Weekly Office Review and Contest
In my humble opinion, NBC’s The Office is the world’s #1 employment law training aid. All you have to do is (1) watch it and (2) do the exact opposite of everything you see.
To help enhance your viewing experience, each week I provide a critique of the action from an employment lawyer’s perspective.
Last Night’s Episode: “Company Picnic.”
The Plot: Dunder Mifflin hosts its 43rd annual company picnic, with predictably disastrous results.
My Analysis:
- Issue: Theft of Company Time
Description: Like most weeks, virtually no discernible work was done by any DM employee. This week, employees went to even greater lengths not to work. After Michael fell asleep in his office, employees set every clock in the vicinity ahead several hours and then tricked Michael into thinking the work day was over. Not too shockingly, it worked and everyone went home early.
Risk: $$ - Issue: Inappropriate Hugging
Description: Michael hugged former flame Holly too hard and too long. Then, for some strange reason, he hugged her new boyfriend too hard and too long.
Risk: $$ - Issue: Psychotically Bad Skit
Description: Despite their previous track record of galactically bad judgment, Michael and Holly were allowed to put on a skit about the company’s history to “entertain” the other employees. In a spoof of Slumdog Millionaire (“Slunder Mifflinaire”), they depicted scenes of torture, mocked the founder’s suicide and then announced the company’s secret plan to eliminate the Buffalo branch. Virtually anyone exposed to their antics could sue for emotional distress, among other things.
Risk: $$$$ - Issue: Worker’s Comp
Description: Several employee sustained injuries during a heated volleyball match, including one that required Pam to visit the hospital.
Risk: $$$ - Issue: Inappropriate Comments
Description: By my count, DM employees have now officially topped the One Million Inappropriate Comments mark. Jim made a sex-related comment about Pam. Andy screamed multiple insensitive disability-related comments. Michael used profanity. Dwight’s guest called Angela a rather unflattering name. Toby even disparaged HR conventions (what could be more inappropriate than that?).
Risk: $$
OFFICIAL “ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A LAWYER?” CONTEST: Anyone who leaves a comment below or shoots me an e-mail at blawg@manpower.com identifying an employment law issue that I missed will win a valuable prize. If you didn’t get a chance to see the episode, you can view it on NBC’s official web site here.
As always, thanks for your participation!
May 15th, 2009 at 11:58 am
One employment law issue you may have missed is a possible WARN Act violation.”…employers who fail to provide 60 days notification to workers of impending job losses…” can be held to financial penalties. The Buffalo branch employees were not notified in a timely manner about their upcoming plant/office closure/layoffs.
Notice how the HR representatives on The Office are the most boring and bland characters? No wonder Michael hates Toby! We HR folks should stand up against this characterization! (Although I suppose we are usually the “kill joys”!)
I have loved The Office since day one. One of my favorite episodes is the Diversity Training segment with Larry Wilmore. It’s classic.. A great (do not do this) training tool!
May 15th, 2009 at 2:16 pm
Great catch, Patricia — we’ll send you a valuable prize! (Actually, the WARN issue depends on when the actual closing/layoff takes place, but I should have at least mentioned it.) Totally agree on the diversity training episode. Hurts my head every time I watch it. Believe it or not, though, I went through real-life diversity training that was actually WORSE than that session. (Hard to believe, but it’s true).