[OT] OMG - Part Deux!

I was just called "on the carpet" into the HR Director's office again. It
seems the President/CEO/Owner's wife (the CFO) was complaining about me to
the HR director again.

What did I do this time that was so awful as to warrant a dressing down
(although the HR Director had the grace to look shame-faced about having to
do it)?

I sent a note out to everyone (this being about 10 people, since we're such
a small company) to remind people that the company's vice president has a
birthday this Saturday.

OMG, Katy bar the door!!!! She thinks this was "unprofessional" of me and
that I was mis-using the company's resources by sending an email that was
not about company business. The HR Director tried to excuse it again by
saying that she is a *very* religious catholic and didn't believe in giving
Christmas or birthday gifts (I was raised a catholic but I somehow missed
the part about gift-giving being a sin). I didn't suggest a party or that
people buy him something, I simply stated the fact that Saturday was his
birthday in case anyone wanted to wish him happy birthday (most executives
*WANT* to be reminded about things like this since it makes them seem more
caring to their employees!!!)

Geez, folks, what the heck am I going to do? I'm still looking for other
employment, but the pickings are *really* slim here in Houston.

Hugs,

CatNipped

CatNipped wrote:
I sent a note out to everyone (this being about 10 people, since
we're such a small company) to remind people that the company's vice
president has a birthday this Saturday.

OMG, Katy bar the door!!!! She thinks this was "unprofessional" of
me and that I was mis-using the company's resources by sending an
email that was not about company business.

Isn't that funny! The President of the company I worked for (a large
company, nationwide) sent out an email announcing the birth of his daughter.
Not just to everyone in the company but also to clients. And then there was
the time a woman sent email to everyone within our building (headquarters)
asking if anyone knew the name of the flowers that were planted out front
because she really liked them! Now *that* I felt was a bit over the top.
Most of us thought it was a bit silly but she sure didn't get in trouble for
it.

Within the departments in IT we were always sending stuff about birthdays,
planned pot lucks, etc. No one so much as batted an eye, certainly not HR!

The HR Director tried to
excuse it again by saying that she is a *very* religious catholic and
didn't believe in giving Christmas or birthday gifts (I was raised a
catholic but I somehow missed the part about gift-giving being a
sin).

Heh, I've never heard of that either. If he was a Jehovah's Witness it
would make sense. Catholic? Don't think so. The HR Director is grasping
at straws.

Geez, folks, what the heck am I going to do? I'm still looking for
other employment, but the pickings are *really* slim here in Houston.


Document, document, document. And if they reprimand you in writing, refuse
to sign anything until you can mull it over and add your two cents if you
want to. They have to allow you to rebut/refute the "charges" (so to
speak). Purrs for your nerves and keep on looking, my dear!

Jill

"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
CatNipped wrote:
I sent a note out to everyone (this being about 10 people, since
we're such a small company) to remind people that the company's vice
president has a birthday this Saturday.

OMG, Katy bar the door!!!! She thinks this was "unprofessional" of
me and that I was mis-using the company's resources by sending an
email that was not about company business.

Isn't that funny! The President of the company I worked for (a large
company, nationwide) sent out an email announcing the birth of his
daughter.
Not just to everyone in the company but also to clients. And then there
was
the time a woman sent email to everyone within our building (headquarters)
asking if anyone knew the name of the flowers that were planted out front
because she really liked them! Now *that* I felt was a bit over the top.
Most of us thought it was a bit silly but she sure didn't get in trouble
for
it.

Within the departments in IT we were always sending stuff about birthdays,
planned pot lucks, etc. No one so much as batted an eye, certainly not
HR!

The HR Director tried to
excuse it again by saying that she is a *very* religious catholic and
didn't believe in giving Christmas or birthday gifts (I was raised a
catholic but I somehow missed the part about gift-giving being a
sin).

Heh, I've never heard of that either. If he was a Jehovah's Witness it
would make sense. Catholic? Don't think so. The HR Director is grasping
at straws.

Geez, folks, what the heck am I going to do? I'm still looking for
other employment, but the pickings are *really* slim here in Houston.


Document, document, document. And if they reprimand you in writing,
refuse
to sign anything until you can mull it over and add your two cents if you
want to. They have to allow you to rebut/refute the "charges" (so to
speak). Purrs for your nerves and keep on looking, my dear!

