There was an experimental prison long ago, that basically put inmates in a fishbowl. No privacy ever. Constant eyes on them. Prisoners went literally, clinically insane. The experiment was deemed inhumane cruel and unusual punishment, and the concept was abandoned. Yet this is exactly the same thing as the “open office” concept that companies use and abuse, but no one seems to call for an end to, as cruel and inhumane. So I guess 21st century office workers aren’t valued as human beings in the same way that prisoners were in the last century.

This is already unethical or illegal in most developed countries.

There is one obvious solution. Universal Healthcare.

Not paying enough for the cost of living in the location of the office. No one should be paid minimum wage if they work in the San Francisco Bay Area, New York City, Boston, Los Angeles, etc, where rent alone is two or three times the entire monthly gross—-not net—-pay from a full time minimum wage job. Hell, no one shou,d be laid minimum wage anywhere, as areas with a low cost of living also pay a ridiculously low minimum wage amount that still isn’t enough to pay rent., much less bills and groceries.

This is in fact illegal already in most of the civilised world. USA is lagging behind badly in this matter. That said, I hope, that one day, a new Congress will arise, and lobbyists will be cut off, and there will be new laws, good for the people not for corporations.

This is so true. I had a sales job where we were busy from 6:30-1:30 M-Sa. We had to stay until 3:30. There were no sales to be had, but the owner paced around like a caged cat. It was the most stressful part of the day. That's what I get for going salaried. I used to just leave at 1:30 when I was hourly.

Or you’re “rewarded” by sudden write ups and bad employee reviews, in an effort to get rid of you, since you’re older and at the top of the pay scale, and replace you with someone younger and cheaper. All that experience and knowledge thrown away to save a couple bucks—-stolen money which is then transferred to the CEI’s offshore account, of course—-and the company’s customers suffer for it. They forget that old people also have bills to pay, and trying to find a new job when you’re older is f*****g impossible.

Lorry/truck drivers, bys drivers, pilots, are all held to strict laws re driving hours due to tiredness being a potential danger to life. Anyone in medical care should he held to the same laws... tiredness can kill!

There's no law stopping people sharing their income with their colleagues.

Again also illegal to not have good paternal leave on many places.

I would have thought that these would be illegal, even in the least civilized country in the world!

In the UK this is classed as " Constructive Unfair Dismissal " and is illegal.

This is one step away from slavery. The slavery mindset is prevalent in the USA. What a sad country it has become. Americans deserve much better.

Again, not legal now in the USA unless it is specified in a work contract you signed. It sounds like a lot of folks do not understand the labor laws relating to salary and exempt / non exempt. I used to be one of them.

...and the bosses are angry when you have to leave at a specific time to get to your second job.

Those unoccupied office buildings could easily be converted into living space—-AFFORDABLE living space—-for people who aren’t making six or seven figure yearly salaries, actually people making under $50,000.00 a year, especially in areas of unnecessarily sky high rents and vastly overpriced, artificially inflated, house purchase prices. No need to cut down trees, or break new ground to disturb existing green spaces. Just take unoccupied, perfectly sound, existing construction and convert it, ffs.

That's one step away from slavery.

Especially when those jobs DO NOT actually require all that experience, education, or training. If they’re paying an ENTRY LEVEL salary, then the job shouldn’t have anything but the most basic requirements. That’s mostly being new to the field and/or a recent graduate from college, preferably in that major, or a related one. Because an entry level job is where you’re supposed to get the training and experience for a mid-level job in the field, or in a related field. If an employer wants mid- or upper-level qualified employees, they should f*****g well PAY mid- or upper-level salaries for them. M***********s.

This is illegal in Europe. On the job training? You get paid.

Needs context. Depends on the job / situation. For example one I have worked is oil refinery turn arounds. They hire a bunch of extra people when they shut down so they can get the work done quickly and get the plant back up in a few weeks. So - massive hiring / massive layoffs - but is isn't any surprise - you know that going in. Work long hours, get good pay - bail. Similar for some farming jobs in my area at harvest time. But again - it's not a secret.

Don’t forget that infinite amount of work is ALL a dire emergency that needs to be fixed and completed ten minutes ago! Because it was originally assigned to THEM to do, and they sat on it until the deadline was almost up. So they pass it to their employees to do for them ASAP, so they can put their name in it, hand it to their boss, and take all the credit—-and of course the raise, bonus, and promotion—-for it.

Maine is doing it right. If you drug test people here and disqualify them for cannabis use they are NO LONGER ALLOWED TO DO BUSINESS HERE. We mean that freedom stuff here.

This is unneeded with proper maternity leave.

My answer to clients who ask me this: "Freelance doesn't mean free".

Already illegal in civilized countries. Disability discrimination is extremely serious.

But there is ALWAYS some other task they can 'find' for you to do.

Good luck with that. I doubt you can find a time in human history that didn't have folks hiring friends and relatives.

I am single and I am retired now but when I was working I calculated that from the time I got up for work and the time I got home and able to relax it was about 11 half hours.

I worked at Quality Name Plate in Glastonbury, CT a long time ago. The owner said he would close the shop if OSHA ever tried to inspect the place. There was one room that had open vats of nasty solvent with almost no ventilation. We had a degreasing station that was full of trichlorethylene. One day I came back from lunch to see the air in the metal warehouse filled with yellow paint because the exhaust fans in the paint room failed. The older people were dropping like flies. I was only there for 6 months and 2 guys who had been there for 20 years died from heart attacks. No regrets about quitting that place.