Alan: Are we ready? Could you all
stop talking, please?
Erica: Shall I take minutes, Alan?
Alan: Yes please, Erica. Now,
management are extremely worried
about the large number of people
arriving late for work. They say that
something must be done about it
immediately. If not, they’ll need to
start thinking about drastic measures.
Anyway, as you may already have
heard, the only proposal they could
come up with so far was docking
people’s pay for persistent lateness,
which is what they introduced last
month.
Stan: Can I say something? They
really shouldn’t have docked people’s
pay just like that. They should
have issued a written warning first.
There are laws about disciplinary
procedures, and they have to follow
them.
Alan: Yes, I agree, but they can’t have
introduced a policy like that without
getting legal advice. They must have
found some loophole in the law. If
they didn’t give written warning, it’ll be
because they didn’t need to.
Stan: But don’t you think that
they ought to have tried to think of
incentives that would encourage staff
to come early, not penalize us for
lateness? There are plenty of options
I can think of. For example, the café
could have reduced prices for coffee
before 8.30!
Alan: That might be popular! Anyway,
that’s why we’re here today—to draw
up some alternative proposals.
Kristina: May I speak? It’s clear to me
that they ought to introduce flexitime.
If we were allowed to come in after
8.30, there’d be a huge decrease in
lateness—especially among mothers
of young kids. I bet all our male
managers don’t have to get their kids
up and off to school before coming
to work.
Alan: You may be right. Any other
suggestions?
Jackie: Could I make a suggestion?
I think we should have childcare
facilities on the premises. It’s really
helpful for families with preschool age
children. Most of us can’t afford
a nanny or a day-care centre.
Alan: So I think we agree that we
should be trying to come up with
ways to improve morale and increase
motivation at work. We shouldn’t
focus on punishing mistakes.
Kristina: I agree. There are loads
of things they could do to improve
morale. For example, they could
give us membership to the gym
downstairs, we could have sports
competitions. And what about stress
management courses during working
hours? Paid social evenings out
together? A team building weekend
away together?
Ron: A weekend away with
colleagues? You can’t be serious!
We might as well stay in the office
all weekend!
Jackie: OK, you needn’t be sarcastic.
Maybe that one might not be so
popular with everyone …
Alan: Thank you, Jackie. Lots of
useful suggestions there. Can we
have a show of hands for each one
to get an idea of the general feeling?
And before we go, would you all sign
Erica’s meeting attendance list?
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