Evil HR Lady

This was a summer of flying. My two children and I took a total of 10 flights in a matter of four weeks, and while I was prepared for the worst, the recent news hadn’t prepared me for what would really happen with our flights. Here’s what happened:

Fantastic and Customer Service

On our flight from Rochester, NY to Philadelphia, PA, we flew in a little tiny American Airlines plane. Because it was a tiny plane, all carry on suitcases had to be gate checked. The man in front of us had a large roller bag. The gate agent handed him a gate check tag, and the man said, “I’m sorry, I can’t be separated from this bag. It contains medical equipment. I have a heart condition, and I could die if I can’t access it.”

That’s the best argument I’ve heard for keeping your carry-on bag. It, however, didn’t change the fact that the plane just isn’t big enough to put a roller bag in the overhead bin and it certainly wouldn’t fit under the seat.

To keep reading, click here: I Took 10 Flights in a Month, and Here’s What Happened

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Does your job have repeated intense physical exertion? Are you exposed to unpleasant and potentially hazardous working conditions? What about hostile or threatening workplaces? Are your deadlines reasonable, or do you have too much to do in not enough time? Do you take time out of your personal life to do work, all for a dead end job?

If any of this sounds familiar to you, you’re not alone. QZ just reported on a survey from the Rand Corporation that found the following:

• Nearly three-fourths of Americans report either intense or repetitive physical exertion on the job at least one-quarter of the time.
• More than one-half of Americans report exposure to unpleasant and potentially hazardous working conditions.
• Nearly one in five Americans are exposed to a hostile or threatening social environment at work, such as unwanted sexual attention and verbal abuse.
• Most Americans (two-thirds) frequently work at high speeds or under tight deadlines, and one in four perceives that they have too little time to do their job.
• About one-half of American workers do some work in their free time to meet work demands.
• Only 38% of workers state that their job offers good prospects for advancement.

To keep reading, click here: Your Workplace May Be Toxic for Your Health

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Over the weekend, a group of white nationalists held a march to protest the removal of a Civil War hero statue in Charlottesville, Virginia. Protesters from Antifa and Black Lives Matter showed up in a counter protest and violence broke out, resulting in one death, when a driver rammed his car into the crowd of counter-protesters.

A Twitter account, “Yes, You’re Racist” is working to uncover the identity of the white nationalist protesters. The goal is to notify employers and schools so that the protesters face consequences at work and at school.

So, let’s say you come into the office this morning to find out that one of your employees was part of the white nationalist group? Can you fire him (and from the pictures, it appears to be a male thing), and should you? (These are often two different questions.) Well, the answer is, it depends.

To keep reading, click here: Should You Fire the Charlottesville Protesters?

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After James Damore published his document “Damore published his document “Google’s Ideological Echo Chamber” on an internal message board, and that document was leaked to the press, the internet seemed to freak out. People took up sides and jumped to conclusions (often without reading what Damore had actually said). Google fired Damore.

Naturally, this didn’t calm the furor on the internet or at Google, and Google wanted to hold a town hall to address some of the concerns. However, Google CEO Sundar Pichai had to cancel the town hall due to Googlers concerns about “their safety and worried they may be “outed” publicly for asking a question in the Town Hall.”

To keep reading (including the full text of Pichai’s memo), click here: Google Fires Employee For Expressing an Opinion; Shocked When Employees Don’t Feel Safe Speaking Up

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The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that you not discriminate against people with disabilities and that you make reasonable accommodations for a disabled employee. However, the employee has to be capable of doing the “core functions” of a job. That may not be as cut and dried as you might think, as the City of Evanston, Illinois, found out.

Biago Stragapede worked for the City of Evanston for 14 years, when he had an accident at home (not work related) that resulted in him being out for 9 months. When he returned, the city’s doctor had concerns about the traumatic brain injury he suffered and sent him to a neurologist for an evaluation. The neurologist recommended a “work trial” to see if Stragepede could do his job. The city gave him a two-week trial and then he returned to work full time.

All of these things are fine. When someone has had a serious injury, you need a doctor to release them to work again and you’d be negligent if you didn’t. But, the problems started a couple of weeks later when Stragapede made some mistakes and needed some help at work.

To keep reading, click here: How an Attempt to Save $150 Cost This Employer $354,070

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