I work for a semi essential business, as in most people are working from home but we do have a fair amount of essential employees who are still working. The campus is not closed, just limited. I can work from home 4.5 days a week but do have to go in that other half day for new employee orientation. I strongly oppose having in person orientation for my own sake and for the sake of others involved, and I think we should be doing it remotely. But because the campus isn't closed and we have some essential staff in other departments, leadership thinks it is no big deal for us to come in too.
My morale over this is poor, and I know one of my coworkers who also has to go in for this is similarly upset. I need to reframe and just feel grateful i am home the rest of the time I guess. I wish there was a better definition of essential, for every company.
Here the essential factor is based on the type of business. Maybe that isn’t tru everywhere!
We did move our onboarding to be virtual now (for roles that aren’t customer facing). Interviews are not allowed to be in person either.
Can you make the case that it may create a poor impression on the school by having new employees show up? I can’t imagine that being good for retention. I don’t know if your area has a shelter in place like we do. It sucks that you have to go in.
While my company is truly critical right now, I'm struggling with the fact that my department doesn't feel essential. Nothing I'm working on will effect the current pandemic. I hate that my whole team is still going into the office just to meet deadlines. I don't know what to think about this, but it doesn't feel right to me.
This touches on how I am feeling too. I am likely going to be working on the more critical stuff soon, but it still feels weird. From a morale perspective, I know it is best for everyone to be all hands on deck. I don’t want the more critical areas to feel that the rest of us just walked away because we could.
Oh! and my H just got handed a crazy project and he’s excited and nervous and it’s kind of awesome. He invented this thing 12 years ago that’s basically a portable clean room. It was supposed to be so composite aircraft parts could be repaired anywhere. It’s like an inflatable bag that turns into a clean space for an operator to work in. But no one bought it haha.
Anyways, the state of Ohio called his company and they were like “could you modify this for people?” They want to use it to either transfer patients in or to create a temporary isolation area if/when they create temporary hospitals in convention centers. Worked called him yesterday and was like “do this and only this right now.”
I work for a semi essential business, as in most people are working from home but we do have a fair amount of essential employees who are still working. The campus is not closed, just limited. I can work from home 4.5 days a week but do have to go in that other half day for new employee orientation. I strongly oppose having in person orientation for my own sake and for the sake of others involved, and I think we should be doing it remotely. But because the campus isn't closed and we have some essential staff in other departments, leadership thinks it is no big deal for us to come in too.
My morale over this is poor, and I know one of my coworkers who also has to go in for this is similarly upset. I need to reframe and just feel grateful i am home the rest of the time I guess. I wish there was a better definition of essential, for every company.
Universities are not considered essential business. My dad works in your state so I've been reviewing the guidelines and categories. If you want to push back then I would certainly bring up all the guidelines put out by the governor, there's a lot of information out they. They do pretty much say that employers can obviously essentially make their own choice, but universities aren't considered essential and there's a bunch of information about working from home on the executive orders and guidelines.
I work in insurance. We were surprisingly proactive. I’ve been WFH since the beginning of March, and they’ve worked to get all staff set up from home over the past few weeks. They’ve been really clear on communication on all fronts and I couldn’t be prouder of us. My staff morale is high. I do have one employee presumed positive, but even he has a positive attitude and has chosen to keep working, despite that we have removed any penalties for taking time off and can fully cover his work.
We are working together on ways to keep us connected and morale high. My hearts go out to workers on the front lines that have to be in the thick of it every day. I can’t imagine the stress.
I am also in insurance and this sounds very similar to my company. They started communicating pretty early on about the various plans that they were considering. I live in a different state/county than my office, and when they locked my county down, they immediately told me to wfh full time. Two days after that, they scheduled a work from home test and had everyone work from home for 1 day to ensure that their servers could handle it. 1 day after that, the entire company moved to full time wfh for the foreseeable future. They've additional policies around Covid-19 and sick time etc. They've been pretty efficient and really on top of things which is appreciated.
