Covid-19 Hypocrisy.

[james60059]

My better half's son-in-law has refused to go back to work, even though his place reopened last Monday. He say's that it's unsafe as he will be in an office with one other person. The company in question has invested in PPE and clear screens as to separate them but needless to say he isn't having any of it.

Now, the one other person is one of his closest friends who, up until lockdown started, was a regular drinking buddy, plus he is now on about wanting to go on holiday to Singapore before the year is out (assuming everything is back to normal) with my better half's daughter. So he's basically happy to go into a park or on a plane with potentially hundreds of other people, but not share an office with one of his closest friends.

If I was his boss, I would post his P45, after all it's too dangerous to come in and pick it up right, or am I just being brutal?

I think this pandemic has caused a fair bit of hypocrisy amongst people, has anyone else experienced, or know of anyone who is being hypocritical in the current situation, obviously no names or anything.

 

[superjohn]

I think a lot of it is confusion rather than hypocrisy. The government has done a really bad job of explaining the reasons for social distancing. People often question why they can mix with strangers in the supermarket but not with their own relatives. Throw in social media exaggeration and scaremongering and it is easy to see why some people are overly cautious.

Just last week a work colleague of mine claimed that if you come within 1m of a person with Covid 19 you are guaranteed to get it. This was from a smart but, crucially, young guy. How old is the guy mentioned in the first post? The young are seem more prone to being influenced by what they read/hear without judging it for themselves.

 

[thejuggler]

The advice is still to work from home if possible.

I don't expect to go and work in an office until next year.

 

[yorksrob]

It might not be a job that can be done from home - but if it can, it should be done.

Personally, an office with two people, with some elements of physical separation is an element of risk I could live with.

It seems strange not to accept that situation, but to accept the seemingly more crowded flight.

But then again, if one must take risks, I would rather take them enjoying myself than working !

 

[Fawkes Cat]

I don't think it's necessarily hypocrisy: it might be muddled thinking, or it might be that he has better information than you do.

Muddled thinking: what are the comparative risks of work today against going to Singapore later this year? I suspect he is over-estimating the risk for today, and under-estimating it for tomorrow.


Better information: how large, well-ventilated etc is the office he is meant to be in? Does his best friend/work colleague live (in Covid-19 terms) a particularly high-risk lifestyle? Does he know that travel later this year to Singapore is guaranteed to be safe (and if so, would he like to share that information with the rest of us?)?

It doesn't need hypocrisy to come to decisions that seem inconsistent to someone else.

 

[Jayden99]

People are scared as well, the early government advice has people terrified to leave the house right now and they've done an awful job of trying to explain why some restrictions have been relaxed

 

[Huntergreed]

And this is when we start to see the problems caused by the overly aggressive messaging of the lockdown.

A large majority of the public have massively over perceived the risk of them catching the virus, to the point where some are genuinely convinced that if they go within 1.99m of another living soul they may as well drop dead. It only takes a scroll down facebook comments to see the army of 'I'm not going back to work/sending my kids back to school until a vaccine' people, and whilst of course we need to be wary as a society to not overwhelm the health board as we open the gates up once again, the government and media have pushed far, far too hard for the short term success of the lockdown without realistically considering the economic and social implications of this in the long term.

In my opinion we need to change the messaging as soon as possible, from 'stay away from the big scary virus that will kill you' to something far more sensible such as 'we need to work together to get the country moving again whilst being safe enough to not overwhelm the NHS'. The lockdown was significantly more successful than the government ever envisaged and, unless we change soon, the damage that could be done to the economy from this overtly aggressive messaging could be equal if not greater than the damage caused by letting the virus spread.

 

[yorkie]

My better half's son-in-law has refused to go back to work, even though his place reopened last Monday. He say's that it's unsafe as he will be in an office with one other person. The company in question has invested in PPE and clear screens as to separate them but needless to say he isn't having any of it.

Now, the one other person is one of his closest friends who, up until lockdown started, was a regular drinking buddy, plus he is now on about wanting to go on holiday to Singapore before the year is out (assuming everything is back to normal) with my better half's daughter. So he's basically happy to go into a park or on a plane with potentially hundreds of other people, but not share an office with one of his closest friends.

If I was his boss, I would post his P45, after all it's too dangerous to come in and pick it up right, or am I just being brutal?

I think this pandemic has caused a fair bit of hypocrisy amongst people, has anyone else experienced, or know of anyone who is being hypocritical in the current situation, obviously no names or anything.

He should resign; there will be plenty of people wanting a job who will be more deserving.

And this is when we start to see the problems caused by the overly aggressive messaging of the lockdown....

Absolutely.

People are scared as well, the early government advice has people terrified to leave the house right now...

Indeed; some people are not being rational or pragmatic at all.

 

[Darandio]

A thread about Covid-19 hypocrisy and Dominic Cummings hasn't got a mention yet?

 

[ComUtoR]

My better half's son-in-law has refused to go back to work, even though his place reopened last Monday. He say's that it's unsafe as he will be in an office with one other person. The company in question has invested in PPE and clear screens as to separate them but needless to say he isn't having any of it.

As he is the one that works there; he is best placed to determine if it is safe to return or not.

Now, the one other person is one of his closest friends who, up until lockdown started, was a regular drinking buddy, plus he is now on about wanting to go on holiday to Singapore before the year is out (assuming everything is back to normal) with my better half's daughter. So he's basically happy to go into a park or on a plane with potentially hundreds of other people, but not share an office with one of his closest friends.

Plenty of people are still planning holidays for AFTER the lockdown. There is a clear difference between going back to work tomorrow and going to Singapore in December.

If I was his boss, I would post his P45, after all it's too dangerous to come in and pick it up right, or am I just being brutal?

