Things about your co-workers that annoy you

[betarhoalphadelta]

I hate that HR will confront me now and then about not clocking out for entire lunches.. being +/- a minute on a 30m break. Sorry, I got **** to do. Yet, every salaried person in here comes and goes as they please. Ex: Boss left at 11am today to go downtown for lunch. Two hour lunch? Sure. I don't take a full 30m and get scolded.

I think we discussed this before in this thread. At least in CA (and likely in NY) they are legally obligated to give you 30 minutes off for lunch if you're paid hourly.

So here's what happens. They have to offer you a 30 minute lunch. You don't necessarily want to take it, because of whatever personal reason you prefer. Maybe you like to leave 30 minutes earlier. Maybe you're just not a lunch person (I'm not). So you tell your employer that you really don't care about taking a full 30 minutes for lunch for [insert reason here].

Then down the line, they fire you for some reason. And you go lawyer up and sue them for violating wage and hour restrictions. When they say that they *offered* you 30 minutes for lunch and that you didn't want it, you lie and say that they're making that up. They pressured and harassed you into skipping or shortening your lunch break. And in a pro-worker state like CA or NY, they can't prove that they didn't pressure you, so they end up losing the case.

Not that you'd ever do this, of course. But other people have done this.

So employers don't make it optional. They say that you HAVE to take 30 minutes off for a lunch break. Because they don't want to be sued without a paper trail absolutely proving without a shadow of a doubt that you voluntarily and without any pressure are waiving your 30 minute lunch break for [insert reason here].

It sucks. But that's why they do it.

 

[TheCADJockey]

So employers don't make it optional. They say that you HAVE to take 30 minutes off for a lunch break. Because they don't want to be sued without a paper trail absolutely proving without a shadow of a doubt that you voluntarily and without any pressure are waiving your 30 minute lunch break for [insert reason here].

It sucks. But that's why they do it.

Yeah we may have talked about it, I understand.. I just hate that the salaried employees completely abuse not being on the clock. That and the fact that HR sat me down once and said this:

HR - You have to take a lunch.
Me - Ok. They just asked me to do something, so I clocked back in.
HR - Oh. If you are working, you have to stay clocked in.
Me - I work through my lunch every day. So do I need to take a lunch?
HR - Well if you're working, you have to stay clocked in. But you have to take a lunch.

So, they really don't have an answer for it. It doesn't matter, just hate people that leave for hours and still make bank. Not that they do anything while they're hear anyway heh.

 

[nDub]

Not that you'd ever do this, of course. But other people have done this.
[insert reason here].

I was hoping the bold "have" would be a hyperlink to some case file...

I work for a very large municipal utilities company and they have some of the strangest rules and some seemingly obvious rules they like to remind us of periodically. "Don't' steal from the company" being an obvious one.

The only reason I can think that a company like mine has these rule is because some jack@$s at some point has done it and got away with it just because it wasn't a rule yet.

 

[Grannyknot]

I hear ya Cadjockey.
My complaint is that if i'm 5 minutes late, i have to turn in a "time off request" and its deducted from my vacation time. But if i stay 5 minutes past 5, it means nothing (although i usually work to 5:30).

On mornings that i have to drop my son off at school, there is no way i can make it to work on time. I had to negotiate a plan where on those days, i get a lesser lunch break.

 

[TheCADJockey]

But if i stay 5 minutes past 5, it means nothing (although i usually work to 5:30).

This is the biggest thing for me. Just complete lack of respect.

 

[dkwolf]

This is the biggest thing for me. Just complete lack of respect.

My senior engineer is one of those clock-watchers. If I'm not at my desk and WORKING at 8:00, he gets pissed. Not in the office - if I walk in at 7:58, log in to my computer, and go fill my coffee cup, that's unacceptable. But he has no problem whatsoever coming back to my desk at 4:55 and wanting to have a 20 minute conversation about project status.

He hasn't said anything to me directly, but through my supervisor, I know he keeps an eye on it. The day he DOES say something to me is the day that I start walking out the door at 5:00 on the nose, whether he's talking to me or not. If you're going to nickel and dime me on the front end of the day, you're going to respect and honor my time at the end of the day.


