Gamer Fired for taking "Pokemon Breaks."
- Thread starter Strain42
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Neither is okay in my book, taking breaks outside of designated breaks for lunch and that is effectively stealing money from your place of work whether for a smoke or whatever. Where I work smokers don't get extra breaks for a cigarette, unless they clock out first and rightly so. Why should i get paid the same as someone who is in and out just because they need a nicotine fix.
Captcha: sod's law
Captcha: sod's law
It's sad, but true. In the case of the teacher, they got her on a moral turpitude clause, which if it wasn't in the teacher's code of ethics (and it usually is), it was more than likely in her contract. Last I heard, she was appealing, but only on a technicality; they pushed her into resigning without properly notifying her of her rights.Das Boot said:
About "right to work" states: in almost every state in the union, it is legal to fire any worker without notice. They call this "right to work" because it comes with the "benefit" that you also can quit your job without notice, although you still need to if you want a good reference from your boss. Basically, as long as said boss isn't on record as saying they fired you for being a member of a protected group (women, racial minorities, political parties, but not gays -- they have no legal protections here), they can fire you for whatever reason whenever they want to. Unions are practically unheard of in most states, outside of a few, generally government run industries.
Edit: Oh, also, another part of the reason it's called "right to work" is that you have a "right to work" in any business whether you're a member of the union or not. In other words, closed shops are illegal in those states.
Just for the Pokemon break side of the issue: my head says 'that's not really legit' but my heart is saying 'good on ya mate'
I meant in general. This is not without precedent. I am self-employed/a freelancer (I freelance for papers and I play tech support to people who can't fix their own stuff), so I have a certain aversion to posting controversial stuff on the web tying back to me, but I can't directly be fired. However, other people have. The funny thing about this is as I'm typing this I get a text about a Marine who's being discharged for things he said on his Facebook page. Of course, they're a little more specific (He's critical of Obama), but it's close enough for jazz.Fappy said:
Yeah, but I live in America.Das Boot said:
What attitude? I used to smoke, it was my own damn fault for smoking, why the hell do I deserve extra breaks?EClaris said:
At the very least other employees should be able to come out and chill with me while I smoke. That way everybody wins. You know, except whereever i'm working, which is why they sanction breaks at specific times anyway.
Perosnally, when I'm at work, I'm in "work mode." I don't want to take even five minutes to play a video game unless I happen to be on my lunch break or my fifteen minute break, given that I work long enough for either. But generally, I'd rather read a book anyway. Easier to pick up and stop, in my opinion. And if my book is stolen, it's at most twenty bucks to replace. If my DS is stolen, it's about $100 to replace the system and the game, given I want to by the system used.
But should it be allowed? No, I don't think so. Smokers have a physical need that make it extremely difficult for them to work effectively without taking a smoke break, and honestly, I'd rather them take five minutes to go outside and smoke than stay in and smoke. Is it completely fair? Well, no, of course not, but then, life's not fair, is it?
If it really bothers someone that much, take a bathroom break and pull out your DS there. That's how I got my "smoke breaks." I usually read whatever magazine was in the bathroom (when I worked at a place that had those).
But should it be allowed? No, I don't think so. Smokers have a physical need that make it extremely difficult for them to work effectively without taking a smoke break, and honestly, I'd rather them take five minutes to go outside and smoke than stay in and smoke. Is it completely fair? Well, no, of course not, but then, life's not fair, is it?
If it really bothers someone that much, take a bathroom break and pull out your DS there. That's how I got my "smoke breaks." I usually read whatever magazine was in the bathroom (when I worked at a place that had those).
Getting fired for that is crap. It may be an addictive habit, but it was their choice to start smoking, and their choice to continue doing it. My friend in the marines started smoking just to be able to have breaks, because only smokers were able to get them. So to get a break from work, we have to start smoking? That's bullshit, and there are people I work with who can go 8 hours dealing with retarded customers and not take a smoke break, so again, the choice to not take it and tough it out is there.
Asking for it, and doing it in the way mentioned isn't attitudinal or anything, it's politely asking for fair treatment, and firing someone because of it is unethical. Demanding the break, showing up like you deserve to do this and all that, that's having an attitude, but asking for a short break to play pokemon because you don't want to smoke to get those extra 15 minutes of your own stress release, that shouldn't be a fireable offense.
That's what smoking is, a stress release, and so are video games. Asking for a break for stress release, that's perfectly normal
Asking for it, and doing it in the way mentioned isn't attitudinal or anything, it's politely asking for fair treatment, and firing someone because of it is unethical. Demanding the break, showing up like you deserve to do this and all that, that's having an attitude, but asking for a short break to play pokemon because you don't want to smoke to get those extra 15 minutes of your own stress release, that shouldn't be a fireable offense.
That's what smoking is, a stress release, and so are video games. Asking for a break for stress release, that's perfectly normal
Oh no, don't get me wrong - I completely agree that everyone should get the same amount of breaks regardless of whether you smoke or not (see my other post). But it seems we're getting into a whole other debate here by discussing whether heroin should be legalized =Pdeathzero021 said: