October 2019

how should I talk about my cancer diagnosis at work?

A reader writes: I am a young professional in my job of almost six years. I have good relationships with coworkers and management, and as we are a direct human services agency we are working in a culture that promotes healthy work/life balance, trauma informed care, etc. I recently confirmed a cancer diagnosis. I’m doing […]

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should I ask my employer to take down a Blue Lives Matter flag?

A reader writes: I am a C-level employee at a multi-state company that has more than 50 but fewer than 100 employees. Recently, we started a social media campaign to show all the amazing things our coworkers do outside of the office — side businesses, hobbies, etc. One of our employees makes beautiful, wood-crafted American […]

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should I hire someone who’s unhappy with the salary, a coworker’s “people I need to hit” list, and more

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Should I hire a temp who’s unhappy with the salary? We’re looking for a temp to come in and cover one of my colleagues, Melisandre, who is going on extended medical leave because of pregnancy complications and then maternity leave. We’re expecting her to be […]

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weekend free-for-all — October 19-20, 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: Lust & Wonder, by Augusten Burroughs. It’s either his third or his six memoir, depending on how you count them. The first covered his awful […]

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open thread – October 18-19, 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 […]

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my new hire went AWOL on her first day

A reader writes: I recently offered a job to someone who accepted and set up a start date. When the person was due to come in for her first day, about a half hour before her shift, I got an apologetic email about a medical emergency (ankle sprain), but she did not specify if she […]

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