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 Discussion on question by S...: How d…

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TomTom
Sep 19, 2023 21:05
"I'd like to find a way to deal with this whilst still being respectful" - so you mean YOU are respectful in the face of someone coming up and insulting your work ethics and workplace? This is a case for HR or your manager - he is torpedoing your performance. There is imho no relationship to be damaged from you.
 

 Discussion on answer by 1muflon1: Why…

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TomTom
Dec 5, 2022 20:58
I do not remember whether it was Thailand or Taiwan, but some years go a valley got flooded - that had 5 HDD factories in it, which all stopped producing for some time. Not a LONG time ago. You know how many factories worldwide existed making HDD? 5. Specialized suppliers available.
TomTom
Dec 5, 2022 20:58
Even worse - the factory needs a lot of supply infrastructure (other companies) that generally do not exist in the wild, so there is a very strong push to put a factory where you find the specialized firms which is - where other factories are.
 

 Discussion on question by questformor…

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TomTom
Nov 17, 2022 18:20
Well, then you simply have never worked in a team enthusiastic about his work. Simple like that. You root out bad apples - or morale WILL tank.
TomTom
Nov 17, 2022 18:20
Pay is irrelevant - an employer has to bring a specific level of motivation, or he is not fulfilling his contract. This is not a motivation as much as an ethics question. Thanks, bad fit, please go work for the competition.
 

 Discussion on answer by Kilisi: Recei…

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TomTom
Mar 29, 2021 21:27
You mean, someone from the store walkintg over to HQ or where the developers sit and deposit the item there? This is about a SOFTWARE ENGINEER. He will quite likely NOT have ANY contact with the stores. Not as in "separate room", but as in "not at the same address".
 

 Discussion on question by Enthusiast:…

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TomTom
Mar 29, 2021 21:24
That is actually the core thing here - most developers will look at that and ghost. This is a sellers market for Software Developers, no way to get into crazy requests.
 

 Discussion on question by Peter Penzo…

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TomTom
Jan 27, 2021 14:46
"Nowadays in every company there is employee monitoring software installed on company laptops/computers" - no, not every company is run by shameful people or in a field where employees are shameful
 

 Discussion on question by Runch: Am I…

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TomTom
Jan 19, 2021 15:42
"Misconduct"? What was commited was (a) criminal, not misconduct and (b) on a level that in any jurisdiction I know of allows firing on the spot with cause (i.e. without termination period for serious breach of contract). Saying it was misconduct is mislabelling and shows a very low ethics level. This is not "stealing a paperclip" - it is ransacking supply and copy room (i.e. a lot of stuff) AND THEN BREAKING VALUABLE EQUIPMENT. Not a misconduct.
 

 Discussion on question by Pender: Sen…

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TomTom
Jan 18, 2021 13:20
Yeah, this is not "oh, they do not value me" - it is a clear "they betrayed me by not fulfilling a contract". A promise like that has the value of a contract, at least morally.
TomTom
Jan 18, 2021 13:20
"I have no idea why they're apparently trying to provoke one of my top engineers and not explain why." - ah, you mean managers being stupid is not known to you? Simple like that.
TomTom
Jan 18, 2021 13:20
"How does one forget in 3 months what they spent 2 years inventing and designing?" - BY BEING BETRAYED AND LIED TO. What about this? This is a repeating theme here: We betrayed our key personell, now they do not work as good as before we f**** them. Yeah, that is how it goes - he is looking for another job because promises not kept are making you guys garbage employers.
 