I work for a semi essential business, as in most people are working from home but we do have a fair amount of essential employees who are still working. The campus is not closed, just limited. I can work from home 4.5 days a week but do have to go in that other half day for new employee orientation. I strongly oppose having in person orientation for my own sake and for the sake of others involved, and I think we should be doing it remotely. But because the campus isn't closed and we have some essential staff in other departments, leadership thinks it is no big deal for us to come in too.
My morale over this is poor, and I know one of my coworkers who also has to go in for this is similarly upset. I need to reframe and just feel grateful i am home the rest of the time I guess. I wish there was a better definition of essential, for every company.
Here the essential factor is based on the type of business. Maybe that isn’t tru everywhere!
We did move our onboarding to be virtual now (for roles that aren’t customer facing). Interviews are not allowed to be in person either.
Can you make the case that it may create a poor impression on the school by having new employees show up? I can’t imagine that being good for retention. I don’t know if your area has a shelter in place like we do. It sucks that you have to go in.
I think my organization (state university) is treated slightly differently than more private businesses. We can't shut down completely because we have a police force, building maintenance, and a handful of students on campus who have nowhere else to go (basically we didn't want to put people out on the streets if they didn't have other options). So there are a fair amount of people there to support those things. I work in HR, and none of us are considered essential employees, at least from a "must be present in person" standpoint. But because some people are still going into work, it's a tough sell that if there is something important to do that the rest of us CAN'T.
I agree 100% about the new employee experience part and I think if I were a new person, I'd be really nervous and wonder why HR was being inflexible. Oddly the exact opposite argument is why we're still doing it - those in higher level positions than me believe that onboarding at home and/or having them come to campus to do paperwork and pick up a laptop, and then sending them on their way, is a bad experience. I guess really it's going to depend on the individual and their risk tolerance, but it makes me angry that my own comfort with this doesn't seem to matter.
I work for a semi essential business, as in most people are working from home but we do have a fair amount of essential employees who are still working. The campus is not closed, just limited. I can work from home 4.5 days a week but do have to go in that other half day for new employee orientation. I strongly oppose having in person orientation for my own sake and for the sake of others involved, and I think we should be doing it remotely. But because the campus isn't closed and we have some essential staff in other departments, leadership thinks it is no big deal for us to come in too.
My morale over this is poor, and I know one of my coworkers who also has to go in for this is similarly upset. I need to reframe and just feel grateful i am home the rest of the time I guess. I wish there was a better definition of essential, for every company.
Universities are not considered essential business. My dad works in your state so I've been reviewing the guidelines and categories. If you want to push back then I would certainly bring up all the guidelines put out by the governor, there's a lot of information out they. They do pretty much say that employers can obviously essentially make their own choice, but universities aren't considered essential and there's a bunch of information about working from home on the executive orders and guidelines.
I wish Hogan would just shut down the universities, or at least make very explicit that they are closed except for essential services to keep the buildings safe and and functional (and support the few students who remain). Right now there is too much left to the discretion of leadership. I did definitely push back on this and offered to do the work to make it happen, but I lost the battle. I think I'm more pissed about it after trying to change it than I was before I brought it up!
I hope your parents aren't working and are staying safe!
H is an airline pilot. They are considered essential, but I can't for the life of me figure out why at this point. Unless they are flying healthcare workers or supplies around, passenger air traffic should be grounded.
same here but every trip has been dropped so he hasn't actually flown in about 10 days.
My business is essential. We manufacture hand sanitizer and disinfectant. It's a small business but we all have to be there to get the products out the door. We have walk in customers who are able to buy supplies from us. I don't love it but I'm glad we have something to offer that can hopefully protect them and us.
Post by steamboat185 on Mar 30, 2020 7:41:58 GMT -5
I’m in an essential area, but my work sent almost everyone home. I know of 1 person who still goes in and that is only for a few hours once a week. My husband works in financial services and his company went from 100% in the office to almost 100% wfh in like 8 days it was pretty impressive. He might have to go in for quarter end if they can’t get the data to work from home due to the size, but he wants his people to try it at home first before having to go into the office.
