Charter Engineer Quits Over 'Reckless' Rules Against Work-From-Home (arstechnica.com) 184
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: A Charter Communications engineer called the company's rules against working from home during the coronavirus pandemic "pointlessly reckless" and "socially irresponsible" before subsequently resigning instead of continuing to work in the office, according to a TechCrunch article published yesterday. Charter CEO Tom Rutledge last week told employees in a memo to keep coming to the office even if their jobs can be performed from home, because people "are more effective from the office." Employees should only stay home if they "are sick, or caring for someone who is sick," Rutledge wrote.
Nick Wheeler, a video operations engineer for Charter in Denver, sent an email expressing his displeasure with the policy to a senior vice president and "hundreds of engineers on Friday," TechCrunch wrote. The email said: "I do not understand why we are still coming into the office as the COVID-19 pandemic surges around us. The CDC guidelines are clear. The CDPHE [Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment] guidelines are clear. The WHO guidelines are clear. The science of social distancing is real. We have the complete ability to do our jobs entirely from home. Coming into the office now is pointlessly reckless. It's also socially irresponsible. Charter, like the rest of us, should do what is necessary to help reduce the spread of coronavirus. Social distancing has a real slowing effect on the virus -- that means lives can be saved. A hazard condition isn't acceptable for the infrastructure beyond the short-term. Why is it acceptable for our health?" Within hours of sending the email, Wheeler was out of a job. "Wheeler said he was given an ultimatum," reports TechCrunch. "Either he could work from the office or take sick leave. Staff are not allowed to work from home, he was told. Wheeler offered his resignation, but was sent home instead and asked to think about his decision until Monday. Later in the day, he received a call from work. Charter accepted his resignation, effective immediately."
Nick Wheeler, a video operations engineer for Charter in Denver, sent an email expressing his displeasure with the policy to a senior vice president and "hundreds of engineers on Friday," TechCrunch wrote. The email said: "I do not understand why we are still coming into the office as the COVID-19 pandemic surges around us. The CDC guidelines are clear. The CDPHE [Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment] guidelines are clear. The WHO guidelines are clear. The science of social distancing is real. We have the complete ability to do our jobs entirely from home. Coming into the office now is pointlessly reckless. It's also socially irresponsible. Charter, like the rest of us, should do what is necessary to help reduce the spread of coronavirus. Social distancing has a real slowing effect on the virus -- that means lives can be saved. A hazard condition isn't acceptable for the infrastructure beyond the short-term. Why is it acceptable for our health?" Within hours of sending the email, Wheeler was out of a job. "Wheeler said he was given an ultimatum," reports TechCrunch. "Either he could work from the office or take sick leave. Staff are not allowed to work from home, he was told. Wheeler offered his resignation, but was sent home instead and asked to think about his decision until Monday. Later in the day, he received a call from work. Charter accepted his resignation, effective immediately."
The opposite, one data point (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: (Score:3)
Re:The opposite, one data point (Score:5, Funny)
When I go to the office, I have idiot coworkers stopping by every five minutes to stop me from getting my work done. If I work from home (which my employer normally allows only occasionally), then I've got kids needing my help with something every five minutes.
Now that my employer has said that everyone who doesn't need to be on-site should work remote, I can go to the office and not worry about coworkers stopping by. My productivity is going to soar.
Re:The opposite, one data point (Score:5, Funny)
Man, imagine the productivity when everyone is dead from COVID19!
Re:The opposite, one data point (Score:4, Informative)
When working from home you definitely need to have some sort of work-space where it's understood you don't bother dad during the day unless it's an emergency or you come out on your own for a break.
Re: (Score:3)
The difference being...that when at home, you are the one in charge of your household, and can tell the kids to shut the fuck up, and leave Daddy alone to work...something that you generally can't do with co-workers.
So, win for work at home.....
