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View Full Version : Officially, Your Employer Can’t Force You To Be Happy At Work




Suzanimal
06-07-2016, 06:08 PM
When you go to work, you have to do your job. But no one can force you to be happy about it.

An April 29 ruling from the country’s top authority on labor issues says that employers cannot require employees to be constantly positive at work.

The case stems from an issue with T-Mobile’s employee handbook. The document included a clause about positivity, reading, in part, “[e]mployees are expected to maintain a positive work environment by communicating in a manner that is conducive to effective working relationships with internal and external customers, clients, co-workers, and management.”

The Communications Workers of America, the union that represents T-Mobile workers, brought this issue, and others, before the National Labor Relations Board three years ago.

The NLRB’s ruling last week said that requiring employees to maintain a “positive work environment” is too restrictive, as the workplace can sometimes get contentious. You can’t keep your employees from arguing.

The key here is recognizing that being positive at work is good for business, but what’s good for business is not always good for labor.

The NLRB says that workers have a right to express negativity at work because they have a right to be unhappy with their jobs.

Ultimately, this is about protecting employees’ right to organize, says the NLRB. Organizing usually requires controversy, and often negative reactions to a person’s job situation.

If they are truly happy at work, positivity can be good for both the employee and the employer. Positivity and optimism increase productivity. When people are happy at work, they do their jobs better and employers see less burnout and less turnover.

In a December 2015 post in the Harvard Business Review, management researchers Emma Seppälä and Kim Cameron wrote: “[A] positive workplace is more successful over time because it increases positive emotions and well-being. This, in turn, improves people’s relationships with each other and amplifies their abilities and their creativity.”

Employers aren’t allowed to prevent workers from organizing, thus, they also aren’t allowed to prevent workers from airing their displeasure. Here’s what the NLRB ruling says:

Because labor disputes and union organizing efforts frequently involve controversy, criticism of the employer, arguments, and less-than-“positive” statements about terms and conditions of employment, employees reading the rule here would reasonably steer clear of a range of potentially controversial but protected communication in the workplace for fear of running afoul of the rule.
But promoting positivity at work and demanding it are two different things. Actually making employees happier at work is good management. Certain fixtures of startup culture that promote happiness at work — ping pong tables in the lobby, free snacks all day, lots of vacation, and even extended parental leave — are benefits that are totally allowed.

However, requiring that employees act positive, regardless of working conditions, isn’t allowed. If employers want positivity in the workplace, fine. But they have to create the kind of environment that leads their employees to be happy, rather than simply decreeing that no one is allowed to have an argument at work.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/officially-your-boss-cant-force-you-to-be-happy-at-work_us_572cb632e4b016f378957ceb?utm_hp_ref=busine ss



Being a Jerk at Work is a Human Right, Says Labor Board
The Latest Protected Class

....

The recent NRLB ruling similarly struck down several provisions of T-Mobile’s employee handbook that it viewed as being too restrictive with respect to employees’ organizational rights. Among these included a rule “prohibiting employees from arguing with co-workers, subordinates, or supervisors; failing to treat others with respect; or failing to demonstrate appropriate teamwork” as well as requiring employees to “maintain a positive work environment by communicating in a manner that is conducive to effective working relationships with internal and external customers, clients, co-workers, and management.”

These are not monstrous expectations. People actually want to work in places where management discourages acting like a jerk.

The head-splitting logic employed by the NLRB “judge” is as follows. If an employee is unhappy about work conditions, he or she has the right to externalize that unhappiness to co-workers and customers.

The Right to Treat Customers Poorly?

Being “forced” to cover up unhappiness, in this view, would be tantamount to disallowing their right to free expression of their anxiety over work conditions. This raises the question: what if the employee woke up on the wrong side of the bed? This has nothing to do with working conditions. Surely that is not a protected activity. How are we to differentiate the two?

Government has given an official imprimatur to poor customer service. In a way it makes sense. Government workers are infamous for their ill tempers (think the DMV). But if bureaucrats are able to propagate their own sullen attitudes toward work and service throughout the private sector, they won’t look so bad in comparison.

There is an old workplace humor poster that stated, “Sometimes the best solution to morale problems is just to fire all of the unhappy people.” Let’s start with the scowling faces in government before they make us all as miserable as they are.

https://fee.org/articles/being-a-jerk-at-work-is-a-right-says-labor-board/?utm_source=ribbon

Ronin Truth
06-07-2016, 06:20 PM
Can they pump in laughing gas?

timosman
06-07-2016, 06:38 PM
Can they pump in laughing gas?

Nope, but there is usually Kool-Aid in the water fountain.

Ronin Truth
06-07-2016, 07:50 PM
Nope, but there is usually Kool-Aid in the water fountain.

Drink Brawndo, it's got electrolytes.

Slave Mentality
06-08-2016, 09:03 AM
Can they pump in laughing gas?

We can only hope brother.

Ronin Truth
06-08-2016, 09:06 AM
Can they fire you if you're not?

juleswin
06-08-2016, 09:43 AM
Can they fire you if you're not?

In Nebraska, one can be fired for virtually any reason other than race, religion, gender, country of origin.... You can fire someone because he/she smiles too much, smells nice, doesn't smell nice, supports Donald Trump (nice), has the wrong type of hobbies etc etc. Winning a job termination lawsuit is virtually impossible around here.

tod evans
06-08-2016, 10:04 AM
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