PDQ-I work in accounting for critical infrastructure. All non-essential employees have been wfh since 3/16. They’ve also altered the schedules for the employees working out in the plant and created teams. Our plant runs 24/7. I was sent home with a laptop and giant monitor 3/12 due to a vulnerable medical status. My company has handled this really great. We already had a very generous sick leave policy (6 weeks at 100% pay plus 6 weeks at 60% pay). We also donated over half a million pieces of PPE including n95 masks to over 3 dozen hospitals. We don’t have anymore to give and can’t procure more.
I am essential but our entire company can work remotely. It is hard to get shit done with a toddler around, but fortunately we can use my FIL (healthy and young) to watch him for 6 hours a day which really helps.
I'm a CPA and work for a small firm with about 60 people. We are deemed essential so our office is allowed to be open but we are 100% all WFH (even our admin/reception has all our calls re-routed to her directly). At first I was annoyed at management because they kept saying we need to work as normal without any consideration for people with kids at home, making things 1000% harder. But they've been sending out weekly emails lately thanking everyone for their dedication during this time and expressing gratitude that we've transitioned to WFH pretty much seamlessly. So that makes me happier, but still just frustrated at the whole situation.
DH works in facilities at a college which I guess falls into janitorial and therefore essential. But there's barely anyone on campus (I think there are some research labs still open, and they have construction for ongoing projects that he's responsible for). They put him on a reduced schedule so people on his team are alternating days going in. Most of what he does can be done remotely so he's annoyed about their expectations and has complained that some of the people he has to interact with are not following the 6ft guidelines.
I am a mobile notary and signing agent. So, I have had a bunch of closings to handle. handling it ok.
Not sure of how the mechanics of it are going to be handled, but CO's governor recently suspended the in person requirement for notaries. wp-cpr.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/03/polis-notary-eo.pdf I don't know if there's a professional/lobby organization for notaries that could push this in your state but thought I'd share in case there is.
Virginia has approved RONs (Remote Online Notaries). I am looking to see what I have to make that work. I had a job for later today and the person is staying at a hotel near the airport. So, not feeling good about that one.
For Signing Agent jobs, I need to be there to collect the paperwork, scan it back to the financial firm, etc.
Thanks to the Governor's super vague "essential business" categories, I'm still working and still going into the office (commercial plumbing/HVAC). Well, half-time in the office. Our owner still refuses to let us 100% work from home, so he's devised this grand schedule for rotating days in/out of office. We have 24 employees in our building and on any given day, only 4 of them are working from home.
Morale is...not great. Lots of people pissed about lugging their shit back and forth every other day. Lots of people pissed because he can see how well everyone WFH, but still won't allow it fully. The only thing that's going to change his mind is if the governor changes the wording in the SIP order.
I feel like my colleagues' morale is better than mine. We are often WFH but at times people are asked to come in if possible; I have said no. E.g., asked to come in this week to present on a conference call. I said I would call in from home but not from work.
One of my big bosses has said he doesn't support our governor's "stay home" order, so......
Post by sparkythelawyer on Mar 30, 2020 10:46:13 GMT -5
I'm in paper manufacturing, so my industry is essential if you like toilet paper or boxes to ship it in.
I'm working from home, as are all of our corporate people at this point. Our mills are still functioning, and we are moving heaven and earth to make sure the areas are cleaned, people have masks/gloves/etc., temperatures are being checked, people who need to stay quarantined are doing so, etc.
My employer just shipped like, 90K in PPE (masks, suits, gowns, etc), and while we did keep some for our employee needs, we also donated shittons to the hospitals near our facilities.
I’m in insurance which is essential, and I service commercial trucking, which is also essential. It’s pretty much business as usual for my team. My employer has been handling it really well. All staff have been WFH since March 17. It’s been a bit difficult with limited equipment at home but I’m used to it now.