Fortunately, my wife and kids are teachable, and (Score:2)
Fortunately, I have *just* enough self-discipline to say "I'll try to get that in my lunch break at 12:00â or "remind me when I'm off work in an hour, if you could. My wife and kid learned the drill pretty quickly, fortunately.
I'm working during work hours - and it doesn't matter that I have a VERY short commute.
For that to work well, I have a designated office space and designated work hours. I'm fortunate enough to have a big office at home now, but that came after I had only a work chair. When I'm
Re:Fortunately, my wife and kids are teachable, an (Score:4, Funny)
Re: Fortunately, my wife and kids are teachable, a (Score:2)
I have a similar scenario. I have my office on the fourth floor so the missus can't be bothered lugging the kids all the way up to see me, I book little 30 minutes time slots throughout the day where I come play with them. Absolute bastard when I want a cup of tea though!
Re: (Score:2)
I do go lunch at a fast food place once a week wirh my wife - during my lunch hour.
You hopeless romantic, you! :-)
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:3)
My CEO came out with a statement similar to Charter above on the pandemic. He gave
Yep (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm sure too many businesses are freaking out and afraid they're going to lose money and all that. But you know, long term human deaths matter a lot more than short term money. Charter is not going bankrupt over this anyway.
So yeah, this guy is a hero.
Re:Yep (Score:5, Insightful)
But you know, long term human deaths matter a lot more than short term money.
Sounds like someone's never been an executive or board member ... :-)
Re:Yep (Score:5, Informative)
...no sensible board member would tolerate the enormous morale and long term productivity hit for a short term productivity hit, let alone the liability.
At least one would. It is right in the summary:
Charter CEO Tom Rutledge last week told employees in a memo to keep coming to the office even if their jobs can be performed from home, because people "are more effective from the office." Employees should only stay home if they "are sick, or caring for someone who is sick," Rutledge wrote.
But from everything I have read about them, Charter is an awful company, run by wankers.
Expect anything less from the highest paid CEO? (Score:3, Informative)
Thomas Rutledge of Charter Communications, was awarded a pay package worth $98.5 million in 2016, twice as much as the next-highest-paid CEO... [money.com]
Meanwhile, the company's customer satisfaction ratings were among the lowest of any Internet and pay TV provider, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index [theacsi.org].
There is only ONE of him and tons of us. Why do people put up with this dirt bag? Everyone, customers and employees alike, should walk out on this guy and never look back.
Re: (Score:3)
At first I misread "wankers" as "bankers", and it still made a whole lot of sense.
Re: Yep (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
To be fair, there ARE an awful lot of board members and CxOs that don't think the evil through either. That's why a number of countries that were strong through much of the 20th century have since folded up or exist in name only. They exactly grabbed at a bump in profits for the quarter at the cost of long term morale and stable profitability.
Re: (Score:2)
countries should read companies, of course.
Re: (Score:3)
It used to be called corporate looting [brookings.edu]. Today it seems to be a well established, socially acceptable goal that one will destroy a company in order to yield a one-time payout for the executive team. Business schools seem to encourage this attitude.
In the first financial debt-based crisis of the modern era, in the 80s, hundreds of financial sector executives went to jail [billmoyers.com]. In a continuing effort to normalize destructive behavior, in the 2008 financial crisis, not a one went to jail [theatlantic.com], despite rampant mortgage an
Re: (Score:2)
The problem is that covid-19 has a fatality rate 43 times that of the flu:
* Flu fatality rate: 130 per 100,000 symptomatic (.13%) [cdc.gov]
* Covid-19 fatality rate: 5,700 per 100,000 symptomatic (5.7% - last paragraph) [thelancet.com]
Check my math.
What about contagiousness, then?
Covid-19 [cdc.gov]:
Re: (Score:2)
Re: Yep (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: Yep (Score:4, Insightful)
Do you seriously think the disease STOPS after it's infected someone? That's what infections are all about, they infect someone, and then they infect everyone that person comes into contact, and everyone THOSE people come into contact with, and so on.
