3 ms·

Are secret quotas common in other settings? I don't think I've ever been told about one, and I had a whole lot of other jobs before starting this career.

RexM 2y ago
Common or not, if the practice is bad why make the law specific to warehouse workers instead of making it a general law that applies to everyone?
- jxf 2y ago
  I think it's a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" thing. If you make the law sweeping, businesses will complain it's an infringement of big government. If you make the law targeted, businesses will complain they're being unfairly selective.
- akira2501 2y ago
  What other industries do you think would benefit from this? Warehouse work might be unique enough to be afforded unique protections. There a lot of dark patterns you can employ against your workers in those settings, creating orders that are hard to fulfill on time, arranging your warehouse in ways that reduce worker productivity or even safety. Since many warehouses are moving consumer items and often food items there does seem to be reason to consider them separately from other industries. They also have a separate labor union in many regions.
- kerkeslager 2y ago
  Linking my answer to another comment asking the same question: https://news.ycombinator.com/reply?id=40724535 https://news.ycombinator.com/reply?id=40724535
vdqtp3 2y ago
I'm not actually arguing that they existed for you, but if they did I wouldn't expect you to be told about secret quotas.
fallingknife 2y ago
Well you wouldn't have been told about the secret quota, would you? But let's say you're right that it isn't common outside of warehouses. Even in that case, why would you write a law only for warehouses? Let's say that there was a problem where cattle ranches were giving out beatings for underperforming workers. Would you fix this by writing a law that says "it is illegal for cattle ranches to beat employees" or would you just outlaw all beatings of all employees so that you won't have to revisit this when another industry decides to do it?
bpodgursky 2y ago
I really doubt there was a strict quota, more likely some kind of stack ranking.

RexM 2y ago

Common or not, if the practice is bad why make the law specific to warehouse workers instead of making it a general law that applies to everyone?

jxf 2y ago
I think it's a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" thing. If you make the law sweeping, businesses will complain it's an infringement of big government. If you make the law targeted, businesses will complain they're being unfairly selective.
akira2501 2y ago
What other industries do you think would benefit from this? Warehouse work might be unique enough to be afforded unique protections. There a lot of dark patterns you can employ against your workers in those settings, creating orders that are hard to fulfill on time, arranging your warehouse in ways that reduce worker productivity or even safety. Since many warehouses are moving consumer items and often food items there does seem to be reason to consider them separately from other industries. They also have a separate labor union in many regions.
kerkeslager 2y ago
Linking my answer to another comment asking the same question: https://news.ycombinator.com/reply?id=40724535 https://news.ycombinator.com/reply?id=40724535

vdqtp3 2y ago

I'm not actually arguing that they existed for you, but if they did I wouldn't expect you to be told about secret quotas.

fallingknife 2y ago

Well you wouldn't have been told about the secret quota, would you? But let's say you're right that it isn't common outside of warehouses. Even in that case, why would you write a law only for warehouses? Let's say that there was a problem where cattle ranches were giving out beatings for underperforming workers. Would you fix this by writing a law that says "it is illegal for cattle ranches to beat employees" or would you just outlaw all beatings of all employees so that you won't have to revisit this when another industry decides to do it?

bpodgursky 2y ago

I really doubt there was a strict quota, more likely some kind of stack ranking.