Ridiculous Workplace Rules, Policies, Requests, PC, Initiatives, etc.

Sofa King Great

dazberry wrote: »

I had worked in an organisation for 4 years when I changed contract and they did a complete security check on me in case I wasn't who I said I was ... for the previous 4 years.

Those first 4 years I was on 112% of my pay scale level, you needed to get a "4" to get a payrise. My first review I was told "everyone gets a 3 no one gets a 4". In the 4th year I got a 4, and was told I would have been in for a big payrise but I was on an unusual contract and they couldn't do anything... yeah right.

I was the most senior on my team and would have been part of the interview panel - until I changed contract - where suddenly a lot of things became none of my business. Que some interesting hiring decisions...

It is incredibly difficult to get a reference from them, nigh on impossible, and if you get one it is rumoured that it is just a worked from date x to date y. On the other hand, if you are looking to work for them, they will look for a crazy number of references. In one case we were trying to get a guy on to our team and they insisted on 8 references for a 3 month contract - he told us to F.off.

We were all forced to do financial training and exams - in case we ever moved into customer facing roles as per central bank rules, and refused us training in the areas we actually worked in, i.e. IT. There were people in non-financial roles that were still failing those exams 2 years later...

We moved building and the new building had movement sensors that turned on and off the lights to save electricity. On the other had all computers had to be left on every night (including weekends) in case of any pending software updates.

The parent company is strict on reputation, and in the leaving document that you have to sign there are clauses relating to the forbidding of discussing of negative experiences within the group. They managed to hammer their own reputation recently after a huge IT meltdown...

D.

I could guess where you worked when you mentioned the fact that "everyone gets a 3" and the power saving. Haha

Grayson

My company has a woman's network. It was specially set up so that women could network with other women higher in the company. The higher ups are meant to give direction and encouragement to women further down the chain so they can reach their potential. Nice idea, one flaw. It was a bit too successful.

In my last department there were 7 supervisors and one manager. One of the supervisors was male, all the rest were women. This was in a department of over 100 people. There are over 20 women in that department who decided to join this woman's network (The rest didn't bother). They're getting special guidance from the people who are going to be interviewing them for any promotions.

I don't know a single guy who's gotten the attention from management that women get. And it means that when a man and woman go for the same job, the woman already has a personal relationship with the manager, has received special coaching and generally has more more on their CV (Since part of the Networks idea is to make sure that women get tasks/projects which are relevant to their career path).

Grayson

wmpdd3 wrote: »

Approach every customer .

I worked in a computer shop once that had that rule. Every customer had to be approached within 30 seconds. Fecking annoying. management used to view the CCTV in real time to make sure that was happening. There were also no chairs in the entire shop. They said people who were sitting looked unproductive.

fasttalkerchat

Grayson wrote: »

My company has a woman's network. It was specially set up so that women could network with other women higher in the company. The higher ups are meant to give direction and encouragement to women further down the chain so they can reach their potential. Nice idea, one flaw. It was a bit too successful.

In my last department there were 7 supervisors and one manager. One of the supervisors was male, all the rest were women. This was in a department of over 100 people. There are over 20 women in that department who decided to join this woman's network (The rest didn't bother). They're getting special guidance from the people who are going to be interviewing them for any promotions.

I don't know a single guy who's gotten the attention from management that women get. And it means that when a man and woman go for the same job, the woman already has a personal relationship with the manager, has received special coaching and generally has more more on their CV (Since part of the Networks idea is to make sure that women get tasks/projects which are relevant to their career path).

I would get out of there! The lack of men will make the house collapse soon so they will have to redress the balance!

Solair

A memo :

"Please do not connect toasters, microwaves, kettles, heaters, small cookers, or any other heavy appliance to the sockets under your desk!"

"Please do not store cheese or any mouse-friendly food in your desk drawers!"

We'd a HUGE problem with people making toast under their desk and the office was full of 'unauthorised kettles'.
One lady had a fridge under her desk + a nespresso machine on her desk!

fasttalkerchat

Working in a small supermarket one winter. This wasn't my usual store and their heating wasn't working. It was minus 10 inside and outside!!

So I went and lifted a few electrical heaters off the shop floor and plugged them in. Reported the heating fault to head office and said we needed someone out the next day.

The staff were delighted and said they were told they couldn't use heaters because of the fire hazard. Heating hadn't worked in 2 weeks. I boxed up the heaters at the end of my shift and management were none the wiser. Heating was fixed the next morning

Some times red tape gets in the way of common sense and decency to staff!

opinion guy

lol thanks for all the hilarious stories people

seriously how do these places stay in business :rolleyes:

Grayson

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

I would get out of there! The lack of men will make the house collapse soon so they will have to redress the balance!

