2007.01.12: January 12, 2007: Headlines: COS - Costa Rica: Policy: Miss LonelyHearts: Personal Web site: Dear Miss LonelyHearts: Can I be terminated for being away from my site without permission?
Peace Corps Online:
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Dear Miss Lonelyhearts:
2007.01.12: January 12, 2007: Headlines: COS - Costa Rica: Policy: Miss LonelyHearts: Personal Web site: Dear Miss LonelyHearts: Can I be terminated for being away from my site without permission?
Dear Miss LonelyHearts: Can I be terminated for being away from my site without permission?
Costa Rica Peace Corps Volunteer Gringa Perdida writes: This week we've lost a volunteer. Saturday, Mike is leaving on a jet plane. This is nothing less than tragic. Actually, I believe 'ironic' would be a better describer. Mike was faced with 'administrative separation' for not calling Peace Corps to tell them that he would be passing the night out of his site. He was working in San Jose, and simply forgot to call in. It's something I, in my gnat-like attention span and attention to detail, have done more than once. Peace Corps found out and he was given the option to quit or be fired. So he had 24 hours to pack his things, say goodbye to his community and get out of the country. There is a policy, of course. The new policy is 'zero tolerance' and he is being made an example of. Anytime subjectivity is removed from punishments, it always seems to fall on the people that deserve it the least.
Dear Miss LonelyHearts: Can I be terminated for being away from my site without permission?
Costa Rica Peace Corps Volunteer Gringa Perdida writes: No Tolerance for Zero Tolerance
This week we've lost a volunteer. Saturday, Mike is leaving on a jet plane. This is nothing less than tragic. Actually, I believe 'ironic' would be a better describer. Mike was faced with 'administrative separation' for not calling Peace Corps to tell them that he would be passing the night out of his site. He was working in San Jose, and simply forgot to call in. It's something I, in my gnat-like attention span and attention to detail, have done more than once. Peace Corps found out and he was given the option to quit or be fired. So he had 24 hours to pack his things, say goodbye to his community and get out of the country. There is a policy, of course. The new policy is 'zero tolerance' and he is being made an example of. Anytime subjectivity is removed from punishments, it always seems to fall on the people that deserve it the least.
People need to call in. It's a safety thing. And yes, there are plenty of people that are screwing around, vacationing more than they are working, and there needs to be consequences. Those people are better (luckier) at not getting caught.
Mike was an excellent volunteer. His heart was in his work. He was doing great things. He, in many ways, embodied what a Peace Corps Volunteer should be. With zero tolerance, none of that matters. I am about to start a series of workshops teaching parents how to administer appropriate consequences to their children so that the message is not lost in the punishment. Maybe I should start with the office. The message we are getting is that as long as we are physically in our sites, it really doesn't matter if we are doing anything else or not. If our work performance is irrelevant in keeping our jobs... what does that say?
Mike will be fine. He is meant to be elsewhere. He'll move on from this and do great things...somewhere else. It's our loss. It's the loss of his community. Of course, if there were no injustice in the world, we would be out of a job.
Anyhoo, good luck Mike! You will be missed. Your absence will devastate Costa Rica's datability potential.
Links to Related Topics (Tags):
Headlines: January, 2007; Peace Corps Costa Rica; Directory of Costa Rica RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Costa Rica RPCVs; Miss Lonelyhearts
When this story was posted in January 2007, this was on the front page of PCOL:
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Story Source: Personal Web site
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Costa Rica; Policy; Miss LonelyHearts
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Another example of serving PCVs having no due process rights. This is awful. But PCVs are not government employees, they serve at the whim of administration. Zero tolerance? Enforced uniformly or selectively to "make an example?" PCVs need to be able to serve with a contractual obligation which spells out rights, responsibilities and process. Military get this. Americans who voluntarily give up a lot of their rights as citizens are fools. Ya, I know. I did, too.