Shot in the Dark

Questions Nobody Is Asking


Business gurus are excited that working from home will become The New Normal, everyone will embrace it, and it’ll be great.
I wonder about weird things like the Americans with Disabilities Act.
If I were in the office, I would have a sit-stand desk and ergonomically correct chair, with my keyboard positioned at the proper height to avoid a repetitive motion injury that results in a workers comp claim.
If I’m working from home, doing the employer’s work on the employers time, shouldn’t I be sitting at the employers desk? Aren’t they supposed to supply me with the correct equipment and if they don’t, can I make a workers comp, disability or discrimination claim?
We’ve all been good sports til now, working on a laptop at the kitchen table.  As we realize it’s just a scam,  that we are in no danger,  the goodwill will fade.  The transition will not be as easy as they think.
Joe Doakes 

Perhaps. The ADA wrangling that Joe is talking about is going to put a lot of lawyers’ kids through school.

That being said, my home office is a home-made stand/sit desk (hacked Ikea parts, with a bar stool for when I don’t feel like standing), five monitors on two computers, and everything else I need. It’s like a private corner office. The only thing I miss is – and I mean this sincerely – my co-workers.

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Mitch Berg

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16 responses to “Questions Nobody Is Asking”

  1. Greg Avatar
    Greg

    But is your bathroom wheel-chair accessible?

    What if a handicapped fellow employee were to visit?

    Do you have $15K to bring it up to snuff?

    Inquiring minds want to know.

  2. bosshoss429 Avatar
    bosshoss429

    That brings up another good question. What about all of the students that are physically challenged that are accommodated in school, but their parents can’t afford to remodel their homes to do so? Can they claim that their children were deprived of their learning experience and request a refund on their taxes?

    Speaking of education, here’s an interesting take on the future of higher edumacation.

    https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/prediction-half-of-all-us-colleges-will-be-bankrupt-in-less-than-10-years

  3. Joe Doakes Avatar
    Joe Doakes

    If an office employee has a disability that substantially limits the employee’s ability to work, the employer has an obligation to make a reasonable accommodation, such as swap out desks, install a ramp, etc.

    If a work-at-home employee has the same disability with the same limits on ability to work, does the employer have the same obligation? Or did the ADA just die on the governor’s desk? “Sorry, that law doesn’t apply during pandemics.”

    Which makes me wonder what other laws don’t apply during pandemics. The obligation to ensure One Person casts One Vote, perhaps?

  4. Greg Avatar
    Greg

    Well Joe, equal protection sure died when every church in the state was limited to 25% capacity and strict social distancing with the single exception of where The Great and Wonderful Walz attended a celebrity felon’s funeral.

  5. justplainangry Avatar
    justplainangry

    JD, you opened a Pandora’s box and only scratched the surface. Now that employees realize that work from home does not impact production, who needs all that downtown office space? Man, the repercussions to real estate values and future of DT cores with shiny toll buildings are off the charts. And with all the money saved on lease/rent, corps will be more than happy to build a couple ramps and buy a few chairs.

  6. bosshoss429 Avatar
    bosshoss429

    I have another question then. Who is going to throw cold water on the Met Council and tell them that a. we no longer have a need for choo choo chains from the western burbs. b. you need to find a buyer for all of the rails, equipment and other crap you bought, thinking that it would be built. After all, even though that’s how you operated for years, this ain’t the field of dreams. c. you also need to find a way to recoup all of the money that you spent for your studies, bribes, etc. Might I suggest staff reductions, starting at the top?

  7. shakingmyhead Avatar
    shakingmyhead

    Boss – I’ll second that, along with opening up the Cedar Lake trail again.

  8. Night Writer Avatar
    Night Writer

    I’ve worked from home for five years. I have all the ergonomics I need, but I do miss the free coffee.

    My company converted it’s entire global workforce to WFH, even for people in more remote areas where it took some work to get the hardware and bandwidth to them. On my particular 12-person team there’s only one person who doesn’t prefer it, and it’s mainly because he can’t get away from his kids. Life is simpler without the commuting and, for me anyway, I like keeping the Met Council’s impact on my life to a minimum. I suspect that migration will be back toward the ‘burbs and smaller communities, and the “home office” will replace “man caves” and “she sheds” as the hot design feature.

    So Minneapolis can go ahead and defund it’s police force, turn the LRT into permanent roaming homeless shelters, and start figuring out what to do with all the empty million-dollar condos and office towers.

  9. jdm Avatar
    jdm

    I do miss the free coffee

    I don’t think you’re missing anything (YMMV).

    Before I retired I was intrigued as to why company coffee was so bad. I mean, I’ve worked some places where they actually spent some money on good coffee. What I eventually figured out is that not cleaning the machines has a catastrophic effect on the taste and the machines never get cleaned because they’re just replaced.

    And then there’s the fellow employees who are “just too busy” to make coffee after emptying the pot/canister…

  10. SmithStCrx Avatar
    SmithStCrx

    Jdm, classic tragedy of the commons.

  11. jdm Avatar
    jdm

    True dat, SSC

  12. Emery Incognito Avatar
    Emery Incognito

    It’s official.

    “The committee has determined that a peak in monthly economic activity occurred in the U.S. economy in February 2020.”
    https://t.co/VCGXZyOHa4?amp=1

  13. This chopper for official use only Avatar
    This chopper for official use only

    So Minneapolis can go ahead and defund it’s police force, turn the LRT into permanent roaming homeless shelters, and start figuring out what to do with all the empty million-dollar condos and office towers.

    NW, it’s more than WFH that will drive the exodus from leftist dominated, vibrant urban areas. If those dimwits follow through with shelving their PD’s, the insurance underwriters for all of those Fortune 500 companies Minneapolis likes to brag about won’t issue policies, or the premiums will be unsustainable.

    As it is, many national retailers are hedging on rebuilding in the areas destroyed by the anti-white, domestic terrorists. Which is hilarious, because many of the RIC (Reprobates In Charge) are saying corporate America has the *responsibility* to stack the bricks up again and stock the shelves, while at the same time, the domestic terrorists they support are saying corporate America has the responsibility to allow their properties to be destroyed and merchandise stolen, because they have insurance and it is colored people’s right to burn and steal.

  14. Mammuthus Primigenius Avatar
    Mammuthus Primigenius

    Why not move to a progressive city?
    You will pay higher taxes, your right to free speech, freedom of association, freedom to bear arms will be limited. Your every economic decision will be monitored and “guided” by people who hate you. And you will be treated as a member of a “guilty” race.

  15. jdm Avatar
    jdm

    Or just stay in that progressive city, MP. All the benefits you describe and none of the effort!

  16. myyellowbike Avatar
    myyellowbike

    Camden NJ busted their police union someone wrote, not exactly dismantling….I’ll bet people in MPLS think this is really for the birds….

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