weekend free-for-all – March 28-29, 2020 by Alison Green on March 28, 2020 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: Last Couple Standing, by Matthew Norman. When all their friends get divorced, a couple tries an ill-judged experiment. I really want to read Emily St. […] Read the full article →
bosses are panic-buying spy software to monitor remote workers by Alison Green on March 27, 2020 Well, this is a terrible indictment of employers’ utter lack of understanding about how to manage remote workers: I’m quoted (in part, questioning how these managers are getting any work done themselves). Also, note it’s by Polly Mosendz, the reporter I’ve asked people to contact if their employers are behaving badly in relation to coronavirus. Read the full article →
exactly where to report employers for violating shelter-in-place orders, by state by Alison Green on March 27, 2020 When I wrote on Wednesday about what to do if your employer is violating shelter-in-place orders, commenters were a wealth of information for individual states. Here’s crowd-sourced info on where to report non-compliant employers, by state. I will verify and add additional info here as I get it. • In California, if your county declared […] Read the full article →
open thread – March 27-28, 2020 by Alison Green on March 27, 2020 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 might have brought COVID-19 to work in January, is my mom a bad manager, and more by Alison Green on March 27, 2020 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Should I tell my employer I may have brought COVID-19 to work in January? I’m hoping you can help me with an ethical dilemma I am having. Back in mid-January, I took a trip to Northern Italy, where I caught a weird little respiratory virus. […] Read the full article →
my coworkers keep discussing private business in front of me as if I’m not there by Alison Green on March 26, 2020 A reader writes: About five months ago, I started a new job that I’m so far mostly enjoying and seems to be going alright. I do, however, have a weird problem (or it seems weird to me) and I’m not sure how best to handle it. We’re a small department in an open plan office […] Read the full article →
let’s see your animal coworkers by Alison Green on March 26, 2020 With so much stressful content lately, we need more animal photos. Since so many people are working at home right now, we need to see photos of your animal colleagues — your cat on your keyboard, your dog in your desk chair, your ferret on a conference call. Submit your pets-working-at-home photos to pets@askamanager.org and […] Read the full article →
update: my boss tapes people’s mouths shut during meetings by Alison Green on March 26, 2020 Remember the letter-writer last month whose boss tapes people’s mouths shut during meetings when she doesn’t like their ideas? Here’s the update. Hello everyone. I am the person who made the original post regarding my boss’ tendency to cover people’s mouths with tape during meetings. I wanted to first clarify a few things that people […] Read the full article →
how is your manager or company supporting you right now? by Alison Green on March 26, 2020 It’s the Thursday “ask the readers” post. A reader writes: I’d love a post on the best things people’s managers/companies are doing right now to support them during this period. I think we’re all trying to figure this out as we go along, and it would be great to hear what’s working really well for […] Read the full article →
can I ask coworkers not to talk about coronavirus, wolf whistle ring tone, and more by Alison Green on March 26, 2020 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My boss wants me to push my crew harder — but then he undermines me My boss is always pressuring me to push my crew harder and enforce rules with more diligence. We primarily use write-ups (document containing description of offense, number of “points,” and […] Read the full article →