At least a couple of times a week, a 28-year-old woman in South Korea felt forced to join her boss and colleagues for after-work drinks that often stretched until the early morning hours.
After two months of debauchery, she quit the company and took her case to court. Last week she was awarded 30 million won ($36,000) after the Seoul High Court determined that "forcing drinking against [an employee's] limit and willingness infringes on personal rights."
The ritual of after-work drinks is, in the best of cases, a chance to network, socialize with colleagues and strengthen a team's bond. But for those who don't enjoy alcohol, or who have a family to get home to, the 5 o'clock cocktail can be a dreaded affair.
Lorraine Weygman, a workplace culture and team-building expert who runs Weygman Consulting in Toronto, says socializing with colleagues doesn't require cocktails.
"Some people can meet at breakfast or on the weekend," she says, adding that colleagues with kids can meet at a playground. "The key is to find the points of commonality."
Ms. Weygman says those feeling pressure to drink should assert themselves or use humour to disarm the situation.
"You can say, 'I don't drink alcohol but would love to socialize,' " she says. "If you find they are pushing drinks you can joke, 'Why do I have to drink it if you enjoy it?' "
Those who enjoy an occasional elbow tip will be pleased to know that studies have shown moderate drinking can have a positive effect on income. The most recent study, from 2006, found drinkers earn between 10 and 14 per cent more than non-drinkers, and men derive an additional 7 per cent of income over the initial "drinkers' premium" if they head to a bar at least once a month.
"Social drinking builds social capital," said the study's co-author, Edward Stringham, an economics professor at San Jose State University. "Social drinkers are networking, building relationships and adding contacts to their BlackBerrys that result in bigger paycheques."
Chris (Zeke) Hand, the owner of Zeke's Gallery in Montreal, used to partake in after-work drinks several times a week when he worked in the music industry. He says the booze is better in the art world, but he's now choosing to do more of his networking and socializing online on sites like LinkedIn and Facebook.
"They are an alternate means to connect with people without the possibility of being thrown in jail," he says.
RATE YOUR JOB
A LOVE/HATE THING
When the dot-com boom went bust, many disgruntled tech workers made their way online to share news of the latest layoffs.
Now, workers in all industries have a place to rant and see what other people think about a specific company. Jobvent.com allows you to rate a company on a nine-point scale and tell others what it's like to work there.
Canadian grocer Sobeys is one of the most reviewed companies and sits at No. 8 on the "I Hate My Job" list.
Strangely, former Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root ranks eighth on the positive side, even though one worker complained that "management has not protected [our] living tents against mortar attacks from the enemy." But it apparently still beats stacking produce.
BY THE NUMBERS
MIGRAINE, YOUR LOSS
8.9
Number of days worked by migraine sufferers while experiencing the condition over a three-month period, according to a survey presented at the 59th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology. Migraine sufferers on average missed one full day of work during that time.
$200,410 (U.S.)
Medical costs per 1,000 migraine sufferers over three months. Cases of absenteeism and pre-absenteeism (working with a migraine but experiencing reduced productivity) were estimated to be $404,660 per 1,000 sufferers.
Medical News Today
IT'S LIKE A CASINO ...
... NO, AN ELEVATOR
"Offices are like casinos in that they are designed around manipulating, controlling and profiting from human behaviour. Make no mistake, where you sit, the direction you face, the size and dimensions of your workstation were meticulously planned by people you have probably never met.... Being stuck in a cubicle is like being stuck in an elevator. You have to assess the situation, assess the people you are with, and appreciate the circumstances.... Realize that your lives could go up, down, or nowhere ... together."
From The Cubicle Survival Guide:
Keeping Your Cool in the Least Hospitable Environment on Earth
By James F. Thompson
FUTURE CAREERS
I'M SO SICK OF WORK
Business 2.0 magazine provides an annual look at "new new careers" - emerging jobs in our ever-expanding work force.
Among this year's five new careers is "disease mapper," a job for "a new class of researchers using the latest satellite imagery, cheap computing, big databases and free tools like Google Earth to show how epidemics spread around the globe."
The salary range is between $40,000 and $150,000 (U.S.)
a year, and we presume it includes an extensive health plan for field work.
