Once revered as the disciplinarian that would hand out warnings for misappropriate behaviour in the office, Human Resources Manager, Martina Martinez has become the belle of the office with just about every employee inviting her out for a coffee throughout the day. 

The friendly coffee dates come despite Martinez regularly being accidentally left out of invites to Friday Night Drinks and workplace get-togethers. When queried as to why she was suddenly so popular with the staff, some of whom she had never even met, Martinez was pleased to be getting recognition for the tight ship she has steered through lockdowns with the office all working from home. 

“The HR department have been the quiet heroes through the pandemic so it’s great to finally be getting recognised,” said Martinez. 

“With everyone working from home and only meeting via Zoom calls, we’ve really stamped out the inappropriate behaviour. 

“Complaints about sexual misconduct are the lowest they have ever been so this must just be everyone’s way of thanking me for all the great HR work we’ve been doing from home.” 

As Melbourne and Sydney re-open with COVID vaccination rates surpass the mandated 70%, Martinez is loving the opportunity to try so many different cafes throughout the day. 

Alongside the city re-openings, international travel is also set to resume with many employees having banked up considerable amounts of annual leave days in preparation for post-pandemic travel. Martinez confirmed that there would be no preferential treatment for annual leave requests because she wasted so much time going out for coffees that she wasn’t getting her work done, and had handballed the requests to Karen in Payroll.