Are all employers like this?

[WildThoughts89]

I feel a prisoner to my job. They have policies that make it impossible to have a life or get another job.

Including:

• Not allowed to work from home unless very sick, we also need to email hourly updates if we do this
• Holidays/time off work require 8 weeks notice, and often we are made to take these during the quietest time for the business
• A 3 month notice period
• Lunches are timed
• Doctors appointments must be booked outside of work, dentist appointments must be during annual leave
• One day of compassionate leave allowed a year
• hospital appointments must be proven with a letter
• We are asked during monthly meetings if we are thinking about another job

Wondering if this is normal? It makes me too paranoid to even think about moving on.

I actually worked for an employer who was worse than this, but I would not recommend it.

All absolutely crap- except the 3 month notice period, most companies I’ve worked for put their MDs, CFOs, COOs, CEOs on that, a month goes very quickly and certain positions if they up and leave could have serious implications

Blimey where do you work so I don’t apply!
Not allowed to work from home unless very sick, we also need to email hourly updates if we do this - if sick should shouldn’t work. Depends on the company and what you do really wfh. A doctor couldn’t but an IT person should be able to wfh (my last 2 months of pregnancy were 3-4days / week wfh)

• Holidays/time off work require 8 weeks notice, and often we are made to take these during the quietest time for the business- I book them in advance but cuz I book holidays too early (months) but normally only few weeks required if big holidays
• A 3 month notice period- this depends on companies
• Lunches are timed- not timed as such but we’re all grown ups
• Doctors appointments must be booked outside of work, dentist appointments must be during annual leave- we are requested to but it doesn’t happen anything if you need to go in working hours , you work later and problem solved but of course we’re allowfd to wfh. Aw and dentist is treated the same
• One day of compassionate leave allowed a year- so what happens if unluckily your dm and df die on the same year?
• hospital appointments must be proven with a letter- nope. Again we’re all grown ups
• We are asked during monthly meetings if we are thinking about another job- hell no. What happens if you say yes ? They make you redundant ?

Id not be able to work in a place like this. Last month I searched for jobs.
Job 1. Were grown ups you can wfh or do flexible time working
Job 2 9-5 compulsory no wfh allowed.

Guess which job I went for

Also OP there are a lot of people on MN who do very well paid jobs. Being treated like this will be alien to them. Makes more sense to compare your employer with similar employers.

They do sound particularly strict.

OP I can't see anything there that can stop you getting another job?.

If you want to that is?

Mine are flexible for things like appointments or needing to go home slightly early. We don't really take lunchbreaks and eat our lunch at our desk and are expected to answer the phone if it rings when you are eating your lunch. They are good with being able to swap a working day. last week I thought I needed a day off for an interview and they were ok to swap my day off.

Most of that sounds fairly normal to me, although in reality much of it would be managed with some discretion.

Three months is a fairly normal notice period for more senior jobs. Not normal to be asking who's thinking of leaving

justaboy Because it is always that easy?

What do you mean by timed lunches? You get an hour so take an hour? Or does someone in your office have a stopwatch...

I'm finding 3 month notice periods are becoming more common for supervisory and higher level roles. Entry level type roles should really be only one month.

Some things on your list are a bit extreme, others are normal but I guess combined it feels a lot.

I assumed it was a rota system for lunches.

No, in my experience if your treat staff like adults and trust and respect them, then they work harder and stay in the job longer.

If you don’t trust your staff to behave like adults then they won’t.

In my whole HR career I've never seen policies like this, or heard about them or been asked about them.
Leave this employer ASAP

Not allowed to work from home unless very sick, we also need to email hourly updates if we do this If you are sick, then you shouldn't be working. Lots of places don't let people work from home, so not that strange - don't get me wrong, I love working from home but I consider it to be a real perk of the job and quite unusual

• Holidays/time off work require 8 weeks notice, and often we are made to take these during the quietest time for the business 8 weeks seems extreme, so I'd say that isn't normal. In terms of quieter / busier times, that can be normal yes, depending how seasonal the work is - and that can be from an icecream seller to a tax accountant

• A 3 month notice period I don't know. It is normal in teaching. It isn't normal in shelf stacking. Other professions I'd have though not that strange.

• Lunches are timed Well, yes. If you are paid on a contract that means you have to work X hours, rather than a contract that 'pays you for the job being complete'. If others need you to be back before they can leave, then of course they must be timed

• Doctors appointments must be booked outside of work, dentist appointments must be during annual leave Yes - pretty normal, unless an emergency / in agony type thing then you revert to sick leave

• One day of compassionate leave allowed a year Not seen it worded like that. Most years you don't need compassionate leave at all. Then, when you do, probably one day isn't enough

• hospital appointments must be proven with a letter Yes, normal

• We are asked during monthly meetings if we are thinking about another job No, odd. After all, surely people would just say no whether they were or not?

