Anybody's employer frowning upon weekend gatherings? I'm curious what an employer could do if they find out an employee had been participating in what Covid 19 has deemed "risky behavior"? Ie gatherings of friends, funerals, etc.

Is this a hypothetical or did your employer actually ask this?

I may or may not have been tagged on FB at a gathering of friends. I was then told the next day to "be careful what I'm tagged in on FB" by someone in an authority position as a heads up.

The person in the position of authority should be careful what they say. Ask for their policy in writing.

Enviroag02 said:

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I may or may not have been tagged on FB at a gathering of friends. I was then told the next day to "be careful what I'm tagged in on FB" by someone in an authority position as a heads up.

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You should already have the tagging option be something that you need to approve. Just turn on that feature in FB.

Enviroag02 said:

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I may or may not have been tagged on FB at a gathering of friends. I was then told the next day to "be careful what I'm tagged in on FB" by someone in an authority position as a heads up.

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I'm not a FB expert but doesn't it only inform people you are friends with about being tagged in a post? If so, I would highly recommend never friending anyone at work (unfriend them) or that know people you work with.

Tagged means you were at the event and the post will added to your timeline

I told my boss that my catching Covid would be the only way I was getting a day off...so bring it on. He was not amused.

A guy at work took paternity leave, but ditched his wife and child to go on a bro vacation and documented the whole thing on Facebook.

I'll just say.... it wasn't a good look.

I understand what you are saying, but it is blathered all over this board all the time. Texas is an at will state. Unless they are idiots in the firing process, you can just wake up and be gone one day with extremely limited recourse.

It's better and easier to just keep yourself a bit more private.

I think I would go the opposite way and would consider letting an employee go if they showed up to work in a submission mask.

Take the message from boss as a friendly warning / word of caution.

We had an employee party over a weekend. Then found out they came into close contact with COVID-19 positive individual at the party and subsequently tested positive. Was at work five days before exposure was identified. Lead to work site closure, everyone being tested, and employee now "enjoying" the CARES act 14 day sick leave.

Despite not legally doing anything wrong and no one in management saying who caught the COVID, the employee has already been named and shamed through the grape vine (probably FB) and likely days are numbered due to affect on workplace relations, i.e everyone is pissed at the employee and no one want's them back on the job site including our client.

Moral of the story is doing unsafe things outside of work, it may still result in a negative impact on employement.

Also in this day in age of cancel culture, we all should know the risk that our activities being captured on soical media can have on our employment.

As an employer/owner of an operation my duty is to be able to continue operations and to protect my employees. I have asked employees to be careful on weekend, avoid large gatherings and take precautions.

If that means I am stepping over some arbitrary line then so be it, I take protecting the health of all employees as a great responsibility.

Lol at the "bosses" who think their job is to be work daddy.

Trying to protect other workers and possibly even the ongoing operation of a business is a "work daddy"?

I really don't understand the thought process of some people. I feel like they are being intentionally obtuse.

expresswrittenconsent said:

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Lol at the "bosses" who think their job is to be work daddy.

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I had one worker test positive for the virus. Caused us to shut down for 2 days and hold out 5 workers for 2 weeks, so laugh at me being a "work daddy" if you want, I won't be hiring you anyway.

just talked to a friend who's office opened back up two week ago - and now they are all home again because 5 people tested positive.

It's amazing that people think their own actions don't have possible ramifications beyond just themselves.

Guess what, its going to keep spreading. I find it amazing that people think they are going to stop this spread, and surprised to find out that its still spreading. Work stoppage for positives will continue to happen until heard immunity is reached. And we are doing a damn good job of dragging this out. Why are people surprised its still spreading?

Had a customer that had something that ran through their shop in February with 2 people getting sick out of 10. They sent off 5 people to get antibody tested and 3 came back positive. Never shut down and now operating as normal.

HowdyTexasAggies said:

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Guess what, its going to keep spreading. I find it amazing that people think they are going to stop this spread, and surprised to find out that its still spreading. Work stoppage for positives will continue to happen until heard immunity is reached. And we are doing a damn good job of dragging this out. Why are people surprised its still spreading?

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Karens, Karens everywhere! They can't wait to spread some gossip at work.

I don't mix the office crowd with my personal life anymore. Too much downside risk, and image is key in a professional environment.

If employers are going to shame you and possible fire you for being out and catching covid. Why should an employee be honest with their employer if they catch covid?

HowdyTexasAggies said:

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Guess what, its going to keep spreading. I find it amazing that people think they are going to stop this spread, and surprised to find out that its still spreading. Work stoppage for positives will continue to happen until heard immunity is reached. And we are doing a damn good job of dragging this out. Why are people surprised its still spreading?

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Don't tell that to the list of countries that have minimized or virtually eliminated spread

Wait, people are social media friends with co workers and bosses? Back when I had social media, that was always a no in my book.

Could you list those countries your talking about?

terradactylexpress said:

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HowdyTexasAggies said:

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Guess what, its going to keep spreading. I find it amazing that people think they are going to stop this spread, and surprised to find out that its still spreading. Work stoppage for positives will continue to happen until heard immunity is reached. And we are doing a damn good job of dragging this out. Why are people surprised its still spreading?

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Don't tell that to the list of countries that have minimized or virtually eliminated spread

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You do know they're hardly testing, right?

What if said employee has already been working from home for 3.5 months with no projected end, so the "going into the office" part is out of the equation?

This just in.....employer notified us that if we engage in risky behavior outside of work, we may be "asked" to use 14 days of PTO....even for those already working from home.

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The person in the position of authority should be careful what they say. Ask for their policy in writing.

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Technically correct but a good way to escalate things. How much do you value "being in the right"?

I'm reminded of one time I was out mountain biking. Came across a brush fire. As I was getting my phone out to call 911, a firefighter ran out of the woods and towards the fire. They had it well in hand. My next thought was that it's a lot easier to prove to the authorities that you had nothing to do with this if they don't know you were there. So I turned around and made record time home.

Nothing wrong with friending people at work, just know who sees that account. Of course I'm now over 40 with a child, so I don't do anything anyone would want to tag anyway.

Can I ask the obvious? What recourse do you have if your employer fires you for what they see you do on the weekends? Does Texas have protections against wrongful terminations and does your situation fall underneath those protections? Every time this is addressed on other forums, the answer has been in Texas you can be fired for anything for pretty much any reason other than discrimination against protected classes.

Really none - if an employer doesn't like the way an employee is representing their company that employee can be terminated (as long as it is not for certain discriminatory reasons).

Enviroag02 said:

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This just in.....employer notified us that if we engage in risky behavior outside of work, we may be "asked" to use 14 days of PTO....even for those already working from home.

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well of course that's just silly.

In this day and age, you have to assume that anything you post or do online or posted by others that include you will be seen by your employers. And unfortunately, with the employment laws that Texas follows, you could sneeze the wrong way and an employer could decide you are no longer the right fit for their company.

Just the world we live in.