One thing I see here very commonly when people ask for advice is that people will encourage lying.
For example:
- Someone asks about how to respond to a policy in their workplace requiring them to install an app on their phone- many people will tell them to lie that they don't have a smartphone.
- A poster asks about taking personal time and people will tell them to lie about having COVID or being sick.
- People ask about how deal with software that tracks their activity, people will advise them to use an app that fakes clicks and mouse movements.
It's time to stop doing that. We're not doing anyone any favors by giving them advice pulled from a sitcom script.
Real advice would be to encourage workers standing up for themselves, their rights and their fellow workers. To set boundaries, to say “no”, and to realize that yes, they do have agency and yes, they can take a stand for themselves as opposed to knuckling under and just trying to get over it with tricks and deception instead of pushing back.
And yes, I get it: Not everyone is comfortable with the idea of taking a firm stand for themselves. Not everyone feels they can take the risk of saying “no” because it might get them fired or in trouble. But we'll never see real, widespread and lasting change without more workers standing up and saying “fuck this” and pushing back, firmly, politely and without subterfuge and lying.
And yes, I also get that for some, this kind of action means getting fired, or other negative consequences. But that's reality; demanding respect from people who aren't inclined to give it isn't easy. The simple truth is that unless we start doing it more, we're not going to see much change. Lying and prevarication don't change the toxic environment, they simply give you a temporary and illusory relief, leaving the real underlying structural problems there to come back like cancer metastasizing.
Encourage people to set boundaries and be firm in their interaction with management over stupid decisions and bad policies, not lie and prevaricate to avoid a problem or conflict. As workers and humans we need to demand to be treated with respect.