 Discussion on answer by TomTom: Senio…

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TomTom
Jan 18, 2021 12:42
I never said I did. YOu seem to be hell bent on turning every fact to prove you are superior to - common sense. All it does it prove you are quite lacking. Shame. What I do know is that Uli is not pissed enough OR stable enough (with statistics saying he is not stable enough, financially) to just say "go to hell". Chance is extremely likely if he would be he would have done what I would have done - which is go out with a nuclear explosion and not look back. And guess what - I did say nothing else. I actually did not imply that I know about him. Your lack of education makes you misunderstand.
TomTom
Jan 18, 2021 12:42
Oh, but I can call you illogical? The spineless comment was not at all connected to Uli but ONLY connected to "oh, I cashed in favours, I should ask for them back" AFTER other people did their work for the favour. And that is spineless. If you ask for a favour, and people do the work, you got what you asked for. As I said - you lack seriously in understanding.
TomTom
Jan 18, 2021 12:42
No, it says that they are extremely rare. Not many people own a million USD that they can easily use (so no IRA) and most people that do own that own it in a house that they live in - which they can ,again, not easily access. There stil lare quite a lot - but (a) that is because of NUMBERS. THere are a great many people, so an exceedingly rare amount (let's say 1%) is still a lot and (b) most of those will not work (employed) as software engineers but do something paying better (be independent, be in different professions). You seem to lack a concept of statistics and real world numbers.
TomTom
Jan 18, 2021 12:42
Actually no. It is not surprising. Which is also not what I said - did you bother trying to understand? I said that UNLESS he is a millionaire (and heck, that is not really a lot - in many areas being a millionaire means owning your house, which is not really "usable") he does not want to just walk out. You really should try to understand sentences.
TomTom
Jan 18, 2021 12:42
Sorry, it is - you ask for a favour, people do work, reorganize their planning. Then you realize that you did not want the favour and walk to everyone and essentially ask them to undo all the work (another favour) AND RETURN YOU THE FAVOUR? That is spineless, sorry. You ask for something, someone works, you owe him a favour. You do not get to realize that you did not really want it. The spineless comment was ONLY towards the "undo the favour" part, not the rest. Chance are that Uli is not financially SOUND in my eyes. He does not want to loose the income. Being "sound" as you call it would...
TomTom
Jan 18, 2021 12:42
...be having enough money not to care. Like owning some properties and millions on the bank account. Which is somehow EXTREMELY rare, so the assumption would be that he is not and he does not want to just walk out due to the loss.This is not negative, it is the norm. Even with savings, and particularly in this time, most people do at least not want to take the risk of loosing their job and not getting benefits.
TomTom
Jan 18, 2021 12:42
For most employees it is extremely rare to have enough funds to just tell your employer to "f off" and not care about anything in the future. Simple statistics says so. Ever bothered to look at percentiles? How much money you need to be in the top 1% of your country, and how that is for many people that even are close - owning a house that is paid off. Particularly if you go into the US the "cash side" of most people's assets is really not good.
 

 Discussion on question by Hai Nguyen:…

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TomTom
Dec 11, 2020 12:55
When you talk parent company - are you talking "employment" and "owned subsidiary"? Are you aware that not doing your work in scenarios like this may be a criminal case (we do not know - you do not say where you are located).
 

 Discussion on question by Brosch: Ins…

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TomTom
Nov 16, 2020 18:32
"and seems to have increased this effort after being denied a larger pay raise with his promotion" - and another one that was screwed over by a manager who is qualified to work at McDonalds at the cash register - maybe, maybe not even that. What about NOT screwing over employees?
 

 Discussion on question by Jarvis: How…

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TomTom
Nov 13, 2020 12:49
"is it not unprofessional to bill 8 hours a day when you are working only for 4-5 hours on average? " - the legal word for it is FRAUD. And in pretty much every jurisdiction falsifying work hours is cause for immediate termination.
 

 Discussion on question by Gulzar: How…

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TomTom
Nov 9, 2020 14:07
Define "algo developer". Because the ones I do know get paid so well that "not on my phone at 2 in the morning" is "ok, you really do not want to buy that new ferrari from the bonus we cancel"? The pay and pay structure as well as the industry pay a really big role here.
 

 Discussion on question by ConditionRa…

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TomTom
Nov 9, 2020 12:54
"but I strongly disagree that the project qualifies in any way" - generally not your choice. See, an APPLICATION i an APPLICATION. It is up to the patent office to evaluate this. You are not a patent lawyer.
 