So there are no 70 year olds working at Charter. Big fucking deal, moron. They have FAMILIES. They have NEIGHBORS. They have elderly people in the same SUPERMARKET.
Or are you seriously saying we should just let all the elderly and otherwise weakened people die so Charter might turn a slightly higher profit this quarter?
Re: (Score:3)
That must be talent, missing the point so entirely.
The point is that nobody working for the company is going to die so they aren't in danger of losing anyone. So they take the egoistical stance that this doesn't concern them. Fuck everyone's grandparents.
That's not your parent poster's opinion but that which Charter is displaying.
Now clearer?
Re: (Score:3)
Couple points.
Median age of death is 65.
People in their 20's are being in coma's on ventilators in Italy.
They'll probably *live* but someone else who could have used the ventilator has to die for them.
And their productivity will drop quite a bit for about 5 weeks (average case resolution is 24 days... but takes even longer for people to recover fully).
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
They might live for a while longer, but there is evidence that those who "recover" from COVID-19 may still carry the disease in a dormant form (kind of like herpes).
14% percent of patients who recovered from COVID-19 and discharged from hospitals in Guangdong province have tested positive [caixinglobal.com] in later check-ups. In one case, a 36-year old man died, five days after having been declared "recovered." [caixinglobal.com]
Re: Yep (Score:4, Insightful)
A Coronavirus outbreak in their office will do far more harm to their business than a few monthâ(TM)s working from home. Thatâ(TM)s very shortsighted.
Re: (Score:2)
The employer is this case is realistic and the employee utterly delusion. You will get it and genetically speaking the severity will be down to genes, age and complications. I would go into work and get it over with before the hospitals get crowded. If anyone thinks they can escape the infection by temporarily staying at home they are delusional. It is a matter of when and not if.
Re: (Score:3)
You clearly have no understanding of how disease spreads. Even if a person doesn't have symptoms or otherwise survives it, they can spread it to others that might not survive.
Good job gambling with others' lives. Are you comfortable with your Stalin logic?
Business Mentality (Score:5, Interesting)
A lot of upper management types seem to think work from home is some kind of freeloader's wet dream. But it's a very real and very valid use of resources and NOW is definitely a time to look at it realistically.
I can definitely say the days I've worked from home I've gotten a lot more done due to being able to sequester myself away and just work rather than constantly having to interact with people asking the same questions the last five people came to ask me. Programming goes much smoother when you can block out time and just code. People saying your "more effective" when your in the office have spent too long on the meeting merry-go-round and actually believe interaction is the soul of all business. That may be true for some, but for us cogs at the bottom interaction and meetings are the bane of our productivity. Work from home is much better for some even in normal times. To deny folks that possibility right now, when health officials the world over are requesting it, seems utterly idiotic.
Re: (Score:3)
Re:Business Mentality (Score:4, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
It is a zero-cost way to improve an employee's compensation package, while at the same time reducing wear and tear and costs on company equipment (usually). If management doesn't realize that, they're not very good managers.
Is there an offsetting efficiency hit from teleworking? Hard to have any blan
Re: (Score:3)
Depends on the person, really. Some people get a ton of work done at home. Other people just can't work at all. Some even hate work from home because their home just isn't conductive for it (e.g. too many distractions). It creates a lot of new challenges that some of them aren't ready for. Some people are just *terrible* communicators and WFH with them on the team only makes things worse because nobody knows what they're up to any more and the bosses don't get much info.
That said, people can and will a
Here too (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
The better way to handle such abusive employers, IMO, is to refuse to come in. Let them fire you. If you resign, you typically can't collect unemployment or sue for wrongful termination.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
You're assuming that the person lacks the ability to do his/her job from home. My assumption is that this is purely a policy decision, and not any sort of technical limitation.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
You're assuming that the person lacks the ability to do his/her job from home.
The ability to do your job from home is not a justifiable reason to break company policy. You will be fired and there's nothing you can do about it.
