3 ms·

That's perhaps one way. Or assigning the employee no tasks at all, just an empty room with a desk and chair, and a requirement to be there during normal working

That's perhaps one way. Or assigning the employee no tasks at all, just an empty room with a desk and chair, and a requirement to be there during normal working hours. No sane person takes that for a longer time. Companies do have longish probation periods (say, 6-9 months) before the contract is final. Within this period either party can cancel the employment at will, with no notice period. This is meant to be the testing time during which both parties can confirm that they are happy with the deal.

majewsky 10y ago
I saw an article a year back or so about an administrative office in Germany that was dismantled. But because they couldn't fire the officers, they put them in a building with nothing to do until everyone quit voluntarily. The toughest made it about over a year. (Can't find the original article, sadly.)
sib 10y ago
In New York City, for example, unionized teachers sometimes end up in "Rubber Rooms" that are basically this. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reassignment_centers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reassignment_centers
vertex-four 10y ago
> Or assigning the employee no tasks at all, just an empty room with a desk and chair, and a requirement to be there during normal working hours. Note that this is legally Constructive Dismissal and is likely to wind you up in front of a tribunal.
- tomjen3 10y ago
  How? They are still getting paid.
  - vertex-four 10y ago
    Removing an employee's duties with negative effect to the employee with the intention of causing them to quit is constructive dismissal in at least the UK, and likely the rest of Europe as much of it has better labour laws than us. Demoting someone is generally OK provided that you have good reason and can provide reasonable evidence that the intention wasn't to cause the employee to leave. It's unlikely that you'd have any good evidence that sticking someone in a room with no duties is something your company actually wants to continue paying the person for.

majewsky 10y ago

I saw an article a year back or so about an administrative office in Germany that was dismantled. But because they couldn't fire the officers, they put them in a building with nothing to do until everyone quit voluntarily. The toughest made it about over a year. (Can't find the original article, sadly.)

sib 10y ago

In New York City, for example, unionized teachers sometimes end up in "Rubber Rooms" that are basically this. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reassignment_centers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reassignment_centers

vertex-four 10y ago

> Or assigning the employee no tasks at all, just an empty room with a desk and chair, and a requirement to be there during normal working hours. Note that this is legally Constructive Dismissal and is likely to wind you up in front of a tribunal.

tomjen3 10y ago
How? They are still getting paid.
- vertex-four 10y ago
  Removing an employee's duties with negative effect to the employee with the intention of causing them to quit is constructive dismissal in at least the UK, and likely the rest of Europe as much of it has better labour laws than us. Demoting someone is generally OK provided that you have good reason and can provide reasonable evidence that the intention wasn't to cause the employee to leave. It's unlikely that you'd have any good evidence that sticking someone in a room with no duties is something your company actually wants to continue paying the person for.