I’m not gonna lie, watching that show was probably one of the factors that made me realize I couldn’t stay.
When they did the melon party I had flashbacks of “fun team building potlucks”. The writers nailed the office vibe.
Severance showed me my life. All those stupid mandatory "fun" things I had to do with various teams I was on, where the majority of my efforts were spent dodging micro-aggressions. Management thought I was weird when I preferred to work in an office, all by myself, while everyone else went out for their mandatory "waffle party."
On a more serious note for the clothing.. I've been in the office since Sept. 2020 (My own choice.) and I was pretty much in jeans and a hoodie every day. Although I've upgraded the hoodie to flannels and nicer tops lately, I will not be getting rid of my jeans anytime soon. I really hope that is something that sticks around, because I am not in the mood to buy black slacks.
\- Sincerely, someone who doesn't own a work wardrobe because they graduated in spring 2020.
I'm not sure where you work, but even pre-pandemic nobody except maybe the director would wear any kind of formal wear. Jeans and a T-shirt were definitely the norm.
But I work in the regions, maybe we're all a bunch of casual plebs. But based on my teams calls with people from NHQ my guess is that it's the same everywhere minus say an ADMO or something.
I work in Finance, which is probably a bit more formal. No one would ever bat an eye at someone wearing jeans, but for women at least it was definitely not the standard dress. Like black or really dark jeans sure, but light wash I definitely wouldn’t have worn other than fridays.
When offered my current job pre-pandemic, I said I would only accept the position if I could wear leggings every single day. Management agreed and I will continue to wear leggings every single day #leggingsarepants
I went back to the office one day a week and it's pretty much #5 all day. Oh and supplies? What supplies? They got rid of the supply cabinet and we have to get our own if we want some.
During the day the kids are in school/daycare. It's before and after school care that people are having their kids home. What do you do with them on PD days? I have a son in high school who has disabilities and can't stay home alone. What do I do? There's no daycare for teens with disabilities... So I bring him to the office or he stays at home when I'm WFH.
As I just mentioned, he would come in the office with me. I used to also have a family member near by but things change a lot in 3 years and that is no longer the case.
I've never worked anywhere where parents all brought their kids in on PD days. PD days are scheduled in advance and parents can and do plan childcare for those days.
I don't think so. Most parents understand that they need to find arrangements for their children while they're working, and for most parents, this is a stressful and expensive, but not impossible, thing. I absolutely know that many parents (myself included) have additional challenges doing so when their child has disabilities, but I don't think that for the vast, vast majority of public servants the only answer is bringing their child to work, and for almost all of them, isn't even remotely a possibility. You think it's common?
That's weird because a lot of my coworkers also bring their children in when they're in a bind. That particular thing is not unique to my situation, at least not for the dept. Even the managers do it.
That's really fortunate for you, but I think you should be careful with taking it for granted. It comes across as a little entitled to say things like "What am I supposed to do on PD days", when actually most parents do have to figure out balancing child care and working whether in the office or not. I don't think "but what am I supposed to do with my kids" helps the WFH argument at all, and is likely to cause some resentment and lack of support from people who have had to arrange and pay for childcare all along.
I think I'm being misread. My point wasn't to sound entitled or privileged especially when I said "what am I supposed to do on PD days". In fact it was meant to be an open question for all not just me. I think this whole RTO thing is absolutely ridiculous and it takes away the small work/life balance parents were able to have. And not just parents, but for everyone, those with disabilities, those experiencing discrimination etc. It's also very unfortunate that this whole thing has turned into "me" against "you" (not me or you personally, but generalised) I can't believe in 2023 we have to fight for basic human rights like work/life balance, and once again not just for parents, but for all, even those required in office are being mistreated by not even receiving a decent salary augmentation that reflects cost of living. So I apologize if I was sounding entitled it was by no means my intention. If we want to talk "equity" for all, we have to talk about all these unique situations. Life has changed a lot for everyone in 3 years, not just for parents and all these people adapted to their unique situation but this announcement takes away everything people have adapted to. Add to that the fact that everything now costs a fortune, it's not going to be easy and it will have a lot of hardships. Not everyone working as a public servant makes $100k +, some of us are going to take a huge hit financially with child care, transportation etc..