Re: (Score:2)
Assuming the U.S. - policy decision or not, willful misconduct/insubordination is a terminable offense at most if not all companies, is grounds for denial of unemployment benefits in most if not all states, and will almost certainly be successfully argued as "termination for cause" when the company appeals your unemployment eligibility, if the unemployment office doesn't deny it outright.
Frankly, I think you'd have better odds resigning and claiming an unsafe workplace or something similar.
Re: (Score:2)
Sure. Lots of employers allow occasional remote work, because they want you do be able to handle emergencies while on your personal time, but as a general matter of policy, don't allow you to do it every day. And if a company were going to be stupid and refuse to bend such a policy right now, it wouldn't surprise me at all if it were a cable company. :-)
Re: (Score:2)
An abusive employer who forbids WFH but still allows access to the internal network from outside the office that is necessary for WFH? That makes no sense.
It makes perfect sense: they want you in the office for 8 hours, then they want you to be ale to work when you are not in the office.
Re: (Score:3)
If you quit for cause, like there was a danger to your health, then you can probably still get unemployment.
Re: (Score:2)
I've never thought much of labor unions, but I'd make an exception for this company.
Re:Here too (Score:5, Funny)
Company has said work from home is less productive and is not allowing it.
Official policy is you take leave of sick or caring. Otherwise you come to work, just like everyone who canâ(TM)t work from home.
Look around, are your managers/owners there? If they are, cough on them repeatedly.
Re: (Score:2)
THIS! If they are willing to resort to biological warfare to get their ego stroked, it's only fair to return fire.
Re: (Score:2)
I am currently blessed to work at a non-profit that just set up remote access for everyone. You CAN go into the office with supervisor permission, only one person per office. For those folks whose regular duties don't translate well to remote work, other work has been found and it looks like we will also be offering remote staff training options as well. Meeting will be held via Zoom during normal business hours but other than you, you set your own schedule. As a bonus, if you are unlucky enough to get the
Re: (Score:2)
They all be at home and not working or in hospital in a month. Company pancakes. CEO takes severance and moves on.
Expect the policy to change when the CEO gets it. Possibly also when the in-house lawyer realises "holy shit this is real! But FOX said it was just a mild flu!"
Charter CEO Tom Rutledge (Score:5, Insightful)
is a fucking retard.
Nuff said.
Re:Charter CEO Tom Rutledge (Score:5, Insightful)
Yea, and that whole "more effective from the office" meme died in the 90's or early 00's
Re: (Score:3)
Yea, and that whole "more effective from the office" meme died in the 90's or early 00's
What are you talking about? Imagine how much more productive everyone (except for the important manager types) are when they are all in a giant shared workspace? Everyone will have the opportunity to bounce ideas off each other (except for the managers, who have things to do and can't afford interruptions) and help each other solve the big issues.
Rutledge thinks WFH is for Slackers (Score:5, Informative)
(Posting as AC since I work there.)
We've had this bizarre posture for years. You can do remote work outside of business ours when it's necessary for change windows or something, but that's it. Even salaried people, or people for whom the rest of their team and their supervisors are in another state.
It makes zero sense, it's entirely T.R.'s pet peeve projected downward.
In practice, things are more nuanced, depending upon what your boss's boss thinks about it, and whether the other managers in your office like your boss & boss's boss. Isn't that great?
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Sorry to hear you have to put up with ineptitude. Not everybody who succeeds in climbing the corporate ladder is competent in areas that matter such as public health policy. With all sincerity, good luck.
Successfully climbing the corporate ladder is a pretty good indication that you can't do actual work.
Re:Rutledge thinks WFH is for Slackers (Score:4, Interesting)
I used to work for a tech company, making the actual hardware that allowed people to do remote work from anywhere. We were also not allowed to work from home, even though we were all issued laptops (in addition to our desktop machines) for the sole purpose of being able to wonder around the campus, work from labs, under a tree, etc. Really stupid policy.
