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> Employees who can work from home still must go into their “My RTO” portal, where they manage their sick time, and change their work-from-home status to “natur

> Employees who can work from home still must go into their “My RTO” portal, where they manage their sick time, and change their work-from-home status to “natural disaster” to not be penalized. This won’t subtract from their PSSL hours, though. So was this just headline bait? It's a sick day but not counted against you.

zephyreon 2y ago
I read this as they still need to WFH and just need to indicate they’re doing so in the portal so they aren’t penalized.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
Cyph0n 2y ago
Still very strange, no? Changing my WFH status wouldn’t be top of mind in a disaster situation.
- awsanswers 2y ago
  [flagged]
- tbrownaw 2y ago
  Is it really any more of an imposition than your employer wanting to be notified of you need to take bereavement leave or spend a few days in the hospital?
  - SamoyedFurFluff 2y ago
    If I’m in the hospital unexpectedly the last thing on my mind is logging into a “my RTO portal”, Jesus
    - boomboomsubban 2y ago
      Notifying your employer that you can't work is the most basic of things. Sure, if you're in the hospital with an emergency they'll hopefully forgive that you couldn't notify them, but if you're sick it's expected you tell somebody.
      - johnnyanmac 2y ago
        Disasters also burn down cell towers and other power outlets go off for safety. I haven't had power in nearly 24 hours and I fortunately haven't had to be evacuated. I can still access internet, but I'd be unable to if I lived even 10 miles south
        boomboomsubban 2y ago
        "I had no internet or power" is an emergency situation they'd hopefully be lenient about. People seem to be taking this aspect in the worst possible way, when it also functions as a way to let your coworkers know you're ok.
        johnnyanmac 2y ago
        Well, if I'm being a bit cold: I haven't has a coworker check up on me in 7 years. It's only a natural extreme to move towards after the rejection of the whole "we're a family" narrative off yester-decade. Not that I have strong feelings about that. But none of the companies I worked at have ever felt like I could trust having a job if I had to spend a few days in the hospital.
    - scarface_74 2y ago
      I wouldn’t log into a portal. But if I could, I would at least send my manager/team a Slack message.
  - marxisttemp 2y ago
    Not really. It’s around an equal level of evil, uncaring imposition.
  - johnnyanmac 2y ago
    If I have no power or worse, am in the hospital: yes. There's emotional factors with others, but you may not physically be able to access such contacts and portals.
turbojet1321 2y ago
That says if they can work, not if they can't.
- hexhu 2y ago
  That "my RTO" portal will automatically be updated to "on leave" status when on leave
itsdrewmiller 2y ago
That's if they are working, not if they need the time off.
lelandfe 2y ago
> TikTok’s LA staff are being asked to use their personal/sick days if they cannot work from home due to power or Wi-Fi outages, or if they’re under evacuation orders (unless their entire team has been given time off, which is not the case for many impacted by the fires). > Employees who can work from home still must go into their “My RTO” portal, where they manage their sick time, and change their work-from-home status to “natural disaster” to not be penalized. You're talking about the second paragraph here. This article's headline is talking about the first one.
- tbrownaw 2y ago
  The "being asked to use their personal/sick days" is the reporter's interpretation of having to go to the "My RTO" portal to set their status.
  - mitthrowaway2 2y ago
    Are you sure? It seems like staying home due to the wildfire uses up sick days if you cannot WFH, but if you can WFH then it does not use up sick days.
    - hexhu 2y ago
      They're essentially the same from what I heard. No one's expected to work and ppl can avoid using sick days by setting their status in that portal in advance
  - d1sxeyes 2y ago
    There are two points made, but the article makes it easy to conflate them. 1. If you are able to work from home, set the proper code to avoid losing PSSL days 2. If you aren’t able to work, you need to use a PSSL day. What’s not fully clear to me is whether the expectation is normally that you work on a PSSL day, as it seems to be the case that you get paid on those days whether you work or not.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
benatkin 2y ago
It’s a wash IMO. Both the actual situation and the article are unclear. The article probably should have been shorter with limited information but there’s pressure to make an article not be very short. The gist of it is that TikTok is at least somewhat hassling their already stressed employees which seems it needed to be said, but it’s unclear whether they’ll be charged these hours once things settle down.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
bryanrasmussen 2y ago