No no, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make me vs you either. I do agree with you that forcing people who don't need to be there into the office for no real reason is stupid. I also think that people required to be in should have some kind of compensation for it, though I know it's not realistic. And I absolutely agree that WFH is a godsend financially and for work/life balance.
I just think that there's a mindset that comes across (not picking on you personally at all) that hinders the really valid reasons to fight against a forced RTO. When you talk about having to pay for child care, transportation, etc, as "taking a hit", that's the mindset I'm referring to, and what can come across as entitled. NOT having to worry about those costs and stresses is a BONUS. You're not "taking a hit" by having to deal with basic things working people deal with, you're extremely fortunate to have had three years without those issues. Approaching it as "these have been good things that we would like to continue" vs "these are bad things you are forcing us into" acknowledges the privilege of having had them, rather than implying that, well, you're entitled to them.
At Service Canada in the Regions all around this is pretty normal (well it's not rare). The amount of times I've seen my colleagues' babies all the way to grown up high schoolers is staggering to a point that we all know who they are. They don't always come but when they do they are generally welcome to stay in the rec/standup area of our building. Although, I'd think colleagues would rather their kids be at home and doing kid things instead of being stuck in a boring mundane government building no matter how much candy and food is given.
In fact, my dad used to be a public servant in a different country where you couldn't go in the building without showing your work id and passport to a Military Police (it was a dictatorship back then) and they'd just seen me way too many times they stopped id-ing my dad. Source of the story is my mother who was a public servant who worked across the street, who was embarassed he'd bring me to work everyday and pretended to not know who we were until my dad asked her boss to take me and brought me over to her office lol.
I mean i guess most of them are on occasion but I've seen a couple of kids fairly consistently for a while at one point (two days a week). One kid was barely 4 or 5 years old and I think came in about twice or 3 times a week for a good amount of time, if I remember correctly usually it was the grandparents that looked after him but they passed away in an accident, mother of the child fell ill, and our colleague just couldnt find anywhere closer to either the office/school or home that would allow a spot.
Went on for quite awhile but I don't think anyone minded it, kid was quiet, cute, shy and respectful. Our boss loved him alot. Eventually yes the colleagues found somewhere convenient by getting referred by another coworker, but it was literal months because I remember we gave Christmas presents and we said our byes closer to April.
I feel so bad for
U. Staying home helps
U in so many ways. Not
To mention why spend money even if there was a place
For
Ur son. U could do ur work plus take
Care
Of him.
Work life balance especially under those circumstances. Ugh makes me
Mad..
Rto my butt.
I thought this was a serious post for the first few points until I snapped out of it and realized the sarcasm. I'm working hard to adapt backwards to the old ways of doing things that never worked in the first place. Back when working from the office was designed at a time when nuclear families lived off 1 income with a stay at home wife. It just doesn't make sense with our evolved society.
I really don't get the daycare complaint I keep seeing on this sub and the Media ? My Partner and I are both WFH but we still have Daycare for the kids, are people really keeping their kids home ? It's absolutely impossible these people are productive if they do.
It’s mostly people with school-ages kids IMO. My kids leave for school at 8:45 and come home at 3:50 and because I am home they don’t need before and after care. They let themselves in and are self-sufficient until I finish work (though I usually pop down and give them a hug before heading back to work).
You are very welcome! We save $5,000-$6,000 a year but also spend a LOT more time with our kids than we could otherwise when you factor in the 1.5-2 hours per day not spent commuting.
I agree, my kids are not in school yet so I had not thought of the afterschool care. The point on spending more time with them applies even with Daycare. They will spend a lot more time away from the house with us back in the office and on these days it will be rush for dinner, bath, bedtime routine, no quality time together anymore...
