Entitled interns fired for demanding dress code change at their employer

[canada-man]

On Tuesday, a befuddled college intern took to the internet to share her tragic story in a post titled: “I was fired from my internship for writing a proposal for a more flexible dress code.” (gasp!)

In the post, the summer intern writes about her experiences at a company with an “overly strict dress code.” One day, she noticed a full-time worker in the office wearing “flats” and she used the opportunity to talk with her manager about relaxing the code.

After the manager said it wouldn’t be possible, the issue should’ve been settled. But no, it was evidently so burdensome that the intern could not let it go. Instead she milled about the office gathering thoughts and feelings on the dress code from the other interns, as well.

Together, except for one, the interns wrote a formal proposal for a relaxed dress code – “written professionally like examples they learned about in school” and with “well-reasoned” arguments.

To their utter dismay, the interns were called into the office, not to discuss their proposal, but to be informed of their termination. “We were shocked,” it was totally “unfair,” the writer says before admitting she had “never had a job before.”

Of course, it's important to bear in mind that the summer intern spotlighted here has not yet come forward, thus there remains the possibility that the post is a fake.

But, alas, one response to the post on askamanager.com sums it up well:

Firing the whole group of you was a pretty extreme reaction, but I can understand why they were highly annoyed.

Y’all were pretty out of line. You were interns there — basically guests for the summer. Their rules are their rules. This is like being a houseguest and presenting your host with a signed petition (!) to change their rules about cleaning up after yourself. You just don’t have the standing to do that.

To be fair, the intern seems legitimately confused rather than enraged about the firing, perhaps showing that she has some class. Nonetheless, she is obviously out-of-touch with how the real world works and is WAY too entitled for a simple summer intern.

Never should a group of interns gang up on management with a written petition and expect a positive response.

Needless to say, Twitter has been eating this one up:

- See more at: https://www.conservativereview.com/...ing-a-relaxed-dress-code#sthash.t0TMPiyw.dpuf

 

[nobody123]

A written proposal? Of all the nerve! I suppose they'll expect to be paid next!

 

[james t kirk]

I've never agreed with the concept of "interns"

It's a scam perpetuated by cheap ass employers who want free labour. Either hire someone and pay them or don't. But please spare me the bullshit about "you'll learn a lot" . At the very least you can pay someone minimum wage and they can still "learn a lot"

No one should ever work for free at least not at the entry level.

 

[Ceiling Cat]

Rebellion of the beggars.

If the bosses lose control, they may as well sign over the company. A company is not a democracy.

 

[anon1]

Rebellion of the beggars.

If the bosses lose control, they may as well sign over the company. A company is not a democracy.

Interns aren't slaves.

 

[Ceiling Cat]

Interns aren't slaves.

I never said that they were slaves. An intern is a person that is invited into a business and given an opportunity to learn. They are not there to change the system or any other function of the business. This intern asked for change and did not get it. She persisted to bring opinion on to the question even after change was refused. Her actions may effect the company long after she is gone.

 

[james t kirk]

I never said that they were slaves. An intern is a person that is invited into a business and given an opportunity to learn. They are not there to change the system or any other function of the business. This intern asked for change and did not get it. She persisted to bring opinion on to the question even after change was refused. Her actions may effect the company long after she is gone.

An intern is a person that companies exploit by having them work, but not paying them for their labour.

Free labour.

And I'm saying this as a person who does not believe in unions, or collectivism. I do believe in paying your dues, gaining experience and working your way up.

If you hire a person, that person needs to be paid. If nothing else, minimum wage.

 

[benstt]

If true, these managers are idiots in how they handled this. You don't exercise hard power on something like this when you can finesse it. So what, some interns wrote a proposal that they honestly felt would improve the work environment, and this is how they react? Morons.

 

[omegaphallic]

If these interns were working for free, fuck the employers and their dress code. If they were paid, well the firing was still over kill, they could have made their point with a warning. I'm think this firing wasn't about a dress code, but concern at the possiblity that exploited interns were starting organize.

 

[Keebler Elf]

They are not there to change the system or any other function of the business.

!!GASP!! God forbid that an intern could have a good idea! Wouldn't want that now, would we?

This is the kind of conservative, fuddy duddy mentality that makes me quite happy to watch companies that do it go out of business. (Sears *cough* *cough*)

They asked for change. They were rejected. Firing them all is petty.

On a similar note, there was a story recently about a law firm that fired a woman for wearing refusing to wear high heels because it was their dress code. She was suing. Don't remember how it turned out though.

 

[Aellyn Rose]

Where did they find the time to work on that proposal? As an intern (unpaid labor indeed) I had little free time to worry about the elevator music or what color the walls were painted :blue:

 

[fuji]

That sounds like a pretty awful place to work.

 

[Ceiling Cat]

The reason an intern is at a business is to earn university credits or to have some experience working at a business to put on their resume. When a manager or supervisor allows a intern to dictate terms they may as well trade places and take orders from the intern. The intern was refused once and then took it upon herself to attempt lead others to question the refusal. When others see that they can rule by committee then other matters will come up for vote in the future. Give an inch and they will take a yard. Eventually the whole yard.