So to clarify the language - >The days the office is closed are being made Work From Home days as opposed to days off, however — unless an individual team leader decides otherwise. I would expect a good leader to decide otherwise, but who knows, maybe leaders deciding otherwise might get penalized. So that means you have to work from home. BUT if there are power outages / connectivity issues as there might be in a natural disaster they cannot work from home or if they are being evacuated then they cannot work from home, in these cases then they use their sick days. (but how - because they can't register those? Do they call in or something) But of course what is the main problem then is they have 10 sick days in the year and >This leaves them fewer days later in the year to use in case of an actual illness or other personal emergency, like staying home to care for a sick child... There is also some stuff about the manual not actually allowing anyone to use "natural disaster" as an excuse, but I guess that will be cleared up.
- tbrownaw 2y ago
  >> But of course what is the main problem then is they have 10 sick days in the year and >This leaves them fewer days later in the year to use in case of an actual illness or other personal emergency, like staying home to care for a sick child... << What was the usual allotment of sick days in the before times when regular wfh wasn't common? What's the current usual allotment for jobs that can't be done remotely?
  - scarface_74 2y ago
    Every company I worked for had 10 sick days. I’m on my 10th job I can’t remember ever coming close to using those. But I can’t imagine any company I have worked for being a stickler for my going over slightly. But besides Amazon and General Electric, I’ve always worked for small companies Funny enough, the company I work for now only gives us 9 sick days. But we have “unlimited” PTO. It’s weird that they do that they do that
  - bryanrasmussen 2y ago
    no idea as this is discussion of U.S, but there is also consideration of industry standards. From an IT perspective this is a big warning sign, don't work for this company! Of course maybe they pay double what others do in which case it would be worth it. But probably not.
benreesman 2y ago
Or they could just be like “anyone affected by the fires should know we are behind them completely with the full weight of the company behind them” pinned to the top of every internal page. Ya know, like leaders worth following.
- Ballas 2y ago
  > “anyone affected by the fires should know we are behind them completely with the full weight of the company behind them” Like a steam roller? Sorry, but that was the first picture that came to mind when I read that sentence.
  - benreesman 2y ago
    The best thing I ever saw in Silicon Valley was when I was a middle manager at glory days FB. An intern in his last week got smashed up by a car riding a bike and by this and that quirk I ended up playing a very minor role in passing the message up the chain. In under an hour Sheryl Sandberg not only knew but was directly involved in pledging all of Facebook’s resources to the medical care and the travel for the family and just everything. It was truly inspiring. The intern in question made a full recovery and everyone on the team saw that they could look forward all the time, trusting their leadership to watch their back.
    - d1sxeyes 2y ago
      An excellent example of why cars should never ride bikes.
      - benreesman 2y ago
        I can’t speak for the person in question but I strongly suspect they’d thank you for keeping it light. Well done friend.
        d1sxeyes 2y ago
        Yes, I perhaps would have passed on the joke if OP hadn’t clarified the ending of the story.
dbmnt 2y ago
Holy shit though, who thought this email (or Slack message or whatever) in the middle of an ongoing disaster was a good idea? This is the equivalent of asking you to make sure you file your TPS report. Honestly why do they give a shit about the knobs in the RTO portal? They can see if people are based in LA already. Benefit of the doubt, etc.
- marxisttemp 2y ago
  > why do they give a shit about the knobs in the RTO portal They don’t. They care about having legal cause to terminate employment, as is the style at the time
  - d1sxeyes 2y ago
    I think California is an at-will state, so you wouldn’t need cause to terminate.
    - scarface_74 2y ago
      Every state in the US is an at will state except for one.
      - d1sxeyes 2y ago
        Yes, I know, and in fact I checked before posting. I was using “I think” as a conversational affordance to give OP a less confrontational way in to disagreeing with me, if even in an at-will state, termination for cause is better for the employer for some reason (I couldn’t find one when searching, but it’s not an area I am knowledge about).
    - johnnyanmac 2y ago
      You don't. But they want to minimize avenues to get sued because people can and probably will file an wrongful termination lawsuit. I don't know the exact laws, but given California I would not be surprised if there's a "no, you cannot fire someone who's in the hospital over a state of emergency" clause. Similar to how you can't fire an employee to avoid workman's comp. Or worse, it's not there and they set precedent.
hexhu 2y ago
Right, these are additional paid sick days, just need to be manually claimed through the "My RTO" portal There's also no penalty for forgetting to update the portal in time, from what I have heard Update: and ppl can set their status in advance e.g. setting the whole January to "natural disaster" to avoid using personal paid sick leave Update 2: There's a separate announcement showing some support and asking everyone in LA to WFH, which is omitted in the article

zephyreon 2y ago

I read this as they still need to WFH and just need to indicate they’re doing so in the portal so they aren’t penalized.