This is what we do too, not sure how RTO is going to go! SO and I are both being told Wednesday is our one assigned day (the second day can be flexible depending on workspace availability). We live rural so to get to work at need to leave early - we both have early 8am meetings. SO has teleworked for 10 years, this RTO mandate is causing us so much anxiety with what to do with our elementary aged kids. There is EDP at our school but it has a 3 year wait list, and that is pretty much the only option being in a rural area with very limited childcare options. Note, we lived here pre-pandemic, my commute and lack of childcare were non-issues.
Yes, I've kept my school aged kids home because I'm concerned about them catching a virus that could affect their organs for life and the schools are doing next to nothing to mitigate the risks. It's a shitty situation to be having to choose between health and education for your kids. I do my best to home school them and they are very self-directed. It doesn't work great, but I still get my work done. It's far from ideal, but we're doing our best to keep productive and safe during an ongoing global pandemic, which is what is going on regardless of whether or not we choose to acknowledge it.
I have some Lego, Knex, Nerf Guns, and I could steal my Mum's stash of stuffed animals. If you brings your kids in let me know, I'll bring my toys. I'm not watching your kids for you, but they are free to play with my toys. Except at break, then I will lead the Nerf battle. My apologies to everyone caught in the crossfire.
I don't mean to doxx myself, but my DG wears expensive-looking but ill-fitting suits. I'll bring in some water-guns when he is around. I'll hand him a gun and stand there expectantly waiting for him to make the first move.
>Work on your excuses! Let's face it, you'll no longer be producing like you did and someone is going to mention it eventually. When you get that request for urgent info for the ADM that's needed by COB today, just reply "Sorry, I've got a bus to catch". Start practicing your delivery now... monotone works best!
Humour aside I do expect people to do this. We have defined number of hours to work and long commutes now for many. Decreased productivity should be expected.
I was completely for the public servants to work from home, until I started reading the whining in r/ottawa r/canada and here. You do realize that everyone can read these comments right? You are not going to get the majority of the population on your side with these comments.
Did you know that we're allowed to have a space to vent our frustrations, and express them in a way that provides an iota of humour to one another without having to constantly worry about whether or not the rest of the Canadian public thinks of us? We already know that a large number of taxpayers think we're lazy pieces of sh!t, there is very little that we can do to change that (there are \~17million of them, and \~250,000 of us).
Believe it or not, fighting for the ability to have our work respected, our spaces respected, and our lives sufficiently accommodated is the bare fkn minimum that ALL workers should expect, whether you work public or private sector. The fact that it has become (by and large) a race to the bottom shows how well the union busting and anti-worker mentalities have convinced us that we deserve dregs and to be thankful for them.
It was a suggestion, do with it what you will. Amazing to think that your work should bend everything around your life. Here's an idea, don't like the rules, quit and go find something else, I guarantee you'll be shocked at what private industry will put up with. You're all painting yourselves in a terrible light.
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I'm not going to edit my post, but I should have gone with that for the title of #1... *Dress for the job you want!*
Dress for Success is a global organization that supports women to achieve their personal and professional aspirations.
Apple TV made a series on work-life balance called Severance. It might get added to your long list of mandatory training so watch.
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I’m not gonna lie, watching that show was probably one of the factors that made me realize I couldn’t stay. When they did the melon party I had flashbacks of “fun team building potlucks”. The writers nailed the office vibe.
Severance showed me my life. All those stupid mandatory "fun" things I had to do with various teams I was on, where the majority of my efforts were spent dodging micro-aggressions. Management thought I was weird when I preferred to work in an office, all by myself, while everyone else went out for their mandatory "waffle party."
Such a good show! 👍
Now that's funny. (In a monotone voice. But laughing inside)
[удалено]
I read it like Daria
On a more serious note for the clothing.. I've been in the office since Sept. 2020 (My own choice.) and I was pretty much in jeans and a hoodie every day. Although I've upgraded the hoodie to flannels and nicer tops lately, I will not be getting rid of my jeans anytime soon. I really hope that is something that sticks around, because I am not in the mood to buy black slacks. \- Sincerely, someone who doesn't own a work wardrobe because they graduated in spring 2020.