Potentially you could find yourself in front of an employment tribunal. You would also find yourself down 1 employee which would have an impact on the company. With almost no possibility to currently recruit.

I think this pandemic has caused a fair bit of hypocrisy amongst people, has anyone else experienced, or know of anyone who is being hypocritical in the current situation, obviously no names or anything.

I am currently breaking social distance measures at work but stringently applying them at home.

 

[scotrail158713]

A thread about Covid-19 hypocrisy and Dominic Cummings hasn't got a mention yet?

To be honest when I saw the title, that’s what I thought this thread was going to be about.

 

[Carlisle]

But then again, if one must take risks, I would rather take them enjoying myself than working !

However a sizeable proportion of pursuits of enjoyment also require others to attend work in order for them to take place at all.

 

[Carlisle]

But then again, if one must take risks, I would rather take them enjoying myself than working !

However a sizeable proportion of what most consider pursuits of enjoyment require others to attend work in order for them to take place

 

[Starmill]

There are many grand pronouncements being made in this thread. It seems that the OP has simply created it in order to try to justify their own emotions towards a member of their extended family whom they aren't happy with.

We've got zero clear information on what the role is, where it is, and very little on how the employer managing the return. Just a plastic screen and 'PPE'. There is no information about how the employee has been working in the period of closure. Where he would like to be going on holiday in the future doesn't seem relevant to when or how to work today. Employers must follow the relevant Regulations and comply with the Employment Rights Act. Are we suggesting an employee should resign if they won't? It must be safe to travel to work and to be at work for work to take place. This is already the law. Some people seem to think it ought not to be after Covid-19 though?

So basically this is just a long rant where you'd like for people to agree despite providing almost no facts? I don't really think that's appropriate. It's not really the main purpose of the forum. As usual I see many people have made 100% nonsense judgements of the situation of this employee and what they should be doing despite not even knowing who they are!

 

[brad465]

A thread about Covid-19 hypocrisy and Dominic Cummings hasn't got a mention yet?

I was thinking the same, I wondered whether it is not an appropriate subject on forum guidelines as a reason why one doesn't exist yet.

 

[yorksrob]

However a sizeable proportion of what most consider pursuits of enjoyment require others to attend work in order for them to take place

This is true. However, the employing organisation will already have had to assess that risk and make a decision as to whether to provide that service, before the individual gets to decide whether he wants to take the risk of availing himself of it.

 

[greyman42]

My better half's son-in-law has refused to go back to work, even though his place reopened last Monday. He say's that it's unsafe as he will be in an office with one other person. The company in question has invested in PPE and clear screens as to separate them but needless to say he isn't having any of it.

Now, the one other person is one of his closest friends who, up until lockdown started, was a regular drinking buddy, plus he is now on about wanting to go on holiday to Singapore before the year is out (assuming everything is back to normal) with my better half's daughter. So he's basically happy to go into a park or on a plane with potentially hundreds of other people, but not share an office with one of his closest friends.

If I was his boss, I would post his P45, after all it's too dangerous to come in and pick it up right, or am I just being brutal?

I think this pandemic has caused a fair bit of hypocrisy amongst people, has anyone else experienced, or know of anyone who is being hypocritical in the current situation, obviously no names or anything.

It sounds to me like he has got used to sitting at home all day.

 

[CaptainHaddock]

It sounds to me like he has got used to sitting at home all day.

Which is exactly why the government's furlough scheme needs to be wound down as soon as possible.

Here's a recent survey where a significant proportion of people actually want to stay in lockdown because they're better off financially than if they were working.

'Coronaphobia' leaves Brits wanting to stay in lockdown as they fear return to normality - and actually have more cash

BRITS want to stay in lockdown because they fear it is being lifted too quickly and have more money because of the pandemic, a poll has found. The survey comes as the government prepares to ease r…

www.thesun.co.uk

 

[scotrail158713]

I was thinking the same, I wondered whether it is not an appropriate subject on forum guidelines as a reason why one doesn't exist yet.

We’ve had the thread below relating to others already so I don’t see why Mr Cummings situation is any different

Key government scientific adviser resigns

Interestingly, see this live feed: https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/may/05/coronavirus-live-news-who-and-five-eyes-reject-chinese-lab-theory-as-global-deaths-pass-250000 The epidemiologist credited with convincing the UK government to abandon thoughts of pursuing herd immunity in...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[Domh245]

Here's a recent survey where a significant proportion of people actually want to stay in lockdown because they're better off financially than if they were working.

I'm curious how they've ended up better off - the only reason I can think of is reduced expenditure from not going out, or a mortgage holiday which is a temporary measure which will have to be repaid later. Certainly shouldn't be the case that anyone had got increased income

 

[Mcr Warrior]

I'm curious how they've ended up better off

Maybe reduced expenditure on the cost of travel to/from work.

 

[scotrail158713]

Maybe reduced expenditure on the cost of travel to/from work.

That’s most likely. I’m certainly saving a bit of money just now due to not being able to go out.

 

[yorksrob]

With no leisure travel, no pubs, cafes, restaurants, football or rugby matches or anything else open, there's sod-all to spend any money on. I can't say it's making me want to stay in lockdown though.

 

[Starmill]

Which is exactly why the government's furlough scheme needs to be wound down as soon as possible.

Here's a recent survey where a significant proportion of people actually want to stay in lockdown because they're better off financially than if they were working.

'Coronaphobia' leaves Brits wanting to stay in lockdown as they fear return to normality - and actually have more cash

BRITS want to stay in lockdown because they fear it is being lifted too quickly and have more money because of the pandemic, a poll has found. The survey comes as the government prepares to ease r…

www.thesun.co.uk

That's pernicious rubbish in the Sun, and your cynical opinions. It's not true.