Morale is pretty decent. It’s usually a very collaborative environment but we’re making do pretty well in my opinion.
H is an airline pilot. They are considered essential, but I can't for the life of me figure out why at this point. Unless they are flying healthcare workers or supplies around, passenger air traffic should be grounded.
same here but every trip has been dropped so he hasn't actually flown in about 10 days.
My business is essential. We manufacture hand sanitizer and disinfectant. It's a small business but we all have to be there to get the products out the door. We have walk in customers who are able to buy supplies from us. I don't love it but I'm glad we have something to offer that can hopefully protect them and us.
Mine is was on reserve for March and didn't get assigned any trips, but got three VDAs on his off days.
same here but every trip has been dropped so he hasn't actually flown in about 10 days.
My business is essential. We manufacture hand sanitizer and disinfectant. It's a small business but we all have to be there to get the products out the door. We have walk in customers who are able to buy supplies from us. I don't love it but I'm glad we have something to offer that can hopefully protect them and us.
Mine is was on reserve for March and didn't get assigned any trips, but got three VDAs on his off days.
Mine had a normal March, and was assigned a normal April schedule. As of last night it shows about 5 hours worth of flying on his schedule for April, which we assume will go to zero. They have no idea from day to day at this point 🤷🏼♀️
same here but every trip has been dropped so he hasn't actually flown in about 10 days.
My business is essential. We manufacture hand sanitizer and disinfectant. It's a small business but we all have to be there to get the products out the door. We have walk in customers who are able to buy supplies from us. I don't love it but I'm glad we have something to offer that can hopefully protect them and us.
Mine is was on reserve for March and didn't get assigned any trips, but got three VDAs on his off days.
Mine has been flying still. It’s frustrating since it isn’t exactly helping the situation. His flight to Honolulu was basically empty on Friday. April will be an interesting month.
I'm support staff at a correctional facility. My job can be done from home with occasional trips into the office to pick-up and drop off but we have not been allowed to wfh at all which is frustrating. There are confirmed cases within the department and quarantines within my unit (although at a different location). I'm doing OK with coming in but I am lucky that I have a child old enough to watch my little one or else we'd be screwed. Morale is everywhere here but mostly it's business as usual with changes to ways some things are done.
H is in an essential role as well however, I have no clue how. I don't see it essential. He's in new construction, but not single family homes, more commercial and multi-level buildings and he works all over our state's hotbed city. My feelings on it are mixed. He makes a hell of a lot more than me so I am grateful for the work however, scared at the same time. One of the locations he worked at previously (long ago) had someone test positive but work is going on as scheduled. I saw it reported in the paper and it makes me more anxious.
I am an essential, as I work for target and travel to different stores. We are not ok. People are NOT staying home and only coming out for essentials. The company is being good to the employees behind the scenes but that does not stop the verbal abuse we are getting from ignorant customers on a daily basis. I come home at night, shower immediately and then just sit down and collapse for the night. This is mentally draining and not letting up.
Here is just a little sampling of what I encountered yesterday.
- Woman in her 50’s comes in for 3 bananas - Same woman comes back in the afternoon for just a salad - Family of 3 - two young adults (mid-late 20s) with a small child in an infant carrier, buying only swimsuits and workout wear, nothing else - Mid 30 yr old man and woman buying $300 worth of summer clothes in toddler size 4. - Family of 4 - two grown adults and twin 7 yr old girls (who were each carrying a plastic doll carrier with a doll inside). They are all wearing masks AND goggles??. Want to know what they purchased? A TV, some hand weights and doll clothes for the dolls the girls were carrying - Several older couples (as in over the age of 70) buying just a couple of random things - Grandma, with 4 teen boys - comes to buy video games and baseball cards
Come get your groceries, that is perfectly fine but all these people coming in getting non essential shit, as a couple or family - YOU ARE RISKING MY HEALTH AND SAFETY FOR YOUR STUPID CRAP!