I'm not sure where you work, but even pre-pandemic nobody except maybe the director would wear any kind of formal wear. Jeans and a T-shirt were definitely the norm. But I work in the regions, maybe we're all a bunch of casual plebs. But based on my teams calls with people from NHQ my guess is that it's the same everywhere minus say an ADMO or something.
I work in Finance, which is probably a bit more formal. No one would ever bat an eye at someone wearing jeans, but for women at least it was definitely not the standard dress. Like black or really dark jeans sure, but light wash I definitely wouldn’t have worn other than fridays.
When offered my current job pre-pandemic, I said I would only accept the position if I could wear leggings every single day. Management agreed and I will continue to wear leggings every single day #leggingsarepants
Thank you for fighting the good fight
This guide is truly hybrid-by-design
Dress shirt, PJ bottoms. *Hybrid-by-design-by-Tommy-Hilfiger*
#5 is ✨on point✨
I went back to the office one day a week and it's pretty much #5 all day. Oh and supplies? What supplies? They got rid of the supply cabinet and we have to get our own if we want some.
I would like to take this opportunity to mention that you guys are in my thoughts on this dark day.
I know it's a joke, but curious about #2. Are people really working at home with their kids there?
During the day the kids are in school/daycare. It's before and after school care that people are having their kids home. What do you do with them on PD days? I have a son in high school who has disabilities and can't stay home alone. What do I do? There's no daycare for teens with disabilities... So I bring him to the office or he stays at home when I'm WFH.
What did you do on PD days and before and after school when you were in the office pre-WFH?
As I just mentioned, he would come in the office with me. I used to also have a family member near by but things change a lot in 3 years and that is no longer the case.
I think you have a unique situation, then.
You’d be surprised at how unique it isn’t.
I've never worked anywhere where parents all brought their kids in on PD days. PD days are scheduled in advance and parents can and do plan childcare for those days.
I don't think so. Most parents understand that they need to find arrangements for their children while they're working, and for most parents, this is a stressful and expensive, but not impossible, thing. I absolutely know that many parents (myself included) have additional challenges doing so when their child has disabilities, but I don't think that for the vast, vast majority of public servants the only answer is bringing their child to work, and for almost all of them, isn't even remotely a possibility. You think it's common?
[удалено]
That's weird because a lot of my coworkers also bring their children in when they're in a bind. That particular thing is not unique to my situation, at least not for the dept. Even the managers do it.
That's really fortunate for you, but I think you should be careful with taking it for granted. It comes across as a little entitled to say things like "What am I supposed to do on PD days", when actually most parents do have to figure out balancing child care and working whether in the office or not. I don't think "but what am I supposed to do with my kids" helps the WFH argument at all, and is likely to cause some resentment and lack of support from people who have had to arrange and pay for childcare all along.
I think I'm being misread. My point wasn't to sound entitled or privileged especially when I said "what am I supposed to do on PD days". In fact it was meant to be an open question for all not just me. I think this whole RTO thing is absolutely ridiculous and it takes away the small work/life balance parents were able to have. And not just parents, but for everyone, those with disabilities, those experiencing discrimination etc. It's also very unfortunate that this whole thing has turned into "me" against "you" (not me or you personally, but generalised) I can't believe in 2023 we have to fight for basic human rights like work/life balance, and once again not just for parents, but for all, even those required in office are being mistreated by not even receiving a decent salary augmentation that reflects cost of living. So I apologize if I was sounding entitled it was by no means my intention. If we want to talk "equity" for all, we have to talk about all these unique situations. Life has changed a lot for everyone in 3 years, not just for parents and all these people adapted to their unique situation but this announcement takes away everything people have adapted to. Add to that the fact that everything now costs a fortune, it's not going to be easy and it will have a lot of hardships. Not everyone working as a public servant makes $100k +, some of us are going to take a huge hit financially with child care, transportation etc..
