some men in my office refuse to be alone with women by Alison Green on February 19, 2019 A reader writes: I work for a mid-sized private company that, while not a religious organization, does have “Christian values” as one of its organizational tenets, and has many Christian employees (of which I consider myself one, but more on the liberal progressive side). Generally, they treat employees well, have flexible workplace policies, and overall […] Read the full article →
a client hit my parked car, is it gross to floss in the office bathroom, and more by Alison Green on February 19, 2019 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. A client hit my parked car I am an intern in a law office. The office has a parking lot, but interns are not allowed to park there because it is very small and the higher-ups want to leave the space for clients. I was […] Read the full article →
my employee is being rude to others — but I think it’s from the stress of cancer by Alison Green on February 18, 2019 A reader writes: I am a manager for a department of 11 people inside a large organization. One of my long time employees, Zed, has stage 4 pancreatic cancer. When Zed was first diagnosed about three months ago, I asked if he might consider taking FMLA leave (our organization and state have very generous medical […] Read the full article →
managers need to stop sugarcoating their feedback by Alison Green on February 18, 2019 I hear from a lot of managers who are frustrated with an employee’s work or behavior, feel they’ve addressed the issue, and wonder why it’s still continuing. Over the years, I’ve learned to always ask these frustrated managers, “Exactly what have you said to the person about this?” … because more often than not, it turns […] Read the full article →
our laid-off coworker still shows up every day, employer wants a short story that will make them cry, and more by Alison Green on February 18, 2019 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Our laid-off coworker is still showing up every day My boss laid off one of our team members one afternoon. There was an organization-wide mandate to make a budget correction, and he chose this measure for our unit. The next day, the team member showed […] Read the full article →
weekend free-for-all – February 16-17, 2019 by Alison Green on February 16, 2019 This comment section is open for any non-work-related discussion you’d like to have with other readers, by popular demand. (This one is truly no work and no school.) Book recommendation of the week: Seven Days of Us, by Francesca Hornak. A family is forced to spend a week in quarantine together at Christmas. It’s tense, it’s funny, and […] Read the full article →
open thread – February 15-16, 2019 by Alison Green on February 15, 2019 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 →
car alarm keeps disrupting our office, coworker is blocking me from work, and more by Alison Green on February 15, 2019 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. A car alarm is disrupting our office many times per hour My office is small, one story, and located on a relatively busy street. There is a car that parks along the street directly in front our our building, and this car has a VERY […] Read the full article →
our office won’t tell us in advance when people leave – and sometimes won’t confirm or deny if someone still works here by Alison Green on February 14, 2019 A reader writes: I wanted to reach out about something I perceive as “odd” in our workplace, but, this is my first full-time, professional office job so I wasn’t sure if I’m just not used to a normal practice! Our office generally has a unique culture, because we are almost like an “outpost” office attached […] Read the full article →
my new job isn’t what I signed up for by Alison Green on February 14, 2019 A reader writes: I was hired four months ago at a large organization to be a trainer and writer. I got to ask a lot of questions about the role, which fit what I wanted to do perfectly. My would-be boss pushed hard to bring me on and insisted to the team that this role […] Read the full article →