Commentary: The dark side of corporate perks, how some companies exert control over workers

EUGENE, Oregon: Companies offer all sorts of benefits and extras to attract the most favoured workers, from health care and stock options to free food. But all those perks come at a price: Your freedom.

For example, companies such as Facebook, Dropbox and LinkedIn have offered free food, but it’s not necessarily for employee well-being. It’s for the bottom line. And if your employer offers a gym, free dry cleaning or – heaven forbid – a nap pod, don’t assume it’s an act of charity.As former Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff observed, perks of this sort mean “that employees are expected to work very long hours and not leave the office too often".

Even signing bonuses – purportedly a rewarded for starting a job – are sometimes structured where you have to pay it back if you leave in the first year or two.But as I learned recently while researching a book about how companies – with some help from courts – exert control over workers, it gets a lot worse. It turns out there is a rich history of employer experimentation with benefits as a behaviour-modification device.

Not only would the prospect of eviction weigh heavily on workers’ decision to unionise, companies could use the vacated housing for strikebreakers. Ford also had an honour roll for employees with the best inspection scores, but even that status was precarious. According to company notations, one worker was booted off the roll for “selling real estate”. Another was dropped for being “drunk” and having a “Polish wedding”.Although few employers provide housing nowadays, workers still rely heavily on employers to provide another basic necessity: Health insurance.

Admittedly, no one interrogated my friends on whether my wedding was excessively “Polish”. But the questionnaire did ask, “How many servings of cookies, cakes, donuts, candy, soda or packets of sugar do you eat daily?”Another necessity of modern life is a cellphone – which college students apparently preferred to food in an experimental study involving “modest food deprivation”.

대한민국 최근 뉴스, 대한민국 헤드 라인

Similar News:다른 뉴스 소스에서 수집한 이와 유사한 뉴스 기사를 읽을 수도 있습니다.

More funding for companies that work with unions to prepare workers for transformation: DPM HengSINGAPORE - Technological advancements should help workers do their jobs better, not replace them, said Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat on Wednesday (May 1).. Read more at straitstimes.com.
출처: The Straits Times - 🏆 8. / 63 더 많은 것을 읽으십시오 »

More funds to help companies train workers, raise wages
출처: TODAYonline - 🏆 1. / 99 더 많은 것을 읽으십시오 »

NTUC is committed to helping workers, companies transformTHE National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) will be the 'mountain behind workers' in championing their wages, welfare and work prospects, secretary-general Ng Chee Meng said on Wednesday. Read more at The Business Times.
출처: BusinessTimes - 🏆 15. / 51 더 많은 것을 읽으십시오 »

Commentary: While the swine flu pounds China’s pork industry, meat eaters must stay calmSome estimates suggest almost four in 10 pigs in China may be culled by the time the country completes its purge of swine flu, says Tom McGregor.
출처: ChannelNewsAsia - 🏆 6. / 66 더 많은 것을 읽으십시오 »