Things about your co-workers that annoy you

[TheCADJockey]

They work less hours and have more vacation time, yet they don't seem to be any less productive than U.S. companies

It's the biggest problem I have here man.. I don't mind doing the work. I prefer it. If I've got nothing to do like right now.. the last hour is going to feel like a lifetime.

As soon as the CE leaves, everyone just fades out. Everyone that is making massive salaries at least. They probably average 30 hours a week, and that means they are here. Doesn't mean actually doing work. My boss always says, "if everyone is gone, I don't care if you just leave" cool man.. but, then I don't get paid ya know? And HR gives me **** about ending up with 38 hour work week.

HR.. heh.. caught me working through lunch break. Reprimanded me saying if I work through lunch I have to stay on the clock. I work through lunch every day. So, I never clocked out for a month of lunches. HR reprimands me and says I have to take lunches. I say okay, I have work to do so I'll just clock out and keep working, I don't care. Oh, rules. Glad to be (potentially) giving my 2 wk notice soon to move on.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

HR.. heh.. caught me working through lunch break. Reprimanded me saying if I work through lunch I have to stay on the clock. I work through lunch every day. So, I never clocked out for a month of lunches. HR reprimands me and says I have to take lunches. I say okay, I have work to do so I'll just clock out and keep working, I don't care. Oh, rules. Glad to be (potentially) giving my 2 wk notice soon to move on.

That one is a serious catch-22 for an employer [at least here in California]... Some people prefer to work through lunch. Some people prefer to take lunch. Most employers don't care either way.

However, if you have someone who claims to prefer to work through lunch, so they're not clocking out for lunch. Then for some unrelated reason you have to terminate them. Boom! Lawsuit saying you denied them their legally-protected lunch hour and forced them to work. As a result, I've actually heard of people being disciplined for not taking their lunch break. Because employers have to show that they take the law seriously lest someone try to sue.

Heck, as a manager they actually said that it looks REALLY bad to have employees clocking it at (say) exactly 8:30 and leaving at exactly 5:00 with exactly a 30-minute lunch that's exactly from 12:00-12:30. Because nobody can POSSIBLY be that perfect, seeing a lot of employees putting in hours like that suggests that management is undoubtedly not accurately tracking hours. And in a place like California, [sarcasm]that of course always means management is overworking employees[/sarcasm]. I used to have a non-exempt employee, and after I got that training, had to let him know to put in his arrival and departure time to the minute. If he arrives at 8:27 AM, that's what goes on the time sheet.

The laws are there to protect workers, but the ways they can get perverted by lawsuit-happy opportunists end up making life harder on both employees and employers. Employers are forced to make employees do things they don't want to do (like taking lunches if they prefer to work through them) as a CYA maneuver.

 

[sablesurfer]

As a result, I've actually heard of people being disciplined for not taking their lunch break.

I am not a socializer, I can eat my lunch in 15 minutes and then my ADD kicks in and I am bored. Sitting in cafeteria for a forced 1 hr is extremely annoying to me over time.

I skipped lunches for a long time, then got a talking to.

Now we all agree that I am taking half hour lunch (which I am basically at my desk, so anyone can [and occasionally do] ask me work questions). But this way I get to apply that 30 minutes to my leaving time.

 

[phug]

I'm sure that right now I'm the annoying colleague. 2 weeks ago I reached onto my boss and told them I'd probably be going on leave in a week, until March. Then mid last week I was finally able to confirm it when my wife's promotion and return to work got confirmed. So Friday next week is my last day until March 2016. Gonna stay at home to care for my 7 month daughter

I've been handing things off left right and Center. Including back to other managers that I don't report to

 

[n240sxguy]

All this lunch talk makes me glad I don't have to mess with that anymore. I work 12hr swing shift, and get paid to eat lunch. Granted I don't get to leave and run errands, but there's usually plenty of down time, so it works out in my favor.

 

[watermelon83]

If it wasn't obvious I was using Pokemon to be a humorous placeholder for something confidential or impertinent to the story, I'll replace it with something easier for you guys to understand:



Boss - "So wat [derp] should we flurp?"

C. Eng - "[Herpder]..."

Boss - "I was going to say [herpderp]!"

C. Eng - "Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh"

Boss - "lolololololololz!1!!!..."

I think you're doing this wrong, too nice. Next time give him the answer that is wrong for some reason he is too simple to grasp. Then work on the whatever drawing u know is right. When whoever screams at him comes screaming give them the right one.

 

[Onkel_Udo]

I think you're doing this wrong, too nice. Next time give him the answer that is wrong for some reason he is too simple to grasp. Then work on the whatever drawing u know is right. When whoever screams at him comes screaming give them the right one.

Unless you are devious by nature and good at it...this will bite you in the ass.

