I had fun once. It was awful.

[firecat]

I don’t work in an office any more, but I’m doing a happy dance over this ruling in France. I never liked feeling worried that my disinterest in certain kinds of office fun would hurt my career. (I had plenty of fun in the office, but it was my fun with the colleagues who shared my sense of humor.)

The Right Not to Be Fun at Work
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-right-not-to-be-fun-at-work

In another win for workplace dignity, one of [France’s] highest courts recently suggested that businesses cannot force their employees to participate in office parties and other supposedly enjoyable activities.
…
the court held that Monsieur T. had no obligation to attend retreats and Friday apéros. In fact, his bosses’ expectation that he join in violated his freedom of expression. Call it, as Arte did, “the right not to be fun.”

Comments

Re: Thoughts

[selki]

Hear, hear! I had a horrible employer with a start-up attitude whose CEO yelled at us for being "robotic" when we turned up for a ~mandatory walkathon with insufficient pep and enthusiasm for his taste. Mandatory as in not exactly a fireable offense to not come, but first in line for layoffs and no chance at all for raise/promotion with a black mark of non-"team spirit".

Re: Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

That idiot deserved exactly the presenteeism that he got.

If you want someone to pretend you're a great lay when you are actually bad at it, that costs extra. Same with pretending to enjoy an unenjoyable event.

Re: Thoughts

[firecat]

So cool of your employer for having a mandatory activity that’s inaccessible to mobility-impaired people.