My take is that employees should not have to use their own equipment or time for something that their employers want them to do.

So, I think MIL could safely tell her supervisor that she will only be using company time to "play" the games, and that she can play them only on company-provided equipment.

Then let the supervisor figure out how/when/where MIL can do the training.

If the company insists she have a smart phone, iPad, tablet or the like to do the training, then the company needs to provide said equipment and the training to use it.

But really, she should dump the entire problem back in her supervisor's lap. The supervisor should get the games up and running on MIL's computer, and get MIL the assistance that she needs to learn enough to play the games.

It is possible that by doing this, MIL will show the company that she is not very tech oriented. And the company may decide that they don't want her working there anymore. But it will probably take some time for them to force her out--if she only has a year left, it might take at least that long. So she could probably stay at the job long enough to finish paying off her mortgage, and then leave.

I also wanted to add the following:

The exact rules that govern training/payment may vary depending on whether MIL is hourly or salaried.

Places to look for help:

her state's Department of Labor
the US Department of Labor
the Ask a Manager website might have some similar questions already answered, or could answer a question for you.

I Googled Wasabi Waiter, and it appears to be more of an aptitude test for employees, rather than training. That would bother me, especially if it is being promoted to employees as "training." It looks more like a way to screen employees than a way to train them.

Your MIL is me. I am 61 and although I do have cable tv I don't have anything else, not even a cellphone. Could I learn to play the game sure I could but I would be asking why? Are my performance reviews found lacking, are there new requirements wrt the job that require this game to be done.

If this is a new formal job requirement then it is job training done on company time with company provided equipment. If it is a suggestion, then wait them out.

My experience in hiring is that just because you can ace an aptitude test (or in this case a computer game) doesn't make you a good employee. Hopefully it's just an awareness for the current employees rather than a predictor of who stays and who goes.

Just want to clarify they are doing the game this week. She wanted to download it to her phone to practice. They apparently will do it on a mobile device vs. desktop. She gets very stressed by this type of stuff. They also had to do some other training on using Google where they had to grab fish as they came down the screen. It had something to do with trusting online links and not downloading viruses. Again, the info is probably needed but does it need to be in a game format?

Blfenton, that is her question exactly. Why do they even have to do this if their job performance is fine. Apparently everybody has to do it. I am guessing this is some HR gobbledygook. I was hoping someone who is in an HR related field can do some kind of explanation of what do they really get from these games.

{{!gwi}}

This post was edited by gsciencechick on Sun, Oct 19, 14 at 16:02

It may not be an HR person pushing the games. It is entirely possible that some executive in the company heard about them and is telling HR that all the employees have to "play" the games.

These "games" are apparently the latest buzzword, and execs get street cred when they can brag/boast they, too, are using the latest and greatest thing in their company.

I don't work in HR, but my position requires me to work very closely with our HR department, and you would not believe some of the things the upper echelon has told them to do. Some of those things would have broken the law, and HR has had a hard time reining a few VPs in.

What they get from these games is a bunch of statistics, which may be used to pinpoint employee weaknesses so they can get better training, or to pinpoint employee weaknesses so they can be let go, or which the execs can't interpret so it is all for nothing.

One thing, though. I would never, ever, put company software on my phone. If the company wants me to use software that requires a touch screen, the company needs to provide the touch screen. Unless they want to pay for my phone and phone bill, my private phone remains private.

Asking employees to put company-provided software on their personal devices crosses a line for me. First, it's a "game." Then it becomes requiring the employee to use their own device to do work. Not a good situation.

Camlan, thanks for your input. She said they will give them the mobile device to collect data--that's what they did the last time, but she wants to practice the game on her own phone. So, she is not using her personal phone other than for practice.

Neither DH nor I play any video games that are popular now. I was very good at Galaga and Ms PacMan back in the 80s. I'd hate that my job depends on my ability to do something like that. I don't play Angry Birds, Candy Crush, etc.