HMV employee takes control of official twitter account as 60 get fired

[Devil's Refugee]

http://successfulworkplace.com/2013/...be-controlled/

This broke yesterday, major British entertainment retailer HMV employee took control of the official @hmvtweets Twitter account and livetweeted what she called their “mass execution” as 60 of them got fired on the spot.

For the US folks, the company has been trading for 90 years and has basically gone under administration because they failed to compete online.

[niuniu]

Swan song of the modern age

Looks like HMV will continue trading under their brand name in some form. Will be interesting to see what it will be, and... for how long.

HMv released their own statement saying they laid off 190 earlier.

[Scepticalscribe]

Very interesting story, and thanks for posting it. The link - and the Twitter feed (until it was abruptly terminated) made for fascinating reading.

Well, the topic of HMV had already come up when the chain initially went into receivership, but I'm sorry to see it go.

However, I'm equally sorry to see that this dreadful way of treating employees seems to be gaining increasing acceptance the longer the recession continues. What is the problem with treating loyal, hard-working employees with courtesy and respect?

[gnasher729]

Originally Posted by Scepticalscribe

However, I'm equally sorry to see that this dreadful way of treating employees seems to be gaining increasing acceptance the longer the recession continues. What is the problem with treating loyal, hard-working employees with courtesy and respect?

You're talking about UK retail. There is absolutely no courtesy and absolutely no respect for any employees. _Especially_ not for loyal and hard-working employees. Loyal and hard-working means you are just easier to exploit.

[palmharbor]

Employers are getting worse and worse...if you are applying for a job, even a small part-time job you have to go through all kinds of screening, drug test, arrest record and more BUT IF YOU HAVE AN UZI...you don't have to be screened at all. Thirty round clips...sure why not? Nuts.

[Dagless]

Originally Posted by palmharbor

Employers are getting worse and worse...if you are applying for a job, even a small part-time job you have to go through all kinds of screening, drug test, arrest record and more BUT IF YOU HAVE AN UZI...you don't have to be screened at all. Thirty round clips...sure why not? Nuts.

Who does drugs tests as part of applying for a job?

[Kissaragi]

Wow, who would have foreseen people being fired from HMV? They have been doing so well recently. Its so shocking!

[yg17]

Originally Posted by Dagless

Who does drugs tests as part of applying for a job?

Every employer I've ever worked for required me to pass a drug test before hiring me.

[Dagless]

Originally Posted by yg17

Every employer I've ever worked for required me to pass a drug test before hiring me.

Must be an American thing, I've never had to give one even when I worked in education.

[roadbloc]

Maybe if HMV had priced their CDs reasonably, this would never have happened. £10 for a CD is stupid when you can get them for much less on Amazon.

Good riddance if you ask me, but I do feel for them who have lost their jobs thanks to the stupidity of whoever was in charge.

[NT1440]

Originally Posted by Dagless

Who does drugs tests as part of applying for a job?

Pretty much every major retailer in the USA. I had to pass a test for Best Buy....still don't know how I did

[Scepticalscribe]

Originally Posted by gnasher729

You're talking about UK retail. There is absolutely no courtesy and absolutely no respect for any employees. _Especially_ not for loyal and hard-working employees. Loyal and hard-working means you are just easier to exploit.

These values have become more and more pronounced since the early 1980s, unfortunately.

Originally Posted by Dagless

Must be an American thing, I've never had to give one even when I worked in education.

The same point occurred to me.

Originally Posted by roadbloc

Maybe if HMV had priced their CDs reasonably, this would never have happened. £10 for a CD is stupid when you can get them for much less on Amazon.

Good riddance if you ask me, but I do feel for them who have lost their jobs thanks to the stupidity of whoever was in charge.

Well, CDs (much though I love them) have always been something of a rip-off, with an astonishing profit margin and mark up.

Moreover, it must be said, that the record companies themselves, were both very greedy, and very, very slow to realise that this particular cash cow was no longer yielding quite so much by way of rich returns as technological advances were busy making the world of CDs redundant.

So, yes, you most certainly have a very valid point.

Just noticed on LinkedIn under the heading 'LinkedIn Today recommends this news for you' a piece which deals with this very topic, whereby, LinkedIn have cited an article originally from Forbes, with the wonderful title:"Don't Fire An Employee And Leave Them In Charge Of The Corporate Twitter Account".