This is the same guy that gets pissed off when I take vacation during the summer (our busy season, construction and all) - he'll cry and moan while I'm gone about me not respecting our work flow. And then take the next week off. Then, at the end of the year, when I take half of December off (because I've been here over a decade, and have 4 weeks of vacation to use annually), he gets sideways about that too.

You don't want me to take vacation, ever? Then pay me for my unused time instead of cancelling it at the end of the year.

 

[DoctorMemory]

He hasn't said anything to me directly, but through my supervisor, I know he keeps an eye on it. The day he DOES say something to me is the day that I start walking out the door at 5:00 on the nose, whether he's talking to me or not.

Start now. If he complains, tell him to talk to your supervisor.

[Disclaimer: I'm now a conslutant, so I'm perfectly happy to stay for as long as people want and discuss their problems at length, and follow-up with a summary e-mail, for which they're paying me literally dozens of dollars an hour, so feel free to take this with a grain of salt.]

 

[brettwasbtd]

Yeah we may have talked about it, I understand.. I just hate that the salaried employees completely abuse not being on the clock. That and the fact that HR sat me down once and said this:

HR - You have to take a lunch.
Me - Ok. They just asked me to do something, so I clocked back in.
HR - Oh. If you are working, you have to stay clocked in.
Me - I work through my lunch every day. So do I need to take a lunch?
HR - Well if you're working, you have to stay clocked in. But you have to take a lunch.

So, they really don't have an answer for it. It doesn't matter, just hate people that leave for hours and still make bank. Not that they do anything while they're hear anyway heh.

You take lunch at Xpm (insert time you leave) in your car

 

[brettwasbtd]

So Coworker A comes and asks me a question and even my horrible memory remembers that Coworker B had the exact same issue 3 weeks or so ago.

I tell Coworker A to go ask Coworker B to forward Coworker A the email they sent out to the support team a while back. (This quick interaction allows me to keep track of what I'm doing and continue on with my work)

20 min later Coworker B comes and says "Hey brettwasbtd, I couldn't find that email anywhere... Sorry"

I go into Outlook, click on Coworker B's name, click sort by name. Arrow down over a few emails until I find the one question, click forward, enter on Coworker A and Coworker B's email address and hit send...Time elapsed...40 seconds.

Million dollar question, how does Coworker B not find the email he sent? Also, how does he not remember the resolution to the issue?

Oh and now I have completely lost track of what I was trying to program in My software

Sooo much incompetence it makes me want to cry

 

[TheCADJockey]

Million dollar question, how does Coworker B not find the email he sent? Also, how does he not remember the resolution to the issue?

Deleted it? I deleted everything out of habit until I finally got rid of something important. Now I just leave it all.

 

[iijakii]

I hear ya Cadjockey.
My complaint is that if i'm 5 minutes late, i have to turn in a "time off request" and its deducted from my vacation time.

I wouldn't be able to work in a place like that. Holy hell that's insane.

 

[brettwasbtd]

Deleted it? I deleted everything out of habit until I finally got rid of something important. Now I just leave it all.

That is a valid point, however, Coworker B's track record is proven to be pretty careless.

If they did delete it I would expect them to be quicker in their response and said "I couldn't find it cause I delete my emails"

 

[dkwolf]

Start now. If he complains, tell him to talk to your supervisor.

[Disclaimer: I'm now a conslutant, so I'm perfectly happy to stay for as long as people want and discuss their problems at length, and follow-up with a summary e-mail, for which they're paying me literally dozens of dollars an hour, so feel free to take this with a grain of salt.]

Oh, I'm paid hourly, (so the 17 hour day at an exhibition booth last week was BANK), and I work on average 0.5-1.5 hours of overtime every day. But if he wants to nickel and dime, my overtime will be at MY discretion. Or, if he talks to me for 10 minutes, I'm rounding up to a half hour.

 

[drainbamage]

I hear ya Cadjockey.
My complaint is that if i'm 5 minutes late, i have to turn in a "time off request" and its deducted from my vacation time. But if i stay 5 minutes past 5, it means nothing (although i usually work to 5:30).

That's the letter of the law at my office, but only one supervisor actually enforces it as such. Everyone else (rightfully) thinks it is nuts.

