Posts Tagged ‘job principles’

December 1st, 2009 Krugman has good ideas, and I’ll add some

    This morning Paul Krugman’s op-ed piece raised some important policy discussion points that I hope will strike a chord with those in the “other Washington”. Along with his suggestions for a jobs program I’d like to add a few of my own suggestions for legislation as well.

    While we’re telling the public sector to take notice why don’t we tell the private sector to stand up as well and offer the next best thing to job security, call it job principles of conduct. I would suggest at least two to start with.

1. Any employer offering a job to a new hire and thus entering into a social contract, should not be allowed to then rescind that offer. This should especially be true if the start date is within at least two to four weeks of the original offer. If a contract verbal or otherwise is to have any relevance it needs to be treated as such.
2. Allow no open ended contracts. I don’t have any problem with language that says three to six months with possible extension. However, once you have been extended you should now be in a pool that triggers a zone of compliance to the employer that might now say: Employer must give contract workers at least thirty days notice of reduction in force or pay one month’s severance.

    The goal of these principles is to equalize at least in part the extreme deficiencies in basic justice that workers must simply take for granted. Realities like: I can be laid off at any time for any reason completely divorced from any job performance issues. No one would expect this kind of treatment in any other relationship, so why should anyone be expected to accept it from the people they work for?

    Employers put a lot of emphasis on their staff who are tasked with planning and strategizing for accomplishing their initiatives. It shouldn’t be too much to ask to extend that same foresight with regard to service agreements with their employees.

    Unfortunately, what we have resigned ourselves to is a scene right out of the Mad Men television series. Roger Sterling, head of the ad agency says: “So we lost an account, we’ll just have to cut back. Who can we fire?” as he pours himself a scotch.