Thou shalt not love thy colleague
I have heard some news today about the employees of Wal-Mart in Germany having won a case in court against their company, a weird case about the employees having the right to flirt, which in the usual company policy is denied.
After some search I realized that several corporate giants have that kind of restrictions on their work codes: people have already been fired for having an affair with someone that was working in the same company.
Maybe this is not new for some of you. Maybe even for most of you.
But for me it is, and I am still stunned.
Unless we are not talking about consenting adults, or we are talking about sex in office hours this is absolutelly eerie.
Who can award an employer the right to decide what someone can or can not do after that persons work day is over?
Well, as far as alcohol and drugs are concerned, and providing that the use of those substances can cause hazard to others or damage of any kind, like airline pilots (yes, I read those news too...), it is understandable that a company can have some control on the life of the people they employ.
I mean, let us imagine this woman/man and call her/him A, working for the Big Company.
There is also this woman/man, called B, working for the same company.
They meet, A falls in love with B.
B is very friendly towards A.
A thinks it would be possible to be very happy together with B.
But…
A cannot afford to loose the job.
A starts to get depressed.
A starts to get therapy.
A no longer is friendly to B.
B gets sad to.
B also gets into therapy.
Both employees of Big Company are getting less productive.
Who earned the big money with this company policy? The therapists!
After some search I realized that several corporate giants have that kind of restrictions on their work codes: people have already been fired for having an affair with someone that was working in the same company.
Maybe this is not new for some of you. Maybe even for most of you.
But for me it is, and I am still stunned.
Unless we are not talking about consenting adults, or we are talking about sex in office hours this is absolutelly eerie.
Who can award an employer the right to decide what someone can or can not do after that persons work day is over?
Well, as far as alcohol and drugs are concerned, and providing that the use of those substances can cause hazard to others or damage of any kind, like airline pilots (yes, I read those news too...), it is understandable that a company can have some control on the life of the people they employ.
I mean, let us imagine this woman/man and call her/him A, working for the Big Company.
There is also this woman/man, called B, working for the same company.
They meet, A falls in love with B.
B is very friendly towards A.
A thinks it would be possible to be very happy together with B.
But…
A cannot afford to loose the job.
A starts to get depressed.
A starts to get therapy.
A no longer is friendly to B.
B gets sad to.
B also gets into therapy.
Both employees of Big Company are getting less productive.
Who earned the big money with this company policy? The therapists!
posted by DCveR at 6:39 PM
5 Comments:
However, if A and B happen to get together and either A or B seriously missteps in the relationship, the coworkers could have front row seats to the War of the Worlds. It actually happens on a semi-regular basis at a company I used to work at. A family-oriented business, it employed the adult children of the President and Vice President. Well, the President hired his Marketing daughter's husband to do IT. Then she got pregnant and it all took a dive. Apparently, she began to flex her claws daily on the vulnerably exposed back of her husband while their coworkers quietly sniggered in their cubicles. Too bad I got laid off...it would have been worth the show to stay employed at that madhouse just a little bit longer.
What is wrong with watching War of the Worlds? Even you say you are sorry to have left...
;)
I think what's really sickening about the whole story is that there is a Wal-Mart in Germany (and Europe for that matter). My gag reflex goes into action at the mere mention of that store. They're sickening. As an American I make it my duty to speak out against them.
Jane
Is it that some employers fear that work is not done properly when staff get romantically involved? I just don't know. I don't really understand that policy.
I guess I might be able to see a different viewpoint if I were an employer...?
I bet you would.
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