 

[SupervisingChildren]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvdjBtw-XbE


Edit: That dude is simply not human. For a good laugh, first read the Haribo Sugar Free Gummy Bears reviews, especially the one titled "My Dinner with Andrea", and then watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMjgaa5j_LE

The gummy bear reviews on Amazon are hilarious! Spent a good hour reading that...

 

[Rhumbline]

When I have to work through lunch I just leave an hour early.

 

[watermelon83]

Unless you are devious by nature and good at it...this will bite you in the ass.

Sounds like me. When I want to be.

 

[TheCADJockey]

That one is a serious catch-22 for an employer......

Ok, thanks man.. I didn't see it from a legal point of view. I thought HR was just trying to enforce their will on me since I'm the only 'underling' in engineering (after some drunk talk with a higher up over the weekend, this may actually be the case anyway). It seems like such a mess. Every day, I wondered why there was a line of kids standing at the time clock waiting for that moment that it clicked 12:30 or whatever so they could clock in and out to the exact minute. It made me crazy! There would be days that 10 people from assembly would be standing there, sometimes wasting 5+ minutes just chatting waiting for the clock. I just walked in front like whatever. I don't care if I get 38/40/42 hours. It's an inaccurate system when I sit down and work the entire time I'm here but rules make me clock out. Just frustrating.

I am not a socializer, I can eat my lunch in 15 minutes and then my ADD kicks in and I am bored.

This is me as well. Not that I'm not a socializer, more so that I'm in the middle of the age group here. The engineers are all quite older and the assembly/production are to some extent straight out of high school. The engineers talk about rich people problems, the kids talk about drama.

Thanks guys.. glad to see it's not just some self-involved problem I made up. Expecting email from new potential boss today. Excited.

 

[Grannyknot]

I'd really like to see the American 40 hour week mantra make a shift more toward "work until you get your work done". This doesn't necessarily mean bust your balls and then leave at 3 every day. It means you could work till 3 every day one week, but the next week be forced to work until 6 or 7 every night.

I know a few companies who operate like this. The workers seem happier and much more productive.
They are more accountable for their work. If Monday morning rolls around and they've not completed a task from last week, there are some VERY serious questions asked by mgmt. It is also a good way to guage your employees workload and re-distribute, add to, or take away, when appropriate.

Obviously, this is a pipe dream, and wouldn't even work in many many industries, but I hate the time clock for salaried employees.

 

[n240sxguy]

I'd really like to see the American 40 hour week mantra make a shift more toward "work until you get your work done". This doesn't necessarily mean bust your balls and then leave at 3 every day. It means you could work till 3 every day one week, but the next week be forced to work until 6 or 7 every night.



I know a few companies who operate like this. The workers seem happier and much more productive.

They are more accountable for their work. If Monday morning rolls around and they've not completed a task from last week, there are some VERY serious questions asked by mgmt. It is also a good way to guage your employees workload and re-distribute, add to, or take away, when appropriate.



Obviously, this is a pipe dream, and wouldn't even work in many many industries, but I hate the time clock for salaried employees.

I'd like to see a time clock for the salaried employees at my plant. For some reason corporate implemented a time clock system for all hourly employees. I work 12hr swing shift. You don't leave until your relief is there or you ok it with your foreman if your relief is late. We couldn't screw the system if we tried, yet we got the clock. Management on the other hand can leave whenever they please, and write out their own time sheets. One guy has been off all the time this year, but according to the system, he still has like 7 weeks of vacation to take. They do a comp time thing where they get time off if they have to work over. I always joke that he takes a day for every hour he works over. I think that's less of a joke, and more like reality.

 

[TheCADJockey]

One guy has been off all the time this year, but according to the system, he still has like 7 weeks of vacation to take.

Yep. My boss. When he inevitably doesn't use that time, he gets a hefty check at the end of the year for it too. Yet, nobody notices or cares when he drops a stack of dwgs on my desk at 2pm and leaves at 3pm every day.

 

[Grannyknot]

I'd like to see a time clock for the salaried employees at my plant. For some reason corporate implemented a time clock system for all hourly employees. I work 12hr swing shift. You don't leave until your relief is there or you ok it with your foreman if your relief is late. We couldn't screw the system if we tried, yet we got the clock. Management on the other hand can leave whenever they please, and write out their own time sheets. One guy has been off all the time this year, but according to the system, he still has like 7 weeks of vacation to take. They do a comp time thing where they get time off if they have to work over. I always joke that he takes a day for every hour he works over. I think that's less of a joke, and more like reality.

like I said, it obviously doesn't work in many industries. What seems blatantly obvious to me is if someone is hardly ever at work, but has no work outstanding, then what need is there to employ that person?

