Discrimination At Work: A Rant!

There are all these laws to protect certain groups of people at work. For example, you can't get rid of someone because are pregnant etc.

Now I'm not saying I don't agree with them to some extent. Everyone should have equal rights.

What annoys me is how there seems to be no protection for people that don't fall into any of these protected categories.

I was having a conversation about this the other day with someone and it really got me annoyed! The example we were talking about was this:

Imagine 3 people. They are all women of child bearing age. They have all worked at the company for the same amount of time, all have the relevant qualifications and all are equally good at the job. Someone has to be laid off.

Person 1 has a child, she struggles to get childcare at certain times which means she often can't cover extra shifts.

Person 2 has a history of depression so is regularly on the sick.

Person 3 has no children and no history of illness. She is readily available to cover shifts as and when required with very little notice needed.

As an employer, which one would you want to keep? I think anyone would choose person 3 if you are looking at it objectively as someone who wants to get value for money from an employee and needs someone flexible.

However, the law would say that laying off person 1 or 2 was discrimination, therefore, you would end up getting rid of person 3.

How is this fair?

And how is it not a form of discrimination in itself?

You are discriminating against person 3 for not having a reason to be discriminated against.

Where is their protection?

The protection for the average person that doesn't have any particular problems?

It appears there isn't any.

For the record, I'm not suggesting that employers should be allowed to get rid of employees willy nilly for these reasons, I'm just saying that in that scenario, there should be a bit of lee way to keep the person who is most suitable for the role - IE: low sickness rate and flexibility. And that there should be some protection for people who don't fall into any of the categories employees aren't allowed to discriminate against.

Maybe these laws are part of the problem, part of the reason employees don't take women who have young children, don't take people with a history of mental (or any other type, that was just an example) illness. Obviously they are not allowed to do that, but we all know they do, they just voice a different reason, which is a lot easier to do at the recruitment stage than the redundancy stage.

What do you think? Do the laws need to protect people who don't fall into these categories? What would you do if you were the employer in this scenario? Let me know in the comments :)

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My Non-Optional Screen Ban!

I've heard of people doing screen bans by choice as some sort of social experiment. I get the concept, but I don't think I would ever willingly impose one on myself!
In theory, it would be nice to go back to a simpler time, connect with people more in real life, and all the other things people hope to get out of these experiences.
In reality though, unless everyone in your social circle, everyone you work with and anyone you want to do any sort of business with also do one at the same time, it's not going to work. The world still keeps turning, even if we choose not to turn with it.

You can imagine my horror then when I learned that we are no longer allowed to have our phones out behind the bar (I work in a pub). Now obviously, when it's busy I understand completely. However, some days I work 12 hours shifts and of those 12 hours, there's perhaps 4 or 5 of them over the course of the day where I don't actually have anyone in!
The bar is only small and is all fully cleaned down within 2-3 hours tops. That leaves a lot of time to kill!

I am one of those people who's phone is like a third limb, it's always within an inch or so of me (I do put it away when I'm with people on days/nights out etc).

Now people think I'm ignoring them if they call or text me, although after 10 days of it, I think they are starting to realise I have to ignore them when I'm at work, but 12 hours is a long time to wait for a response to a text!
I can cope with this though, as the people I mostly talk to daily know what's happening. I can also cope with the social media withdrawal (just!).
What is driving me completely mad though is all the other bits I use my phone for. Listening to music, and making notes of new post ideas, shopping lists, to do lists, things I have to remember, phone numbers, pretty much everything I need to do or remember!
I now have to listen to whatever rubbish is on the radio! And I've totally lost count of the times I've reached for my phone to note something and remembered I can't! I now carry a pad of paper and pen around to jot things down (it feels so old school!). Plus an A4 pad is much less convenient to lug around than my phone. I tried post its but I kept losing them. I've tried a diary but there's never enough space! Not to mention all the poor trees I am now single handily killing on a daily basis! I feel like my human rights have been violated! Ok that's an exaggeration, but it is driving me mental. Like really mental!

There is no way I can admit this at work though because I refuse to give them the satisfaction of thinking their stupid rules are bothering me so I thought I would have a vent here.

I know a lot of you are probably eye rolling because most people can't sit using their phones at work. If this had always been the rule, it probably wouldn't have bothered me either, but I've worked there nearly 11 years now and for this to suddenly be dropped in is annoying. 

I don't want to end this post on a negative note, and I have found one positive to come out of this. I am going to use all that extra time I would normally fill with social media to actually start writing the novel I keep threatening to start. Old school. On actual paper. Wish me luck!

Would this drive you mad or do you think you could do a screen ban?

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