What is the biggest problem at your workplace?

In my company, junior employees often work more than 60 hours a week. If the boss is in the office, we feel we have to stay until he leaves. Very often, we are not paid for working overtime, we work for free. And for many of us, the summer holiday is only a one-week vacation. We work a lot of overtime, but we aren’t more productive. We just have more health problems.

 

2 There is so much waste in our company! The air conditioning is on, and people open the windows. The cafeteria is empty, but all the lights are on. People photocopy everything, and the wastepaper baskets are full of copies nobody wants. It’s a waste of money for the company, and it’s bad for the environment. We all need to try and do our bit to protect our environment.

 

3 Our company changes all the time, and every month some employees lose their jobs. We are very worried about losing our jobs. It’s very stressful. We love our company, but sometimes we lose our motivation. We don’t come to work on time, or we leave early. We are not very happy at work, and not very happy at home. It’s a difficult situation for our families, too.

 

4 Things are better now than in the past, but many of my female colleagues aren’t happy. They often get less money than men for the same work, and it’s more difficult for us women to get promotion. In addition, working in teams is very difficult. We women can express our opinions, of course, but it’s almost always the manager who has the final word and makes the decision.

 

5 Put the problems in order, starting with the biggest. Explain your choice.

1 ……………………………………….

2……………………………………….

3 ……………………………………..

4 ……………………………………..

6 Case Study “Independent Film Company”

1 Read the background:

Business is good at the Independent Film Company (IFC) in Vancouver, Canada, but the employees are unhappy. They don’t have flexible hours*, many people don’t have breaks** and they often don’t enjoy their jobs. The managers are worried that some of the employees will leave. A team from Human Resources*** is interviewing people in different departments: a receptionist, a production assistant****, a camera operator and a producer*****.

flexible hours* - гибкий график работы

breaks**- перерывы

Human Resources*** - кадры, штат служащих

(Human Resources Department – отдел кадров)

a production assistant**** - ассистент режиссера

a producer***** - режиссер - постановщик

2 Work in pairs:

Student A - Interviewer (Human Resources) Interview a staff member and ask questions. Note down the answers. Position: (What/job?) Daily routine: (What/do/in/job?) Hours: /What/hours/work?) Breaks: (How often/breaks?) Lunch: (When and where/ have lunch?) Feelings about job: (What/like (not like) about/job? B.1 Receptionist Daily routine (what you do in your job): You receive visitors, answer phone calls and book meeting rooms. Hours: 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday to Friday Breaks: one 15-minute break in the morning Lunch: 1 p.m. – 2 p.m. You usually bring your own food. Feelings about job: You aren’t happy. The reception desk is always busy. You work hard and the salary is low. You need more breaks. You want more flexible hours.

Student B - Employee The teacher will give you one of the role cards: B.1 Receptionist B.2 Production Assistant B.3 Camera Operator B.4 TV Producer Use the information to answer the interviewer questions.     B.2 Production Assistant Daily routine (what you do in your job): You book the studios, assist during filming and help to move equipment. Hours: 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. Monday to Friday. You sometimes work later. You sometimes work at weekends. Breaks: no regular breaks Lunch: no definite time. You usually get takeaway fast food. Feelings about job: You enjoy the job. You are very good at your job, and you like your helpful colleagues. The salary is OK, but you do a lot of overtime. Your office is very small. You want a fast promotion to be a producer.

B.3 Camera Operator Daily routine (what you do in your job): You film in the studios and outside on location. Hours: 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. Monday to Friday. You often work much later. You sometimes work at weekends. Breaks: no regular breaks Lunch: no definite time. You often miss lunch when you are busy. Feelings about job: The work is interesting and always different. You like the travel opportunities, but you are not keen on the weekend work. Your boss is not very friendly.

B.4 TV Producer Daily routine (what you do in your job): You create ideas for television, produce films and promote films. Hours: no definite hours - Monday to Friday and often at weekends. Breaks: no regular breaks Lunch: no definite time. You usually eat in restaurants. Feelings about job: You love the job because it is interesting. You earn a high salary and travel a lot. You want a laptop computer and a new company car.

3 Meet as two groups, interviewers and employees. Make a list of problems and decide which ones are important.

4 Meet as one group and choose three working conditions to change at the Independent Film Company.

GRAMMAR FOCUS 1 – have / have got

i We often use the construction have got as an alternative to have in the present tense. In this construction, have changes in form. Got stays the same:

I have a car.	I’ve got(have got) a Harley Davidson.
He has a new job.	She’s got(has got) a new laptop.
You don’t have much time.	You haven’t got (have not got) much time.
Do they have any money?	Have they got any information?
Does she havea company car?	Has he got a computer?

 

ii We use have / have got to talk about possession.

We ’ve got a new printer but it doesn’t work very well.

 

iii We also use have /have got to talk about plans.

I ’ve got a meeting this Tuesday, but I’m free on Wednesday.

 

iv We use some with plurals in positive sentences.

I’ve got some problems with cash flow*. cash flow* - движение денежной наличности

 

v We use any with plurals in questions and negative sentences.

Have you got any meetings today?

ASSIGNMENTS

A Make sentences about what Marco has and hasn’t got.

1 Marco’s got a company car. He hasn’t got a fax machine.

1 a company car v 2 a high salaryx 3 a personal assistant x 4 two telephones v

a fax machine x a great boss v a lot of free time x free broadband Internet access v

B You are at an international business conference. On the first night you go to the hotel bar for a drink. You start talking to a colleague. Look at the example:

A: Have you got any customers in England?