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

I'd like to see a time clock for the salaried employees at my plant. For some reason corporate implemented a time clock system for all hourly employees. I work 12hr swing shift. You don't leave until your relief is there or you ok it with your foreman if your relief is late. We couldn't screw the system if we tried, yet we got the clock. Management on the other hand can leave whenever they please, and write out their own time sheets. One guy has been off all the time this year, but according to the system, he still has like 7 weeks of vacation to take. They do a comp time thing where they get time off if they have to work over. I always joke that he takes a day for every hour he works over. I think that's less of a joke, and more like reality.

Legally, if you're paid hourly, they need to track it. If you're salaried, they don't. The main exception for salaried is if you're in an industry where your hours are billable.

The time clock covers your employer's ass. Mechanical or electronic records look a lot better than handwritten timecards if they get sued for anything remotely related to wages & hours.

 

[GrogNerd]

it all comes down to the lawyers, doesn't it?

if it weren't for lawyers, we wouldn't need lawyers

except for you guys out there in HBT Land who happen to be lawyers. you guys are great.

 

[fuzzy2133]

Yep, I have always said if the courts start throwing out cases that are a waste of time the world would be a better place. Yes I am looking at you Mr. I burned my hand from a cup of McDonald's coffee and didn't know it was hot...

 

[DrunkleJon]

Yep, I have always said if the courts start throwing out cases that are a waste of time the world would be a better place. Yes I am looking at you Mr. I burned my hand from a cup of McDonald's coffee and didn't know it was hot...

I thought that was an 80 year old lady and she had dumped it in her lap and burned her naughty bits and even required skin grafts. That may be a touch too hot. Maybe the warning should have been against adding cream and sugar or against the cups themselves.

 

[Gameface]

I thought that was an 80 year old lady and she had dumped it in her lap and burned her naughty bits and even required skin grafts. That may be a touch too hot. Maybe the warning should have been against adding cream and sugar or against the cups themselves.

She almost died, and McDonalds was keeping their coffee way too hot and had over 700 instances where customers get seriously injured as a result.

There are two parts to a case like that, there is restitution which covers the expenses of the victim and there are punitive damages. Punitive damages have nothing to do with the victim and everything to do with the guilty party. They are intended to be significant enough to cause the guilty party to change their behavior.

That case was not a waste of time and there wasn't anything ridiculous about it if you actually look at the details as they were presented in court.

 

[brettwasbtd]

So the one employee I always complain about put in his two weeks last week. Very happy I won't have to deal with their poor attitude as well as field all the stupid questions - I have no problem helping coworkers who show a willingness to learn, this one did not care one bit. Good riddance! The other I complain about got in a 8:45 all but one day this week (which they arrived at 9:07) and have left between2:30(today) and 4 everyday...not sure how you can rationalize 40 hours on that time sheet. And as a reminder our work is not capable from home. Must've been a nice little Friday for them to only work 5 hours and 45 minutes!

I started googling things like "coworkers get in late and leave early" and there are tons of forum posts on it. The most surprising thing I found was that the overwhelming response from people was "mind your own business." Just shaking my head over here, poor. This is why I think European countries have it better. They work less hours and have more vacation time, yet they don't seem to be any less productive than U.S. companies

2-week notice employee's last day is this Friday - Called in sick today

Other employee worked 8:45-3 today, 30 mins longer than Friday!

Can't make this stuff up! Also we are IT contractors and bill hourly, though we are paid as salaried employees. Often there may not be a full days worth of work, but occasionally some urgent things come up. For that reason I don't feel bad if I am on HBT but here for my actual time, how the others rationalize...that is not my problem

 

[Onkel_Udo]

2-week notice employee's last day is this Friday - Called in sick today

Other employee worked 8:45-3 today, 30 mins longer than Friday!

Can't make this stuff up! Also we are IT contractors and bill hourly, though we are paid as salaried employees. Often there may not be a full days worth of work, but occasionally some urgent things come up. For that reason I don't feel bad if I am on HBT but here for my actual time, how the others rationalize...that is not my problem

Thankfully, company has the most "progressive" flextime policy I have seen outside of real IT companies. As long as the client's needs are being met and I have sufficient billable hours to cover my salary per quarter...they could care less how I get them.

Since I have no backup for what I do, I have to be there every Monday, every closing day -2 and closing day. The fun part is I have a backlog of 120 OT billable hours (projects on hold) until the client releases the moratorium on contractor overtime.

The client tracks my every move with my swipe card so there is no cheating my time card. Yeah, they also have a moratorium on off-site work without prior written approval so...it was fun when they called me an hour after I left and asked me to come in for an emergency meeting. "Sorry, I need prior written approval to work from home so I don't bring home my company computer and I just had a beer so I will be in violation of the alcohol policy if I come on site. Can we just have the meeting at the brewpub a 1/4 mile from the refinery?" Suddenly I was no longer required at the meeting. Oh, and I now have a signed, undated work from home authorization from the client.

