@jalefkowit
Post-covid, my company has decided that it's a requirement to spend at least 2 days per week in the office. They changed the access tokens to a new system, and it took me 8 months to get into the office to retrieve that new token. They even said they would be monitoring token usage. Whatever.

My manager is in another country and he works 99.99% remote. Our division's director also likes working remote. Nobody I report to has said a word. Not one.

Their silence is assent.

@jalefkowit

"You load sixteen tons, what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt."
--Merle Travis

Imagine anyone thinking they're entitled to own and profit from _everything_ you create during the hours your not wearing yourself out for them. Crazy.

I'm glad there were no consequences when you just "lost" that particular piece of paper.

@jalefkowit a long time ago at my wife's first job she told me one day she was feeling super burned out. Many of her colleagues had already left the company. She was straddled with a lot of their work. She was ready to quit, but as a new grad she needed the money. I coached her into telling her boss she's burned out and needed to switch to part-time or quit. They let her switch to a 20 hour/week schedule.

Salary was never negotiated. She was paid full-time on 20 hours a week for years.

@jalefkowit @fesshole a company I worked for insisted that I sign a document on my way out the door attesting that I’d deleted all data, etc. under threat of perjury if I hadn’t.

My question was “why would I sign this?” I had deleted all data. I had returned the laptop. But why would I sign a form that, at least in theory, put me at some legal risk when I was leaving the job? I wasn’t getting any incentive for that.

They kept pestering me about it. I ignored it. What were they going to do, fire me? I had already quit.

I’m sure a lot of people just sign. Eff that. There’s a bad enough power imbalance between employer and employee when you’re working for a company. I see no reason to give them a freebie.

@jalefkowit I had a job that required all staff to be a 20 minute drive (and hold a driving license) or 5 minute walk to the office, to handle emergency outages. And for new staff to visit client locations within their first month (and more specialised ones within their first six months).

I lived just under a 20 minute walk away, didn't have a license and never visited any client locations. But I was generally already in management's good graces because I looked smart in the interview and was well spoken so they decided I was A Good One, and nobody ever checked or gave me shit for it.

@jalefkowit I did an artshow (artfair type of thing) that the owners were already social media assholes. I needed the cash. They sent a contract with 8 simple points. 8. said: "We have the right to photograph or video you, and/or your work and use for any marketing in perpetuity."

They sent this as a pdf, asked me to send it back as a pdf. I altered 8 to read: "We expressly wave any and all rights to photograph or video you, and/or your work and we will never use any that or any similar material for any marketing in perpetuity."

They emailed back stating all looked good, see you in 2 months.

When the show began the walked around with a DJI camera and I asked them to stop when they got to my booth. There were a lot of people around, so they did not make much of a fuss. But one of them took me aside and said: "I'll be back where there are less people." I smiled and said: "You should read the contract."

I already knew it was invalid since they never gave me a signed copy from their end.

Social media "influencers" are the most insufferable kind of narcissists.

@jalefkowit
Whenever I enter a contract, I read the entire thing, word for word.

I write down the points needing clarification and the items I don't agree with.

I go through all the questions with the counterparty. I ask, "What does this mean? Is this line item necessary?"

If I don't get a satisfactory answer, I cross it out and initial it. This is especially effective when purchasing a used car.

I rarely get pushback. Don't assume you must sign THEIR version. Question everything.

@jalefkowit

Mike Rafi is lawyer is does YouTube shorts. He talks about going to rent a car and actually reading the liability form and crossing out any sections he doesn't agree with and then signing the form. It's perfectly legal, because if the rental place doesn't agree with the new liability form, they can just refuse to rent him a car. That's never happened.

@jalefkowit

I brought a ruler to meetings where I was to sign a contract they wrote (for services), and neatly crossed out and initialed paragraphs and terms I didn't like -- right in front of them while I explained.

I never lost a job, and nobody really cared other than raised eyebrows. The worst thing that happened was having to wait for the contract to be edited and re-printed.

A lawyer family-friend suggested this long ago and I assumed this is how things were done.

@jalefkowit

Definitely flip over that medical paperwork and read the fine print on the back to make sure you’re not authorizing them to use video of your care to train your colleagues and students (in a university medical system).

If it turns out I have a super educational situation to offer, sure, I might consider it. But a blanket release? Nah.

@jalefkowit
This.

When the company I worked for was bought out by a larger conglomerate, they made us all sign new employment contracts, and there was a clause that we couldn't go work directly for the client.

This was ridiculous since it's a government town and the biggest client. Leaving consultancy for a government job with pension was common.

So I crossed out the line, initialed it and handed it in. Never heard back.

Years later when I told my boss I was leaving for a government job, he tried to hold that over me.

I told him I think if you go look at my contract in the HR records you'll find that that clause was crossed out, and as no-one took me to task over it I consider it null and void.

He admitted defeat and shook my hand.

@jalefkowit - FWIW on multiple occasions (in the UK) I've just asked for that paragraph to be removed or re-written, and every time my request has been granted. Often there's a clause stating 'except where explicitly agreed by all parties', so you can just get a side letter saying 'everything' is excepted, or 'anything which doesn't harm the employers business or detract from my ability to do the work'. I'd never sign a contract with the paragraph in its original form. Basically my experience is that you can successfully negotiate the text of employment contracts.

Now I'm in a position to occasionally hire people I always make sure that the contract they get is one I'd personally be happy signing rather than just assuming the default text is okay.