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Comment by wobbleblob | Hacker News Reader

> the reaction is "You're fired!"

Is it really that bad? I'm not personally familiar with US office culture, but it seems like an exaggeration. Why would a boss throw away an otherwise functioning employee over something so minor? Why would someone choose to work under such a punitive regime?

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It depends where you work, but in some places, it can be. Employees in some industries have zero leverage over their employers; they're complete commodities, so if you do something that the boss doesn't like (whether it be get in late or question his judgment or spend time on Facebook during the workday), you're fired.

I've been lucky enough to never have such a boss, but then, I work in tech, where the supply & demand equation has been on the worker's side since I started my career.

Aren't there any employment laws surrounding this? I find it hard to believe someone can be sacked just like that, unless they do something really bad like assault someone, or a white collar crime or something.

>Aren't there any employment laws surrounding this?

Not in most US states: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At_will_employment

This is the US, most employment laws are about who cannot work and how to protect the employer. There is very little in the way of worker rights.

Never mind rights or leverage, do they care nothing about the working relationship with their employees? The work environment I'm used to is much more collective. If there is a screw-up, it's the team that screwed up, and we fix it together. If it's the same person who causes the team to screw up again and again, it would be a different matter, but when does firing someone over a mistake solve a problem? And if a colleague was let go because his PC started making pacman noises, most of the team would probably quit the same day. I can't even imagine it happening. More likely the boss would joke about it: "Hey, wobbleblob, it sounds like you're not very busy at he moment. In that case I have a nice chore for you"

I'm certain the "You're fired!" is an exaggeration. You would rarely get fired over something so minor here.

Firing is difficult here and is only done for the most severe offenses. You could be "laid off," but you'll never know exactly why, (as you could then sue for improper termination), but even then, that involves a lot of paperwork and he won't sign up for that instantly after hearing a noise.

I have had my supervisor give me talks about proper workplace conduct for these kinds of things though.

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