The dumb thing is, say you show up 5 minutes late and stay 5 minutes late in the afternoon to make it up, he expects you to fill out a leave form for the 5 minutes you missed in the morning, and an overtime form for the "extra" time you worked in the afternoon. Funk that. Thank God he's not my boss.

 

[beernbourbon]

Yeah we may have talked about it, I understand.. I just hate that the salaried employees completely abuse not being on the clock. That and the fact that HR sat me down once and said this:

HR - You have to take a lunch.
Me - Ok. They just asked me to do something, so I clocked back in.
HR - Oh. If you are working, you have to stay clocked in.
Me - I work through my lunch every day. So do I need to take a lunch?
HR - Well if you're working, you have to stay clocked in. But you have to take a lunch.

So, they really don't have an answer for it. It doesn't matter, just hate people that leave for hours and still make bank. Not that they do anything while they're hear anyway heh.

I was hoping the bold "have" would be a hyperlink to some case file...

I work for a very large municipal utilities company and they have some of the strangest rules and some seemingly obvious rules they like to remind us of periodically. "Don't' steal from the company" being an obvious one.

The only reason I can think that a company like mine has these rule is because some jack@$s at some point has done it and got away with it just because it wasn't a rule yet.

My senior engineer is one of those clock-watchers. If I'm not at my desk and WORKING at 8:00, he gets pissed. Not in the office - if I walk in at 7:58, log in to my computer, and go fill my coffee cup, that's unacceptable. But he has no problem whatsoever coming back to my desk at 4:55 and wanting to have a 20 minute conversation about project status.

He hasn't said anything to me directly, but through my supervisor, I know he keeps an eye on it. The day he DOES say something to me is the day that I start walking out the door at 5:00 on the nose, whether he's talking to me or not. If you're going to nickel and dime me on the front end of the day, you're going to respect and honor my time at the end of the day.


This is the same guy that gets pissed off when I take vacation during the summer (our busy season, construction and all) - he'll cry and moan while I'm gone about me not respecting our work flow. And then take the next week off. Then, at the end of the year, when I take half of December off (because I've been here over a decade, and have 4 weeks of vacation to use annually), he gets sideways about that too.

You don't want me to take vacation, ever? Then pay me for my unused time instead of cancelling it at the end of the year.

all of this - why is it even still a thing? I just can't understand the concept of managers being so anal that they watch the clock like that. I have people that come in anywhere from 7-930, and leave anywhere from 4-7pm, lunch is when the hell ever you take it. Now, I have to occasionally remind them I'm not paying them to stand around and BS, but their overall productivity is beyond compare. I get more work out of them just by letting them do their own thing. They have a project, they know the deadline, as long as we meet the deadline and the project meets my standards, who really cares what hours you work?

 

[SupervisingChildren]

That's the letter of the law at my office, but only one supervisor actually enforces it as such. Everyone else (rightfully) thinks it is nuts.

The dumb thing is, say you show up 5 minutes late and stay 5 minutes late in the afternoon to make it up, he expects you to fill out a leave form for the 5 minutes you missed in the morning, and an overtime form for the "extra" time you worked in the afternoon. Funk that. Thank God he's not my boss.

That supervisor sucks. My company is similar, but my boss is cool. My kids get on the bus at 7:50, so I usually get in 5 minutes after 8. It's known that I have no control over it, so it's not an issue. I routinely work 8:05-4:20+ with a paid lunch, but I've been working through lunch lately. I only claim 8 hrs per day (8-4) unless I have to work an extra half hour or more.

 

[petey_c]

Deleted it? I deleted everything out of habit until I finally got rid of something important. Now I just leave it all.

He deleted it or was too lazy to look for it.

 

[petey_c]

So, our shifts don't overlap anymore. Management wanted to pressure us into having the eve shift come in 15 minutes early everyday for "turn over". I said no, they said yes. I said pay me OT. They said why? 15 minutes X 5 days/week X 52 weeks = 60-ish hours of unpaid time. At OT rates that's some good $$. I generally come in early anyway (Relieve the watch. Thanks Navy...). They relented, bastiges...

To get back on topic. Co-worker (who by the way, is a nice guy)(I know, this has been covered before) who has plenty of bank-ed sick leave, comes in with some sort of crew crud (cough/cold/flu/URI). Over ten days(no no, I'm okay. It's getting better...)! I worked my forty and was looking forward to four days off. Started sounding funky on Friday. Feeling like schist on Sat (day off 1). Here it is heading into day four and still feeling like poop. Okay, I'll get my pacifier and blankey and take a nap now... I guess I'll start to feel better tomorrow when I have to go back to work.