There is no mention in this story that the employee ( s ) are working under tyranny. The company taking on the intern can expect no true productivity in the short term the intern is there. It is like a training period to acclimatize this person int the work environment. The agreed conditions are that the intern is not paid and benefit by work experience. Although I know of several internships where the intern has agreed on no pay but given a generous stipend for travel and lunch and even given a lump sum as a gift at the end of the internship.

 

[fuji]

Seems to me that manager should be fired.

A good manager should be able to clearly explain the reason for the company policy and why the culture is the way it is.

Seems like that manager missed an opportunity to teach these interns about why dress code is important in his business. Either that or he has no idea why and is enforcing an arbitrary policy for no reason.

But let's assume that at this company dress code is an important part the company culture for a reason. He should talk to the interns about that as a way to teach them about the business.

Now if after having it explained in a thoughtful discussion they still resisted the company culture that would be grounds to terminate, but from the material provided that doesn't seem to be the case here.

I encourage my employees challenge me and tell me when they think I'm wrong. It's important to make sure my business doesn't get set in crusty and inefficient practices that have no real purpose. If I can't confidently explain why we do things the way we do, then maybe it's really worth looking at whether we should change.

I love interns. They come in with no clue and that gives them a fresh perspective. They are the future and teaching them about my business is the most fun part of my job. I love nothing better than getting somebody who hasn't got a clue and helping them learn, and sometimes the questions they ask help me reflect on things too.

 

[TeeJay]

Interns aren't slaves.

Forced labour for no pay sure sounds like slavery to me

 

[FAST]

Sounds like an idiot.

Does she actually think she is going to get a glowing review from this employer ?

The idiot doesn't even have a real position in the company, and she is already challenging management.

If she had worked for me, and some future employer contacted me for a reference, and I explained what she did, I can guarantee you the employer I was relating this to, would say, "thanks for the heads up".

I have been in the position many times, to have just this sort of conversation, and THAT will be the response.

Contrary to the imitation "manager" posting in this thread.


FAST

 

[Yoga Face]

Sounds like an idiot.

Does she actually think she is going to get a glowing review from this employer ?

The idiot doesn't even have a real position in the company, and she is already challenging management.

If she had worked for me, and some future employer contacted me for a reference, and I explained what she did, I can guarantee you the employer I was relating this to, would say, "thanks for the heads up".

I have been in the position many times, to have just this sort of conversation, and THAT will be the response.

Contrary to the imitation "manager" posting in this thread.


FAST

rubbish

she gave free labor in exchange for a learning experience

what she learned was to hate the workplace where employees concerns are not valued

I now work in a union shop where can I challenge my employer on any issue without any fear

I hate non union environments

I felt like a black in the deep south during segregation days

always bending over to please the man as they have the power of reference axe hanging over your head and never say what you think


My defense was to send a letter from my lawyer explaining what we would do if they gave me a bad reference for speaking my mind after I quit along with the positive work review letters I always insisted on every six months

They hated when I insisted on a work review in writing as they knew I was creating a legal defense against them

I got fired once for insisting on a written review



fuji is right on this one

she presented her concerns in a thoughtful and respectful way

if her concerns could not be met then explain why then thank her for the respectful way she expressed them

if she continues to challenge you after that then I agree with you but she deserves an explanation so she can learn

also wearing flats, which seems to be the issue, can be a health concern

 

[fuji]

Sounds like an idiot.

Does she actually think she is going to get a glowing review from this employer ?

The idiot doesn't even have a real position in the company, and she is already challenging management.

If she had worked for me, and some future employer contacted me for a reference, and I explained what she did, I can guarantee you the employer I was relating this to, would say, "thanks for the heads up".

I have been in the position many times, to have just this sort of conversation, and THAT will be the response.

Contrary to the imitation "manager" posting in this thread.


FAST

If you act that way you will end up with staff who never tell you when you are wrong and never tell you about ways you could improve your organization. You should reward people for challenging the status quo, provided that if you do have good reasons for the status quo that they fall in line after learning about it.

In that case you wind up with better employees who in this example would not only ultimately comply with the dress code, but understand WHY, and in turn become ambassadors of the culture who can explain it to others.

This is assuming there's a good reason for the dress code. If there's no reason....

If you punish people for questioning the way things are done your business will eventually lose to a faster, nimbler business whose employees challenge the status quo and evolve their business into a more efficient one than yours

This is, in a nutshell, why Toyota ate the market share of every US automaker until they also allowed their employees to challenge the status quo like Toyota employees can. It turns out that often everybody but management knows what the problems are.

 

[rhuarc29]

First, let me add that I think unpaid internship is a horrendous practice that needs to end.

If these interns were instead paid employees, I'd be pissed as their employer that they spent company time coming up with this proposal, listing all their "reasoned" arguments and such. I'd also be pissed that even after saying it would not be possible, I was then confronted the same day by the same person (plus some) about the same issue when I have more important business to attend to. I think firing them was extreme, but they should definitely have been reprimanded.

And this is coming from someone who likes to empower employees to make their own decisions and manage their own workload, so long as the results are up to snuff.

 

[fuji]

It doesn't say in the article whether they were paid or unpaid. Interns where I work are paid.