tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post2049240603279072427..comments2024-03-28T09:22:36.967+13:00Comments on Offsetting Behaviour: Dilbert understands academiaEric Cramptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15831696523324469713noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-7802952930958302942013-11-01T21:02:36.536+13:002013-11-01T21:02:36.536+13:00A nice illustration of the enforcement problem cam...A nice illustration of the enforcement problem came with the US government shutdown, where NSF, NASA, NIH, etc were actually required to make sure their personnel were not working, because working would have been illegal: doing science could get you prosecuted. <br /><br />There was, as you may remember, fuss.Thomas Lumleynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-44052717963566483792013-10-29T20:48:13.450+13:002013-10-29T20:48:13.450+13:00It's not dog-eat-dog in the knifing each other...It's not dog-eat-dog in the knifing each other sense. No way I'd have stayed if it were. But redundancy rounds sharpen incentives about not being last.Eric Cramptonhttp://offsettingbehaviour.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-51817121301054348862013-10-29T15:31:44.029+13:002013-10-29T15:31:44.029+13:00Phew, yet another good reason why I'm glad I d...Phew, yet another good reason why I'm glad I didn't pursue a career as an academic. If I'd stuck at my studies and gone on to do a PhD I too could be skipping my leave :)Latsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-78990538441230701802013-10-29T15:09:37.417+13:002013-10-29T15:09:37.417+13:00Promotion is by committees of fellow academics, bu...Promotion is by committees of fellow academics, but that isn't the problem either. Imagine you're the manager deciding who to fire or who to promote. You're given two vitae listing employees' journal and other research output, their teaching evaluations, and their administrative service. They're both stellar. But Candidate A presents that vita because he's just great; Candidate B presents that vita because he skipped every holiday to be able to push out that much work. You cannot tell the difference because you don't know how much each person worked at home while "on leave".<br /><br /><br />Now suppose you're Candidate A. You'll then work just a little bit harder so that you do better than B so you're the one who gets promoted / isn't fired. <br /><br /><br />Run that game over lots of people and you wind up with a rank order that matches generalised ability, but with nobody taking leave.Eric Cramptonhttp://offsettingbehaviour.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-17532118981420934702013-10-29T15:00:19.177+13:002013-10-29T15:00:19.177+13:00Doh, ignore my last comment. After a closer read o...Doh, ignore my last comment. After a closer read of your reply I kind of get it; who'd have thought academia was such a dog-eat-dog world... I wonder if there are ever cases where someone desperate for tenure misrepresents one of their peer's leave to make them look less efficient?Latsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-74363601006138762782013-10-29T14:52:04.276+13:002013-10-29T14:52:04.276+13:00That sounds like you are suggesting that your fell...That sounds like you are suggesting that your fellow workers determine whether you gain tenure or get promoted. Is that really the case? Don't you have departmental management who decide this sort of thing?Latsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-68941521146010565852013-10-29T14:42:28.049+13:002013-10-29T14:42:28.049+13:00Nope, that's not right. Management would stric...Nope, that's not right. Management would strictly prefer that everyone take their entitled leave. It's not a "workers vs management" game. It's a "worker vs worker" game where output is observable but inputs aren't and where those of us who are less productive can compensate (to avoid punishment) by forgoing leave.Eric Cramptonhttp://offsettingbehaviour.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-30336966702936581372013-10-29T13:48:42.991+13:002013-10-29T13:48:42.991+13:00The closet unionist in me couldn't help but ma...The closet unionist in me couldn't help but make me pass comment here. It seems to me that what is really broken about this is the attitude from management that if you take the leave you are entitled to that you are somehow not as committed to your workplace as someone who chooses to not take leave. To penalise someone's career for taking a bit of time off seems monumentally harsh, especially when the employer has agreed that such leave is permissible under the terms of their employment contract. I can fully understand the preference for scheduling leave around times when it is less disruptive and/or more convenient for the employer, but to tacitly deny leave like this seems a tad draconian. I'm sure there are other metrics being measured with regard to work performance and quality other than just the amount of leave you take, and that this is only of minor consideration, but it still smells a bit to me.Latsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-79390481273797181252013-10-29T11:32:58.139+13:002013-10-29T11:32:58.139+13:00"proving", "time clocks" I was..."proving", "time clocks" I was starting to feel big brother, but then you did mention union's, and with union's you tend to have active enforcement of "the rules". Sigh the height of intellectual achievement, and trust is not to been seen.<br /><br />With all that taken into account, maybe the just "take" the five weeks and chasing the promoting is the best strategy.Simeon Pilgrimhttp://simeonpilgrim.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-36276905392103721702013-10-29T10:59:17.146+13:002013-10-29T10:59:17.146+13:00Accumulating would requiring proving that you hadn...Accumulating would requiring proving that you hadn't taken that leave, which would at least require the time clocks or taking attendance. And then the University would force you to take the leave, or at least to not be at your office. And if you're at home, it's not like they can stop your working there either. <br /><br /><br />And then there's the more probable stupid HR response: running an attendance sheet, requiring that everyone be in his or her office for all but the 5 weeks of leave, and docking your pay if work from home a couple days a week. <br /><br /><br />Colleague ran the same "yeah, I'll tick random days for you" drill, then got hassles from an HR administrator about having taken too much leave because while he'd taken de facto far less than the 5 weeks, he'd ticked too many boxes by mistake and they wanted to dock his pay!Eric Cramptonhttp://offsettingbehaviour.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-43186241068437353672013-10-29T10:42:53.453+13:002013-10-29T10:42:53.453+13:00Agreed, but then you should be able to accumulate ...Agreed, but then you should be able to accumulate leave, but that's also a game metric, so I see why you would sign the leave away. <br /><br /><br />But it's still seems a little "broken".Simeon Pilgrimhttp://simeonpilgrim.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-23812045838178293592013-10-29T10:37:31.346+13:002013-10-29T10:37:31.346+13:00It's utterly unenforceable though. Your employ...It's utterly unenforceable though. Your employer could force you to be at home if they wanted. But where promotion and "not being downsized" is a tournament game, and where they can't force people to not work when they are at work, the game runs.Eric Cramptonhttp://offsettingbehaviour.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-65962768890137313582013-10-29T10:25:24.749+13:002013-10-29T10:25:24.749+13:00Wow, I'm very sure not getting your four weeks...Wow, I'm very sure not getting your four weeks leave, and "documenting you are" is against that law. To avoid moral hazard. That's crazy and crazier that your blogging about it, with no regard for this possibility.<br /><br />Our workplace has pressure to work, but we also have shutdown over Christmas that chews up a couple weeks of the four. And the US operations has a few extra weeks of "shutdown" thus there is never any accumulation, it's pretty much taken in mass.Simeon Pilgrimhttp://simeonpilgrim.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-40007631364628631292013-10-29T07:48:39.241+13:002013-10-29T07:48:39.241+13:00It's a bad time in history for your labor to b...It's a bad time in history for your labor to be replaceable. We engineers have the same pressures (sure, take your vacations, but don't even think about slipping that deadline).hprotagonistnoreply@blogger.com