Definitely true for me as well. In fact it happened once after a vacation.
Don’t want to add to a detour but I’ll mention that a daycare business, small or large, will have a contact phone number for any parent and use it verify any change to a pickup. Or they should anyway.
Not something that it should to matter in this story though. And it sounds to me like a feel good story. The OP’s wife stands up to a terrible boss, gets fired but ends up with a better job, and disentangles herself from the former and well to be rid of job.
Considering that I do this sort of thing a few times a week for people I support (which is around 150-ish people), I guarantee it happens constantly at any reasonably-sized organization.
Two things still bother me about this. First, asking her to use her own car, presumably not paying for gas, wear and tear, and conceivable, it unlikely, damages. Suppose the biked to work? I never used a car to go to my job, ever. In my first full-time job, I didn’t even have a car.
When my wife worked for the Ministry of Education, at one point she felt she needed to use a library. She was forbidden to do so because of insurance issues when she was off premise. In the end she did it on her own time.
My second point was the use of an office computer for personal email. It never occurred to me not to. In fact, even now, after getting on to 23 years of retirement, I still use that account for essentially all my email. Obviously, my employer knows I do that. I suppose that, in principal in IT could look at my email, although that seems unimaginable.
Anyway, FWIW, I agree with everyone here that she should give the codes and passwords (except her personal one) to the boss and be happy to be done with her.
The office computer for personal email is fine. Everyone does that but most of just logon to our Google account or whatever on a browser. You shouldn’t use your office email for personal stuff.
My employer doesn’t let me log into Gmail or Google docs on my office laptop. Too much of a risk someone might send data outside the corporate firewall. (The company email is scanned for things that look like social security numbers, and probably other stuff.)
That was a nuisance when i was doing an industry project jointly with a group of people, but we managed to move everything to some approved data-sharing platform.
When COVID struck and I started working from home, I bought all my own hardware. New satellite dish that I installed and paid for and pay for the monthly connection.
Also bought another set up so that I could work remotely as I take care of my mothers house (she passed and we are working on all this stuff, death is complicated). I’m going to buy another set up for my Wife so she can work from home a few days a week.
BUT of course I tunnel into our work systems. So the email is not mine. Nor are the passwords. Everyone knows this. I had the means and wherewithal to see what was coming with COVID and set myself up. Some of my coworkers are working at home on laptops. I can’t do that. Nor can my Wife.
Laptops are fine for fiddling around, but both my Wife and I need more screen space for our jobs.
All of this is, in the end, is saving me and my workplace money and time by not driving 50 miles a day.
Initially, work wanted me to be on their hardware at home. But since I have a great system, they kinda forgot about it. Fine for me, last thing I need to worry about is more hardware.
All passwords for the systems are available on an internal WIKI. They have to be tracked somewhere, what if someone gets hit by a bus?
Using company hardware to access Gmail or some other personal email application can be equally problematic. For instance, such emails may be subject to discovery if the employer is sued. Better to use your phone.
And use the data option, not connecting to the employer’s Wi-Fi.
That may apply, but I know my company has rules, requiring that I maintain a certain amount of liability insurance if,I drive my car on any company business.
The boss demanding child pickup is a bit startling - that’s a whole 'nother level of risk. What if she got into an accident and the child was injured ???
Starbucks is a stupid errand. This dimbo wanted to basically pay the wife for, say, a half hour of time, plus the cost of the beverage. She could get a, nice coffee, machine for the cost of 2-3, such trips. Problem solved. And the boss would likely have complained about regular duties not being completed on time!
Sounds like unemployment isn’t going to be an issue, but if she did need to file, that audit trail of message would be very helpful.
All in all, the new boss sounds like she has zero idea how to run a business and your wife is well shut of the place.
I’m having trouble with the concept of husband and wife switching phones for a week. I don’t have anything to hide and I don’t think my wife does either but c’mon. Email, texts, phone calls. For a week?
I don’t see it.
this is what jumped out to me, too. But then I wondered if it’s changed recently (because of Uber)
Most car insurance specifically says that you are not covered if you are carrying passengers for a salary. That makes you a chauffeur or a taxi driver, which used to require totally different policies from the insurance company.
But nowadays we have Uber, etc. What kind of insurance do they require?
It’s been a problem for years now with Uber drivers who get into an accident while driving for Uber and it’s discovered their car insurance is void for the incident due to that whole driving for pay thing.
Uber says the drivers are independent contractors and it’s on them to be properly insured. Not everyone driving knows that their regular car insurance might not cover them while Ubering. Getting proper coverage will, of course, cost a driver more, which makes earning a living driving an Uber more difficult.
There are two situations I can see here:
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The password is actually needed to be able to access the account. In that case, access to the account and access the password would seem to be the same thing.
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The password is not actually needed to be able to access the account–i.e. the password can be changed. In that case it would make more sense to change the password than to try and sue for it–no matter how much of a nuisance that would be.
Sure, any competently run department with competent software should never be in position 1. But unless the Courts were wiling to punish for bad security practices, I don’t think that would matter. If the company needs the password to access the account, then they need the password.
Also note that the OP’s case seems to be about an alarm. Depending on the type of alarm, I could see it being set up where you have to know the password to change the password. Though I could also see it being set up where they can call the manufacturer and get it reset.
A little off topic, but a laptop doesn’t restrict plugging in an external monitor. I use a docking station that allows up to three monitors and I have a giant 42” 8K monitor on my desk.
Yeah, I know. That may be the way things end up. I also went with a single 43" curved Samsung monitor. Gotta make sure you have a powerful graphics card for these guys.
The single monster monitor instead of two large ones does take some getting used to. But I like it.
I’ve not inserted myself into any conversations about this. I am in the IS department (GIS). But I don’t generally do hardware or networking stuff. She has a VM (Virtual Machine). I don’t, yet. Don’t care. I hook into my existing desktop at ‘work’ from my office is at home.
The single monster monitor instead of two large ones does take some getting used to. But I like it.
Only slightly true. Uber carries insurance that covers the car, driver, liability to others, and to the passenger while they are actually carrying a passenger. They also carry some insurance when the driver is cruising around looking for a gig, but that coverage is minimal. They don’t cover you at all when you are off-service, of course.
Back when i worked in the office full time, i had a laptop with a docking station. So i had a regular keyboard, mouse, and two monitors. Now that i work from home i use the same corporate laptop with a larger single external monitor, plus its own monitor and keyboard. I don’t get the disdain for laptops. They are just any old computer, except you can unplug them and do some work at the kitchen table or in the living room recliner when you don’t need a lot of screen real estate. (Such as during many meetings.)
Good point puzzlegal. I guess other than a serious graphics card, it doesn’t need that much processing power as that will all be handled by the remote computer.
Not sure how work is going to handle this. There are a number of ways to do it.
Well, in a general sense, yes her boss could ask her to go get a coffee or the kid - if there were no other employees in the office at all [receptionist, general file clerk] other than the freaking office manager. And oddly, as long as she went straight to do the errand, and then back to the office, if she were to have an accident [like the asshat behind her didn’t come to a full stop and whacked the tail of her car and did damage] in many jurisdictions your wife’s BOSS would be responsible for any damage to the vehicle as she was on an errand for her boss. If she stopped to get herself a mokachino half caff double decaffe late with a twist and got nailed, it would be frolic and detour and not covered under work errands and her boss would be off the hook [but the person that hit her would learn the definition of ‘subrogate’]
Best let actual lawyers who passed the bar in your state and do labor law for a living deal with it all. [but I think that she should do a formal snail mail with return reciept and the whole 9 yards so there is a record of her boss getting the passwords.]