 

[gratus fermentatio]

If your food leaves a puddle of grease in the microwave, YOU clean it up. If your food splatters all over the inside of the microwave, YOU clean it up. The microwave isn't on the janitor's list of things to clean. Nobody else should be forced to deal with your nasty, greasy, splattered mess. Your mother doesn't work here, clean up your own damned mess.
End rant, carry on.
Regards, GF.

 

[petey_c]

If your food leaves a puddle of grease in the microwave, YOU clean it up. If your food splatters all over the inside of the microwave, YOU clean it up. The microwave isn't on the janitor's list of things to clean. Nobody else should be forced to deal with your nasty, greasy, splattered mess. Your mother doesn't work here, clean up your own damned mess.
End rant, carry on.
Regards, GF.

A paper towel is a wonder cloth! Drop it on top of your food before you nuke it and presto, food splatter stays contained. Imbeciles...
On a similar rant/note; Put your food on a piece of foil before you put it in the toaster oven, so it doesn't drip on the heating coils and start to smoke. We have a roll of foil available for free.

 

[m00ps]

A paper towel is a wonder cloth! Drop it on top of your food before you nuke it and presto, food splatter stays contained. Imbeciles...
On a similar rant/note; Put your food on a piece of foil before you put it in the toaster oven, so it doesn't drip on the heating coils and start to smoke. We have a roll of foil available for free.

on a similar note, put a piece of foil over your food in the microwave and youve got yourself a fireworks show

 

[TheCADJockey]

 

[Zuljin]

So, our shifts don't overlap anymore. Management wanted to pressure us into having the eve shift come in 15 minutes early everyday for "turn over". I said no, they said yes. I said pay me OT. They said why? 15 minutes X 5 days/week X 52 weeks = 60-ish hours of unpaid time. At OT rates that's some good $$. I generally come in early anyway (Relieve the watch. Thanks Navy...). They relented, bastiges...

To get back on topic. Co-worker (who by the way, is a nice guy)(I know, this has been covered before) who has plenty of bank-ed sick leave, comes in with some sort of crew crud (cough/cold/flu/URI). Over ten days(no no, I'm okay. It's getting better...)! I worked my forty and was looking forward to four days off. Started sounding funky on Friday. Feeling like schist on Sat (day off 1). Here it is heading into day four and still feeling like poop. Okay, I'll get my pacifier and blankey and take a nap now... I guess I'll start to feel better tomorrow when I have to go back to work.

We started the 15 minute thing a few months ago for the same reason. With pay. For most folks, it's just us getting paid for the 15 minutes we were already there for. Like you said, relieve the watch.

What's annoying is that the shift after us will come in, not see us in the office, and just sit there. The 15 minutes goes by. They still sit. 5 more go by, and they complain we're not giving them turnover. Hey! How about y'all drag your asses out here and see what's up that we're still working at the end of shift?

 

[brettwasbtd]

That is a valid point, however, Coworker B's track record is proven to be pretty careless.

If they did delete it I would expect them to be quicker in their response and said "I couldn't find it cause I delete my emails"

Coworker B killed me today. Yesterday I tasked coworker B and coworker C with compiling a set of data so I could focus on higher priority development work. Told them I needed it ASAP, COB Tomorrow (today) at the latest.

To preface, this would have taken me 3-4 hours to do by myself. I recognize their knowledge of our software is not as robust as mine and think, no reason they can't divvy this up and complete it by the next morning (today)

Coworker B sends me their list at 9:45am. Initial thought is, "Great! I am getting better at recognizing these peoples skills/time" Then I open the work and... its in rough shape. I turn on track changes in MS Word, identify approximately 10 things for them to fix (should take 30 mins). I send it back and let Coworker B know I was a little concerned it was in such rough shape and confirmed they were pulling from the correct source - Coworker B responds, "Yes, right source"

2 hours later Coworker B sends updates. It took 4x longer than it should have so it should be perfect now, right? NO

Coworker B only managed to fix 4 of the 10 items. Like deleted all the comments and didn't touch 6 of the requests. I re-mark things up and send it right back with the instructions to Please let me know if they have questions since I noticed a lot of things from the first time were not resolved. Coworker B Immediately Responds "Will Do"

An hour later and Coworker B states updates are now made, but of course they are not...