Maybe once this pandemic is over, management will realize that things still got done, it was possible to hold remote meetings, etc. Then at least a number of us can work from outside the metro areas, and cut down on the vehicles on the roads, high rent prices, etc. Of course, that is a pipe dream.
Re:Rutledge thinks WFH is for Slackers (Score:5, Informative)
Maybe once this pandemic is over, management will realize that things still got done, it was possible to hold remote meetings, etc. Then at least a number of us can work from outside the metro areas, and cut down on the vehicles on the roads, high rent prices, etc.
I'm hopeful that we'll get some of that at Google, at least. I WFH full time, but I'm a very, very rare exception -- when I got approval to work remotely five years ago it had to go all the way up to Larry Page, and there are only a few dozen engineers out of 50K who have full access from their home offices. Everyone else works from an office (No, I'm not that special; I attribute my luck to the fact that my former manager used to golf with Sergey. Also, I do crypto security stuff which has a reputation for being really hard.)
I personally think it's silly that Google is so set on having everyone in the office. We do most of our internal communication via chat and email anyway, and have fantastic video-conferencing infrastructure (GVC; sold externally as Hangouts Meet). Recently, we've even added an integrated electronic whiteboard solution (called Jamboard). In fact, I'd guess that on the order of 70% of formal meetings in the company occur over GVC, between employees in different buildings, or even in different parts of the same building. Of course there are a lot of informal meetings, and I don't want to devalue those... but are they really worth the cost of making everyone live in the same (expensive!) area, and commute to work every day?
Google has never had as strict a policy as Charter, of course. Charter's sounds ridiculous. People frequently work from home when they have errands to run, or are waiting for a delivery, or whatever. And while the current mandatory WFH requirement is posing some challenges for people, it's actually going pretty smoothly. I think it took my team a day or two to get productive, and within a couple of weeks I think they'll be as fully productive as in the office. They're going to have to learn how to deal with cabin fever and isolation, which will be a bit worse because there's less opportunity to get out of the house and socialize. But I think most of them will figure it out. Plus, Google has a lot of serious introverts, who will not only be fine, but more comfortable working remotely. Like me.
Anyway, I'm really hopeful that after a few months of this, it will stick to some degree. I think most people will go back to the office, most of the time, but I think there may be a lot more occasional working from home, and a large increase in full-time remote work, complete with the ability to live wherever people like. If it didn't require leaving my wife (which I have no interest in doing), I'd seriously consider buying a sailboat and living on a perpetual cruise through the Caribbean once satellite Internet becomes cheaper and more reliable, which I expect to happen with the SpaceX, et al constellations. That's my idea of work/life balance.
The really baffling thing is (Score:3)
But right now? Any imagined drop in productivity due to your employees working from home, absolutely pales in comparison to your employees coming in, getting each other sick, and being unable to work at all for weeks - even from home. The loss of a significant percentage of your workforce will absolutely crush productivity far more than working from home. The companies I've worked at figured this out
Re:Rutledge thinks WFH is for Slackers (Score:4, Funny)
I'm guessing Rutledge moonlights as a tenured professor at the Marissa Meyer School of Employee Relations.
Re: (Score:3)
Yea, I interviewed at Charter several years back. I live on the north side of Denver. I'm an early morning person and prefer to head in early and leave early. Tends to avoid the bulk of traffic, especially going through the center of Denver. The commute would be almost 90 minutes one way so I was also looking for some telecommute time to offset the lengthy commute. Two or three days a week would be good.
The hiring manager was, "sorry, you must be here at 7:30 and can't leave until 4:30 and absolutely no tel
100% Attitude. (Score:4, Insightful)
I started working from home when I moved to a facility closer to my wife. I was more or less moved around shoe closets since my 'division' was in another state.
So I just stopped coming in and no one knew for years. When I formalized the WFH suddenly everyone started treating me different. I was at home 'slacking' vs all the times I was not going into the office for 4 years.
