Another one bites the dust

How often is it that if someone’s late consistently, meaning about once per week, that they’re fired? What about the job the person does when they are there? What happens if that person is known to take on projects, lead the entire way, and finish ahead of schedule? Does that overwrite the fact that he’s late? What if he’s covering for someone while sick, is working overtime, and falls asleep on the job? Does that mean he should get fired?
This happened today to my friend, Chad B. I personally recommended the guy to his boss and now he’s gone. This is the 2nd time this has happened. People have reasons they come in late. Maybe they should be moved to a later schedule so that they can actually get up and get to work. Maybe we should all ride public transportation to get to work on time. Maybe stupid supervisors who lie about their hours shouldn’t ask the person to cover for them because the idiot supervisor has to leave early for the Nth time, and hasn’t worked a full week in over 5 months.
I understand the reasoning behind why Chad was fired. I do think it’s bullshit since he was covering for someone, but I know that there was precedent behind it. Maybe it’s time that dickheads (read: management) understand that people don’t live to work – they work to live. Maybe it’s time to do what other companies have done which is to implement a flex schedule. You work the hours you want. As long as you get the job done, everything is fine. There are a number of companies who do this, BestBuy being one of them: http://www.benefitnews.com/work/detail.cfm?id=10159

Lessons learned: Do not cover for anyone else. Do not do your best for a company that expects that you should live to work. Do not go out without a fight.