S3 Ep47: Employees Are Losing A Big Opportunity to Change Work Forever

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In this episode of the Employee Survival Guide®, Mark discusses how employees are losing a big opportunity to change work forever.  Employers are rolling back remote working and job flexibility in favor of the old school employment practices from the "before time".  Mark claims employees are not standing up for themselves against employers.  This is a critical moment in history for all employees right before we slam into a recession in the Fall 2022.

This episode was written and produced by Mark Carey and edited by Matt Zako.

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Episode Transcript

Unknown (00:00):
Hey it's Mark here and welcome to the next edition of

(00:03):
the Employee Survival Guide,where I tell you what your
employer does not want to knowabout and a lot more. Today's
topic is called employees arelosing a big opportunity to
change work forever. If youlisten, just to wait a moment,
you'll hear it the sound of anemployer tsunami racing across
the country clawing back thework life improvements employees

(00:27):
gained during the past two and ahalf years since the pandemic
began. Can employees nationwidelet this just happen? Do
employees have a say in thematter? This is not a union fix
issue is a quote every employeeissue. It has a chance to take a
stand to expand everyone'srights and possibly eliminate
discriminatory behavior. Are weat a pivot point in history to

(00:51):
make a lasting change in theworkplace? Or is this just
another example of thegargantuan power employers have
over us all as they roll backthe tide? Worse yet, no one
really seems to care enough tomake the following changes stick
for the first time in decades,if not unprecedented. During the
pandemic employees haveexperienced a form of positive

(01:14):
social change in the workplace.
Employees experience increasedjob flexibility, remote working,
and work life balance brought onby the pandemic. Yes, it worked
out just fine and employees wereeven more productive in
comparison to the productivityof office work pre COVID. We all
need to collectively thank therole of technology in

(01:34):
facilitating thistransformation. It was truly a
remarkable achievement. Anyonewant to get on a zoom call for a
few hours? I thought not.
According to a recent survey,more than 80% of American
workers say the pandemicprovided more clarity about
their work life goals. And 73%of American workers say they

(01:56):
feel they can make positivechanges to the work life
balance. This sounds like thegroundswell of a populace worker
movement. And it is and you allfeel that same way right now.
But employers want to crush itbefore it takes hold. And I'll
explain. New social upheaval andracial tensions caused employers

(02:16):
to seek diversity initiatives atevery level, including the
executive suite. Although I sawa few implement cases of race
discrimination caused by illinformed management engaged in
cow town marketing to stay onthe quote, correct side of the
larger social movement. We alsosaw and now understand that
canceled culture is unlawfulhate speech and discrimination

(02:40):
under federal law, and in manycases, reverse discrimination
against white Americans. Anyemployers and educational
institutions who continue toassert or aid and abet canceled
culture practices should expectto be sued by quote anyone and,
quote, adversely affected byracial practices under federal
statute 42 USC 1981 By the way,that's a Reconstructionist

(03:04):
statute after the Civil Warsigned by federal government. We
did witness history in 2020,when the Supreme Court declared
sexual orientationdiscrimination unlawful under
the title seven on the 1964Civil Rights Act. In Bostick
versus Clayton County, Georgia,the Supreme Court decided to end
the bootstrapping claims manyhad to fight to shoehorn their

(03:27):
way under Title Seven definitionof sex. The case arose
independently of the pandemic.
But there may have been awarming up of the human and
American spirit amongst thecourt's majority caused by the
pandemic similar to thatexperience in the aftermath of
911. Employers must follow thisruling to the letter. Up next
was a great resignation, where4.5 million employees quit to

(03:50):
obtain better paying positionswho could blame these employees
for wanting to make more moneyin the largest capitalistic
economy on Earth. For manyemployees predominantly service
workers, the low minimum wagewas too small to make a
meaningful economic impact ontheir lives. The increased wage
increases caused by jumping shipto a higher hourly rate job

(04:13):
helped to raise living standardsand an added to the already
increased savings rate amongmajority of American workers
resulting from the PPP in EDLloan programs. The federal
government and states passedlaws for paid family medical
leave during the pandemic,easing the financial pressures
on employees but not onemployers seeking to fill

(04:36):
positions and having to pay forthose absences. Many of these
financial safety net laws remaintoday post pandemic.
Oh wait, I forgot a smallimprovement. President Biden
signed into law the ban onforced arbitration only in sex
discrimination cases. This lawreversed nearly 97 years of
draconian rule under the FederalArbitration Act. At least with

(05:00):
respect to sex discriminationcases, this was the fallout of
the me to movement and somenasty internal behavior of Fox
News revealed to us by GretchenCarlson, who was committed to
the cause that led to the act.
But as dramatic as that news wasthe darkness left in place by
continued forced arbitration. Inall other employment
discrimination cases is justlimitless. After more than two

(05:22):
and a half years of remote work,and worker flexibility,
employers are now taking backcontrol over you and their
workplaces, even if, ifremotely, they do not trust you
and never have, they eavesdropon every remote zoom call and
laptop via employee monitoringsoftware that is very
sophisticated and undetectable.

(05:43):
Employers view employees assubservient to their masters in
almost every regard. In theprivate sector, you have no
freedom of speech, or freedom ofreligion, and your employment
rights are diminished to amerely at will toss outs when
undesirable by the employer.
Employers do not have to giveyou a reason for termination.
And that is exactly the rulewhich covers up so much

(06:05):
discriminatory bias in theUnited States. It is an easy out
and frankly, I am shocked BLMsupporters and other progressive
organizations, such as theNAACP, and ACLU, have yet to
pick up this widespreaddiscriminatory tool of choice.
How long can these groups burytheir heads in the sand, we must
end the implement it will rule.

(06:26):
Employers want to go back to thesame old fear based at will
employment of the past. Theywill fire you unless you come
back to the office to use theoffice space they have rented or
built out before the pandemic.
For example, Mr. Musk directiveat Tesla, ordering all employees
to return to work or be fired.
In my opinion, this was a quickcheap way to save unemployment

(06:49):
benefits by the company andreduce office rents and
expenses. And yet anotherexample by Mr. Musk of how
companies treat their employeesbadly. On June 17th 2022, Musk
fired at least two employees atSpaceX involved in an internal
letter to management.
complaining of his publicdemeanor and behavior was
tarnishing the company's image.

(07:10):
I cannot imagine many employeesof the company feeling much
trust in their Savior Musk afterthis event. Employers continue
to place you on performanceimprovement plans and then fire
you. They want to force you intosecret secret of arbitration
hearings and Jianjun legal fees.
They want to enforce the noncompete you never negotiated and
restrict your ability to earn anincome. The pandemic temporarily

(07:33):
halted employer efforts toenforce noncompetition
agreements due to impossibilityof enforcement. No court was
going to touch a noncompete caseduring the pandemic
presumptively because jobs andincome were sacred. Now that you
have been warned about thefuture, what are you going to do
to say the new way of workingbefore it too is cancelled. I

(07:54):
have some thoughts I'm workingon and I will share them with
you soon. If you'd like moreinformation about this podcast,
please contact Carey &Associates P.C. on the web at
[e-mail]. Have a greatweek. And I'll talk to you soon.