I can only assume the people that think it's a freeloaders paradise are the ones that would treat it that way themselves.
Re: (Score:2)
It makes zero sense
Maybe, but it does explain the article. If this is a long-term source of conflict then it's not such a surprise that the CEO is playing hardball on it.
Too Bad (Score:2)
Too bad there's no one with the balls on Charter's board of directors to immediately accept Charter CEO Tom Rutledge's resignation. Bet he's working from home.
Re: (Score:2)
Probably. Otherwise I'd pretend to cough every time he was near.
Re: (Score:2)
Too bad there's no one with the balls on Charter's board of directors to immediately accept Charter CEO Tom Rutledge's resignation. Bet he's working from home.
To be fair, Rutledge doesn't have any real work to do other than collect a huge paycheck, so the only way he can justify his salary is to make pointless and arbitrary pronouncements so as to look like he's doing something important.
Re: (Score:2)
Too bad there's no one with the balls on Charter's board of directors to immediately accept Charter CEO Tom Rutledge's resignation. Bet he's working from home.
To be fair, Rutledge doesn't have any real work to do other than collect a huge paycheck, so the only way he can justify his salary is to make pointless and arbitrary pronouncements so as to look like he's doing something important.
Exactly. And I bet you anything later this year they will be discussing the extra work that was accomplished only because he had the strength to stand up for their policies in face of all the criticism from various health organizations.
It's unfortunate that he had to die from Covid-19 like that.
Re: (Score:2)
The extra work is BS ... It's been proven that people who telework are just as if not more productive than people 'in the office'. It just another old that doesn't get it. I can say that I'm 55. I work for the FAA, thank God we had a wave of managers retire the last few years. They were the same as this smuck. If they didn't see asses in the seat they couldn't figure out if you were working, never mind ACTUALLY looking at JIRA to see if you got stuff done. We have a new set of managers and now and a
it's all relative (Score:3, Insightful)
Most people are more effective in the office. A handful of you are telecommuting geniuses, but we're not all like you.
I'm almost much more effective when I'm not sick, scared for my family, or in the hospital.
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I work with hardware in a similar price range (digital logic / ASIC). My old dev board is $150K, my cluster is $1m. It is so expensive that I must share it with people in multiple time zones. So we set up quite a bit of remote access for loading, collecting data, etc. Even if it's just some I2C/USB gadget and webcam.
Doing chip bring-up requires people at all the sites getting chips. After initial bring-up it's 80% remote work. Most people are used to remote access and automation because they had to set a lo
Re: (Score:2)
And there are those that do in fact sit on their butt and type code all day, but it's classified work in a SCIF on an air-gapped network. There's not much they can actually do outside the office.
Master yourself. (Score:2)
You don't have to like it. If millions of men can go from the block to combat infantry, you can deal with trifling inconvenience. The first step is a perspective change. As the infantry say, "embrace the suck", value toughness, and fundamentally understand IF YOUR BELIEFS AND PREFERENCES DO NOT SUIT THE SITUATION, THEY ARE WRONG. That's how men win wars, survive shipwrecks, and master themselves to succeed.
The disease is real. Deal with it.
Re: (Score:3)
*Some* people are more effective in the office. Sure, those people can go to the office if they like.
Some people are more effective when isolated from distractions, such as distractions from an open office. Why would you want to force these people to come to the office?
And then some people *think* they are more effective in the office when *everyone else* are also in the office, so they can leech off other people's time by "bouncing ideas" off them, and asking others about things they are too lazy to look
Work From Home - because it's the right thing todo (Score:2)
It's 2020, not 1960. Many of us have the technology to work from home; the CDC and WHO recommend it -- so why not do it? I think this will turn out badly for the employer mentioned here.
My employer was fine with us working from home once in a while -- two of my team members worked from home all the time. As of a week ago, everyone in the company is working from home. Is it less productive? Probably a little. Is it saving our lives? Yup.