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

Cyph0n 2y ago

Still very strange, no? Changing my WFH status wouldn’t be top of mind in a disaster situation.

awsanswers 2y ago
[flagged]
tbrownaw 2y ago
Is it really any more of an imposition than your employer wanting to be notified of you need to take bereavement leave or spend a few days in the hospital?
- SamoyedFurFluff 2y ago
  If I’m in the hospital unexpectedly the last thing on my mind is logging into a “my RTO portal”, Jesus
  - boomboomsubban 2y ago
    Notifying your employer that you can't work is the most basic of things. Sure, if you're in the hospital with an emergency they'll hopefully forgive that you couldn't notify them, but if you're sick it's expected you tell somebody.
    - johnnyanmac 2y ago
      Disasters also burn down cell towers and other power outlets go off for safety. I haven't had power in nearly 24 hours and I fortunately haven't had to be evacuated. I can still access internet, but I'd be unable to if I lived even 10 miles south
      - boomboomsubban 2y ago
        "I had no internet or power" is an emergency situation they'd hopefully be lenient about. People seem to be taking this aspect in the worst possible way, when it also functions as a way to let your coworkers know you're ok.
        johnnyanmac 2y ago
        Well, if I'm being a bit cold: I haven't has a coworker check up on me in 7 years. It's only a natural extreme to move towards after the rejection of the whole "we're a family" narrative off yester-decade. Not that I have strong feelings about that. But none of the companies I worked at have ever felt like I could trust having a job if I had to spend a few days in the hospital.
  - scarface_74 2y ago
    I wouldn’t log into a portal. But if I could, I would at least send my manager/team a Slack message.
- marxisttemp 2y ago
  Not really. It’s around an equal level of evil, uncaring imposition.
- johnnyanmac 2y ago
  If I have no power or worse, am in the hospital: yes. There's emotional factors with others, but you may not physically be able to access such contacts and portals.

turbojet1321 2y ago

That says if they can work, not if they can't.

hexhu 2y ago
That "my RTO" portal will automatically be updated to "on leave" status when on leave

itsdrewmiller 2y ago

That's if they are working, not if they need the time off.

lelandfe 2y ago

> TikTok’s LA staff are being asked to use their personal/sick days if they cannot work from home due to power or Wi-Fi outages, or if they’re under evacuation orders (unless their entire team has been given time off, which is not the case for many impacted by the fires). > Employees who can work from home still must go into their “My RTO” portal, where they manage their sick time, and change their work-from-home status to “natural disaster” to not be penalized. You're talking about the second paragraph here. This article's headline is talking about the first one.

tbrownaw 2y ago
The "being asked to use their personal/sick days" is the reporter's interpretation of having to go to the "My RTO" portal to set their status.
- mitthrowaway2 2y ago
  Are you sure? It seems like staying home due to the wildfire uses up sick days if you cannot WFH, but if you can WFH then it does not use up sick days.
  - hexhu 2y ago
    They're essentially the same from what I heard. No one's expected to work and ppl can avoid using sick days by setting their status in that portal in advance
- d1sxeyes 2y ago
  There are two points made, but the article makes it easy to conflate them. 1. If you are able to work from home, set the proper code to avoid losing PSSL days 2. If you aren’t able to work, you need to use a PSSL day. What’s not fully clear to me is whether the expectation is normally that you work on a PSSL day, as it seems to be the case that you get paid on those days whether you work or not.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

benatkin 2y ago

It’s a wash IMO. Both the actual situation and the article are unclear. The article probably should have been shorter with limited information but there’s pressure to make an article not be very short. The gist of it is that TikTok is at least somewhat hassling their already stressed employees which seems it needed to be said, but it’s unclear whether they’ll be charged these hours once things settle down.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

bryanrasmussen 2y ago

So to clarify the language - >The days the office is closed are being made Work From Home days as opposed to days off, however — unless an individual team leader decides otherwise. I would expect a good leader to decide otherwise, but who knows, maybe leaders deciding otherwise might get penalized. So that means you have to work from home. BUT if there are power outages / connectivity issues as there might be in a natural disaster they cannot work from home or if they are being evacuated then they cannot work from home, in these cases then they use their sick days. (but how - because they can't register those? Do they call in or something) But of course what is the main problem then is they have 10 sick days in the year and >This leaves them fewer days later in the year to use in case of an actual illness or other personal emergency, like staying home to care for a sick child... There is also some stuff about the manual not actually allowing anyone to use "natural disaster" as an excuse, but I guess that will be cleared up.

