CRINGE! Home Office wants to know whether your boss BEATS YOU Tech suppliers wading through the government's latest bizarre 150-page online questionnaire are asking if the folks in the public sector are smoking something – other than taxpayers' money, anyway. The Supplier Information Database (SID) for Government is designed to give buyers across public sector access to information on …
Ummm... "Are employees within your organisation free to leave the workplace after work?" isn't a totally ludicrous question.
Last year the government announced that it wanted to increase the amount of paid work prisoners did whilst serving their sentences - see http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/plan-for-cheap-prison-work-may-cost-thousands-of-jobs-7815140.html. Huge benefits for the employer becuase they can pay considerably less than minimum wage.
There's also the issue of oil rigs, mines and similar, where it's very difficult to allow the employee to leave safely, whether or not their shift is over.
There's a very old Court case (from the 1910s) where someone quit on the spot while at the bottom of a mine shaft (it was never revealed why he waited until he was hundreds of metres underground to decide that this wasn't the line of work for him). Essentially, he accused his employers of illegally detaining him until the end of the shift (which was the earliest time the lifts became free for people rather than coal). Long story short, he failed as there was a good enough reason to keep him down there for the day.
They may not be physically prevented from doing so, but very long hours are expected at some places. Places don't offer on-site facilities like laundries, evening classes or even beds out of the goodness of their hearts. Why not do all that stuff at home? Simple: you won't be going home until it's too late to do much there.
for example
and if they required employees to put down a monetary deposit with the company when they joined.
I am sure that a few well known Indian Companies could not answer this with a NO. At least one uses this to keep their employees from leaving mid-contract.
As Dean Acheson wisely observed: "A memorandum is written not to inform the reader but to protect the writer." The same goes double for RFIs.
"employees to put down a monetary deposit with the company when they joined"
This http://travel.aol.co.uk/2013/05/18/ryanair-staff-exploited-mp-luciana-berger/ and similar articles indicate that in effect some staff do have to, and it's probably non-refundable, so the term deposit might be generous.
I am employed by an organisation that I won't identify (and I'm being AC here to be extra cautious), who supply me with PPE clothing that has the correct CE markings. I know and they know (and they know that I know that they know etc etc,) that the product does not actually meet the specs but because it's got the label on it from the supplier, they can pay £80 rather than £500 and tick the box. I've paid for my own because I want the training that the role gives, but I can't say I'm happy about it, however alternatives are limited.
Whilst the survey woulnd't get anything other than the official line, and so wouldn't uncover my example, this kind of practice does go on.
Not to defend Ryanair, or the "contractors" they use (set up for the sole purpose of providing Ryanair with warm bodies), but at least they are *very* upfront about their employment conditions well before you decide to join. Some people can put up with it and, for cockpit crew, the pay is not all that bad--cabin crew on the other hand have to rely on their sales commission to make a decent living, and so most treat it as a stepping stone to get into a more traditional airline (lots of ex-RYR applying for Emirates, Qatar Airways, and the like).
Don't know about cabin crew, but most First Officers have to *pay* (about £200 IIRC, covers the sim ride) to get an interview. Kind of sets the tone for what comes next but as I say, people who make the cut and are able to put up with the rather dry work atmosphere can make a decent living when it's all said and done. Again, cabin crew is a different story when it comes to the bottom line.
The questions might seem silly, although maybe less so if you have been locked in a fire trap factory for 16 hours and beaten for missing production targets, but might help avoid the Goobucks Defence.
Govt: 'You are supplying us with widgets' made by slaves'
Goobucks; 'There is nothing in the contract prohibiting slave labour, and we owe it to our shareholders to maximise profit'
Govt: 'Ah but you lied in the tender process - we won't give you any more contracts'
I know the latter won't ever happen, as the next line is:
Goobucks: 'Why don't you join us as an advisor, so we can use your expertise to avoid this happening again?'
Govt: 'Thank you - cash will do nicely!'
Indeed. I've always assumed the crime of "lying on official paperwork" was easier to prove/prosecute someone for/carried a more severe penalty than the crimes they ask you about on offical paperwork. For example, the questions in the ESTA form you need to complete to enter the US under the visa waiver program include "are you seeking entry to engage in criminal or immoral activities?" and "Have you ever been or are you now involved in... terrorist activities".
I seriously doubt many criminals or terrorists tick "yes".
When my wife was applying for her US Citizenship she was sworn in then asked to fill out forms with questions like 'Do you have experience or training building bombs or explosive devices' and 'are you here on the behalf of another country or military to gather information about the US, its government or people'.
I laughed at all that and asked the agent who would answer 'yes' and he said it was because it pretty much guaranteed a successful prosecution if they discovered you had lied on the form while under oath.
The simple answer will be that someone will have organised a campaign that got the Government to agree not to award contracts to companies that use corporal punishment or require employees to stay in a company compound (or who use overseas sub-contractors who do this) and they are now protecting themselves so that when some investigative reporter comes up with a story of people being held captive and beaten while working on a contract that originates with the Government then they can turn round and say "look, we asked the lead contractor to confirm this didn't go on but we didn't know they were lying to us"
When there are no companies and businesses who would do such things, and sadly there are some who would and do.
Migrant workers can often find themselves trapped through employers threatening violence and exploiting lack of knowledge of worker's rights. It may be more common for manual labour but that doesn't mean it never happens in the IT and wider business world. Respectable businesses may well be running sweatshops and labour camps abroad if not here.
It seems ridiculous to ask but if they did not, and it was found such things were being done, they'd be hauled over the coals for having not asked. This way they have a 'we tried and they lied' defence to not doing all they could have.
I've witnessed or have heard statements from people who have witnessed all of this first hand.
When working for a steel construction company, a welder with a temporary contract was told he had to put down a deposit for the welding goggles. He never got his money back because they claimed he damaged the goggles though it was just normal wear.
I heard, but didn't witness, the owner hit one of the workers there. The guy quit and this meant he wasn't allowed any unemployment benefits for 2 months.
Overtime was not always voluntarily when the job needed to be finished the same day. A foremen from the erection crew was arrested by the police because the boss reported his company car as being stolen when he left the construction site after a full days work when the boss insisted he should work overtime.
My brother is driving a 50 ton mobile crane and last week he told me he bought his own blind spot mirror because the company failed, after repeated requests, to provide one, although they are required by law.
I have been working in Belgium for nearly 30 year. Yes, that's in Europe.
There is something rotten in this continent people. With the collapse of communism, our elite no longer have to play nice and can concentrate on the money grabbing. The working guy and gall, and that is blue & white collar, will be put in his/her place. That battle is being fought in Greece and in Spain and when they are victorious there, they're coming after us.
My mother recalled that she had to have an interview by some German representatives from Adidas when the company she worked for started doing work for the Olympic games. She said the questions were ridiculous (iirc from what she said one of them even may have been do your employers beat you) but it was clear that they were part of a global questionnaire with sections that were clearly aimed at countries like China, India and other developing countries with a less than stellar history of human rights.
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2024
