"Unisex". Let's just stop it.

[Kingussie]

Submitted for your consideration:

http://www.theage.com.au/comment/richar ... 2z248.html

[crfriend]

Submitted for your consideration:

http://www.theage.com.au/comment/richar ... 2z248.html

It's already been posted. We shall see what happens.

I had an interesting interaction this week with the one of the new Corporate HR folks. I didn't know this individual was going to be at the local office so I just showed up in my usual attire of skirt, waistcoat, and shirt (actually I was wearing my sheer-sleeved red silk blouse). Not a peep was heard.

Figuring that I was dead meat anyway, I opted for the same sort of attire for the rest of the week save for a blizzard here in the northeast USA which took out Tuesday, and Wednesday was out due to me being awake from 01:00 to 07:00. I showed up at the office, rather bedraggled-looking (but with a skirt nonetheless) on Thursday, and then took pains to "amp it up a notch" on Friday with one of my "puffy shirts".

Now, to set the context, the person from "HR" (How I HATE that term!) is a woman with more tattoos than I'd consider decent (I'll take "decent" as "not showing") and whom, by accounts showed up on Wednesday in pyjamas (I'm glad I wasn't there). Either she didn't notice my attire, even though I stood to greet her on Monday, or didn't care; I may never know.

Friday set it off. On the "traditional" "dumb-down" day I opted to wear my blue velvet skirt, white cable-knit tights, black waistcoat, white ruffled "puffy shirt", and a matching blue bow to restrain my ponytail. What was noticed? The "puffy shirt".

I'll see if I'm still employed next week...

Unless they really don't notice...

[Caultron]

..I'll see if I'm still employed next week...

Unless they really don't notice...

Or don't care. Or do respect your rights. Or believe you're protected by law. Or...

[crfriend]

Or don't care. Or do respect your rights. Or believe you're protected by law. Or...

Items one and two may be possible or probable. Item three is laughable. I am a middle-aged straight Caucasian male in the USA. I have precisely no purchase whatsoever in the legal system. This was made brilliantly clear in late 2013.

In the USA, if some Dilbert-style Manager wants your arse he'll have it. Period. It's mainly down to him (or her) finding a lackey who's actually willing to do all the paperwork. The term "Little Eichmann" comes to mind. (Hi Mark!)

[Caultron]

Or don't care. Or do respect your rights. Or believe you're protected by law. Or...

Items one and two may be possible or probable. Item three is laughable. I am a middle-aged straight Caucasian male in the USA. I have precisely no purchase whatsoever in the legal system. This was made brilliantly clear in late 2013.

In the USA, if some Dilbert-style Manager wants your arse he'll have it. Period. It's mainly down to him (or her) finding a lackey who's actually willing to do all the paperwork. The term "Little Eichmann" comes to mind. (Hi Mark!)

Sadly, this is often true. But sometimes, as in the case of my current and previous two employers, HR departments are absolutely paranoid about justifying firing decisions and/or being sued for wrongful termination. This may simply be a tactic for the HR department to exert influence over the rest of the company but it does make firing more difficult.

Layoffs tend to be much less controlled but, at least theoretically, prevent hiring a direct replacement within a year.

[rick401r]

Back in '98 I got fired for wearing an earring. I filed for unemployment. They, of course, contested my right to it. I showed up to a state hearing alone, they with their HR personnel and a company lawyer. I stated my case simply and the state officials agreed with me. I didn't get my job back (10 years down the drain) but I did sit on my ass for a year and collected my monthly check. They week the money stopped coming I found another job that I subsequently retired from with my earrings, ponytail, tattoos, and occasionally, my kilts.
I guess my point is, they can fire you on a whim, the law says they're wrong in doing so, yet it go's on.

[crfriend]

I guess my point is, they can fire you on a whim, the law says they're wrong in doing so, yet it go's on.

It will continue until the point in time where the person responsible for an unlawful firing can be -- and is -- held criminally culpable for the act and spends some time behind bars and the company who employed the responsible party is heavily fined. Only when those two things happen will unlawful (or otherwise just plain wrong) firings stop.

I am not going to hold my breath.

[Caultron]

Back in '98 I got fired for wearing an earring...

Did they give you a chance to take it off?

[rick401r]

Back in '98 I got fired for wearing an earring...

Did they give you a chance to take it off?

I had been told previously that it was against the dress code and had not been wearing it to work. However, being that it was Christmas Eve and only a 1/2 day, we were told that the dress code would not be in effect. Others wore jeans and sweatshirts instead of slacks and shirt/ties. I wore the usual slacks, white shirt with a festive Christmas tie and topped it off with a "Santa" hat which draped to one side hiding the earring.

[Caultron]

...I had been told previously that it was against the dress code and had not been wearing it to work. However, being that it was Christmas Eve and only a 1/2 day, we were told that the dress code would not be in effect. Others wore jeans and sweatshirts instead of slacks and shirt/ties. I wore the usual slacks, white shirt with a festive Christmas tie and topped it off with a "Santa" hat which draped to one side hiding the earring.

Yeah, that's a raw deal for sure if they told you the dress code wasn't in effect and then fired you for violating the dress code. In fact, it sounds to me like wrongful termination. But I'm sure I don't have all the facts, anf that I'm no lawyer, and that fighting these things can be a long, expensive, and unsuccessful ordeal.

[crfriend]

Yeah, that's a raw deal for sure if they told you the dress code wasn't in effect and then fired you for violating the dress code. In fact, it sounds to me like wrongful termination. But I'm sure I don't have all the facts, anf that I'm no lawyer, and that fighting these things can be a long, expensive, and unsuccessful ordeal.

I recall joking with a former boss of mine (from back in the '80s) who is now a lawyer about this sort of thing following the insulting debacle I had a couple of years ago that did a lot of damage. "You know, I did consider suing the pricks for a while and realized something. I'm a straight, middle-aged, white male. I have precisely no standing in the legal system whatsoever." The sad part is that he agreed with me.

The worst thing, however, is that companies don't realize how bad these rotten apples are and how poisonous they are to the organizations they serve. The one I last worked for drove two people to the brink of suicide (one of whom is still unemployed and in massive mental, emotional, and increasingly, financial distress), sacked the last of his senior staff who actually understood how things worked, and quite probably directly contributed to the death of another guy who dropped dead of a stroke, likely due to the increased stress (initially, there was some indication of suicide, but that was later changed -- or covered up; we'll never know).

It was a charming place to work, and I'm glad to be shot of it.

[Caultron]

...The worst thing, however, is that companies don't realize how bad these rotten apples are and how poisonous they are to the organizations they serve. The one I last worked for drove two people to the brink of suicide (one of whom is still unemployed and in massive mental, emotional, and increasingly, financial distress), sacked the last of his senior staff who actually understood how things worked, and quite probably directly contributed to the death of another guy who dropped dead of a stroke, likely due to the increased stress (initially, there was some indication of suicide, but that was later changed -- or covered up; we'll never know)...

I work for a small enough company that a lot of expertise is held by only one person. After they started pushing some of those people too long too hard, they all quit simultaneously, formed a contracting company, and offered their services back to the company. The president was irate, of course, but also without alternatives. So now those folks are doing less work than before (but still a good 40 hours a week) and the company is paying them more to do so.

So there is some justice.