Best of all by far is the last tweet quoted in the original feed, where the employee in question tweeted: 'Just overheard our Marketing Director (he's staying, folks) ask "How do I shut down Twitter?"'

Priceless. Simply priceless.

[webbuzz]

My first job out of college required a drug test, I continued to work there for twelve years, and had random screenings annually. Half of my career was over 75% domestic and some international travel.

The nurse would call your office phone, leave a voice mail or message with an assistant. You then have a certain amount of time to visit the nurse's office. When I was on the road, they would find the closest lab for me to go to.

If you failed the pre-employment screening, you would not be hired. If your test returned positive while an employee, they would help with treatment and counseling, then test again after a certain period of time. Test positive a second time, they would most likely terminate the employee.

[Dagless]

Originally Posted by webbuzz

If you failed the pre-employment screening, you would not be hired. If your test returned positive while an employee, they would help with treatment and counseling, then test again after a certain period of time. Test positive a second time, they would most likely terminate the employee.

And this is legal? That sounds like a massive invasion of privacy right there.

[webbuzz]

Originally Posted by Dagless

And this is legal? That sounds like a massive invasion of privacy right there.

The testing was a condition of employment, which is a requirement for U.S. government contractors.

Invasion of privacy? More of an inconvenience, especially when I was travelling.

[Plutonius]

Originally Posted by yg17

Every employer I've ever worked for required me to pass a drug test before hiring me.

Why would anyone have a problem with a drug test ?

----------

Originally Posted by Dagless

And this is legal? That sounds like a massive invasion of privacy right there.

It's more of an employer liability / insurance issue.

[Technarchy]

Originally Posted by Dagless

And this is legal? That sounds like a massive invasion of privacy right there.

Perfectly legal. And you have the right to say no, and the employer has the right not to hire you.

[Kissaragi]

Originally Posted by Plutonius

Why would anyone have a problem with a drug

Well, a drug user might...

[zioxide]

Originally Posted by Dagless

And this is legal? That sounds like a massive invasion of privacy right there.

But.. but... don't you know America is a free country?

Oh wait.

Originally Posted by Plutonius

Why would anyone have a problem with a drug test ?

Why is it the employer's business what any employee is doing in their free time? It's a massive invasion of privacy.

What's next? Are the employers going to tap your phones, read your emails, control your bank accounts, and put cameras in your home?

[Sydde]

Originally Posted by zioxide

What's next? Are the employers going to tap your phones, read your emails, control your bank accounts, and put cameras in your home?

What do you mean, next?

[zioxide]

Originally Posted by Sydde

What do you mean, next?

Didn't that get shot down?


In any case, if I were ever in an interview and was asked for ANY of my personal information, I would tell them to go **** themselves and walk out.

An employer can't ask you for your keys and search your home before hiring you, so they aren't getting any digital keys to access any of my private digital accounts either.


It's also against the Terms of Service for Facebook and many other networking sites to give out your password to anyone.

[Sydde]

"'Facebook'? I have heard of that, I think. Is it on that indernet thingy? Cuz, I don't have a computer."

[chrono1081]

Originally Posted by Dagless

Who does drugs tests as part of applying for a job?

Pretty much everyone. A company called LabCorp screwed up my drug test when I was a teenager applying to Circuit City. Thankfully I raised hell until I got a free retest and passed.

That was for a part time job at an electronics store. Every job since then I've had to be drug tested (except my state job, go figure).

[Plutonius]

Originally Posted by zioxide

Why is it the employer's business what any employee is doing in their free time? It's a massive invasion of privacy.

What's next? Are the employers going to tap your phones, read your emails, control your bank accounts, and put cameras in your home?

Drugs are illegal and it's a big liability issue if an accident occurs at work and the person is found to be on drugs. Profiling would be illegal so everyone gets tested. As I stated earlier, drug testing is for company liability / insurance reasons. You can also decline to be tested but you may not be hired.

----------

Originally Posted by chrono1081

Every job since then I've had to be drug tested (except my state job, go figure).

They must figure that a government employee doesn't work anyhow :P .

[malman89]

Originally Posted by Dagless

Who does drugs tests as part of applying for a job?

Most hourly (non-salaried) jobs at a lot of places. Almost all manufacturing sort of jobs. Or I work at a staffing agency and even at a manufacturing client who doesn't require a drug test for hiring, we require a post-accident drug test for all incidents. That's an insurance matter.

I've never been drug tested personally. I really wouldn't care either way if it was a requirement for hiring or during my employment as I have nothing to hide.