'That's close to $1,200': Principal outlaws a teacher's homemade ergonomic desk chair; teacher forces HR to replace his entire workstation to comply with the same 'health and safety rules'

Advertisement
  • 01
    "Hit them in the wallet!"
  • 02
    Posted by u/Brilliant-Delay1410 9 hours ago r/r/MaliciousCompliance My chair doesn't meet H&S? It's war! SOC TLDR Boss made me get rid of my custom desk chair. Now they have to order me a completely new workstation set up!
  • 03
    I'm a teacher. I made a cool desk chair out of a car seat and the base of the old one that was falling apart. Used hardware I had laying around, so cost almost nothing. My custom chair was super comfy, ergonomic, fully adjustable, lumbar support, and better than the piece of I had before. Also environmentally friendly! (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!)
  • 04
    Anyway my tool of a principal, sees it one day, murmurs something about how "unusual that looks". A few weeks later, she comes around saying it's not health and safety compliant. I have to get rid of it and they will order a brand new one. Okay fine, I'm getting a new chair.
  • 05
    New one arrives and it's another cheap one that only has height adjustment and nothing else. Probably fall apart in a couple of years. So Not H&S compliant. I called the HR dept and asked them to do a workplace evaluation. They came in today, findings were that my desk is too small, the chair lacks proper adjustments, and the board issued 14" laptops are not suitable for my needs.
  • 06
    In order to be compliant the HR rep is getting another new chair, large flat screen monitor, keyboard/mouse, and even a desk that can be adjusted for sitting and standing. Principal had to sit there with a face like fizz while HR outlined all the reasons why my workstation setup wasn't H&S compliant.
  • 07
    Chair not H&S compliant? Well what about everything else! No idea how much this will cost. The principal is a notorious tight , she'll be regretting getting in between a man's and comfort!
  • 08
    Jeep Wrangler chair! Lame replacement chair...
  • 09
    Tkdakat 8 hr. ago Took the non-compliant chair home I hope? Vote Reply Share Brilliant-Delay1410 OP 3 hr. ago Yip. The seat was out of my 2010 Jeep Wrangler. I made two of them, so now they are both at home.
  • 10
    SnortingRust 1 hr. ago I thought it was going to look shabby based on some redneck experiences but it looked "factory custom". Principal is a tool.
  • 11
    Gypsy-Danger-TMC . 8 hr. ago Sounds like a typical buzz kill person. "They have cool stuff and I don't want them to have cool stuff" ↑ Vote Reply Share The Truthkeeper. 6 hr. ago No, sounds like typical government regulations. "The state says you're not allowed to have cool stuff".
  • 12
    Ext3h 3 hr. ago Insurance says the won't pay when it's DIY and nobody wants to check DIY for safety. That extra inspection is more expensive than the upgrade to a regular ergonomic workspace with components from the shelf. That's no government regulations stopping you here.
  • 13
    ganzonomy 3 hr. ago Yup. Not allowed to have an IBM Model M keyboard at work because it'll create an environment of "technological inequity / inequality". Yet, a Model M is one of the best sounding, best feeling keyboards. You'd think they would at least have said "it's a noise thing...." nope. "It's a someone will go to the hurt feelings department" thing.
  • 14
    Look-Its-a-Name 3 hr. ago Nice one. That's an expensive, and deserved, lesson for the principal. It'll cost upwards of 2K per workstation. Migh be more if they are forced to go through a government supplier. Desk: 1200$ Chair: - 400$ Monitor: ~ 200$
  • 15
    Derlict 7 hr. ago Haha. Boy, you really took her to school that time. I bet she learned something that day. The principle rule for these types of things is, If it aint broke don't fix it. ✩ Vote Reply Share BrockJonesPI 5 hr. ago As opposed to the principal's rule.
  • 16
    this-guy1979 3 hr. ago If yours wasn't compliant, was everyone else's? Sounds like they need to evaluate the rest. Let it be a teaching moment for the principal. Vote Reply Share Brilliant-Delay1410 OP 3 hr. ago It was because it was furniture "brought from home." Someone else had to take home a storage cart they brought in.
  • 17
    OperatorJo 5 hr. ago HR rep has all that now. Even if the principal doesn't want to spend a dime any board on budget will fall back to "this is grounds to sue". They'll get it. Gotta love cascade consequences.
  • 18
    Shepsonj 30 min. ago I have a friend who worked in Engineering at deHavilland Aircraft. He went out to the Bone Yard, recovered a Captain's seat from a scrapped aircraft and attached it to his office chair base. It was exquisite. It even had an ash tray in the arm rest (not that he could use it). His chair was the envy of the department.
  • 19
    Tx Drewdad 37 min. ago Once upon a time I fantasized about taking the driver's seat out of my corolla and making an office chair out of it. Kudos to you, sir or ma'am.
  • 20
    Wooshmeister55. 1 hr. ago Nice! My work-funded ergonomic wfh setup is close to 1200 USD excluding the laptop, so you're definitely hitting them in the wallet. Vote Reply Share Mysterious-Health-18 1 hr. ago Love the car chair! ...

Tags

Scroll Down For The Next Article