3 Additional items have been remedied, but 3 are still outstanding. :smack: my forehead repeatedly, take a deep breath and saunter over to Coworker B's Cube. I nicely ask them to pull up the document, and I show exactly what is needed for the three 3 things. Got it? Coworker B: "Yes Thanks"

This should be done right...CURVEBALL Coworker C (forgot about them huh?) comes over and says Hey brettwasbtd I was talking to coworker D about this data set and they were concerned it was right. I went to the developer and they confirmed it wasn't, but I have to leave now to go pick up the kids - Me: "Okay, I will just take care of it it needs to go out today you know." Coworker C, "Yes I know sorry" (I let this slide cause Coworker C's original work was pretty solid)

Anyways that brings us almost to 3pm and Coworker B finally sends back their final changes. They missed 1 of the 3 remaining changes...HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN???? I gave an example in the comments each of the 3 times and then verbally told you what to do!!!! AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH

I Replied back be overly nice telling them I appreciated their persistence and everything was now right other than this last bit. I copied what they still had and pasted what it should be and tell them that since it needs to go out, I will handle it.

Coworker B responds.... "Thanks"

That is IT, Thanks. One word.

I should have just done this myself yesterday in 3 hours...I have probably spent more time going back and forth than had I just done it.

I need beers

TL;DR - Coworker B strikes again

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

I should have just done this myself yesterday in 3 hours...I have probably spent more time going back and forth than had I just done it.

Sounds like coworker B should be afforded the opportunity to seek excellence in employment elsewhere.

 

[brettwasbtd]

Sounds like coworker B should be afforded the opportunity to seek excellence in employment elsewhere.

I wish I had the authority to make that happen here, but I don't. I am in a wierd situation where I am "team lead" but might as well be the manager since I do most of their stuff anyways...but of course i dont get paid as such and am going through a bunch of corp bs to get a raise (has to be promotion they say). Anyways I also am looking for opportunities where my own excellence can shine so I'm not trying to get anyone canned.

The contract I am on actually needs/wants more butts in seats that they are bringing in more people end of the month that don't have experience with our proprietary software. So I am expecting more of this to come... Will Lead to some interesting convos down the road on why we are less productive with more resources. Oh also these people they are hiring for my team...I didn't get to be part of interviews. This is great cause it won't be my fault

 

[Dixon9717]

Everyday I see big muscle head man/boys stand around and watch petite women work harder then they do all day without any effort to assist when they struggle with heavy manual labor. Not very much of a man to do that. It's all I can do to restrain from b!t€h slapping those boys.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Engineer who walks around every day with a polo with a popped collar.

Dude, you look like a moron.

 

[bleme]

Everyday I see big muscle head man/boys stand around and watch petite women work harder then they do all day without any effort to assist when they struggle with heavy manual labor. Not very much of a man to do that. It's all I can do to restrain from b!t€h slapping those boys.

My wife works at a big retail store and product is delivered in a 44' trailer about once a week. She is on the 4-person team that unloads the trailer and probably moves about as much as the other 3 put together. I used to work at the same job and unloading truck was probably my favorite task. It was a great workout and let my mind relax. How these 3 guys can stand around and watch her work blows my mind. Where did this generation's sense of shame go?

 

[beernbourbon]

My wife works at a big retail store and product is delivered in a 44' trailer about once a week. She is on the 4-person team that unloads the trailer and probably moves about as much as the other 3 put together. I used to work at the same job and unloading truck was probably my favorite task. It was a great workout and let my mind relax. How these 3 guys can stand around and watch her work blows my mind. Where did this generation's sense of shame go?

A- many men these days have not been taught chivalry as a base habit
B- mentality anymore is 'someone else can do it
C- sounds like your wife just rocks, good for her!

 

[Venari]

A- many men these days have not been taught chivalry as a base habit

Chivalry only covers being a gentleman towards women as a VERY small chapter in a long code of knighthood.

If he were being chivalrous, he'd challenge her to a duel to the death.