It's just irritating when you work so hard to see others get a helping hand you do0n't. I can understand a mentoring system and a system to make sure that women benefit from it as well. But it doesn't seem fair to have a whole system that is prejudiced against men in a company where every level of management is split 50/50 according to gender. The network was only brought in 3 years ago when the balance was at 50/50. The company itself isn't biased in anyway against women.

woodoo

Grayson wrote: »

My company has a woman's network. It was specially set up so that women could network with other women higher in the company. The higher ups are meant to give direction and encouragement to women further down the chain so they can reach their potential. Nice idea, one flaw. It was a bit too successful.

In my last department there were 7 supervisors and one manager. One of the supervisors was male, all the rest were women. This was in a department of over 100 people. There are over 20 women in that department who decided to join this woman's network (The rest didn't bother). They're getting special guidance from the people who are going to be interviewing them for any promotions.

I don't know a single guy who's gotten the attention from management that women get. And it means that when a man and woman go for the same job, the woman already has a personal relationship with the manager, has received special coaching and generally has more more on their CV (Since part of the Networks idea is to make sure that women get tasks/projects which are relevant to their career path).

If that was a mens network it would be headline news :eek: I think that is quite a serious anti equality measure.



I used to work in a place that if you clocked in more than 1 minute late then the computer would dock 15 mins of your pay.

fasttalkerchat

Grayson wrote: »

It's just irritating when you work so hard to see others get a helping hand you do0n't. I can understand a mentoring system and a system to make sure that women benefit from it as well. But it doesn't seem fair to have a whole system that is prejudiced against men in a company where every level of management is split 50/50 according to gender. The network was only brought in 3 years ago when the balance was at 50/50. The company itself isn't biased in anyway against women.

Is this a female orientated industry? There already was a 50/50 balance?? Certainly an unusual environment!

Grayson

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

Is this a female orientated industry? There already was a 50/50 balance?? Certainly an unusual environment!

Nope. Big american multinational. They just have to be a PC as possible.

csi vegas

No smoking signs on your cigarette break.

MadsL

matrim wrote: »

My GF used to work for a company that had a lot of ridiculous safety rules. They brought in a rule that if you got anything from the canteen (even a cup of coffee) you had to use a tray to bring it to your desk. You could also get in trouble for walking down the stairs if you didn't hold the hand rail.

Intel (I know you said it wasn't) do have a lids on coffee and tea policy and that handrail policy. They are incredibly safety conscious because people do get hurt in accidents during the production process (some noxious chemicals and acids used in chip making) Now if a dumb fcuk scalds themselves or someone else on a cup of tea that has to be recorded as an industrial accident, and affects Safety Managers bonuses. As Fab 24 has the world's best safety record for Intel, you can see that they don't want stupid accidents blemishing that record.

LordChessington wrote: »

Sound like Intel? A mate of mine worked for them and they brought in a system, forcing you to rat out your co-workers for tiny things. If you didn't rat out enough people, you got into trouble

Intel have a 'good catch' system; if you see a safety issue you are meant to say to the person causing the hazard "Stop! You are committing a safety violation" They should respond "Good catch" - you then record the "catch" Both people are then rewarded for catching unsafe behaviour.

The idea that this is "ratting" out people is ridiculous, people have died doing stupid things against safety policy in factories. Anyone who thinks in terms of "ratting out" in this context really wants to grow up.

MadsL

woodoo wrote: »

I used to work in a place that if you clocked in more than 1 minute late then the computer would dock 15 mins of your pay.

I used to work in a sales job where if you were one minute late to the daily sales meeting you were sent home for the day. As a commission only job that really hurt.

geeky

Stepping Stone wrote: »

I worked for a large insurance company. I basically entered the policy details that people filled out on paper and answered calls from brokers regarding basic policy details.

My manager had recently been promoted and was an absolute ass. He had a huge ego and was always shouting at us over nothing. Someone would call and verbally abuse us cos they were too thick to make sure that every box was filled in (not very hard) and we had to take it.

Anyway, one day I got a call about some company policy that had been ambiguously worded, way above my league and nothing to do with me. So, the manager stood over me while some wagon ranted at me for half an hour, when I got off the phone, he roared at me cos the policy was not well worded (nothing at all to do with me). Anyway, he told me to fix the problem, so I did.

I wrote a letter to every single broker in my area (Leinster) and threw in all of the others that I could find. I told them that we were willing to accept complete responsibility and to shoulder the financial fallout. I wrote that I had been given authority by my manager to do this. I then handed in my notice.

Luckily for me, the legal sh1t only hit the fan after I left, but he had, very loudly ordered me to deal with it, so it was entirely his problem. I heard that he was very nice after that, and he had months of training to deal with staff properly after that. I hope that he is rotting somewhere. Sad little man.