I already worked from home, for a scientific journal. My work has continued pretty much as normal. We just put out a call for papers about COVID as it relates to our journal's primary focus, so we are doing essential work in helping to disseminate cruicial research.
My husband is essential and must work in person (he maintains the local water treatment plant). It's a small staff anyway-- about a dozen or so guys. They have started a rotation where they get a week off (paid) every 3rd week so that everyone is not working at once if someone gets sick. They are also no longer allowed to eat lunch together or ride in vehicles together. He is actually feeling good about the protections they are putting in place for the workers. Morale seems to be good.
Because he is still working, all the distance learning and child care is falling to me. It's been rough. Thankfully this is his week off, so I'm hoping to do some major catch up this week. I am freelance/contract, and I really want to make a case for a longer-term contract when my current one is up in November. I'm struggling to produce at the level that I should be. Even though the folks I report to have been very understanding, I am really worried that it will hurt my chances to extend my contract if I'm only doing the bare minimum for months.
Post by tarzanswife on Mar 30, 2020 12:26:05 GMT -5
I work in home building and currently we are considered essential. I work for a nationwide company so some jurisdictions have limited us and others are allowing us to continue operations. The entire company other than the field staff are Working From Home. Field staff and subcontractors have N95 masks and OSHA has limited the number of subcontractors we can have in any one home at a time. We are taking all necessary precautions. We are no longer performing warranty service on homes as we do not want our field staff going into homes that are occupied as we are worried about exposure. We do facetime calls with homeowners to address issues and triage what we can.
There is a housing shortage in our area and we are trying our best to keep our construction schedules but are having supply issues as some things come from China (like Microwaves). My company and boss have been amazing. Literally, whatever you need to work from home is ordered for you. They have committed to paying everyone, even in areas where our construction has been stopped. We are working on online training for those employees that were running job sites so they can feel productive. My boss checks on me every weekend to see how I am doing and multiple times a week. And it's not a work call, it's "How are your children? How are you? Are you getting food deliveries? Thank you for staying indoors, order whatever you need"
I have also been told to "Do what I can from home, we understand that you are schooling children and working. Give them your attention, the work will always be there".
I am extremely grateful to my company for their response and how they are handling this.
I work in automotive, which is deemed essential. I am the office manager, so doing payroll, entering invoices, collecting money, all what I am doing. I feel like I may be at a higher risk then my mechanics (other than my shop manager) just because I am consistantly client facing. I am doing what I can, keeping the front office clean and disinfected etc, but it has been business as usual for me. Business is still pretty moderate. I have cut my hours from 40 - 30 to help the shop financially and to TRY and limit any exposure.
Morale is so so. Myself and the shop manager and the owners are all having evolving conversations on how to protect our staff.
Despite living in an epicenter (near Seattle) I am not scared. I am concerned, but I have been doing what I can and at this point its in the hands of whatever deity you pray to.
I am also still going to the barn in order to keep myself mentally and physically fit, since I can social distance while I am there.
I’m in local government and pay bills for community service stuff that really are essential. They are now letting us telecommute. I still have to go in the office twice a week, but I don’t have to stay all day. Mostly just check mail, print, scan, and file. This morning was about 4 hours in the office. Morale is actually not that bad. My supervisor and I text each other funny things which helps bring a little levity to the whole situation.
I work at a petroleum testing lab so its deemed essential..however I can do my job from home. I've been popping in 1-2 times a week to grab stuff but other than that WFH. We only have 4 people in our office so its very small and I'm never around the people in the lab really other than to talk from a distance. Our main source of revenue is jet fuel for airports and the USAF. We haven't seen a slow down yet though-they are all buying up fuel right now and stocking it while its cheap and just in case any pipelines decide to shut down production. All of our other regular customers are still shipping/dropping off samples as well.
I work in communications for government so my job has turned into non-stop COVID messaging. Employees are okay, we all work from home, but I'm finding it really stressful. I have to stay up to the minute on all the news and there's no escape.