 Discussion on answer by nvoigt: How c…

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TomTom
Oct 22, 2020 14:13
This is a good answer but does not focus on the OBVIOUS abuse of the system. If this happens more than statistically justified - there is something seriously off with morale, regardless how bonkers the rule is.
 

 Discussion on question by happybuddha…

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TomTom
Oct 21, 2020 10:16
@Steve Not really. Your argument is semi valid - but if a number of people are statistically showing up, it is THEM being the problem, not the sickness. This would affect more people because children do also not get sick suddenly and repeatedly. There definitely seem, from the numbers, to be some quite bad and spoiled apples under the staff.
 

 Discussion on question by mark951131b…

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TomTom
Jul 2, 2020 11:40
No, because i would not write "slacking off" into the termination. In the US, i.e., you do not ahve to give ANY reason in at will employment states.
TomTom
Jul 2, 2020 11:40
Actually they are in the law. You owe your work during work time. People DO get fired for slacking off. Care to use google?
TomTom
Jul 2, 2020 11:40
@enhzflep This is an ignorant position. The employer is under no obligation to ensure the payment is fair - the employee is free to walk away and get employmnt elsewhere. But he DID enter into this contract without duress. You basically tell me people are stupid because they sign contracts they do not want.
TomTom
Jul 2, 2020 11:40
"but to me this behavior is kind of immature and a bit unprofessional." - It actually is illegal. You owe your best effort to the company paying you. A raise of x% resulting in loss of productivity is breach of contract. To anyone saying "oh, that is not how I see it" - READ. The contract details and laws are normally quite clear. You do owe your work and that better is best effort. I do not agree with it - but the law and contracts are what they are.
 

 Discussion on answer by TomTom: Is $2…

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TomTom
Jun 17, 2020 07:44
Restaurant food is generally not considered a food expense but service & entertainment.
TomTom
Jun 17, 2020 07:44
Yeah. I spent that when I was living alone, but - that includes higher end steaks, and good wines on weekend etc. The number is actually COMICALLY high to call it poor and a good sign of total waste of funds.
 

 Discussion on question by WorriedWork…

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TomTom
Mar 9, 2020 12:37
It actually is given work from home and enough preparation. Kids ARE a possible problem, even if homescooing you feel trapped fast.
TomTom
Mar 9, 2020 12:37
There is cautios and there is paranoid. Most states of the USA are like small countries in number of inhabitants - there i would rather understand that, but not on a smaller level.Also, how is cutting off all contact supposed to work? Unless you work from home AND are a prepper you will not have the food to handle this for more than a long weekend.
TomTom
Mar 9, 2020 12:37
The state is a necessity because a lot of employment details are state dependent. Some states are at will employment - so unless he terminates you for certain protected cases, he can terminate you because of the result of a die roll. Some are not. Your "human rights" violation and "privacy concerns to name one of 52 states in a countrs of more than 300 million makes me believe you love dramatizing .- which means the question is... well...
 

 Discussion on question by Outsider: M…

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TomTom
Jun 12, 2019 19:31
"I do not know the truth is regarding their finances" - why? I mean, seriously. " claims due to court rulings he pays a lot of money to the other parent " - have him sent a copy of the court ruling and there you go. It may well be - my mother pulled that stunt, getting hugh payments from my father but not using them on me. Well, happens that court documents can be COPIED and then you KNOW. And payments according to court ruling also leave traces (i.e. can be prooven).
 

 Discussion on question by JonathanRee…

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TomTom
Dec 18, 2018 21:37
The problem with them being responsible is that there are a great many amount of people who CAN NOT BE responsible. From idiots at work to freak accidents. You can easily cause millions in damages because of some stupid incident that you end up being responsible for - so mandatory group insurance is the only way to make sure SOMEONE pays. Otherwise most people causing the damage just stay bankrupt - get money out of that.
 

 Discussion on question by ThePassenge…

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TomTom
Dec 4, 2018 05:19
Less constraints or a culture of working laaate when you are already at home? Because you are sooo focused on when they COME, you ignore how long they stay. And yes, IT has a history in some companies of working laaate into evenings.
 