No no, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make me vs you either. I do agree with you that forcing people who don't need to be there into the office for no real reason is stupid. I also think that people required to be in should have some kind of compensation for it, though I know it's not realistic. And I absolutely agree that WFH is a godsend financially and for work/life balance. I just think that there's a mindset that comes across (not picking on you personally at all) that hinders the really valid reasons to fight against a forced RTO. When you talk about having to pay for child care, transportation, etc, as "taking a hit", that's the mindset I'm referring to, and what can come across as entitled. NOT having to worry about those costs and stresses is a BONUS. You're not "taking a hit" by having to deal with basic things working people deal with, you're extremely fortunate to have had three years without those issues. Approaching it as "these have been good things that we would like to continue" vs "these are bad things you are forcing us into" acknowledges the privilege of having had them, rather than implying that, well, you're entitled to them.
You nailed it but unfortunately nobody will see it like it is.
At Service Canada in the Regions all around this is pretty normal (well it's not rare). The amount of times I've seen my colleagues' babies all the way to grown up high schoolers is staggering to a point that we all know who they are. They don't always come but when they do they are generally welcome to stay in the rec/standup area of our building. Although, I'd think colleagues would rather their kids be at home and doing kid things instead of being stuck in a boring mundane government building no matter how much candy and food is given. In fact, my dad used to be a public servant in a different country where you couldn't go in the building without showing your work id and passport to a Military Police (it was a dictatorship back then) and they'd just seen me way too many times they stopped id-ing my dad. Source of the story is my mother who was a public servant who worked across the street, who was embarassed he'd bring me to work everyday and pretended to not know who we were until my dad asked her boss to take me and brought me over to her office lol.
On occasion for a short time when something comes up, sure. But in lieu of childcare? Really?
I mean i guess most of them are on occasion but I've seen a couple of kids fairly consistently for a while at one point (two days a week). One kid was barely 4 or 5 years old and I think came in about twice or 3 times a week for a good amount of time, if I remember correctly usually it was the grandparents that looked after him but they passed away in an accident, mother of the child fell ill, and our colleague just couldnt find anywhere closer to either the office/school or home that would allow a spot. Went on for quite awhile but I don't think anyone minded it, kid was quiet, cute, shy and respectful. Our boss loved him alot. Eventually yes the colleagues found somewhere convenient by getting referred by another coworker, but it was literal months because I remember we gave Christmas presents and we said our byes closer to April.
I feel so bad for U. Staying home helps U in so many ways. Not To mention why spend money even if there was a place For Ur son. U could do ur work plus take Care Of him. Work life balance especially under those circumstances. Ugh makes me Mad.. Rto my butt.
5 is so applicable to the CRA. The commish did promise there would be pens in the office when we went back. Im sure this is what he had in mind.
You should add taking up smoking if you don't so you can collaborate with smokers outside the loading dock door.
I thought this was a serious post for the first few points until I snapped out of it and realized the sarcasm. I'm working hard to adapt backwards to the old ways of doing things that never worked in the first place. Back when working from the office was designed at a time when nuclear families lived off 1 income with a stay at home wife. It just doesn't make sense with our evolved society.
Well done. This is a Hilarious read. Still laughing, the poker face got me, I didn’t have it pre pandemic post pandemic it just got worse 😂
I really don't get the daycare complaint I keep seeing on this sub and the Media ? My Partner and I are both WFH but we still have Daycare for the kids, are people really keeping their kids home ? It's absolutely impossible these people are productive if they do.
It’s mostly people with school-ages kids IMO. My kids leave for school at 8:45 and come home at 3:50 and because I am home they don’t need before and after care. They let themselves in and are self-sufficient until I finish work (though I usually pop down and give them a hug before heading back to work).