Re: (Score:2)
The last CDC I worked with needed someone to physically load the punch cards.
Here's an approach (Score:2)
Charter allows stockholders to speak at stockholder meetings.
I'm considering buying a single share of Charter so that at every stockholder meeting for the rest of time, I can make sure the board remembers this
Engineering Barns (Score:2)
Policies that make things worse (Score:2)
Yeah, we had that happen when the sick policy at work changed after being acquired. It used to be fairly informal - you had 5 sick days and you took them as you needed to, no one really counted them.
After acquisition it changed. Now you need a doctor's note, any days in excess of 5 means unpaid or vacation day used.
So instead of staying home if I feel sick, I feel encouraged to come into the office and sneeze and cough over everything and everyone. Doctor's notes cost money (doctors dislike writing them, an
Re: (Score:2)
Really? I just get a phone meeting with my doctor and he writes me a note based on the symtoms I tell him. Done - they don't want me coming into the doctor's office sick.
Re: (Score:2)
Oh, and phone consult literally costs me nothing - no co-pay, nothing.
Re: (Score:2)
In many locations a note from a pharmacist meets the legal requirement for a "doctors note". In many commonwealth countries, a doctors note is a legal statutory declaration and can be signed by lots of people other than a doctor. If someone in HR is a notary, they can sign a statutory declaration which tends to confuse their process.
Legal Risk? (Score:3)
Should people who could work from home but are forbidden to by corporate policies be able to collect unemployment if they leave for that reason?
Re: (Score:2)
Charter is a dumpster fire (Score:3)
As an ex Charter employee from the Network Security Organization, I can say with confidence Charter is a fucking toxic dumpster fire. Some groups in Charter are different, I hear good things about Charter Enterprise. However, the organization I was in, sucked at treating people like people. To give you an idea of how ass backwards my group was, I was expected to take my laptop home with me after hours and log in remotely, as needed but the official policy was "We don't support working remotely". I don't know what idiot thought asking your employees to log in from home doesn't qualify as working from home (remotely). I tried to explain the idiotic irony here to my manager who just shrugged and responded with the bullshit canned response that had been handed down to him from Scott Weber. Never mind Charter is a TELECOMMUNICATIONS company that can't seem to get it together for employees to telecommute.
I tell everybody I am still in contact with there to get out while they have a soul.
It's easy, follow along... (Score:2)
It's easy, just say the magic words... "I have a medical condition that places me in the high risk group, pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act, I request as a reasonable accommodation that I be allowed to work from home until such time as the virus is no longer a substantial threat to my life. Thank you.".
Then file a complaint with the EEOC if they don't comply, once that happens you are protected by the government from any type of perceived retaliatory act, so at that point just work from home p
Stupid, stupid, stupid (Score:2, Interesting)
Posting anonymously in case I accidentally reveal where I'm working.
Memo went out over the weekend from the CEO of my current gig, if you want to come into the office you must contact HR first. If you come to the office without contacting HR, security will not let you in.
IOW, stay the hell home until we tell you it's OK to come in.
Tom Rutledge is a psychopath and a stupid twat.
I'll put money on it (Score:3)
I have a fuzzy feeling that any and all of the executive levels of that company are ALL working safely from home.
Re: (Score:2)
Or in safely separated in their offices, not taking any in-person meetings.
People are more effective from the office (Score:2)
Leave Charter in Denver a nice review here... (Score:2)
Leave Charter and their CEO Tom Rutledge a nice review here [goo.gl].
If You Find Yourself In This Debate... (Score:3)
I've worked from home pretty much non-stop for the last 5 years (my Manager is remote and doesn't really care where I am as long as he can reach me), but there are a few things you can do to increase your chances of making this happen... Hopefully other, smarter regulars will be able to add to this list...
1. Check in regularly
If this is something you are trialling as part of your employer's response to COVID-19, then seize the opportunity to create a good impression. Set up at minimum a daily call with your direct manager, even if just 5 minutes, to ensure that you remain in contact.