 Discussion on question by Xian: How t…

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TomTom
Oct 16, 2018 05:32
How does it feel racist? Did you consider the asian teams actually should have learned english at some point? Did you consider firing all managers that do not make sure their teams are not up to the task? THis primarily is a manager failure - which now is escalated. What will you do, in a market like we have now, when the tams decide that hey, another employer works better? The idea of using a dictionary feels correct - one learns at this page (and I say that as a non native english speaker, but then in germany at the time I learned english we actually learned english and using a dictioanry.
 

 Discussion on question by Ge Peace: U…

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TomTom
Oct 2, 2018 01:39
Refuse to use a company car not as safe as european work law presribes (which is relevant for you - you are an EU employee). Done. Be prepared for another job, but for me that would be a small thig compared to an accident in the USA.
TomTom
Oct 2, 2018 01:39
Still. I simply would freaking NOT drive it. I run my cars through a full inspection once per year. I also have the basic checked every winter coming. THere is not a lot more dangerous than bad brakes. My insurance would run circles around the liability for doing something that utterly stupid on purpose. There may be no laws, and you likely have no insurance worth nothing either (note: US limits seem t obe jokes - people driving with 50k liability, while in europe you talk MILLIONS per person insjured. If you craeate an invalid and ahve to pay for the rest of his life, that significantly more.
 

 Discussion on question by ElGringoMag…

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TomTom
Aug 14, 2018 08:42
Yeah. I have a 50/50 for my company - which at that time was the best we COULD get, already going over a 4 km radio link to bypass the bad lines. Now going for 1/1 (gigabit). But here is your mistake - you assume IT company. What I talk about is a german major brand name, but it is NOT AN IT COMPANY. The OP says "government institution", not IT company. This may well be some offices with "just enough" bandwidth to handle their needs. Noone talks IT companies in said examples - different world. A court, or an employment agency office may not have even as much as you at home.
TomTom
Aug 14, 2018 08:42
@KonradRudolph Ah, SERIOUSLY? In this day and age? I know a 25k people company whose headquarters in a Major german City is connected to the internet by 10megabit with maybe 2000 people working there. This is "this day and age". A company NOT in the internet business may not really have that large a pipe - what for, if it is not needed. 100g - over not a year - is a LOT of traffic on such a line.
TomTom
Aug 14, 2018 08:42
It may be ap rivacy issue, EXCEPT you had high data usage. The moment their traffic goes throug hthe roof, they have rights to start tracing that for security reasons. And tracing pure data transfer (total) is also allowed. No privacy breach.
 

 Discussion on answer by Aaron F: How …

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TomTom
Aug 9, 2018 12:04
Seriously, you should look at some news out of sweden to realize what they DO accomodate. Peer and social presure is brutal there. Norway is a country where your tax returns are public. As he said, you do not fire people. I personally find that quite - funny, sort of. Makes the society... well.... funny.
TomTom
Aug 9, 2018 12:04
@RichardU "accommodation under the ADA" are irrelevant. Did you read the little note about "We are in a Nordic coutnry" - that is Denmark, Norway, Sweden etc. - US laws generally do not apply there and they are WAY more socialistic inclined.
TomTom
Aug 9, 2018 12:04
It may not sound practical, but it is all you CAN do. He has a medical exuse and firing him is off the line. Rock, meet hard place. Plus he is factually right - and if that is cuasing problems... well. Not HIS problem (btw,. a chceckin causing problems is a serious issue in the infrastructure - no build gates installed).
 

 Discussion on question by user3163495…

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TomTom
Jul 22, 2018 11:44
THAT actually is the crux here. The question is terribly naive as it assumes the bank would not just add it back to the monthly payment anyway.
 

 Discussion on answer by TomTom: My mi…

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TomTom
Jul 12, 2018 19:03
@DanNeely That is a NICE idea, though I am not sure it is a good one. Depending on age you may get much more interesting things if that is a once a lifetime thing ;) SpaceX is really making progress.
TomTom
Jul 12, 2018 19:03
This is the problem with having money. Poor people get a lot of money OUTSIDE their income. With moeny on the bank, you have to pay it all for yourself.