My goodnesss! We get e-mails to the whole department like "has anyone found
my glasses?", "There's some leftover birthday goodies in the tea room, help
yourselves" and "I'm about to renovate my kitchen, can anyone recommend a
good builder and/or who to stay away from?"

Our managegement's attitude is that its far cheaper for all involved to do
that sort of thing over e-mail than for the individual going around asking
everyone they see face to face, simply because a face to face conversation
may start "have you seen my glasses?" but can (and often does) involve
'thread drift' and means two (or more) people chatting about non-work
related stuff in the corridor for 10 minutes or more.

E-mail is there to help communication. Therefore it should help *all*
communication hat occurs at work, rahter than strictly being 'only work
related', within reason of course.

Yowie

sounds to me like she rally is jealous of you and you are so bad that this
is all she can find to fault, I think you should be proud of yourself for
committing such a hideous sin, Lee, raised a Baptist, and I missed that gift
part in my bible also... "bring him incense, and moor... ???"
CatNipped wrote in message
...
I was just called "on the carpet" into the HR Director's office again. It
seems the President/CEO/Owner's wife (the CFO) was complaining about me to
the HR director again.

What did I do this time that was so awful as to warrant a dressing down
(although the HR Director had the grace to look shame-faced about having
to
do it)?

I sent a note out to everyone (this being about 10 people, since we're
such
a small company) to remind people that the company's vice president has a
birthday this Saturday.

OMG, Katy bar the door!!!! She thinks this was "unprofessional" of me and
that I was mis-using the company's resources by sending an email that was
not about company business. The HR Director tried to excuse it again by
saying that she is a *very* religious catholic and didn't believe in
giving
Christmas or birthday gifts (I was raised a catholic but I somehow missed
the part about gift-giving being a sin). I didn't suggest a party or that
people buy him something, I simply stated the fact that Saturday was his
birthday in case anyone wanted to wish him happy birthday (most executives
*WANT* to be reminded about things like this since it makes them seem more
caring to their employees!!!)

Geez, folks, what the heck am I going to do? I'm still looking for other
employment, but the pickings are *really* slim here in Houston.

Hugs,

CatNipped

CatNipped wrote:

OMG, Katy bar the door!!!! She thinks this was "unprofessional" of me and
that I was mis-using the company's resources by sending an email that was
not about company business. The HR Director tried to excuse it again by
saying that she is a *very* religious catholic and didn't believe in giving
Christmas or birthday gifts (I was raised a catholic but I somehow missed
the part about gift-giving being a sin).

The only religion I've ever heard of (Christian or
otherwise) that does not believe in celebrating birthdays
are Jehovah's Witnesses! (If you assume that many saint's
days are that saint's birthday, Catholics probably to
celebrate more than any - and what is Christmas, if not a
celebration of Christ's birthday?)

I didn't suggest a party or that
people buy him something, I simply stated the fact that Saturday was his
birthday in case anyone wanted to wish him happy birthday (most executives
*WANT* to be reminded about things like this since it makes them seem more
caring to their employees!!!)

MOST employers (especially in small offices) even foot the
bill for a birthday cake and ice cream! (Usually for ALL
employee birthdays, not just those of the "wheels".) I know
jobs aren't as plentiful these days as they were when I
was young, but I think if I'd been called on the carpet for
something so petty, I would have told them what they could
do with their job! (You can always hire out as a
housecleaner - at least then you make your own rules and set
your own wages.)

Geez, folks, what the heck am I going to do? I'm still looking for other
employment, but the pickings are *really* slim here in Houston.

I don't suppose moving elsewhere is an option?

"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
CatNipped wrote:
I sent a note out to everyone (this being about 10 people, since
we're such a small company) to remind people that the company's vice
president has a birthday this Saturday.

OMG, Katy bar the door!!!! She thinks this was "unprofessional" of
me and that I was mis-using the company's resources by sending an
email that was not about company business.

Isn't that funny! The President of the company I worked for (a large
company, nationwide) sent out an email announcing the birth of his
daughter.
Not just to everyone in the company but also to clients. And then there
was
the time a woman sent email to everyone within our building (headquarters)
asking if anyone knew the name of the flowers that were planted out front
because she really liked them! Now *that* I felt was a bit over the top.
Most of us thought it was a bit silly but she sure didn't get in trouble
for
it.

