30 ‘Normal’ Workplace Practices That People Wish Would Disappear In The Future

There was an experimental prison long ago, that basically put inmates in a fishbowl. No privacy ever. Constant eyes on them. Prisoners went literally, clinically insane. The experiment was deemed inhumane cruel and unusual punishment, and the concept was abandoned. Yet this is exactly the same thing as the “open office” concept that companies use and abuse, but no one seems to call for an end to, as cruel and inhumane. So I guess 21st century office workers aren’t valued as human beings in the same way that prisoners were in the last century.

People thought cubicles were bad, but open concept offices are worse. Not to mention, they're so d@mn noisy. Glad I don't work in one.

I was a VP of IT during covid lockdowns. I refused to sanction putting monitoring software on staff computers while they were working from home. My position was that according to the HR manual and the performance appraisal process managers and staff were supposed to set measurable, achievable targets. If staff met those targets then why were you monitoring them to see if they did it at 2pm or 2am? Then the lockdown ended and I had to fight for my developer team to stay mostly remote because, freed from a daily 2 hours of commuting, productivity went up. Other VPs and Senior VPs wanted staff back in office so they could watch them. Guess I was too much trouble, because, after completing a major data and application project that only I had the background information and connections to do on time and under budget, I got made redundant :|

Open offices are a real nightmare for neurodivergent people with sensory issues too. I have a lot of trouble with it. I can’t use ear plugs or headphones so I just have to suck it up and it takes its toll.

Our school requires staff to come in on snow days to zoom the kids at home (Can you say "Micromanage"?)

This is already unethical or illegal in most developed countries.

Isn't that called slavery?

Illegal in the EU. But *cue an american randomly saying how free and awesome they are*

Yep. Australia has only in relatively recent years started following America in having unpaid internships. Not great, my son is currently doing one and it costs him money to do it - transport to get there and having to buy event specific clothes - all for what?! I’ve done over 20 hours of unpaid overtime this week. I work in state government and the policy is overtime can be taken as Time In Lieu.

It isnt legal in my coubtry. It exploits

There is one obvious solution. Universal Healthcare.

Crappy overpriced healthcare ties to employment, you mean. However, it seems in the US that people forget the ACA. If you’re unemployed, you can still be covered, and for a lot less than the company’s insurance.

Another usa problem. In Australia anyone can buy health insurance but ALL people get free basic medical and hospital services..

Healthcare is a basic human right. To profit from sickness or injury is a crime against humanity.

but you can totally get health insurance without employment... you just need to spend like $1,000 a month for it.

Not paying enough for the cost of living in the location of the office. No one should be paid minimum wage if they work in the San Francisco Bay Area, New York City, Boston, Los Angeles, etc, where rent alone is two or three times the entire monthly gross—-not net—-pay from a full time minimum wage job. Hell, no one shou,d be laid minimum wage anywhere, as areas with a low cost of living also pay a ridiculously low minimum wage amount that still isn’t enough to pay rent., much less bills and groceries.

I don't see jobs paying minimum wage these days. Not that it matters. $20 an hour you're still struggling to get by and will never own a home. The average income is still around $26 an hour, and that's not enough to own a home in any state.

We have minimum AWARD wages for a resson. This is a usa problem

This is in fact illegal already in most of the civilised world. USA is lagging behind badly in this matter. That said, I hope, that one day, a new Congress will arise, and lobbyists will be cut off, and there will be new laws, good for the people not for corporations.

The fact places are allowed to pay below the minimum wage is vile. The whole argument about $15 burgers at McDonalds have been disproven so many times

my husband gets onto me bc i always tip half of whatever we spend. last night we went out for drinks as a couple. total was 24$. i tipped 12. anything lower felt very very wrong. ive worked customer service and i know how much it sucks to go home with a paycheck that barely pays for gas to get to work.

I already have given up on eating out. They are charging too much and still not paying staff enough to allow them to live locally. In order for people to make enough here they would have to be full time at $40.00 per hour.

We are seeing now that half the last 2 years inflation was corporate greed and the goverments response instead of passing laws to limit price gauging and restrict corporations, they just used a blunt stick to hammer the middle and lower class further down until it settled. Which means no all those raises people got and stuff didn't cause the economy to go in the toilet, it was people that make $1mil+ a 20% pay cut so people could afford to live, and instead got a 20% pay raise to make sure we are all deeper in debt.

This is so true. I had a sales job where we were busy from 6:30-1:30 M-Sa. We had to stay until 3:30. There were no sales to be had, but the owner paced around like a caged cat. It was the most stressful part of the day. That's what I get for going salaried. I used to just leave at 1:30 when I was hourly.

Why I didn't want to be an accountant

So true! Being a head of department at my workplaces I always told my team to track their overtime (that companies didn't compensate as extra work hours) and go home whenever they had nothing to do. Marketing jobs can be hectic so it's often that we stay longer to finish up projects on time, and there's rarely downtime but whenever there is, I feel like my team earned those hours of rest. No matter what the supervisors think.

I have been a salaried employee for most of my career. In most (but not all) cases, it's been understood that salaried means you will work more some weeks, and less other weeks. Unfortunately, some companies don't get the memo and insist that you be in the office 40 hours a week, no exceptions. It's all about control.

If you are salaried it is assumed to be for a 40 hour week (in the USA) unless otherwise specified in the employment contract. So if there is no work you are being paid to just sit there which is not so horrible. As for working late at times - if you are regular salary - overs over 40 are supposed to be paid OT. If you are salary exempt (supposed to just be fore management and such) you don't get paid extra but in most cases salary exempt folks are paid significantly more to make up for sometimes having to deal with after hours BS. If you are regular salary and getting milked for unpaid OT, that is already illegal. More info at link. One company I worked for had to make changes because they were doing it wrong. == https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/hr-qa/pages/exempt-nonexempt-salaried-hourly-definitions.aspx#:~:text=Nonexempt%20employees%20may%20be%20paid,salary%20basis%2C%20as%20discussed%20above.