If there is context you feel is missing, you should add it.
My perspective may be colored a bit by working in an environment with strict labor cost accounting where labor is accounted for down to the tenth hour (even for salaried-exempt employees), and there isn't some magical slush fund that can be used to pay for what would otherwise be unpaid leave. We do have "disaster leave" for salaried employees, but it's on a "work extra hours over the next X weeks to make up for it" basis, where X is a reasonable number given the nature of the disaster. For run-of-the-mill "snow days," it's typically 4 weeks. Taking PTO is also an option, including running up to a 40-hour negative balance. Thankfully, I don't have to deal with any of these RTO shenanigans.
In other words, in this case, employer is unable to provide a safe work environment (i.e., is not even "on their feet" at the moment) and their answer to that is to force employees to compensate for it using their own time off.
I would call this behavior vindictive but in my book, to be vindictive first you need to have a soul.
If an employer wants to pay employees to stay home and do nothing because no work is available, potentially to avoid losing valuable employees, they can do that, but they are not expected to. If working remotely is feasible, it can be mutually beneficial to both the employer and employee, but like everything employment-related, it's also voluntary on both sides of the deal.
1. Even in a logistics level, that's pretty much an abuse of "salaried" positions. Especially exempt ones. You get to suck out 60-80 hours of someone's time, but when they need to not get burned alive it's suddenly "furlough"? No.
2. A business that cannot survive for a few weeks without production is one that deserves to shit down. Individuals that don't have a savings is judged as unsafe, but companies can getaway with that behavior? It's a double standard.
>they can do that, but they are not expected to.
I'd definitely look up state laws about this one before spouting as fact. Federal may not care, but states have an incentive to not lose their entire workforce because businesses don't want to support the econimy in an emergency situation.
There is.
You're one of those people saying the system is set up a certain way, and it can't be changed. It was built by people, they can fix it and figure out how to make it work.
I don't give a fuck about your accounting system. These are real people that work for your company, not numbers in a computer. You can't figure out how to give them some paid time off during a huge rare disaster like this? Figure it out, and fuck this whole attitude.
Making people make up their work time during a disaster. Fuck me... seriously?
Treat others how you would like to be treated. Respect breeds respect.
But if you need a discrete answer, probably a few months? If we're in an emergency situation as a tech industry for more than a month, something much dire than business has happened. Many tech companies rebounded from COVID in a few months times.
Are you doing satire? This is already the status quo for American employers. Do you mean American employers of the labor aristocracy? It is hideously evil, but your wording conjures the idea that US company culture hasn't been corrupted (even with the "any further" part). It has already gone too far. The only thing that's truly interesting to me is that it's a Chinese-influenced company and China hasn't used the last decade to do socialism diplomacy through TikTok.