open thread – March 25-26, 2016 by Alison Green on March 25, 2016 It’s the Friday open thread! The comment section on this post is open for discussion with other readers on anything work-related that you want to talk about. If you want an answer from me, emailing me is still your best bet*, but this is a chance to talk to other readers. * If you submitted […] Read the full article →
I was laid off and now my manager wants my help, I don’t want my company car, and more by Alison Green on March 25, 2016 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. I was laid off and now my manager wants my help I was recently laid off on a Thursday morning with no notice and was basically perp walked to HR. I wasn’t even allowed to return to my desk to gather my personal belongings either. […] Read the full article →
how can I get my coworker to stop rambling and get to the point? by Alison Green on March 24, 2016 In last week’s post about being more concise, a commenter asked: Is there any way to encourage my coworkers to be more concise and get to the point? So many of my meetings with one guy specifically turn out to be him rambling for 30 minutes, and if I’m able to get a word in […] Read the full article →
update: my part-time job wants me to work more days — am I being unreasonable in saying no? by Alison Green on March 24, 2016 Remember the letter-writer last year whose part-time job kept pressuring her to work more hours? Here’s the update. I have an update for you! The job ended up being very sketchy. As some commenters guessed, it was a indeed a chain of tutoring centers. The commenters made me realize just how bad of a workplace that […] Read the full article →
should pet peeves impact a hiring decision? by Alison Green on March 24, 2016 A reader writes: I am hiring for a position that I will manage. Our office is small (fewer than 20 people), so this individual and I will work together very closely. I know selecting interviewees and employees is not truly “fair,” but how much should someone touching on my pet peeves impact the decision to […] Read the full article →
avoiding a farewell dinner, a coworker’s secret unpaid overtime, and more by Alison Green on March 24, 2016 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. How can I avoid a farewell dinner from the job that’s letting me go? My question is regarding a farewell dinner that I’d really rather avoid attending. I was recently let go from a small company. The circumstances were pretty reasonable. I understand their reasons were […] Read the full article →
I don’t want to throw my team under the bus about a mistake that wasn’t my fault by Alison Green on March 23, 2016 A reader writes: I’m a now not-so-recent college graduate in her first big girl job and I’m not entirely sure how to phrase an issue to my boss. I have an manager who works out of state. The manager works directly and most closely with me on day-to-day operations on our projects and I supervise […] Read the full article →
when a reliable employee starts making mistakes by Alison Green on March 23, 2016 A reader writes: I have an employee who has been working in payroll and purchasing for 2 years with little to no incidents. However, lately there has been a constant stream of mistakes; one in particular required deleting the whole payroll and rekeying it by hand. It is like this employee went home one day […] Read the full article →
my office is being overrun by misbehaving dogs by Alison Green on March 23, 2016 A reader writes: I’ve been at my new company, a 15-person firm a little over a year old, for about six months now. I generally enjoy the work and my colleagues but find myself increasing stressed and agitated at work because of the presence of a misbehaving puppy who is there every day. We have […] Read the full article →
employee takes a vacation day every week, listing Airbnb hosting on a resume, and more by Alison Green on March 23, 2016 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Employee takes a vacation day every week I’m hoping you can tell me if there is anything that can be done about an employee who had admitted to taking one vacation day a week each month so that he is working only four days a week […] Read the full article →