Spike: You pissed in the Big Man's Chair? That's fantastic! Gunn: Spike, can you please turn off that warm fuzzy? Spike: What, the Lorne thing? Worn off. I just think that's bloody fabulous.

'Life of the Party'


Natter 64: Yes, we still need you  

Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.


megan walker - Aug 11, 2009 11:38:00 am PDT #3259 of 30001
"What kind of magical sunshine and lollipop world do you live in? Because you need to be medicated."-SFist

There may be exceptions, but for the most part, bosses expect to be able to get in touch with you whenever.

I would certainly hope if that actually were the case, they would pay for the phone.

Of course, my Big Boss doesn't even have a cell phone, so I'm pretty sure that will never become a requirement.


Daisy Jane - Aug 11, 2009 11:39:21 am PDT #3260 of 30001
"This bar smells like kerosene and stripper tears."

As a point of reference, how much does private health insurance cost per month if you're trying to get it on your own?

Depends.

Then the company needs to pay for the phone.

The company should pay for the phone. Mostly, from what I have seen though, boss gets frustrated-> work environment suffers -> when cuts have to be made, person who boss can't reach at a moment's notice is the first to go.


msbelle - Aug 11, 2009 11:41:10 am PDT #3261 of 30001
I remember the crazy days. 500 posts an hour. Nubmer! Natgbsb

StuntHusband - Is Freelancers Union available where you are? I admittedly am suggesting somethign I know little about. I just know that they offer health coverage options to freelancers.


Calli - Aug 11, 2009 11:42:29 am PDT #3262 of 30001
I must obey the inscrutable exhortations of my soul—Calvin and Hobbs

bosses expect to be able to get in touch with you whenever.

Luckily they only hold the management-level employees to this at my company. And they pay for their phones.


javachik - Aug 11, 2009 11:44:14 am PDT #3263 of 30001
Our wings are not tired.

Mostly, from what I have seen though, boss gets frustrated-> work environment suffers -> when cuts have to be made, person who boss can't reach at a moment's notice is the first to go.

Yup.

Even worse if you're freelance and can't get reached immediately. They'll simply call the next person on the list and you're SOL.

I've gotten so spoiled by texting. My cousin was here for the weekend, from Toronto, and has no texting plan. And we were constantly having to do BART pick-ups, etc, which required calling for any updates/changes that could have been handled with one word via text. I can't believe how quickly I've gotten used to texting and how much more I loathe making calls.


Jesse - Aug 11, 2009 11:45:04 am PDT #3264 of 30001
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.

I haven't yet had a boss who expected me to be able to deal with work stuff whenever. At least not regularly -- I think my current boss has reached out to me twice outside of working hours/days, and she's the first one to really do that. I guess I've been lucky.


msbelle - Aug 11, 2009 11:45:27 am PDT #3265 of 30001
I remember the crazy days. 500 posts an hour. Nubmer! Natgbsb

Current company pays for my BlackBerry. Previous company did not pay for my cell, but also did not use it often (but did require to have the number for work purposes). I would not work well in an environment that required 24/7 access and actually acted on that. It would take a lot of benefits to have me on call like that.


SuziQ - Aug 11, 2009 11:46:18 am PDT #3266 of 30001
Back tattoos of the mother is that you are absolutely right - Ame

My mom would have died long ago if she hadn't had fantastic retirement health coverage combined with her Medicare. She made the choice for palliative care and received fantastic treatment. It was HER choice, before hearing all the options from the doc.

I think I'm gonna step away for a while.


Trudy Booth - Aug 11, 2009 11:50:02 am PDT #3267 of 30001
Greece's financial crisis threatens to take down all of Western civilization - a civilization they themselves founded. A rather tragic irony - which is something they also invented. - Jon Stewart

I argue that, gee, it's nice for this ONE GUY to have the luck to have such a generous, employer paid (and government subsidized) insurance plan but what happens when his retirement health benefits run out? What if he hits his lifetime cap for coverage? He's not going to be able to get private insurance because he's got cancer. Oh, that's right, he'll shift to Medicaid! In the mean time, hundreds of thousands of children in this country end up in ER for their primary healthcare and have never seen a dentist, even though their parents work hard and pay taxes.

And I'm pretty sure he wouldn't be dead in Canada, England & France.


Sophia Brooks - Aug 11, 2009 11:50:20 am PDT #3268 of 30001
Cats to become a rabbit should gather immediately now here

I agree that bosses expect to be able to find you, but I think that in NYS if you are a non-exempt employee, they need to pay you for the time on the phone.