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Amazon to force 'voluntary resignation' on workers who don't relocate

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81–90 of 106 posts

Re: Amazon to force 'voluntary resignation' on workers who don't relocate

#81
post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Because saying "you can keep your job if you uproot your life" isn't a fair choice. Surely an employer and employee are free to choose the employment terms and when the terms are deemed unacceptable to either, they can part ways? If you're a top notch Amazon engineer, for example, and you don't want to uproot your life it would be fairly easy to find another job that is more suitable, don't you think? All employmen…

Employment relationships and tradeoffs are negotiated at the time of hiring. Abruptly changing the terms in the middle with no re-negotiation is unfair. Sure, employees are free to leave and find another job, but with a layoff an employee has many benefits such as severance that are offered, where as in this case there are none. Instead of laying off people, should Amazon be able to just reduce their salary to 0, the…

> Employment relationships and tradeoffs are negotiated at the time of hiring. Abruptly changing the terms in the middle with no re-negotiation is unfair.

Concur that the employer has to behave within the confines of the contract. If not, that's a contract violation and they should pay dearly. Is it the case that they are violating contractual terms? Or are they operating within the flexibility offered by the contract signed by both parties?

Re: Amazon to force 'voluntary resignation' on workers who don't relocate

#82

> "collaborating and inventing is easier and more effective when we're in person." I read this as "when we're in prison" for some reason and couldn't believe someone would seriously say that.

My favorite part of working there when this started being pushed was “source?” And the reply being “trust us bro” It’s so hilariously mismanaged..the execs are just useful idiots for the globalist agenda at this point

> the execs are just useful idiots for the globalist agenda at this point

What does "globalist agenda" mean?

Re: Amazon to force 'voluntary resignation' on workers who don't relocate

#83
post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Employment relationships and tradeoffs are negotiated at the time of hiring. Abruptly changing the terms in the middle with no re-negotiation is unfair. Sure, employees are free to leave and find another job, but with a layoff an employee has many benefits such as severance that are offered, where as in this case there are none. Instead of laying off people, should Amazon be able to just reduce their salary to 0, the…

> Employment relationships and tradeoffs are negotiated at the time of hiring. Abruptly changing the terms in the middle with no re-negotiation is unfair. Concur that the employer has to behave within the confines of the contract. If not, that's a contract violation and they should pay dearly. Is it the case that they are violating contractual terms? Or are they operating within the flexibility offered by the contrac…

Whether they have violated the contract, like all of law is up to interpretation; Most likely, given Amazon's large team of lawyers, I'm sure they could get away with almost anything.

Re: Amazon to force 'voluntary resignation' on workers who don't relocate

#84

Can you imagine being asked to move to a different city, go into the office, only to use Chime all day? The only people who will agree are the ones who sadly have no alternative.

> The only people who will agree are the ones who sadly have no alternative. Many people will continue to choose to work at Amazon and specifically because they want to be around other colleagues a few days in the week. It is pretty presumptive and insulting to say to someone like that that they're in a "sad" position and they are "victims".

The thing is, plenty of people were hired with the expectation that they would stay remote. Sure, some of those people will be happy to go into the office. Others will most certainly not be happy about the "choice" of whether to move their family to another state and completely change their work routine.

Re: Amazon to force 'voluntary resignation' on workers who don't relocate

#85
post #35

This is the Amazon I know! This is the Amazon I worked for 4 years. Every time I wonder if things changed one of these stories pops up. And reinforces my resolve to never work for this piece-of-** company unless I cannot make my next mortgage payment.

I have never worked there, but this also squares with my outsider's impression of it. Thanks for confirming, though -- and I hope your mortgage payments never ever force you into that situation. Good luck!

Re: Amazon to force 'voluntary resignation' on workers who don't relocate

#86
post #80
post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Virtually everybody lives in an at-will state. The definition of an at-will state is one in which your employer doesn't need any reason to fire you. How does the constructive dismissal claim work? Is it your belief that they could fire you immediately if they wanted to, but have somehow, despite the huge legal department, blundered into the one way they can't fire you? If this is just about unemployment benefits, sur…

My understanding is you can't get unemployment for quitting, though? Is that not accurate?

If the whole thing about constructive termination is that they're doing this "voluntary resignation" thing to avoid unemployment benefits, then this makes sense. I had the initial impression it was about avoiding having to relocate, but it looks like I misconstrued.

Re: Amazon to force 'voluntary resignation' on workers who don't relocate

#87
post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, I live in an at-will state, you can absolutely file for constructive dismissal. And SHOULD. If you can do your job remotely, have been doing your job remotely, and the company wants to end that? Then the company absolutely needs to be challenged and burdened with showing proof as to why returning to the office is necessary when it does create an unreasonable burden on the employee. For anyone who says this isn't…

Virtually everybody lives in an at-will state. The definition of an at-will state is one in which your employer doesn't need any reason to fire you. How does the constructive dismissal claim work? Is it your belief that they could fire you immediately if they wanted to, but have somehow, despite the huge legal department, blundered into the one way they can't fire you? If this is just about unemployment benefits, sur…

> Virtually everybody lives in an at-will state.

Every state but, for some reason, Montana.

Montana isn't especially pro-worker, either -- it's a staunchly conservative state -- it's just they didn't adopt many of the same statutes and wordings as the at-will states.

Re: Amazon to force 'voluntary resignation' on workers who don't relocate

#88
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a remote worker who would quit before returning to the office. But even so I can't interpret a requirement to be non-remote as "a hostile work environment", "extraordinary", or "unreasonable". But yes, it does look more like a termination than a voluntary resignation.

The actual threashold is “a meaningful change in your work requirements” and there is, I believe, plenty of case law to establish that this includes a significant change to your worksite location. If you live 5 min from your office, maybe you can’t use this excuse. But if you are committing 45+ min each way, or have since moved out of state…

Yeah there is a lot of caselaw here.

It will depend to some degree on the state, though.

I'm guessing that AMZN also assumed that many would either move, or just eat the dismissal, and the cost of paying out those who fight it is still less than just giving unemployment to everyone. At least I hope they made those projections...

Re: Amazon to force 'voluntary resignation' on workers who don't relocate

#89
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This happened in the Bay Area, too. Prior to everyone adopting "RTO" (return to office) policies, my commute to the office regardless of the day was about 20 minutes (leaving from SF). After, on Tuesdays through Thursdays, it can easily be 30-40 minutes. And getting back home? Horrible. Before RTO I could leave the office at 4 or 5 and be back in my nice apartment within a half hour. Now it takes 10 fuckin minutes ju…

Organize your local political machine to declare each flu season an emergency, and enforce lock downs again.

I hate traffic but fuck off with more lockdowns

Re: Amazon to force 'voluntary resignation' on workers who don't relocate

#90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What’s the real reason

Real estate

specifically leases they can't get out of, and a commercial real estate bubble that's looking more and more precarious
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