The partial government shutdown’s impact and the teachable moment – Part 3
Continuing with today’s story based on the Q&A entry from Ignacio today...I’ll address the specific concerns advanced by Ignacio.
You would fire an employee for calling in sick during a shutdown...
1. If your station had a shutdown you would continue to work but REALISTICALLY could not continue to work as you need to feed your family. Your wife would be the first one to have (to) find work with pay temporarily. (If a) BUSINESS OWNER terminated someone for not coming to work during my company shutdown the law suit would be immense.
I’m not interested in distracting from the bigger points by making this about me but since you’re challenging me on this topic... What happened in the 1980’s when air traffic controllers went on strike? Ronald Reagan fired 11,345 of them because they decided to place their own interests over those of the job they were tasked with doing. I’ve simply suggested a different version of a similar thing. Lying about illness to avoid coming to work for an extended period of time is similar to a strike. If someone lacks integrity to simply be honest, they could resign to find other work – that's the honorable way of facing adversity, how can we trust them to act in the best interests of taxpayers the rest of the time?
Specific to my situation... During times of significant adversity that require emergency broadcasts I work without additional compensation and in fact often lose money as advertising that I might be compensated for often doesn’t air. During those stretches I work 18 hours a day until traditional broadcasting resumes. That includes sleeping at the station, spending days away from my family and never earning a dime for the additional time spent working. You’ll never hear a peep out of me about it. I’m passionate about my work, it’s the right thing to do, and it’s the job I agreed to do.
Pertaining to your suggestion that a small business owner couldn’t terminate employment during a shutdown type of event. That’s incorrect, especially in Florida. You’re able to terminate employment with anyone at any time, provided that it’s not based on discrimination of a protected class.
Below is a link to continue with the fourth entry as part of this six part series: