Should Employees Be Paid While Slow Computers Boot?
The employees contend that installation of Windows Vista on aging hardware, plus the enforcement of some rather draconian security policies, result in machines that take somewhere between 15 and 30 minutes to complete. That's upwards of an hour lost per day, during which time the employees can't really do anything about it.
The companies contend, however, that those employees go take smoke breaks or head to the water cooler while their machines boot, meaning they're not getting any work done, anyway. Who is to blame? That is something the courts will decide, but it seems a wee bit crazy to give your employees slow hardware and then punish them for it! What do you think? [From: Electronista]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Perry said 12:08PM on 11-20-2008
If you want to get more work out of your workers upgrade your systems. It's not the employees fault the company is to cheap to upgrade. It's a no brainer.
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Coley said 12:23PM on 11-20-2008
Are you kidding me? Companies are now trying not to pay their employees for their own damn problem? If the companies kept up with technology it wouldn't take so damn long to get the computer booted up and warmed up for the day!!! So whose fault is it...certainly not the employee!!!!!! I get irritated when it takes that long for my computer to boot up...so what a wonderful way to start the day. The company doesn't want to pay for these old machines that take 15-30 minutes to load and as an employee I am already irritated because I came to work...not sit there waiting. What another wonderful way to treat your people!!! I am sure the CEOs and EXECs have the best and fastest machines and have NO problems. These are the dumb asses that got us into the trouble our country is in now...let's just rub more salt into the wound of those trying to make a living!!!!!!!!
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Neverminder said 12:30PM on 11-20-2008
Usually at the end of the day I restart the computer to have it ready to go next day.... but that's just me getting frustrated after 5 minutes waiting for it to happen! Sure they should pay!! It's like not paying anchormen during a pre-recorded interview or not paying a bus driver if nobody's on the bus.....
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Chad said 12:29PM on 11-20-2008
Yes
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B54Honey said 1:37PM on 11-20-2008
You're joking right? This isn't a serious issue in most companies is it? All I can say is - UNION!
Time is money - and MY TIME is just as valuable as theirs. Besides, how do you know most employees don't work on other things while the system is booting up.
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Lee said 1:59PM on 11-20-2008
This is an employer problem and should have nothing to do with the employee. Maybe they should train a custodian to come in early and clean and get the computers ready, or cut costs and have employees clean up work areas while computer is booting. If employees are instructed to stay busy while the computers are booting, they should be punished if they do not, but this should not be a court matter. Any employer that takes this to court should be banned from using technology. Let's see how AT&T gets by w/o computers.
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Pual said 9:00PM on 11-20-2008
UNION UNION UNIONIZE .. management is OUT of CONTROL.
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shell said 8:26PM on 12-09-2008
union is a joke I had union when I worked at Disney they did nothing we made crap wages and new employees were coming in at over 7 bucks an hour while we still were given 6.90 and when I complained and asked to be out of the Union they said I had to put it in writing and they still wanted to take dues out of my pay in the meantime that could be used to help feed my kids..I now work somewhere else non union make a few dollars more and have better medical and actual vaction time...
ABC123 said 6:06PM on 11-20-2008
A Wake on LAN script scheduled to run 30 minutes before the start of the workday would solve this problem.
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Chris said 7:50PM on 11-20-2008
At my job, we have brand new dual core, windows xp, top of the line pcs that are slow as dirt booting up. They take about a half-hour before they are of any use at all. At home, I have a Gateway that is almost 4 years old running windows vista home premium that takes about a minute to boot up and is ready to go. It should fall on the company because it is probably caused by lack of maintence or bloatware. I think the fix is just to always leave them on.
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DarkLight said 10:04PM on 11-23-2008
No, the fix is to be professional even if just for one week.
A good IT group, one that is actually professional (sadly, most aren't), should make a Linux-based system specially for you that meets all _your_ needs, is fully automated, needs little-to-no maintenance (wich can be given remotely), and as fast and productive as it gets, with zero bloatware, zero distractions, and best of all: No need for new hardware. Linux runs surprisingly well on very old machines...