Quote:I agree with this sentiment, but am annoyed that it only goes one way. An employer can fire you with no notice, for supposedly no reason (i.e. for illegal reasons, but then claim your 'at will' and they didn't like your hair). But an employee is 'supposed' to give 2 weeks notice and have some justification for wanting to leave the job. As if just wanting a different job isn't enough.

 

And then, of course, if your fired/released, its 'unprofessional' to say why it really happened, and have to make up something you 'learned' from the experience. Sometimes there's nothing to learn. Why is lying about learning something a better answer than saying the truth that you were unlucky and hit on a toxic job with a malicious boss/supervisor etc?

 

I can see if you were chronically tardy or late, showed up drunk, always slacking off, completely incompetent, that you might have something to learn, but that doesn't mean every fired person fits that mold. Yet society thinks of them that way. And then gives the benefit of the doubt to the employer, pretty much always, even when its known that some employer/unit/company have a bad culture. Its like a remnant of the caste system were the elites can do no wrong but the worker is a semi-useless robot that can't think. But, such is life. There are always more bad managers than good, and more bad companies than good ones. I just try to make sure I fall on the good side.

 

 

Well this will be a twofer, I usually agree with your point of view, but on this topic I will diverge a bit. If someone is hardworking and industrious, just because they aren't educated, highly skilled, or intelligent is no reason for them to have to live in poverty. There really should be a floor for a full time working man or woman that they should be able to live decently without huge government subsidies. And the government shouldn't have to set it, people/companies should do it on their own. Just cause a guys a janitor doesn't mean he deserves to be homeless.

 

I don't disagree with your first statement at all. IMO leaving a job is more a matter of etiquette and form than anything proscribed and I've never refused a good candidate because of how they ended their previous employment. The employment contract should be a two way street, I shouldn't be forced to keep you and you shouldn't be forced to stay.

 

As to your second, have you ever considered that poverty is a result of hampered market pricing rather than anything to do with wage floors? Why is it that you have to make $8, $15, or even $50 an hour to live out of poverty? Why is it that prices continue to increase while wages are stagnant? That a gallon of milk that cost a nickel 50 years ago now costs $4? The question isn't why does a janitor make poverty wages, but why are janitor's wages poverty level? When you answer the question with mandatory increases in wages all you get are higher prices with no upward mobility. When you answer the question with free market-based solutions you get price competition and a higher standard of living for everyone.

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