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Re:WeWork Will No Longer Let Employees Expense Any Kind of Meat by bunderbunder on Friday July 13, 2018 @05:57PM (#17527141)
Let's not be hyperbolic here. Serving food that doesn't happen to contain meat isn't forcing you to be vegetarian any more than serving only soft drinks at an event would be forcing you to be a teetotaler.
Re:WeWork Will No Longer Let Employees Expense Any Kind of Meat by Waterluvian on Friday July 13, 2018 @06:11PM (#17527281)
Refusing to serve meat == refusing to serve vegetables. Imagine if the inverse were true. People would flip.

All I want to convey is that I believe eating an omnivorous diet is an equal dietary preference to eating a herbivorous one. Deserving of the same protections, if any.

Re:WeWork Will No Longer Let Employees Expense Any Kind of Meat by seorphates on Friday July 13, 2018 @06:51PM (#17527551)
I don't know. If they're not going to expense your meals because you're away on official business and chose wrong then I'm not sure I'd be down with that. As for on premise and coordinated business events, sure, I'm down with that. Business trips where you're someplace new well away from home "if you want us to pay for a meal while we send you to this place then no meat" is.. a little too close to too personal. That seems mean and self-righteous. I don't think I wouldn't be interested in weWork even were I a vegetarian.

We can all try or not. Screw coercion, especially in excess.

Re:WeWork Will No Longer Let Employees Expense Any Kind of Meat by thaumasiotes on Friday July 13, 2018 @06:02PM (#17527187)
On the other hand, a policy of "you can expense vegetarian meals, but only vegetarian meals" is forcing you to be vegetarian at a much higher and more obnoxious level than that.
Re:WeWork Will No Longer Let Employees Expense Any Kind of Meat by vfc1 on Friday July 13, 2018 @06:07PM (#17527258)
Employees are not being forced to become vegetarians, they can still eat fish, dairy and eggs and expense their meals.

They can even choose to go outside and eat meat, they have freedom of choice.

Re:WeWork Will No Longer Let Employees Expense Any Kind of Meat by skinnymuch on Friday July 13, 2018 @07:14PM (#17527650)
But dairy and eggs are part of a normal vegetarian diet. You worded it as if they are not.
Re:WeWork Will No Longer Let Employees Expense Any Kind of Meat by apple4ever on Friday July 13, 2018 @10:27PM (#17528447)
They are being forced if they don't want to or cannot afford to buy meat.
Re:WeWork Will No Longer Let Employees Expense Any Kind of Meat by maxerickson on Friday July 13, 2018 @06:44PM (#17527513)
Pushing. Not forcing.

I mean, I'm pretty sure that most jobs that come with expense accounts also happen to come with a decent amount of, what do you call it, income. I sort of doubt that this sort of policy is headed to the per diem world.

Re:WeWork Will No Longer Let Employees Expense Any Kind of Meat by toomuchtodo on Friday July 13, 2018 @05:58PM (#17527154)
Is it okay if my business only allows the expensing of meat, and refuses to allow carbohydrates for health reasons?

EDIT: Fair enough! Not contrarian, just finding the line. What interesting times we live in.

Re:WeWork Will No Longer Let Employees Expense Any Kind of Meat by bunderbunder on Friday July 13, 2018 @05:59PM (#17527163)
Of course.

Though you might find it gets even more resistance. Plenty of people eat burgers, but almost all of them would expect it to be served on a bun, maybe with a condiment or two. I hear french fries are also popular.

Re:WeWork Will No Longer Let Employees Expense Any Kind of Meat by whack on Friday July 13, 2018 @06:03PM (#17527210)
That's a pretty great analogy. Lots of businesses have a no-alcohol policy. No one even bats an eye when it's mentioned. I hardly see anyone complaining about such companies pushing a lifestyle agenda.
Re:WeWork Will No Longer Let Employees Expense Any Kind of Meat by pwinnski on Monday July 16, 2018 @11:46AM (#17542221)
It's easy and common to ask for two checks, and alcohol purchases end up on a separate check, paid for with a separate card.

I'm not sure how a restaurant would react if one ordered a meal and asked for the the meat in that meal to be put on a separate check.

So it's an analogy, but not a great one, I think.

Re:WeWork Will No Longer Let Employees Expense Any Kind of Meat by curioussavage on Friday July 13, 2018 @06:23PM (#17527386)
Alcohol is not a good example. Alcohol at work causes so many problems.
Re:WeWork Will No Longer Let Employees Expense Any Kind of Meat by null000 on Friday July 13, 2018 @07:40PM (#17527731)
Some people can't handle alcohol. Others can usually handle alcohol, but it really only takes one time to be an issue. Get large enough, and serving alcohol at company events guarantees at least one, sometimes more, HR headaches, statistically speaking.

I'm not a huge fan of a company changing its behavior because it wants to avoid risks that are just inherent in dealing with people (the logical conclusion is to pretty much treat all your employees like children to avoid anyone causing trouble) but I can at least respect it if they're up front about their motivations.

