576
votes
Accepted
Is it unethical to use healthcare paid by your company to cure a life-long health problem?
You're paying for it - why not use it?
If they explicitly wanted to prevent you using it for such conditions then they would have a policy that excluded them.
- 108k
461
votes
Engineer refusing to file/disclose patents
I find it interesting that your company has devalued patents significantly, and then seemed surprised when some of your engineers have decided it's not worth their time.
You talk about trust, but it'...
- 60.4k
361
votes
Engineer refusing to file/disclose patents
30 patents in two years is roughly $75k a year that's been changed to $15k. So he's been given a $60k a year in pay reduction.
So, yeah, he's probably going to quit and go work for someone else. ...
- 8,042
302
votes
Is it unethical to use healthcare paid by your company to cure a life-long health problem?
Healthcare plans are not limited to work related problems. They are a benefit, like flexible working hours or no dress code.
If the plan covers it, there is no reason to not use it.
- 3,640
217
votes
Accepted
Ethics of renting out an assigned workplace parking spot
Unethical, unwise, and potentially a severe career limiting move.
Assigned spots are not just for convenience, they are for security. The company, and perhaps the building as well, will want to know ...
- 160k
191
votes
Accepted
How do I ensure my employees don't abuse my flexible work hours policy?
However as the company grows (expecting to double in the next year)
and beyond, how can I ensure that this policy is kept to/isn't abused
when extended to a larger and larger amount of people?
...
- 384k
176
votes
California employee being misclassified as a contractor, what can I do about it?
It is perfectly fine to be hired as a contractor, provided that (a) you are treated as a contractor, not an employee (basically: nobody can tell you what to do, and you can at any time get a ...
- 170k
104
votes
Accepted
Employer says they want Quality & Quantity, but only pays bonuses based on the latter
Based on your statements in the question, I'm going to write the answer(s)
How to cope with this situation?
If you want monetary benefits, shift your priority to produce quantity rather than ...
- 73.6k
93
votes
Accepted
Continuously Denying PTO
I guess I'm asking what I should do if he does deny it again, so I'll be ready. If I ask him right now, when we have this NEW high priority project, I'm expecting he will deny it again. Maybe he won't,...
- 3,079
89
votes
California employee being misclassified as a contractor, what can I do about it?
Bring this question to a lawyer.
If you believe that any laws have been broken, simply quitting could get legally messy since it is unclear what your employment classification is. A labor attorney ...
- 699
87
votes
Engineer refusing to file/disclose patents
Your best alternative really sounds like it is for you to walk away; You are throwing good time after bad trying to entice/squeeze your employee for the new patent. Giving it to you now is an ...
- 1,009
84
votes
Ethics of renting out an assigned workplace parking spot
At a previous employer we could either have a reserved spot (after 15 years it was in a garage, before that surface lot) or we could choose to have the bus ticket subsidized. Couldn't do both.
I ...
- 8,338
76
votes
Engineer refusing to file/disclose patents
This engineer has filed over 30 successful patents over the past 2 years, and all of these inventions are used in our products.
This was indication enough for your senior management to not call off ...
- 73.6k
69
votes
Is it unethical to use healthcare paid by your company to cure a life-long health problem?
is it unethical to use the healthcare package to cure a problem that is personal [....]
No, not in general and definitely not in your case. It's completely ethical and you are expected to make use of ...
- 73.6k
66
votes
Employer says they want Quality & Quantity, but only pays bonuses based on the latter
"...in the meetings, my manager wants everyone to be 'me'..."
This is a vital detail that should be the lede in your question and not buried in a comment to an answer. This is the one thing that ...
- 19.3k
64
votes
Is there a reason that no one offers benefits for part-time employees?
I apparently hate working 40-hour weeks, and I don't need as much
money as I'm making.
I'm not sure yet if I would rather stay in my current position or find
another, but I've already been ...
- 384k
60
votes
How do I ensure my employees don't abuse my flexible work hours policy?
I work at a company with 800+ employees, that has flexible hours as one of the perks of working here. The way this is managed is by access control via RFIDs, but this doesn't mean that management is ...
- 551
57
votes
Ethics of renting out an assigned workplace parking spot
Ask your boss about what they think about this idea. The company owns the spot, so this is something they need to be okay with.
If the thought of asking bothers you, you already have your answer.
- 35.7k
51
votes
Is it unethical to use healthcare paid by your company to cure a life-long health problem?
is it unethical to use the healthcare package to cure a problem that is personal and does not affect my professional duties?
No.
Paid healthcare is compensation, like salary. A good sanity check ...
- 1,355
41
votes
Engineer refusing to file/disclose patents
This is a negotiation. Your senior engineer was doing this work in his spare time in exchange for financial compensation. Your company suddenly changed the price they were willing to pay. Your senior ...
- 8,363
37
votes
Accepted
Downgraded on company-paid flight - who gets compensated?
It would come down to company policy I suppose (consult your employee handbook, direct supervisor, the person who coordinated your travel, HR, etc); but I'd be shocked if there were any that let you ...
32
votes
Continuously Denying PTO
It's pretty normal that vacation is denied when there is a high priority task to complete. And it does not seem to be that your boss is 'continuously' denying you vacation, he's just doing it once. ...
- 86.3k
31
votes
Downgraded on company-paid flight - who gets compensated?
If you want to be in the clear here, I would strongly recommend you check with your manager. Some general rules of thumb:
Accepting cold hard cash is likely a no-no, it's essentially a refund of the ...
- 10.2k
28
votes
What is "maturity leave?"
Given that they have a baby carriage as the icon, it seems likely that it is a typo and they really mean "maternity leave", which is leave you get when you become a mother. Paternity leave is for new ...
- 12k
25
votes
Is there a reason that no one offers benefits for part-time employees?
I'm surprised no one has mentioned it, but the question you should ask is: Why do any employers offer health insurance, retirement packages, etc.? Why not just offer bigger salaries?
(What does ...
- 3,615
22
votes
Engineer refusing to file/disclose patents
You solve it by figuring out how to offer this stellar engineer a very large sum of money in terms of a salary to stay on board. If he earned $110k on patents through your company patent program then ...
- 2,513
21
votes
How do I ensure my employees don't abuse my flexible work hours policy?
I have a hard time seeing the correlation between enforcing 40 hours and not clocking people in - such a system is probably being "misused" as it is and you can't tell because of the scale.
You're ...
- 1,245
20
votes
Accepted
What are "summer hours" in the context of an employment benefit?
Different companies will have different specific policies, but it generally involves the option for more flexibility to accommodate fun with family/friends in the good weather. Most often this ...
- 80.1k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible