Who MUST go to work tomorrow? Why? Curious

I wondered about this last week with the potential for a smaller snowfall, and wonder again today as we look ahead to a biggie tomorrow: Who absolutely must go to work on a day like we'll presumably endure tomorrow?

I can think of several emergency, care & other professions that are needed 24/7 or people who go to work because of the snow, of course, so I'm wondering about the rest of us. Whether it's our own decision or a boss insists, who is expected to leave the house for work and why? What is the snow threshold for permission to stay home.

I'm asking out of curiosity, not judgement.

I must go to work as a consultant to the MTA or I will be charged a vacation day.

Used to be the college where I work (FIT) would never call off classes for snow (well at least i the 20+ years I've worked there), presuming the subways were still working, and therefore student, staff and faculty could all go in. But, if I can't get to work due to transportation issues, then I'll cancel the class. I have a union protected job, fortunately. Half the students would also not show up (and if they did they'd just stare out the window ). These days, though, the college recognizes that not all of us take the subway to work, an I expect they'lll cancel soon.

The contract states that it must be fulfilled before midnight Tuesday- which many may not know is National Potato Chip Day.

I can't get into why it has to happen then but trust me- there is NO wiggle room here.

I know it seems iffy to take a job that it has to "go down" on a specific day, but it's not the first time this has happened. People have their reasons- sometimes they share them, sometimes not- but this level of bespokeness commands a hefty premium.

In a situation like the one tomorrow I've used the "bad generator venting" or "chimney got obstructed" method but this contract has a very specific method of fulfillment.

Related question- does anyone know where I can get a live rooster tomorrow? I was thinking about picking one up tonight to be safe but I need to be well rested and would prefer not keep the thing overnight. TIA.

we go through this every storm at my husbands work. They insist that people come in. Non-essential job and people can mostly do a decent days work from home on their laptops. They just like to be jerks. IMO, once it's a blizzard and the governor asks people to stay off the roads, that's it. You stay off the damn roads and let the crews and emergency personnel do their jobs.

Any job I have ever had always encouraged people to stay home. My first post-college job was daily rate work (assessing candidates over the phone) and even then I remember them being very nice about it and for the NYC residents that could make it in, you got double pay plus an extra vacation day to use later.

I use to go to work until we had that 27 inch storm a few years ago. Took me 2 1/2 hours to get in only to leave by 2pm to go home. Have a new vow if it is enough snow to plow I WFH.

I once pinched a nerve in my shoulder from shoveling trying to make it to work as it was "mandatory". The cost of co-pays from my chiropractor visits far exceeded what it would've cost to take an unpaid day. Never again. I wfh now or I don't go.

jim4284 said:

I use to go to work until we had that 27 inch storm a few years ago. Took me 2 1/2 hours to get in only to leave by 2pm to go home. Have a new vow if it is enough snow to plow I WFH.

Just got an email from my volunteer job telling me to stay home tomorrow.

All jitney service in Maplewood is cancelled tomorrow, so it'll be hard to get to the trains to commute in anyway (assuming they are running)

A previous employer used to leave it up to individual departments to have their own snowstorm policy. Then they realized this wasn't fair because some bosses were cool about it and some were jerks. So then they decided that you could stay home during a snowstorm but you would have to use a vacation day. The unintended consequence of this policy was many people would try to get into work even during unsafe conditions because they couldn't/wouldn't use a vacation day. Finally, the company decided to close the office when storms got bad enough and employees would not have to use vacation time.

I've worked in several large corporations. They tend to be very anal about safety because it costs a lot of money if people get injured on the job. The lack of foresight of some employers have regarding safety surprises me.

When I lived in Michigan & worked a business job (consulting & training), I was expected to drive to my job site even in bad snow. I understand that if Michigan shuts down for a little snow it would be shut down too much, but I had to go to work even if it was a 10-inch storm, and I had a lot of company on the roads.

I've been in NJ almost 13 years now and have lost all my Michigan Macho where snow is concerned. My motto is, "If it's snowin', I ain't goin'!"

Now I'm a boss, and I tell our people to stay safe no matter what. Stay home if you don't feel good going out, no matter the amount of snow or whatever. Part of my job is to run a soup kitchen & drop in center in downtown Newark - important, but not absolutely essential. Two of our workers live in the building where this takes place and another may sleep there tonight, so they may decide to be open if it can be safe to get people inside. They are empowered to make that call. I'm sleeping in and working the other parts of my job from home.

My husband doesn't have to work tomorrow, but only because it is his scheduled day off. If he were scheduled then he would be expected to come in. He works in EMS.

I have to say that my employer has been quite good in recent years about closing the office. We're expected to work from home of course, but they're very liberal about the conditions for which they tell us to stay home. Didn't used to be that way, and I remember driving to work after more than a foot of snow some years ago.

Years ago my cousin's friend worked as a manager at a video store (yeah, it was that long ago). He was scheduled to come in on a day of a blizzard. The roads were bad, and people were being advised to stay home. His boss didn't care, the store HAD to be open, they were expecting a rush because people would be home with the kids and bored, so they might rent movies. Against his better judgement he went in, and got into an accident on the way there. He wasn't injured, but he had had enough. He finished his shift and then called his boss to give his two weeks notice.

TV news, so always staffed regardless of weather. Manager likes to tell the story of an announcement made for all non-essential personnel to leave due to an approaching storm years ago. He and a colleague went out to smoke by the front entrance, and the first guy out the door was forever dubbed the Non-Essential Bob Smith.

my husband can easily work from home sadly. I'm glad he doesn't have to go in, but kinda wish the offices would lose power so he can't connect to them. since its a global company, people won't get why he isn't there.

I work in a Rutgers call center where the lines are staffed 24/7 and someone has to be there to answer. There's a line for the military that takes calls at all times from around the globe, and another is a suicide prevention line, also taking calls at all times. Of course, only "essential" employees have to report - but some people have to get into work.

Jackson_Fusion said:

The contract states that it must be fulfilled before midnight Tuesday- which many may not know is National Potato Chip Day.

I can't get into why it has to happen then but trust me- there is NO wiggle room here.

I know it seems iffy to take a job that it has to "go down" on a specific day, but it's not the first time this has happened. People have their reasons- sometimes they share them, sometimes not- but this level of bespokeness commands a hefty premium.

In a situation like the one tomorrow I've used the "bad generator venting" or "chimney got obstructed" method but this contract has a very specific method of fulfillment.

Related question- does anyone know where I can get a live rooster tomorrow? I was thinking about picking one up tonight to be safe but I need to be well rested and would prefer not keep the thing overnight. TIA.

I used to be in the same line of work; but decided, finally, that working to deadlines I didn't understand, just wasn't worth the killer hours.

With regard to the rooster problem: I have four in the garage that I'll be using in the next week. If you'd like one for a job that has to be done on the morrow; you're welcome to it. But it has to be replaced by Thursday morning; if you get my drift.

All-in-all, I'm a bit surprised that you took a job that had an execution date on National Potato Chip day.

It was only a few years ago that you reminded me...

"But, you're a potato".

TomR