 

[beernbourbon]

Chivalry only covers being a gentleman towards women as a VERY small chapter in a long code of knighthood.

If he were being chivalrous, he'd challenge her to a duel to the death.

Ha! Sounds like with the workout she's gettin, the duel would be very short and turn out in her favor

 

[gratus fermentatio]

Sure would be nice if more people could just show up for work on time.
(sigh) Regards, GF.

 

[TheCADJockey]

My nemesis at work whom I've mentioned multiple times, is now yelling across the engineering bay requesting assistance... she can not figure out how to get Google Chrome on her computer. Any IT guys here that can help her out?

 

[brettwasbtd]

I might need to start a book - So I provide a status report every week. It is a waste of time since I compile data already residing real time on an internal website (displayed in nice graphs) into a static MS Word Document. The powers that be want it that way so I make it so. When we first started our project we had a set of tasks, we will say 50 for easy numbers. When I began report the status of the tasks I was requested to state which ones were complete. So in the status I would say we have completed 4 tasks a, b, c, and d, and are 8.7% complete for the project as a whole.

I then received questions asking

"If you complete 4 out of the 50 Tasks aren't you 8% complete? Why are you reporting 8.7%? This is too confusing"

I would then explain - You are correct we have completed 8% of the total, but there are tasks E and F that are partially completed. Would you rather I just report the percentage when a task is fully completed?

They said YES.

Fast Forward >>>>>>>>>

This week I report: 44 out of 50 for 88% Complete (same format I have been doing for almost a year)

Same person who told me to report this way comes and says

"Hey, I am not sure why why we are only 88%, cause I know the remain six tasks are in progress. Can we report the total progess instead"

To which I reply, "Oh like I was originally reporting but it was too confusing?"


Why would you be cool with the way something is report for almost a year and then want to change at the end? You want that number? You can see it at any time on the website


I need to get out of here

 

[hunter_le five]

My nemesis at work whom I've mentioned multiple times, is now yelling across the engineering bay requesting assistance... she can not figure out how to get Google Chrome on her computer. Any IT guys here that can help her out?

Not sure IT's going to cut it. Might need to hire on a full-time team of programmers to get that project accomplished.


I was getting coffee in the office kitchen area a few minutes ago, and I heard the unmistakable tinkling sound of my older female coworker pissing in the adjacent bathroom. It's unfortunate, but pretty much any time someone uses that bathroom, anyone who happens to be in the kitchen area can hear it. Common courtesy usually is to turn on the faucet to drown the noise.

I started to turn on the kitchen sink, when the old lady starts talking to me. She says the coffee pot's nearly empty, will I please make another after I fill my mug. She talked to me. Over the sounds of her urine stream actively churning the water in the toilet bowl beneath bare old wrinkly ass.

By now I'm more than used to my wife talking to me from the bathroom, often with the door wide open. But to have some elderly coworker whom I can barely tolerate to begin with try and have a dialogue with me whilst noisily unloading her bladder is more than I can handle before my second cup of coffee.

I think proper ettiquette dictates I burn the building down now.

 

[TheCADJockey]

I think proper ettiquette dictates I burn the building down now.

While she was going?? Sweet jesus. Burn it. Burn it all. I can't even stand listening to my boss go to CrunchTown on a bag of chips every day at 2pm, let alone piss.

Couldn't do it.

 

[SupervisingChildren]

Staff bathroom is in my office. Walls are paper thin, and I used to have a coworker that insisted on talking to me when I was in there. Rather annoying.

Today, boss's boss came over to our building and took a dump in there right when I got back to the office. Wtf? Save it for your building!

 

[hunter_le five]

Today, boss's boss came over to our building and took a dump in there right when I got back to the office. Wtf? Save it for your building!

Showin' you who's boss, like a boss.

Nothing asserts dominance more than taking a massive dump in someone else's territory.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Why would you be cool with the way something is report for almost a year and then want to change at the end? You want that number? You can see it at any time on the website

Follow the money.

Does the person asking you about this get some sort of incentive pay? Is some part of that incentive pay based on how people complete these tasks? Does he have a 90% target for this quarter, and you're only at 88%?

Once you know how someone gets paid, you can use that to your advantage. Find a way to help them get theirs, and they'll be on your side for life.