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Welcome to Workplace Stuff!
This is my first blog and I am excited to do it. My goal here is to talk about issues in the workplace. My view is that we spend most of our lives at work so it should be as pleasant as possible. I know that the reason it is called "work" is because it isn't "play". But I still think we can have a much better working environment if we put our minds to it. I am not planning on discussing legal issues although they may come up now and then. Rather I want to share (and hope you will too) stuff I see and observe in working with employers and employees in the workplace. Who am I? Well, I am an employment lawyer who has been at it for 27 years. (It went by very fast, too fast). I am board certified in employment law and I also mediate and act as an arbitrator(basically a paid private judge). I do training seminars. My most popular seminar is on discrimination and sexual harassment. I hope to share with you the trials and tribulations of what goes on at work and when work ends up in Court-land. Believe me, real life is as funny and crazy as the popular TV show "The Office". In fact reality at work is "too much for TV". Well, maybe not cable.
Recently I was at a local spa getting a beauty treatment (yes, I like to indulge myself). Mary, the sweet lady that was giving me a facial, confided that she was upset over a recent evaluation she had received from her boss. Mary apologized to me for venting, but seemed grateful for a friendly ear. She said that her boss, the owner of the company, told the employees that they would be getting a pay cut. (This was news since I don't usually see this unless the job position has changed and the employee is doing less work). Mary's job had not changed and, in my experience, her work is excellent. It certainly isn't easy to get an appointment with her unless you call way in advance. I asked Mary, "Aren't you booked up?" She replied that she was busier than ever. I wanted to hear more so I asked her to tell me what was said by her boss.
Mary said that her boss told her she was "self centered" and all she thought about was herself.
Whoa, this was not what I expected to hear. I couldn't believe it! I asked her again and she repeated it. Mary was very distraught. Mary said her boss told her, "If you don't like it, leave. You are easy to replace."
I have thought about this a lot and can find no situation where a comment like this would ever be justified. What was the boss thinking? Is this supposed to motivate the employee? Is it designed to make the employee quit? Or is it just a bad boss taking his frustrations of life out on the poor employee?
This type of criticism would never be justified. All this boss did was guarantee bad morale, resentment, lack of team loyalty and just general bad work karma.
Since I am a dog lover, I dislike the phrase "go home and kick the dog." But this is exactly what the boss did. He "kicked the employee" so he would feel better.
Contrast this boss with the one that lets the bad employee run amok. For example, this boss looks the other way when the employee ignores rules and fails to be a productive employee. In this scenario, the bad employee gets away with murder, comes in late, you get the picture. While the boss ignores the bad employee, the other employees seethe with resentment. Morale goes down because the good employees think "Why should we work hard, when the bad employee doesn't and no one cares. We might as well goof off too."
What causes the boss to look the other way? See my next blog: "What makes good people turn into Bad Supervisors."
Carla Cotropia
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Recently George Greanias, the President and CEO of Metropolitan Transit Authority (Metro) in Houston Texas was caught surfing porn on his personal computer at work. I have no direct involvement in this matter but was surprised to see how it was handled by Metro. Metro suspended Greanias for one week without pay. The chairman of the Metro board, Gilbert Garcia, stated that this punishment was harsher than typically would be assessed for a violation of Metro's electronic communications policies.
Metro's official statement said that Greanias accessed more than one dozen adult oriented sites of a sexual nature through the Metro Internet System. Metro's official statement stated: "Normally, the disciplinary action for such a violation is a verbal reprimand. Any subsequent violation could lead to more severe punishment, including termination. Metro Chairman Gilbert Garcia has concluded that, as President and CEO, Mr. Greanias must be held to a higher standard, and decided instead of a warning Mr. Greanias would receive a more stringent punishment of one week suspension, without pay."
Surfing porn only requires a verbal warning? Really? I doubt that most businesses would give a verbal warning for viewing porn at work. I don't think Greanias got a more severe punishment. I think he got an easier punishment because most employees that do this are fired.
This brings up the question of staying consistent with your punishment. Employees are like children. ( I mean this in a positive way). Children like boundaries and rules. They just want those rules administered equally. If the rules are not administered equally, it creates resentment and mistrust.
Likewise in the workplace, consistency is so important. Employees may not like the punishment (a written reprimand or termination) but they accept it if it is administered the same to all. This is why human resource directors and employment lawyers recommend keeping the punishment consistent. So what does this mean for Metro? I don't represent them but it seems to me that if another employee is caught surfing porn they will be given a week off without pay, just like Greanias was or like the Chairman said, a verbal warning. In my opinion, Metro has just given a green light for surfing porn at work. Now you can surf porn at least once before you will be fired. That is not the message that Metro should be sending.
Most of us suspect that if the employee caught surfing porn had been some one other than top management, they would have been fired. Apparently Greanias was such a good leader the Board of Metro wanted to keep him at all costs. But what does it do to the organization? Does it send a message that rules don't matter if you are the President and CEO? Leadership is a trickle down affair. If your top person is slapped on the wrist for surfing porn, then what does it say for other offenses by lower level employees? Can Greanias be an effective leader if his employees know what he likes to do in his spare time and even in his down time at work, i.e. surf porn?
The Metro Board seemed to suggest that everyone is entitled to a mistake. We love it when someone falls down, gets up with mud on their face, offers repentance and all is forgiven. If that is the case, then every employee at Metro has a free pass coming.
Carla Cotropia
Mills Shirley L.L.P.
1021 Main St. Suite 1950
Houston, Texas 77002
Direct: 713-571-4204
Main 713-225-0547
Fax 713-225-0844
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