Within the departments in IT we were always sending stuff about birthdays,
planned pot lucks, etc. No one so much as batted an eye, certainly not
HR!

The HR Director tried to
excuse it again by saying that she is a *very* religious catholic and
didn't believe in giving Christmas or birthday gifts (I was raised a
catholic but I somehow missed the part about gift-giving being a
sin).

Heh, I've never heard of that either. If he was a Jehovah's Witness it
would make sense. Catholic? Don't think so. The HR Director is grasping
at straws.

Geez, folks, what the heck am I going to do? I'm still looking for
other employment, but the pickings are *really* slim here in Houston.


Document, document, document. And if they reprimand you in writing,
refuse
to sign anything until you can mull it over and add your two cents if you
want to. They have to allow you to rebut/refute the "charges" (so to
speak). Purrs for your nerves and keep on looking, my dear!

Jill



Depends on the State, Jill. If Texas is similar to Louisiana, short of the
federal big three (age, sex, race) it's a "no fault" (to use a divorce term)
state. If Lori refuses to sign the written reprimand she can be fired on
the spot. As long as the employer has an honest grievance then he cannot be
held accountable. And it seems using company equipment (computers) to send
personal messages (email about birthdays) could be construed as an honest
grievance. I'm not saying it's right, and that Lori shouldn't be disgruntled
at being called on the carpet for a small thing, but if she kicks up too big
of a scene over it by refusing to abide by their wishes or signing a
reprimand (which I doubt with a very small company of this size) then she
can be out on her ass without so much as a pity two weeks pay in advance.
You can disagree with the charge but you still have to sign it without risk
of being fired.. at least here in Louisiana And I don't think, with a
much needed paycheck, it'd be good to say hell no I'm not signing it when
all it is, is just a piece of paper that ultimately doesn't matter.

Grace

OMG, Katy bar the door!!!! She thinks this was "unprofessional" of
me and that I was mis-using the company's resources by sending an
email that was not about company business.

I think that most companies would appreciate such a reminder, so I
hardly think that this is the sort of thing that you can reasonably be
expected to know is "unprofessional".

So, you've had your warning...dont' do it again. It always ****es me
off when people choose to punish after the fact rather than lay down in
advance what isn't acceptable. It's one thing to do it when you've
been told not to but quite another to be told all is fine and suddenly
get a kick in the arse.

Still, it seems liek the HR director is both embarrassed about having
to warn you over something so stupid and unlikely to fire you because
of it. Though I would still document, document EVERYTHING.

Is it possible to ask someone for a list of what is acceptable and
unacceptable? Phrase it that apparently your prior employers had
different definitions, and following their definitions has gotten you
in trouble you didn't intend, and could they please clarify for you
what their guidelines are.

Purrs,

--Fil

gracecat wrote:
state. If Lori refuses to sign the written reprimand she can be fired on
the spot. As long as the employer has an honest grievance then he cannot be
held accountable. And it seems using company equipment (computers) to send

In Texas you don't need a grievance at all. You can fire at will.


--
Victor M. Martinez
Owned and operated by the Fantastic Seven (TM)
Send your spam he
Email me he

Enfilade wrote:

So, you've had your warning...dont' do it again. It always ****es me
off when people choose to punish after the fact rather than lay down in
advance what isn't acceptable. It's one thing to do it when you've
been told not to but quite another to be told all is fine and suddenly
get a kick in the arse.

I think the real issue here is that the wife of the CEO (I forget what
her position is - CFO?) has it out for CN. So she'll use anything as an
excuse to get CN in trouble. This isn't just a matter of having a poorly
publicized company policy. It sounds capricious and random to me, just
based on the b**ch's whims.

Joyce

jmcquown wrote:


Document, document, document. And if they reprimand you in writing, refuse
to sign anything until you can mull it over and add your two cents if you
want to. They have to allow you to rebut/refute the "charges" (so to
speak). Purrs for your nerves and keep on looking, my dear!

Jill

Not really, not in all states. I think TX is also an "at will" state
(is that right term?) You can be fired for any reason, or no reason at
all. Somebody correct me if my understanding of this is wrong. It
doesn't affect your right to draw unemployment, but you can't really
sue for being wrongfully fired. I'm sure there are extreme exceptions
to this.

Sherry