<p>I think they are like temp secretaries that often get hired for data entry, typing, or other work at many offices in the day when there were a lot more secretaries and typing pools. Often used if someone is out on maternity leave, disability, vacation and you need the extra set of hands temporarily. Lawyers are not happy being “demoted” to that status, I guess , but when your credentials are a dime a dozen that can happen. </p>
<p>I am thinking that the lawyer temps are not true temps like the secretarial staff in that they may be there for longer periods of time and Z’s office is using this pool in lieu of hiring as it is more cost effective. The lawyers are resentful of being in this situation. If this is a bad situation, and it so appears to be, I would end that arrangement. I would not want a group of resentful employees in my offices, in my company. That they should so behave is not something I would tolerate. You cannot trust such people, and it can hurt the company if vandalism, and other such behaviour is what they are showing they do. It’s not even a gray area for me. Out the door they go.</p>
<p>Most common usages of that term, especially among social scientists like political scientists would use the term to denote the partner attorneys who drew the line of exclusion on the basis of permanent/temp status as they’d see parallels with societies where social exclusivity was enforced on the basis of social class…whether by birth, assigned hierarchical oriented status, and/or income. </p>
<p>This is because the term reactionary is often used to describe conservative-oriented social or economic elites who insist on holding to outmoded hierarchical norms favoring the aristocracy or higher SES classes over the rest. </p>
<p>For instance, during the French Revolution, the term reactionary would be used to describe the royal family, aristocrats, and higher clergy dominating the ancien regime, not the commoners ranging from the poor to the upper-middle class bourgeoisie who were excluded from most of the privileges had by the former groups. </p>
<p>When the bourgeoisie became dominant in 19th century France/Europe, the term reactionary started to be used against them by those sympathetic to the lower classes. </p>
<p>Interestingly, it was also used by some historians of the American Revolution to describe the more social class oriented British rulers the American Revolutionaries were fighting against for our nation’s independence.</p>
<p>I would clear out the whole bunch of them and tell the temp agency what happened. This is truly intolerable. But really, in any company, people are included and excluded to things all of the time, and to have to worry about things like this makes no sense at all. I’m no spring chicken and have been in numerable office situations in many companies in many locales for nearly 50 years, and it’s always been the case.</p>
No, sorry, Attorneys who are at law firms temporarily are usually very short term for a specific project, whereas temp secretaries stay for one day less than a year and move all around. The temp attorneys sit at a computer and designate millions of documents into categories. Once the documents or the matters are finished, they leave. Temp secretaries are usually not short-term in that sense because they see and have access to the firm’s internal computer networks and stuff, which temp attorneys do not.</p>
<p>cpt, there are all sorts of hierarchies of party at law firms. Most of the non-legal staff is not invited to things where clients will be present. Also, only partners go to lots of things. No harm, no foul. We all know our place.</p>
<p>I take back what I said before, then. If these people are employed by a temp agency, and “come and go, often in large numbers, for short periods,” then I wouldn’t have any concern that they would be treated as employees of the firm for various legal/tax purposes. Which also means that’s no easy legal excuse for not inviting them to the party. </p>
<p>This is one of those “Everything I Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten” problems, except it’s not really kindergarten-simple. Do you invite all the kids to the party or not? Generally, you do, and if that strains your budget, you ratchet down the fanciness of the party to fit the number of kids you have to invite. But do you have to invite a group of kids who are in the next room temporarily because their school had a mold problem? Whom the “regulars” don’t know at all, really, and who maybe make some of the kids uncomfortable? (Yes, probably due to socioeconomic issues . . . ) They are not going to be around next year, or later this year; they won’t be inviting our kids to their birthday parties . . . . Sigh . . . .</p>
<p>My law firm (also in NYC) invites everyone to the off-site holiday party (nice venues, so I am sure expensive), and that includes the mail room people, who are not even our employees - they are official employees of a copying company. I think that’s the nice thing to do. It makes me really appreciate my company - I admire the way they treat people :), and the environemnt here is invaluable to me.</p>
<p>P.S. I am not saying the party crashers were right at all. However, I also would much rather work for an inclusive company that treats all its employers very well.</p>
<p>acollegestudent, my firm invited all of the non-employees to the off-site holiday party. Including the current temp attorneys. They just didn’t invite them to this, specific party that was equally about the move and the holidays.</p>
