Does your boss have the right to time your bathroom breaks when you work from home? | Gene Marks
How long does it take you to go to the bathroom? And does your boss have any right to ask?According to a recent story in the New York Post, one manager warned workers of the company’s “five-minute rule” which required work-from-home employees to “notify the team” if they stepped away from their desk for any reason, including to use the bathroom.“This helps us stay aligned and ensures nothing is missed.Thank you for your co-operation,” the manager said in an email shared online by an irate worker.Not surprisingly, this policy did not go over very well with some.“5 min?” one commenter wrote.
“Are you saving lives through that keyboard?”Other comments on the post ranged from “This is crazy” to “Oh I’d be so gone.”Of course, this manager’s demand is outrageous.No one can do anything – let alone relieve themselves – in under five minutes.Asking work-from-home employees to “notify the team” whenever they need to step away from their desks is completely unreasonable.However, the incident highlights what I’m observing among many of my clients who are trying to determine the best way to implement work-from-home policies.
For employers – particularly small business owners, most of whom are over the age of 50 – working from home is often a tough concept to swallow.I’ve seen a number of these owners resist these policies because they don’t believe that their employees are as productive at home as they are in the office.And it’s not just a small business thing.Many corporate CEOs – from JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon to Amazon’s Andy Jassy – have been outspoken in their position that workers get more work done when they’re in the office.They may be wrong, they may be right.
Over the past few years we’ve seen some studies that say workers do get more done when working remotely.Just as many reports conclude the opposite.Clearly, we’re still too close to the pandemic and to this kind of working arrangement to truly know what’s best for businesses.More time and data are needed.In the meantime, employers – like the manager above – oftentimes go overboard when supervising employees that they can’t see in the office.
We still haven’t figured this out.Most, however, are trying.That’s because they understand that working from home can be liberating for many of those employees.It gives them balance, more freedom and more flexibility, especially if they’re caring for others.But for this type of arrangement to be successful, both employers and employees need to meet somewhere in the middle.
For employees, it must be understood that being allowed to work from home is a benefit not unlike health insurance and retirement.It needs to be earned and rules need to be followed.Five-minute bathroom breaks are, of course, ridiculous.But it’s not unreasonable for a manager to expect that their remote team member is as accessible as they are when they’re in the office and that they’re getting their jobs done, whatever and whenever that requires.Employees need to understand that their employers are rightly suspicious if their remote working days fall on a Monday or Friday.
They need to understand that their company’s IT team will need access to their devices in order to ensure security,They need to dress professionally, make sure the dog is fed and that their kids are being watched,Employers also have to meet their workers halfway,Stop the micromanagement and don’t get monitoring software,Understand that even if they were in the office, you can’t keep tabs on someone all the time.
After all, they may be taking a bathroom break!
UK watchdog raises competition concerns over Greencore-Bakkavor deal
Greencore’s £1.2bn deal to buy Bakkavor is under the spotlight after the competition watchdog said the tie-up between Britain’s biggest sandwich maker and its rival could harm competition.Greencore struck a deal in April to buy its rival Bakkavor, which supplies sandwiches, salads and other snacks to leading supermarkets such as Tesco, Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Asda.Together the companies said they would create a UK convenience food business with a combined revenue of £4bn.However, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has said the deal could result in a “substantial lessening of competition” within the market for supermarket own-label chilled sauces
AI can help authors beat writer’s block, says Bloomsbury chief
Authors will come to rely on artificial intelligence to help them beat writer’s block, the boss of the book publisher Bloomsbury has said.Nigel Newton, the founder and chief executive of the publisher behind the Harry Potter series, said the technology could support almost all creative arts, although it would not fully replace prominent writers.“I think AI will probably help creativity, because it will enable the 8 billion people on the planet to get started on some creative area where they might have hesitated to take the first step,” he told the PA news agency.“AI gets them going and writes the first paragraph, or first chapter, and gets them back in the zone,” he said. “And it can do similar things with painting and music composition and with almost all of the creative arts
‘People thought I was a communist doing this as a non-profit’: is Wikipedia’s Jimmy Wales the last decent tech baron?
In an online landscape characterised by doom and division, the people’s encyclopedia stands out – a huge collective endeavour giving everyone free access to the sum of human knowledge. But with Elon Musk branding it ‘Wokipedia’ and AI looming large, can it survive?Wikipedia will be 25 years old in January. Jimmy Wales’s daughter will be 25 and three weeks. It’s not a coincidence: on Boxing Day 2000 Wales’s then wife, Christine, gave birth to a baby girl, but it quickly became clear that something wasn’t right. She had breathed in contaminated amniotic fluid, resulting in a life-threatening condition called meconium aspiration syndrome
US and China reach ‘final deal’ on TikTok sale, treasury secretary says
US treasury secretary Scott Bessent claimed on Sunday that the US and China have finalized the details of a deal transferring TikTok’s US version to new owners.“We reached a final deal on TikTok,” Bessent said on Sunday on CBS’s Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan. Alluding to Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, Bessent continued: “We reached [a deal] in Madrid, and I believe that as of today, all the details are ironed out, and that will be for the two leaders to consummate that transaction” during a meeting scheduled for Thursday in Korea.Bessent did not disclose any details of the deal. But he did say it was a part of a broader framework – agreed to by both the US and China – of a potential trade deal to be discussed when Trump and Xi meet in the coming days
‘I could have killed them’: Lawson’s fury after narrowly missing hitting marshals
Liam Lawson issued a damning broadside after he narrowly missed hitting two marshals on track at the Mexico City Grand Prix, warning that he could have killed them and branding it dangerous and unacceptable.In the race which was won in dominant form by McLaren’s Lando Norris, the Racing Bulls driver had started in 15th place but took damage on the opening lap and made an immediate pit stop.When he emerged from the pit lane he was confronted with two marshals running across the track having been clearing debris from the opening corners directly in front of the New Zealander.“Mate. Oh my god, are you kidding me? Did you just see that?” he said to his engineer on team radio
NFL week eight: Broncos crush Cowboys, Colts defeat Titans, and more – as it happened
(6-2) Broncos 44-24 Cowboys (3-4-1)(1-7) Saints 3-23 Buccaneers (6-2)(7-1) Colts 38-14 Titans (1-7)The whistle blows in Denver. What an impressive performance from the Bronos, after a very early error from Bo Nix they roar back and dominate Dallas’ injury-hit and very shaky defense. Punishing weaknesses in an opponent is a very useful trait to possess indeed. Nix finished 19/29 for 247 yards, four touchdowns and a pick. The running attack combined for 179 yards with JK Dobbins ripping 111 of them
Timely assurance from Lear’s Kent | Letters
The Guide #214: Sleep-inducing songs and tranquilising TV – the culture that sends us to sleep (in a good way)
Seth Meyers on Trump’s White House ballroom: ‘This couldn’t be any more of a bait and switch’
Seth Meyers on Trump’s White House demolition: ‘This is insane’
Toe-curling fashion: how did toe shoes become so popular?
Stephen Colbert on Trump’s White House East Wing demolition: ‘So deeply unsettling’