Highlight for You

I am employed by a company with the highest micro-management I have ever seen. We clock in using pictured identification cards, so at the beginning of each week, we verify and sign our hours worked on a print-out. Well, someone with nothing better to do goes through and highlights discrepancies with our time. Now, the kicker is what they consider a discrepancy. If you are scheduled to be at work for 8:00 am, you will get highlighted for clocking in at 8:01 am. If you are scheduled to get off at 5:00 pm, you will get highlighted for clocking out at 4:59:57. YES! Is this not absolutely ridiculous? (It doesn't matter if you try to make up time in the afternoon, you only get recognized for the bad.) Also, lunch breaks are also calculated to the minute. We have a 15-minute rounding window, but we still get highlighted. Just so we know to be on time. They must not know who I am.

I understand that companies want to cut their costs as much as possible. Hell, I try to do that at home. If it causes extra work, to me, it is worth the price. We recycle weigh-paper that we weigh out our samples on, which compromises our results. We recycle disposable pipettes, which compromises results. We recycle GLOVES, which compromises our health and is a major OSHA violation. We use cheap paper filters instead of glass, which is cheaper, but 10 extra steps have to be taken. I could go on an on...

OH...and any thoughts of a 90-day evaluation should go out the door. Even an evaluation after a year is unheard of. Who needs a merit raise?