Re:WeWork Will No Longer Let Employees Expense Any Kind of Meat by joshuamorton on Friday July 13, 2018 @06:40PM (#17527492)
Does it really? I can get alcohol at two or three, and sometimes more, work events in any given week. Some teams have beer fridges. The sky doesn't fall.

(to be clear, I fully agree with GP)

Re:WeWork Will No Longer Let Employees Expense Any Kind of Meat by andrenth on Friday July 13, 2018 @08:02PM (#17527844)
Do you also drive home afterwards?
Re:WeWork Will No Longer Let Employees Expense Any Kind of Meat by joshuamorton on Friday July 13, 2018 @08:07PM (#17527869)
No, I don't drive to work as a general rule. Nor do I drink at work, as a general rule. I certainly wouldn't do both.

I'm a responsible human, as are my coworkers.

Re:WeWork Will No Longer Let Employees Expense Any Kind of Meat by downandout on Friday July 13, 2018 @06:15PM (#17527324)
Serving food that doesn't happen to contain meat isn't forcing you to be vegetarian

Sure it is. There will be situations where employees have no choice but to eat company-sponsored food. Mandatory working lunches, dinner with potential clients (I’d love for them to take me to dinner as a potential client/partner and tell me I can’t order a steak...), etc. In those situations, they are indeed “forcing you to be a vegetarian”.

Re:WeWork Will No Longer Let Employees Expense Any Kind of Meat by natrik on Friday July 13, 2018 @06:39PM (#17527484)
Most of your comments on this thread have been illogical.

Companies are not required to dole out free food. Them changing their policies to only reimburse certain kinds of food can be met with you leaving the company if it matters that much to you.

You can bring your own food or pay for it out of your own pocket if you need to. They have stated people with medical/religious requirements that need meat will have their needs met.

Re:WeWork Will No Longer Let Employees Expense Any Kind of Meat by throwawayou812 on Friday July 13, 2018 @06:48PM (#17527536)
I think his point was that such a heavy handed policy that runs contrary to the views of most of the world's population is problematic. Since there will be situations where employees have little or no choice but to eat company sponsored meals, I for one don't see that to be "illogical".
Re:WeWork Will No Longer Let Employees Expense Any Kind of Meat by natrik on Friday July 13, 2018 @07:32PM (#17527712)
At my current workplace I can only work from home once per week. I would vastly prefer working from home than the uncomfortable chair and noisy working environment of the office, but I have to make do.

Options available to me are changing jobs, asking for a policy shift because of medical issues, etc.

If you have to eat a more ethically sourced and less savory meal because of work I don't see that to be a large issue.

Re:WeWork Will No Longer Let Employees Expense Any Kind of Meat by apple4ever on Friday July 13, 2018 @10:29PM (#17528459)
It actually is a large issue. Deciding for an employee what they can eat, or highly encouraging it, is a huge issue.

Comparing working from home to eating is two totally different things.

Re:WeWork Will No Longer Let Employees Expense Any Kind of Meat by bunderbunder on Friday July 13, 2018 @06:20PM (#17527358)
It doesn't really work that way. It takes more than having once eaten a single grilled cheese sandwich to qualify as a vegetarian.
Re:WeWork Will No Longer Let Employees Expense Any Kind of Meat by munificent on Friday July 13, 2018 @06:17PM (#17527341)
That's a real stretch.

If the company refused to pay for an escort, they aren't forcing me to be celibate. They aren't affecting my identity they are just choosing not to pay for a certain act.

Re:WeWork Will No Longer Let Employees Expense Any Kind of Meat by null000 on Friday July 13, 2018 @07:44PM (#17527757)
That's just a completely disingenuous comparison. It's pretty normal for companies to pay for work-related food, just as it's pretty normal for you to pay for food you eat on your own time.

It's pretty not-normal for companies to pay for escorts, just like it's pretty not-normal for you to pay for escorts on your own time. Some people pay for escorts, but it's pretty well outside social norms, and I can't imagine a business situation requiring an escort anyway.

Re:WeWork Will No Longer Let Employees Expense Any Kind of Meat by apple4ever on Friday July 13, 2018 @10:30PM (#17528467)
Bingo.

In fact, it would be like a company who normally does pay for escorts, but then deciding they'll own pay for opposite sex escorts, instead of allowing same sex escorts.

They'd rightly be pillared for allowing one but not the other.

Re:WeWork Will No Longer Let Employees Expense Any Kind of Meat by dragonwriter on Friday July 13, 2018 @10:38PM (#17528495)
> It's pretty not-normal for companies to pay for escorts

I've known lots of companies to pay for escorts, but only the “walk you from the building to your car at night” kind and not the “euphemism for prostitute” kind.

Re:WeWork Will No Longer Let Employees Expense Any Kind of Meat by somecontext on Friday July 13, 2018 @09:38PM (#17528270)
> a business situation requiring an escort

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17453554

Re:WeWork Will No Longer Let Employees Expense Any Kind of Meat by throwawayou812 on Friday July 13, 2018 @06:29PM (#17527423)
I dare say this is a horrible comparison. There are no circumstances under which employees are expected, or even required, to have sex at work (presumably at least not at a mainstream tech startup). There are, however, many situations where employees would be expected/required to eat company-sponsored meals.