Drastic and numerous changes to policies causing extreme stress

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surprisesudden

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Jurisdiction
Washington
My employer is making drastic changes to a number of policies. They also have created a new set of requirements that I must meet, which are all encompassing, having to do with personality traits, behavioral attributes, ways of thinking and working, performance, quality and quantity of work, etc. The are detailed and extensive.

The biggest issue is that the quality and quantity of work they are requiring is impossible to meet.
There just isn't enough time in the workday to do it all, in the way they want. Also, the weekly requirements overlap the daily requirements, in such a way that if you do the weekly requirement there is no way you could also complete the daily requirements every single day. Not only that, but the projects and requirements are often unclear and missing information, or require us to get in contact with a client, which delays the project, again making it not possible sometimes to get things done right away. However the other requirements state that none of those things matter and only the results matter.

Further, they are limiting the amount of time that we can spend on "internal tasks" ... we have 30 minutes maximum per day to do emails, speak with teammates, collaborate on ideas, deal with computer and software problems, technical complications, and so on.

The way we are to report our achievements is using a metrics software, and yet the way they are reported does not offer any transparency into the projects or what was done with our time, and does NOT show things like 'worked on a weekly project today which is why I didn't complete all of the required daily projects today'. In other words, all they see is failure and never see how much hard work we put in.

I am working as fast as possible and as hard as possible, taking actions and trying to get things solved and done, and trying to get the quality they want. I am literally skipping lunch and sometimes breaks to accomplish what they want. The stress is so bad that I'm getting nauseated, headaches, stomach aches, and also nearly having panic attacks.

That in addition to cutting my yearly PTO from 20 days to 6.5 days, and other changes too, is adding to the stress.

I just want to know, is everything legit here, and am I completely SOL? Or do I have any case that their requirements are unreasonable and all of these things are causing me excessive stress? I am assuming I'm just screwed but I thought maybe there was some case here.
 
Let me put it this way.

Nothing in what you have posted provides you with any legal recourse. You are free to start looking for another job where the employer is more reasonable and quit when you find one, but there's nothing in what you have posted that is violating any laws or protected rights.
 
You started two other threads on the same topic with similar issues. They have been deleted as duplicates. Please keep all of your employment issues to this thread so as to avoid parallel discussions. Thank you.
 
Agree nothing illegal unless you have a CBA that protects you...

And as I responded on one of the other posts, your accrual can decrease but you that should not affect what you have already earned unless your employer has a use it or lose it policy. In the end the employer is the one who s approves PTO usage so if they say it is only for sickness then that is generally their right unless your state has a law that I am unfamiliar with...
 
These are problems you will have to work out with the employer. They can change their policy whenever they like.
If policies are so unreasonable I would expect most employees to have the same complaints. Perhaps you can bring up the issue collectively.
 
adjusterjack said:
You started two other threads on the same topic with similar issues. They have been deleted as duplicates. Please keep all of your employment issues to this thread so as to avoid parallel discussions. Thank you.
Click to expand...

Sorry. I see what you mean. However some questions were different. I have no record of what I typed in the other threads, is there any way I can get that text back so I can at least put the "distinct" questions into this thread?
 
surprisesudden said:
Sorry. I see what you mean. However some questions were different. I have no record of what I typed in the other threads, is there any way I can get that text back so I can at least put the "distinct" questions into this thread?
Click to expand...


No, once its deleted by a mod or admin, its gone.

Take your time, I'm sure other questions will come to you.

Ask them when they do.

However, "cbg" and "hrforme" pretty much summed up your predicament.
 
Yeah what you all said is what I thought, but just wanted to make sure anyway. Still curious about these:

1. Regarding "mandatory signature documents" at work... is there a minimum amount of time legally that I must be given to review a document before their "deadline" for signature?

2. If there is a minimum review time, and they don't let me take it and try to strongarm me into signing, can I do anything?

3. Is it legal for them to fire me if I express concern and desire to negotiate or discuss the documented terms they want me to sign?

Thanks
 
1.) I hope you're not thinking that the signature means you are agreeing to the changes and that they can't enforce them until you sign, because that's not the case. Your signature is not your agreement that they can enforce the new policies; it's your acknowledgement that they are going to enforce the new policies. They can enforce them whether you sign or not.

2.) N/A

3.) Yes.
 
One of your other posts had to do specifically with the reduction of PTO. I looked up the laws for your state. Your employer MAY reduce your PTO.
 
In your state, yes, they can. That would not be true in all states, but it is in yours and, to be honest, quite a number of others.
 
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