction is lacking in so many aspects of the modern work environment.

Re: The health care toll today’s work culture exacts on employees

#147

Post by kolpa »

btilly wrote: post #122
eeZah7Ux wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> For all human history, the conditions of people were dire. No. There's been societies based on slavery or indentured servitude and industrial societies treating workers much like slaves and there's been also almost idyllic, often agrarian, societies far removed from war, exploitation and hunger. Furthermore, given the incredible amount of energy and natural resources that the average person in rich countries is con…

Citation needed. My understanding of primitive agrarian societies are that they have hard work, hard lives, poor diet, and a population that is generally at the edge of starvation. (In good times, population grows. In bad times...) You might want to read Guns, Germs and Steel as an example of a reference backing this view up. Or read through random snippets of history like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Famine_o…

http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/users/rauch/worktime/hours_w...

"Pre-industrial workers had a shorter workweek than today's"

Re: The health care toll today’s work culture exacts on employees

#148

Post by smileysteve »

stuaxo wrote: post #117
thowawayburnout wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People have been living trailer parks, with trailers worth far less then 20k for many years. The tiny housing movement did not show us much.

Nope, just that when people who are not poor live in small houses they live quite well, hardly shocking.

Or the opposite; tiny house permitting made it more apparent that many trailer parks have inadequate septic/sewer systems.

Also see, the resurgence of Hookworm in Lowndes Al.

Re: The health care toll today’s work culture exacts on employees

#149

Post by twblalock »

T2_t2 wrote: post #17
chaseha wrote: post #5

Dealing w/ RSI has been an eye opener for me. What makes it worse: working on a laptop, working on the plane, having to do long hours in poor ergonomic conditions. What do I have to do to be good at my job? Basically, that. What happens if it gets worse and I can no longer use a computer for at least eight hours a day? That is my livelihood

Off topic: Is it RSI or tennis elbow? I got really bad tennis elbow from my Macbook (my theory is the copy paste using a key four in from bottom left rather than the corner key of a windows computer is the issue, as it changes the position of your hand when doing it from pinky to thumb). Anyway, if it is tennis elbow, you can buy a strap that alleviates ALL of the pain. https://www.google.com.au/search?q=tennis+elbow…

Things like wrist supports, straps, braces, etc. should only be used if recommended by a doctor. They can make some conditions worse.

Re: The health care toll today’s work culture exacts on employees

#150

Post by lkrubner »

minikites wrote: post #49

As I type this comment, there are 46 other comments, not one of them using the word "union". That's the only feasible method I can see to enact large scale change. CEOs and other executives aren't going to change out of the kindness of their hearts, as evidenced by the fact that they could start at any point and still choose not to.

I find it worrisome that your comment was downvoted to the very bottom of the page. You are suggesting the common sense solution. If the people on Hacker News could look at the industry situation in an objective, rational way, I'm sure your comment would be the top voted comment on the page.
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