Back to things that annoy me:

All changes to authorized people in my change management system have to be via email so I have a record of who requested it. Three things are required: it must be in email, it must have the project number and role needing change, it must have the name of the outgoing and income approver. Daily, some idiot will send me an IM requesting a change. This is always a veteran with at least 2-3 years on the program and the requirements have never changed. I get an average of four requests a month from each of the veterans. How hard is this ****?

 

[DrunkleJon]

My useless coworker called in today. I bet he won't be in tomorrow. I believe this with 95% certainty because he is off for a week starting Wednesday

 

[n240sxguy]

Legally, if you're paid hourly, they need to track it. If you're salaried, they don't. The main exception for salaried is if you're in an industry where your hours are billable.

The time clock covers your employer's ass. Mechanical or electronic records look a lot better than handwritten timecards if they get sued for anything remotely related to wages & hours.

The thing that's odd about ours is we have to use our badge to get through the plant turnstiles, so there is already a record of what time we got to the plant, and what time we left. They basically just added a duplicate system.

 

[n240sxguy]

I thought that was an 80 year old lady and she had dumped it in her lap and burned her naughty bits and even required skin grafts. That may be a touch too hot. Maybe the warning should have been against adding cream and sugar or against the cups themselves.

I had a chance to review that case in a business ethics class. McDonald's defense was kinda valid. Lots of their customers would pick up coffee on the way to work, and they wanted it to be warm/hot when they got to work and started drinking it. The court decided that 165+ was extreme even for that. I thought it was a bs case until I read the facts of it. That lady really got the hell burnt out of her. Either way, don't spill hot stuff on yourself was the moral of the story.

 

[fuzzy2133]

Either way, don't spill hot stuff on yourself was the moral of the story.

That's all I was going for too. I did not realize McDonald's had the temp turned up that high!

Is it safe to say no law suits to pay for ignorance?

 

[Billy-Klubb]

every place I've worked has had the people who strive for the position of power. they want to finally hold that power over other peoples heads. these are also the people that will threaten your job directly or indirectly if you disagree with them or try to find a better way of doing something. from what I have seen these people have been threatened in their jobs, ignored, or have been picked on in the work place and treat the position as a position of revenge. these specific people annoy the flocc out of me and sometimes just piss me off. you can either have your revenge and make other people miserable or you can strive to make the work place better so others don't have to suffer the way you did. thankfully, I have also worked with people who tried to keep an open mind between management and the employees on the floor. they tend to try to eliminate the bias and hostilities for the sake of everyone.

 

[gratus fermentatio]

I get tired of suggesting various things, only to be given the polite equivalent of the "backyard brush-off;" then, a few months later when the hired consultant tells them the EXACT SAME THINGS, they feel the need to fall all over themselves to implement them.

How stupid does a person have to be to ignore an employee who tells them "You can save up to 30% on your heating & cooling costs by simply turning on the ceiling fans that are already installed."? The only excuse I've heard is "So & so gets cold." Well I'm here to tell you, "So & so" can damn well put on a $10 hoodie, or a $100 fashion statement sweater, or anything inbetween. "So & so" is also anorexic, has 2% body fat & needs to eat a freaking sandwich, a plate of fries & wash it all down with a couple of doppelbocks. Move "So & so's" desk so the fan doesn't blow directly on it; problem solved & 30% saved on heating & cooling costs.

End rant.
Regards, GF.

 

[Renegades_Brew]

I get tired of suggesting various things, only to be given the polite equivalent of the "backyard brush-off;" then, a few months later when the hired consultant tells them the EXACT SAME THINGS, they feel the need to fall all over themselves to implement them.

That speaks so true to everything in my experience. I have certificates in numerous areas and know WTF I am talking about. But I find I always have to call a company to come out and look at the problem so they can tell the higher ups the exact same thing I just told them. And then forward the bill for the service call to tell them the information I gave them for free a week before.

Basically: You hired me to do this job because of my expertise in the area. Yet now that I am hired you don't trust a damn thing I tell you unless I get someone else out here that costs you more money to tell you the same damn thing...

 

[gratus fermentatio]

That speaks so true to everything in my experience. I have certificates in numerous areas and know WTF I am talking about. But I find I always have to call a company to come out and look at the problem so they can tell the higher ups the exact same thing I just told them. And then forward the bill for the service call to tell them the information I gave them for free a week before.

Basically: You hired me to do this job because of my expertise in the area. Yet now that I am hired you don't trust a damn thing I tell you unless I get someone else out here that costs you more money to tell you the same damn thing...

Story of my life.
Regards, GF.