Work is healthy?
I understand why he appealed the decision. He was counting on the Spanish civil service settling out of tribunal. He was betting that they didn't want this decision made public as it would be more embarrassing for them than it would for him.
He was an archivist and it turned out, he was coming to work everyday at 8 am to clock in. They he would leave and come back at 4 pm to clock out. You have to admire his discipline. To do that for a decade is remarkable. His co-workers became suspicious last summer. So, it took 9 years for them to figure this out? That is embarrassing. I'm guessing it was some new keener employee that was the tattle-tale. How did he do this for a decade?
There are some jobs that you could probably get away with this for a day. But, not longer than a day. There are so many activities of work that have nothing to do with work. You get holidays. You are allotted sick days. Someone who didn't have a sick day in a decade would get a second look by any auditor. An auditor would have their suspicion aroused that this was a fake employee created by someone as a way to embezzle funds. If someone didn't have a sick day in that time, they better be getting an award with a picture to confirm identity. You also have doctor's appointments. You need an afternoon off to meet with your banker about your mortgage. You have to submit paperwork for all of this. You have to have the paperwork approved. You have to update your voicemail. You have to read your email. You have performance reviews. You have staff meetings. You have parties for retirement, birthdays, etc. You have to contribute money for gifts for people. You have to sign cards. You have to participate in team building activities. You have to look at pictures of your fellow employee's grandchildren, weddings, vacations, etc. You have to show up at coffee breaks or otherwise people will think you are not social. You have to take your turn organizing a coffee party for something. You have to attend training. There are tons of activities you do every day at work that have nothing to do with work.
It helped that he was an archivist. No one knows what an archivist does all day. I've only known one archivist and she was very scary. I am sure she was the inspiration for the character in Misery that holds an author captive and tortures him. She also was against everything and was very vocal about that. I assumed it was because she had the time and her job responsibilities were not that great. Perhaps I am negatively stereo-typing archivists. Perhaps there is no perhaps. I am doing it just because I have only known one archivist.
There are two things that are in paradox. On one hand, psychologists will tell us that work is healthy. On the other hand, we have many people who are very dissatisfied with their job. It is hard to reconcile the two statements.
I think work is healthy, but there is one word that needs to be added. Meaningful work is healthy. There is so much of our work day that has very little to do with work. It is activity for activity sake. Somehow, we have evolved into a CYA society where we have to have a paper trail for everything. It has left us being frustrated and has made many work places a toxic environment for many. Work has to have some meaning for us, we need to feel our contributions are serving a greater good in order for us to achieve the healthy benefits. Work has to be about more than just making money. We have to see our work as meaningful. I had a boss who believed in this. He allocated 10 per cent of our time to doing things that we wanted to do. People worked harder on their 10 per cent personal projects than most of their regular duties. They created proposals, they worked on work projects of their own choosing. It was a strong benefit to the company, but also sad that he had to allocate specific time for this. Wouldn't it better if our jobs were what we really wanted to do? I know several people who are close to retirement and are counting the days. What is their plan? They want to get a job that they have always wanted to do.
Yes, work is healthy. I am sure the man who faked his job for a decade in Spain wasn't that healthy. For work to be healthy, it needs to be meaningful. However, it is not just up to employers to make work healthy. If you accept a job, you need to take responsibility for finding ways to make your work meaningful. You need to connect your job to contributing somehow to the greater good. Some people find their pay cheque so meaningful that this is enough to make their job meaningful. Those people are in the minority.
If you are in a job and you are experiencing job dissatisfaction, look at your day to day tasks. Analyze them for meaningfulness. If they don't contribute, look at ways they can be eliminated or combined with other tasks to make them more meaningful. Your superiors will admire your initiative.
Work contributes to people's holistic health. If you want your health to improve, you may have to improve your job. If you don't feel your job is fulfilling, understand that you are risking your health by keeping it. Maybe it is time to look for another opportunity. Your health is important. Make sure that your job is contributing positively to your health.
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