And there we have it, the real reason Quinn went bang. Seanie, we owe you an apology...

Solair

Worst I had was a part time job while in university in a call centre where this American manager called me in and patronisingly ranted at me because I wasn't being a team player. Basically, they'd bought the office pizza and I declined to eat some but was at the party chatting away. Then I refused biscuits and sandwiches... And I refused to eat canteen food as everything was wheat based and most sauces served contained gluten... Notice a pattern?!

Anyway, I explained that I was coeliac and she responded : "well there's no need to be stuck up about good food just because of your religious beliefs!!!"

gimli2112

pretty sure our staff manual on what to do in the event of fire says something like "You should only tackle the fire if it's absolutely safe to do so"
There's some very good advice in those manuals.
I'm not a fireman!

I am pie

Not a regulation or a request, but somehow at our place (around 120 staff) it has become tradition for any leavers to shell out for a breakfast. Cue a trip to the local supermarket for a job load of sausages, rolls and whatnot for a hundred odd people.

Strictly observed....even for contractors. Never seen the like of it before.

zcorpian88

Solair wrote: »

Worst I had was a part time job while in university in a call centre where this American manager called me in and patronisingly ranted at me because I wasn't being a team player. Basically, they'd bought the office pizza and I declined to eat some but was at the party chatting away. Then I refused biscuits and sandwiches... And I refused to eat canteen food as everything was wheat based and most sauces served contained gluten... Notice a pattern?!

Anyway, I explained that I was coeliac and she responded : "well there's no need to be stuck up about good food just because of your religious beliefs!!!"

Oh my god and this one gained a management position and has no idea what a coeliac is. That's the American education system for you, another child left behind. Excellent post, got a good laugh!

fasttalkerchat

gimli2112 wrote: »

pretty sure our staff manual on what to do in the event of fire says something like "You should only tackle the fire if it's absolutely safe to do so"
There's some very good advice in those manuals.
I'm not a fireman!

That reminds me.
During an induction day I was told that in the event of a fire to hit the alarm button if possible but that the priority was to get the staff (about 3 of us) out and to the meeting point. Then call 999.

I asked should we get customers to leave with us or to make sure they're out before we leave.

He shrugged and said, well if you get the staff out that;s all you can do because you don't know who the customers are so can't account for them anyway. Let the fire brigade handle that!

fasttalkerchat

zcorpian88 wrote: »

Oh my god and this one gained a management position and has no idea what a coeliac is. That's the American education system for you, another child left behind. Excellent post, got a good laugh!

Actually I wasn't sure myself the first time I heard that. I knew it was either lactose or gluten related but had no idea which foods that rules out.

mightdomighty

babymanval wrote: »

Hi all,

Workplace policies/procedures/rules/directives from management etc. can often be ridiculous, counter-productively nonsensical at times. However I heard the most ridiculous one today. A friend of mine texted me at lunch to tell me about a farcical 30 minute meeting that she had to sit through:

She got an email requesting her to attend a meeting with her line manager this morning. It transpired that the purpose of this was to discuss any support that she may need for "any addictions that [she] might be suffering with"... The catalyst for this? Her manager had observed her taking three, rather than the recommended two tablets (for her Katie Taylor homecoming-inspired hangover). Furthermore, the manager observed that she had 2 packets of Solpadeine on her desk, "in full view". She came away from the meeting with some literature on addiction agencies, and a heartfelt reassurance that the management have a staunch policy of standing behind employees where they need support.

Sounds like theres more to this story

mathepac

zcorpian88 wrote: »

Oh my god and this one gained a management position and has no idea what a coeliac is. ...

It probably wasn't a requirement of the job to have medical knowledge, in fairness; I think the real joke is immediately assuming it was a religious thing. OMG! LOL! Americans, you just have to laugh and then join them!!

zcorpian88

mathepac wrote: »

It probably wasn't a requirement of the job to have medical knowledge, in fairness; I think the real joke is immediately assuming it was a religious thing. OMG! LOL! Americans, you just have to laugh and then join them!!

You're right I suppose but it is one of those things a person should know, Like I must have been 11 or 12 when I found out what a coeliac was. Honestly though even if you weren't a coeliac I don't see how not eating some food makes you a non team player. I'd just say I just ate or I'm on a diet.

I'd have to correct her just to see the embarrassment than have a laugh with her over it!

retalivity

razorblunt wrote: »

Probably saved pennys while working there though did you? ;-)

Similar situation, worked in retail they employed alot of "mature" women on p/t contracts, who (most of )after a few weeks proved to be so incompetent that the full timers and student p/t workers were absolutely smashed with work carrying the load. Leading only to managers giving the students a hard time to get things done. Not one of the olders crowd were giving warnings or let go. Jokeshop.