<p>Sorry, Z, I don’t want to presumptuous about how your firm works. I have had to hire temps in the past for short term specific projects as the attornies were so hired. We also used agencies to get temps to take the place of administrative staff on leave for any number of reasons. It was clear that these were not permanent jobs, and would be highly unlikely to ever be, and though I don’t remember if the contracts with the temp firm prohibited making permanent job offers to these temps, I know it was considered bad form to do so–perhaps the temps themselve had contracts not permitting this. We never hired any of the temps from the agencies for permanent spots–we had a whole other process for that. </p>
<p>As a rule, our temps did not get access to our firm’s internal computer networks and certain other things. As we did have confidiential info in our office, we had to make sure it was handled in a way so that temps did not get the same sensitve items that regular employees did. They did not get the building codes, by the way, and entered as visitors. </p>
<p>Because the number of such workers was so small, like usually one, to include the person in an on site party would have been highly likely, unless the person was specifically hired to man the phones and the reception area for that particular reason. But they would not be included in a lot of employee things, nor would they be asked to contribute to pass along pots for someon’es gift. It could go one way or the other in a lot of these things, but I would not have tolerated anyone getting sour over exclusion or expecting inclusion. </p>
<p>I would get rid of this batch and let the temp agency know Wouldn’t want any of them in my offices.</p>
<p>“cpt, there are all sorts of hierarchies of party at law firms. Most of the non-legal staff is not invited to things where clients will be present. Also, only partners go to lots of things. No harm, no foul. We all know our place.” </p>
<p>It seems rude to me to be working with people at xmas and not invite them to a party that will be going on in the offices where everyone works together. I don’t care if it’s the lowest person on the totem pole’s first day there and they’re contracted for one hour. If that hour falls during the big fat fancy xmas party then invite them. Anything else is rude in my book. They’re temp attorneys trying and hoping to be treated courteously and professionally. And yet they are seen as and treated as untouchables. Ick.</p>
No. There were other vendors, people renting space, and even clients on site who weren’t invited. Temp secretaries, legal assistants and accounting personnel were not included, either. Only employees.</p>
<p>CPT, unfortunately, document coders aren’t considered professional employees, so law firms don’t pay for prime office space for them. Some are housed in basements and some in areas of town that are less expensive. For rent purposes, most firms want to pay rent costs for non-employees. The fact that the temp attorneys are in our space with the same light and view is really not the norm and most of them know it and appreciate it.</p>
<p>I don’t see any problem with how your company acted. These temps were out of line.</p>
<p>The party was on another floor, it was not going on under their noses. They have been invited to another off site christmas party. They were told specifically that they were not invited to this party. </p>
<p>I’m sorry if they are bitter and angry and underemployed. It does not excuse their behavior to crash a party, and cause a scene when asked to remove themselves.</p>
<p>I don’t think the firm did anything wrong, especially since they held the party on a service floor which apparently was not in view of the temps. Sounds like these temps need to grow up. This isn’t kindergarten where you invite everyone to the party to be polite. It sounds like the firm has been generous with the temps and did invite them to the off-site party. This party in question is not only to celebrate the holidays but to celebrate a move which the temps are not helping facilitate and for which, most likely, they may not be around to enjoy. This is the business world and the temps should be mature enough to recognize the situation and to not take it personally. I can’t believe the firm didn’t just call the temp agency and tell them to can the whole bunch and to send a new group. Maybe in the future the firm needs to more specific with the temp agency as to what benefits will be included in the contract. (That should not be necessary, but obviously some temps don’t understand the concept of a temp employee.)</p>
<p>Temps behaving badly? One can surely appreciate the human plight of the under-employed attorney. Getting fired by the temp agency isn’t going to help.</p>
<p>07dad, they haven’t been fired and are still on their projects. I was just wondering how other people would perceive this because I am so personally conflicted.</p>
<p>I wonder if it would have been an issue at all if the move were scheduled for April and the party was in March with no connection to Christmas/New Year’s.</p>
<p>I am confident that they will be invited to the New Year’s eve boozeathon because they always have been before.</p>
<p>I have a spare bedroom, so obviously I decided to make it available to the doormen. Unfortunately, when the doormen moved in, living in the bedroom during their shifts, the door was left unattended. Needless to say, we had to hire new doormen, in turn forcing me, in the interest of equity, to move into a bigger apartment (to house the newly hired doormen). Now the door is once again unattended. As an interim solution, I have a bid in on the penthouse; after that I am not sure what I can do.</p>