2. No Goofing Off
I'm serious - there will be some for whom the temptation is to not be at their computer and working when they are supposed to be. Pro tip: you *will* get caught out - and when that happens, you *will* find this privilege cancelled. Don't squander the opportunity...
3. Communicate Progress
When it comes to demonstrating your WFH productivity, nothing beats sending our regular status updates of milestones met, deadlines beaten, deliverables accomplished. Make sure that your boss and Team know you're keeping productive.
4. Get Creative
In a pandemic scenario, it's possible that deadlines will go sideways, especially if people on whom you are dependent are firefighting elsewhere, or, worse, not well. So tear in to things you've been "putting off". Spring clean that Team Network Drive; update your intranet Team Page; get on with that documentation you promised you'd write but never did. Keep a track of everything. (See 1 & 3, above).
5. Remember Everyone Else
Don't wait to be called. If you have subordinates or colleagues, check in with them too. It will help you spot problems early and it will help remind colleagues that you have their backs, too.
6. Own that Commute Time
If your commute takes you say 30 minutes each way [and for many, it's more] then work that extra hour. You're not gaining or losing any of your personal time, but the extra hour of productivity should be visible to your manager as time passes - because you'll accomplish more. If you can show that you are *more* productive at home, you may be allowed to continue, should you want to.
7. Be Professional
You're (supposed to be) working. Don't appear in a video conference call in your pyjamas. [I really wish I didn't have to write that one, but I've seen a colleague try - and fail spectacularly]. Present yourself as you would if you were in the office. Keep pets/family out of the room where you're working. This isn't rocket science...
8. Be Flexible.
This can be a big change for some organizations. Go in with an open mind and be prepared to be flexible. If you're difficult about it, you'll lose it...
Depending on your personal circumstances, any one of these might have the most impact. For me it was the chance to be creative and to deliver outstanding work items that would not have othwise been done. (I combined this chore with working my commute hour - and it was immediately noted by my Management that I was the one who "got stuff done").
Your mileage may vary... but in my experience an experiment five years ago ended up with me being the one person in a team of about 8-9 that proved to be more effective working from home than in the office. The work ethic I showed proved to be a game-changer; the tasks I closed out were show-cased in front of senior management; it helped with visibility and credibility and opened up new opportunities.
And among the benefits:-
1. No money spent on gas for the commute to the office
2. Car stays under cover - doesn't get so dirty - less time spent washing it!
3. Cost of lunch/coffee at home is a fraction of the cost of "subsidized" canteen charges - ins
Re:Ask why? (Score:5, Insightful)
5. What is the fear of working from home? That the network will fall apart during the work day? That malware will find the office workers at home and get a free network back deep into every office network?
The manager fears that people will find out that he actually has no idea who is or is not productive and was relying on people looking busy or not and who comes in early or leaves later than him as a poor proxy.
Re: (Score:2)
5. What is the fear of working from home? That the network will fall apart during the work day? That malware will find the office workers at home and get a free network back deep into every office network?
The manager fears that people will find out that he actually has no idea who is or is not productive and was relying on people looking busy or not and who comes in early or leaves later than him as a poor proxy.
As somebody who has no choice but to manage the activities of others I can assure you that any decent manager is well aware of who is pulling their weight and who is not. I'd like to cut my poor performers who require babysitting. I'd do it right now if I could. But I have been assured that I will not be able to fill their position if I do so. Anyone who is a net positive ends up staying, even if they result in more work for me. What I abhor is people pushing policies upon me due to these people that I
Re: (Score:2)
Yes, decent managers do know, and they will know whether they work in the office or at home. There are a lot of decent managers out there but there are also a lot of PHBs.
Re: (Score:2)
I can assure you that any decent manager
So, about 40% of managers.
Re: (Score:3)
The world may not be ending for the young, but imagine the trauma of having to live with knowing that your grandmother died because you wanted to go to a party the night before you went to help her with groceries.