[Deezul]

"And yet, he was getting his work done on those days off, so no one fired him."

He may very well have been a poor worker, but it strikes me as odd how superficial our idea of a good worker is. Productivity being equal (at home or work), what does it matter if he seems to be having it easy? The illusion of looking busy still carries a lot of weight apparently.

[leothekim]

I admit I wasn't aware of the quality of his work or his actual productivity. I had heard from others that he was good but not special, and when he finally left we didn't feel like we lost a critical player.

The things that made us think he wasn't productive were: 1.) when he emailed the company saying he was sick and then show up at the company party later that day (more than once); 2.) his solicitation of others to watch non-work-related videos with him during business hours; 3.) his inability to face up to the fact he was soliciting others to watch non-work-related videos with him during business hours.

[fusiongyro]

It matters if the psychological effect on other employees causes them to become less productive or increases the likelihood that they'll look for another job.

[mhurron]

So it's this guys problem that others can't act like adults?

[fusiongyro]

I think it's unreasonable to define 'acting like an adult' in a way that's likely to exclude 99% of humanity.