"Seious failure to fulfill work requirements"

[LCMS_No_More]

What does the phrase in the topic title mean?

Does it mean goofing off on the internet at work while there is actual work to do or does it mean that, through not doing your job, your inaction causes potential trouble for your workplace, i.e., a legal requirement doesn’t get met or inconvenience/stress for others?

 

[JimG]

I think it means a serious falure to fulfill work requirements.

 

[jmcrae]

It means that the person didn’t follow his/her job description.

For example, the work requirements of a line cook would be:

Read order tickets as presented by wait staff.

Prepare food items listed on the order tickets, in the sequence presented, and such that all items on the same ticket are ready at the same time.

When food is ready, present it attractively in appropriate dishes, place the punched order ticket next to it, and signal the wait staff to pick it up and give it to the customer.

Other duties for a line cook could include: morning preparation of food items to make them ready to be cooked when ordered (for example, cut tomatoes into slices, peel and cut potatoes, peel shrimp, bread onion rings, etc.) and after-hours clean-up of the kitchen, maintenance and cleaning of the deep fryer, oven, stove, etc., and ordering/purchasing stuff for the next day.

“Not following work requirements” would mean that he was doing something else (including goofing off, gossiping, or interfering in other staff members’ work) instead of the above, and not getting his work done.

 

[BLB_Oregon]

It means that you couldn’t or didn’t do the work you were hired to do, for whatever reason…to the extent of failure, rather than doing it in a somewhat-less-than-satisfactory manner that needs improvement. These are the kind of words that pave the way for a pink slip.

What will “earn” this depends on your job and the specific terms of your employment. If you work as an emergency dispatcher, “just missing one call” could cost you your job. I don’t think that an employer has to prove that an employee caused trouble for anyone else in the company in order to fire them with cause. They only have to prove that the employee was paid to do a job and that, through their own choice, including the choice to misrepresent their abilities to their employer, they largely failed to do it.

 

[LCMS_No_More]

It means that the person didn’t follow his/her job description.

For example, the work requirements of a line cook would be:

Read order tickets as presented by wait staff.

Prepare food items listed on the order tickets, in the sequence presented, and such that all items on the same ticket are ready at the same time.

When food is ready, present it attractively in appropriate dishes, place the punched order ticket next to it, and signal the wait staff to pick it up and give it to the customer.

Other duties for a line cook could include: morning preparation of food items to make them ready to be cooked when ordered (for example, cut tomatoes into slices, peel and cut potatoes, peel shrimp, bread onion rings, etc.) and after-hours clean-up of the kitchen, maintenance and cleaning of the deep fryer, oven, stove, etc., and ordering/purchasing stuff for the next day.

“Not following work requirements” would mean that he was doing something else (including goofing off, gossiping, or interfering in other staff members’ work) instead of the above, and not getting his work done.

Perhaps I wasn’t clear. When does it become serious?

For example, an office worker who answers the phones, fulfills immediate requests from co-workers, etc. but also allows non-priority work to accumulate while surfing the web. That would be a failure to fullfil work requirements because of the other work that accumulates but would it be serious? Sometimes, it’s obvious, for exmpale, an important time-sensitive document doesn’t get mailed out or a co-worker is put in a bad position because of the failure to accomplish a particular task.

 

[BLB_Oregon]

Perhaps I wasn’t clear. When does it become serious?

For example, an office worker who answers the phones, fulfills immediate requests from co-workers, etc. but also allows non-priority work to accumulate while surfing the web. That would be a failure to fullfil work requirements because of the other work that accumulates but would it be serious? Sometimes, it’s obvious, for exmpale, an important time-sensitive document doesn’t get mailed out or a co-worker is put in a bad position because of the failure to accomplish a particular task.

That depends on who you work for. There are places that frown on surfing the web at work for any reason (except during breaks) when there is any work to be done, on the theory that they don’t pay you to surf the web and that no one knows when you’re going to be buried with so much other stuff that the “low priority work” sits and sits until it becomes urgent.

It is not just that slacking to surf could get you fired in and of itself. Its that many bosses know who slacks before the work is done and who doesn’t, even if they don’t choose to let on. When it comes time for lay-offs, they’ll remember that, when there are choices to be made.

I guess what I’m getting at is that while it takes some rather grave slacking to get something like “serious failure to fulfill work requirements” in a formal personnel file, it doesn’t take nearly so much to put it into the back of your supervisor’s mind.

Besides, you’re paid to work. If it is not your break time and there is work to be done, why wouldn’t you just do it?

 

[Al_Masetti]

It is my understanding that most companies monitor internet use.

They know who is goofing off and when.

Some may be tolerated to give people some relief. They may draw the line at porn.

But at some point, they may call an employee in, confront him or her with the record, take their company ID, give them a dismissal letter, and walk them out the door. No second chances.

The former employee may, in extreme cases, or if management wants to make an example of them, deny the ex-employee unemployment benefits.

If an employee is aware that some “minor” deadlines (mail pickup, for example) may have been missed because of their habitual personal use of the internet at work, then it might be a good idea to delete all the games and non-work bookmarks and remove all temptations. Turn over a new leaf. The change in internet use patterns will be noticed.

The same applies to excessive breaks at the water cooler, sports and dating discussions, personal use of the telephone, etc.

These changes can be made easier by making changes to general work habits … for example, by rearranging the cubicle, or throwing away 90% of personal clutter, to effectively create a persuasive internal mental image of a new job or a new workplace… essentially creating a new start.

 

[cynic]

Perhaps I wasn’t clear. When does it become serious?

For example, an office worker who answers the phones, fulfills immediate requests from co-workers, etc. but also allows non-priority work to accumulate while surfing the web. That would be a failure to fullfil work requirements because of the other work that accumulates but would it be serious? Sometimes, it’s obvious, for exmpale, an important time-sensitive document doesn’t get mailed out or a co-worker is put in a bad position because of the failure to accomplish a particular task.

on what planet are people paid to surf the net?

 

[kaygee]

It means “polish up your resume and seek other employment before you get fired”

It could be for any number of reasons ranging from:

You’re goofing off and not accomplishing the job for which you were hired.

to

Your supervisor has impossibly high expectations of your position, the work is not getting done and the supervisor is covering his/her behind and getting rid of you before his/her boss discovers that the department is not producing because the supervisor is is not doing his/her job well.

with all kind of gradations in between. . .

It’s not good.

Discuss this with the supervisor, and bring in human resources to clarify their expecations of the position. along with their suggestions on how to improve

while . . .

Polishing up your resume and making contacts so that you can move comfortably elsewhere quickly.

 

[jman507]

Just to throw out that line is vague. What it should mean should be stated by an employer and be reasonable for the given job. The employee should be able to fulfil them, unless there is some reasonable reason why they could not. If the employer doesn’t think job requirements are not being met, the employer should warn the employee, and give a chance for the employee to explain the situation. If the employee agrees to try to met the employer’s request, time should be given for the employee to do so. If work is unsatisfactory, the employer should be able to terminate the employee from the job.

The key is to make sure expectations are communicated, so it is not left vague.