Jokeshops are renowned for their abysmal working conditions & clowns in management.

Esoteric_

Last place I worked in was full of completely ridiculous rules, but I'll just mention two that I was bítched at over.


We weren't allowed wear our uniforms in to work, for hygiene reasons (no outside contaminants). This meant that we had to iron them in the staff room once we got in to work, not a bother. However, the iron was broken for 6 months and they refused to replace it, but we still weren't allowed iron and wear in our uniforms, and they'd get crumpled in a bag on the way in. One day, I was sent back upstairs FOUR times to re-iron my shirt, despite the fact that I told the managers that the iron was broken, and all of the staff had creased shirts as a result of this.


Another time, there was a staff party. Basically, they were all going out for dinner and drinks (paid for by ourselves). I couldn't go, as my mother is disabled and I had to be home on weeknights to look after her after work. Management knew this, because I was on specific shifts as a result of this (I told them this during my initial interview, they only wanted me for the busiest shifts during the daytime anyway, so suited everyone). My area manager asked me during my shift if I was going to the party. I said that I wasn't because I had to look after my mother and the party was starting at the same time my shift finished anyway, and it'd take me three and a half hours to get home, change and get back into the city for the party, even if I wasn't looking after my mam. She told me that I could be sacked for not socialising with the staff. I pointed out that myself and several staff members went out clubbing every week together, and that all the staff and management had gone to my birthday party, but she still insisted I go. I didn't go, and found out the next day that neither did she!

A week later, after finding out that I didn't go, she said that she didn't care about my initial agreement to do all the morning and day shifts, if I didn't agree to do night shifts, I'd be sacked. Cue me working from 5pm-5am every night and being the last dropped home by the driver, out of three stores, so I didn't get home til after 9am most mornings, then had to leave my house again at 3.30 for work.

Needless to say, I ended up quitting. Still can't believe I stuck it out there for 2 years. :pac:

woodoo

LyndaMcL wrote: »

Another time, there was a staff party. Basically, they were all going out for dinner and drinks (paid for by ourselves). I couldn't go, as my mother is disabled and I had to be home on weeknights to look after her after work. Management knew this, because I was on specific shifts as a result of this (I told them this during my initial interview, they only wanted me for the busiest shifts during the daytime anyway, so suited everyone). My area manager asked me during my shift if I was going to the party. I said that I wasn't because I had to look after my mother and the party was starting at the same time my shift finished anyway, and it'd take me three and a half hours to get home, change and get back into the city for the party, even if I wasn't looking after my mam. She told me that I could be sacked for not socialising with the staff. I pointed out that myself and several staff members went out clubbing every week together, and that all the staff and management had gone to my birthday party, but she still insisted I go. I didn't go, and found out the next day that neither did she!

A week later, after finding out that I didn't go, she said that she didn't care about my initial agreement to do all the morning and day shifts, if I didn't agree to do night shifts, I'd be sacked. Cue me working from 5pm-5am every night and being the last dropped home by the driver, out of three stores, so I didn't get home til after 9am most mornings, then had to leave my house again at 3.30 for work.

Needless to say, I ended up quitting. Still can't believe I stuck it out there for 2 years. :pac:

I'm amazed how easy it seems to sack people in this country. And then everyone is anti union :eek:

fasttalkerchat

woodoo wrote: »

I'm amazed how easy it seems to sack people in this country. And then everyone is anti union :eek:

Its very hard to sack someone here but it is very easy to push someone out of a job if they don't know their rights.

Katgurl

Omackeral wrote: »

cashback wrote: »

My manager told me once that she didn't hear enough of a 'smile in my voice', when talking to customers on the phone.

That is something like Buddy the Elf would say. Seriously.

I've obviously been institutionalised by the crappy industry I spent too long in because I think that's quite reasonable. One company I worked in suggested we kept a mirror by our desks so we could ENSURE we were smiling on the phone. That same place made us sign contracts to commit to everyday wear of: full make-up, manicured nails, pantyhose and fully enclosed shoes. There was nothing about weight but there wasn't a love handle in sight. If hair was not up to standard we got presented with a voucher for a blow-dry and told to take it as a friendly first warning. The third could mean dismissal.

In another company my manager once summoned me looking very serious and awkward. After much humming and hawing it came out that I had broken Informal work policy of offering the milk to any nearby colleagues in kitchen before returning to fridge.

fasttalkerchat

Katgurl wrote: »

In another company my manager once summoned me looking very serious and awkward. After much humming and hawing it came out that I had broken Informal work policy of offering the milk to any nearby colleagues in kitchen before returning to fridge.

I would have responded with **** off. In writing if need be. They can take that as my written notice!