tbrownaw 2y ago
>> But of course what is the main problem then is they have 10 sick days in the year and >This leaves them fewer days later in the year to use in case of an actual illness or other personal emergency, like staying home to care for a sick child... << What was the usual allotment of sick days in the before times when regular wfh wasn't common? What's the current usual allotment for jobs that can't be done remotely?
- scarface_74 2y ago
  Every company I worked for had 10 sick days. I’m on my 10th job I can’t remember ever coming close to using those. But I can’t imagine any company I have worked for being a stickler for my going over slightly. But besides Amazon and General Electric, I’ve always worked for small companies Funny enough, the company I work for now only gives us 9 sick days. But we have “unlimited” PTO. It’s weird that they do that they do that
- bryanrasmussen 2y ago
  no idea as this is discussion of U.S, but there is also consideration of industry standards. From an IT perspective this is a big warning sign, don't work for this company! Of course maybe they pay double what others do in which case it would be worth it. But probably not.

benreesman 2y ago

Or they could just be like “anyone affected by the fires should know we are behind them completely with the full weight of the company behind them” pinned to the top of every internal page. Ya know, like leaders worth following.

Ballas 2y ago
> “anyone affected by the fires should know we are behind them completely with the full weight of the company behind them” Like a steam roller? Sorry, but that was the first picture that came to mind when I read that sentence.
- benreesman 2y ago
  The best thing I ever saw in Silicon Valley was when I was a middle manager at glory days FB. An intern in his last week got smashed up by a car riding a bike and by this and that quirk I ended up playing a very minor role in passing the message up the chain. In under an hour Sheryl Sandberg not only knew but was directly involved in pledging all of Facebook’s resources to the medical care and the travel for the family and just everything. It was truly inspiring. The intern in question made a full recovery and everyone on the team saw that they could look forward all the time, trusting their leadership to watch their back.
  - d1sxeyes 2y ago
    An excellent example of why cars should never ride bikes.
    - benreesman 2y ago
      I can’t speak for the person in question but I strongly suspect they’d thank you for keeping it light. Well done friend.
      - d1sxeyes 2y ago
        Yes, I perhaps would have passed on the joke if OP hadn’t clarified the ending of the story.

dbmnt 2y ago

Holy shit though, who thought this email (or Slack message or whatever) in the middle of an ongoing disaster was a good idea? This is the equivalent of asking you to make sure you file your TPS report. Honestly why do they give a shit about the knobs in the RTO portal? They can see if people are based in LA already. Benefit of the doubt, etc.

marxisttemp 2y ago
> why do they give a shit about the knobs in the RTO portal They don’t. They care about having legal cause to terminate employment, as is the style at the time
- d1sxeyes 2y ago
  I think California is an at-will state, so you wouldn’t need cause to terminate.
  - scarface_74 2y ago
    Every state in the US is an at will state except for one.
    - d1sxeyes 2y ago
      Yes, I know, and in fact I checked before posting. I was using “I think” as a conversational affordance to give OP a less confrontational way in to disagreeing with me, if even in an at-will state, termination for cause is better for the employer for some reason (I couldn’t find one when searching, but it’s not an area I am knowledge about).
  - johnnyanmac 2y ago
    You don't. But they want to minimize avenues to get sued because people can and probably will file an wrongful termination lawsuit. I don't know the exact laws, but given California I would not be surprised if there's a "no, you cannot fire someone who's in the hospital over a state of emergency" clause. Similar to how you can't fire an employee to avoid workman's comp. Or worse, it's not there and they set precedent.

hexhu 2y ago

Right, these are additional paid sick days, just need to be manually claimed through the "My RTO" portal There's also no penalty for forgetting to update the portal in time, from what I have heard Update: and ppl can set their status in advance e.g. setting the whole January to "natural disaster" to avoid using personal paid sick leave Update 2: There's a separate announcement showing some support and asking everyone in LA to WFH, which is omitted in the article