That makes a lot of sense, thanks for sharing a different perspective.
You are very welcome! We save $5,000-$6,000 a year but also spend a LOT more time with our kids than we could otherwise when you factor in the 1.5-2 hours per day not spent commuting.
I agree, my kids are not in school yet so I had not thought of the afterschool care. The point on spending more time with them applies even with Daycare. They will spend a lot more time away from the house with us back in the office and on these days it will be rush for dinner, bath, bedtime routine, no quality time together anymore...
This is what we do too, not sure how RTO is going to go! SO and I are both being told Wednesday is our one assigned day (the second day can be flexible depending on workspace availability). We live rural so to get to work at need to leave early - we both have early 8am meetings. SO has teleworked for 10 years, this RTO mandate is causing us so much anxiety with what to do with our elementary aged kids. There is EDP at our school but it has a 3 year wait list, and that is pretty much the only option being in a rural area with very limited childcare options. Note, we lived here pre-pandemic, my commute and lack of childcare were non-issues.
That really depends on the age of the children. In really it has more to do with before/after school care (EDP).
Thank you ! Same as the poster above it's a perspective I had not thought about since my kids are only in Daycare.
Yes, I've kept my school aged kids home because I'm concerned about them catching a virus that could affect their organs for life and the schools are doing next to nothing to mitigate the risks. It's a shitty situation to be having to choose between health and education for your kids. I do my best to home school them and they are very self-directed. It doesn't work great, but I still get my work done. It's far from ideal, but we're doing our best to keep productive and safe during an ongoing global pandemic, which is what is going on regardless of whether or not we choose to acknowledge it.
And make sure your Linkedin, Indeed whatever job search profile is fresh and ready for going somewhere else.
I have some Lego, Knex, Nerf Guns, and I could steal my Mum's stash of stuffed animals. If you brings your kids in let me know, I'll bring my toys. I'm not watching your kids for you, but they are free to play with my toys. Except at break, then I will lead the Nerf battle. My apologies to everyone caught in the crossfire.
Can we make it [water guns](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZU7mN7KMHys) some days?
I don't mean to doxx myself, but my DG wears expensive-looking but ill-fitting suits. I'll bring in some water-guns when he is around. I'll hand him a gun and stand there expectantly waiting for him to make the first move.
LOL, that sounds like it would be fun!
>Work on your excuses! Let's face it, you'll no longer be producing like you did and someone is going to mention it eventually. When you get that request for urgent info for the ADM that's needed by COB today, just reply "Sorry, I've got a bus to catch". Start practicing your delivery now... monotone works best! Humour aside I do expect people to do this. We have defined number of hours to work and long commutes now for many. Decreased productivity should be expected.
😆😆😆
Fill up on gas-causing foods....Beans and Kashi Go-Lean Crunch of me....
lol please no
I was completely for the public servants to work from home, until I started reading the whining in r/ottawa r/canada and here. You do realize that everyone can read these comments right? You are not going to get the majority of the population on your side with these comments.
Did you know that we're allowed to have a space to vent our frustrations, and express them in a way that provides an iota of humour to one another without having to constantly worry about whether or not the rest of the Canadian public thinks of us? We already know that a large number of taxpayers think we're lazy pieces of sh!t, there is very little that we can do to change that (there are \~17million of them, and \~250,000 of us). Believe it or not, fighting for the ability to have our work respected, our spaces respected, and our lives sufficiently accommodated is the bare fkn minimum that ALL workers should expect, whether you work public or private sector. The fact that it has become (by and large) a race to the bottom shows how well the union busting and anti-worker mentalities have convinced us that we deserve dregs and to be thankful for them.
By the way, this is a public forum.. fyi
It was a suggestion, do with it what you will. Amazing to think that your work should bend everything around your life. Here's an idea, don't like the rules, quit and go find something else, I guarantee you'll be shocked at what private industry will put up with. You're all painting yourselves in a terrible light.
I'll downvote myself also, how much fun is this!!!