Thing being, these sort of regulations have generally been brought in because previous employees have just taken the mick. There's not much there that is unreasonable - though it will depend on the job role.

That sounds horrific. One day's compassionate leave? Even if your child or partner dies?

I am assuming 1 days paid compassionate leave only. But more days unpaid.

Only the timed lunches are normal in my job. Breaks and lunches, and if you're late twice (from either being late for work or late back from lunch/break) then you lose your bonus

Not allowed to work from home unless very sick, we also need to email hourly updates if we do this.

If you’re very sick you shouldn’t be working. I’ve let some people work from home if they have dihorrea but are otherwise fine or are pregnant but generally would prefer sick people to be off sick. I don’t expect hourly updates and would be pissed off if that was required of me.

• Holidays/time off work require 8 weeks notice, and often we are made to take these during the quietest time for the business.

The latter isn’t necessarily unusual but 8 weeks notice seems extreme.

• A 3 month notice period.

I have this- you’d normally expect a similar notice period for middle management/ senior roles. Directors/exec team seem to be on 6m-12m.

• Lunches are timed

Nope. If you’re on shifts or rotas for lunch then it could be understandable though.

• Doctors appointments must be booked outside of work, dentist appointments must be during annual leave.

Not normal for me and never has been. Generally would work from home around appointments or come in late and make up hours. If you’ve got a workplace of commuters, you have to be a bit flexible.

• One day of compassionate leave allowed a year.

Bit limited. Most places seem to be up to 5.

• hospital appointments must be proven with a letter.

I’m sure that’s the official policy but I’ve never been asked.

• We are asked during monthly meetings if we are thinking about another job.

Weird and a bit paranoid.

Overall, I’d say you are on the more restricted end but it depends what you work as.

@sparklesocks

Completely in agreement with this. I don’t think it’s beneficial at all to have such strict policies - particularly to time an adult’s lunch! In my previous job, I was penalised for being two minutes late back once from my (unpaid, 30 min in a 10 hour shift) break. Meanwhile the clock in the staffroom was slightly different to the one in the room of work... It’s pathetic.

No, sounds crap.

3 months notice is standard in my industry though and it's not a bad thing - never had it enforced. 1 day compassionate leave sounds standard, but I never worked for anyone who enforced it.

Can't work from home unless you're very ill? If you're very ill you don't work.

Timed lunch breaks? Fuck that.

If you don't like it, look for a new job?

It depends partly on the job role. I can work from home (but I also have to do 24/7 on-call from time to time and out if hours maintenance works.) As long as I attend meetings when required, my start and finish and lunchtimes are pretty flexible, so dentist and doctor can easily be outside of work (though they want to see me before Christmas, and that will be at 10:30, as there weren't any appointments at the start of the day, so I will WFH for that.) The receptionists and some other customer-facing roles won't have anything like that sort of flexibility, because there must be someone on the desk from 07:00 - 19:00, but I assume they can work it out between temselves when there's two of them on and one needs the loo or something.

Leave should normally be booked in advance, but if you need a single day for a funeral or something, there's usually flexibility for that. Compassionate leave is 3 days for parent, child or sibling only, but in practice, you can usually get a bit more at manager's discretion.

All senior roles are 3 months notice, but in practice, some people will leave sooner by agreement. I am not senior, but in a techy role, and my length of service also means I have 3 months notice - the notice period builds up from a month over time after the first two or three years.

We are expected to show online (usually instant messenger status) if we WFH, but hourly updates are unnecessary. That does seem overkill.

These are normal at places where I've worked, rest not in my experience:
Not allowed to work from home - normal to some places
A 3 month notice period - standard in my industry. I know some senior people have 6-12 month ones.
One day of compassionate leave allowed a year - one paid and up to anther 4 days unpaid (varies a bit)
Hospital appointments must be proven with a letter

Nope - not at all. None of mine have ever been like this and if they were I'd leave and work somewhere else!

three months’ notice can be useful if it is reciprocal. For example if you are made redundant, you must be paid three months wages, as well as your redundancy pay.

Also, if you give a full three months’ notice but they would prefer you to leave straightaway, they will be obliged to pay you for three months as long as you don’t waive this.

So as long as it is reciprocal, a long notice period can be beneficial.

It largely depends on your sector because if this kind of notice is normal, prospective employers will have planned for it when recruiting.