weekend open thread – July 25-26, 2020 by Alison Green on July 25, 2020 This comment section is open for any non-work-related discussion you’d like to have with other readers, by popular demand. Here are the rules for the weekend posts. Book recommendation of the week: Family and Other Accidents, by Shari Goldhagen. It follows two brothers left on their own after their parents die, and their relationships with the women in their […] Read the full article →
it’s your Friday good news by Alison Green on July 24, 2020 It’s your Friday good news, with more accounts of success even in this weird time. 1. I left an extremely dysfunctional workplace in December of 2019 and started freelancing. Unfortunately, I never got up to a full-time freelancing load, so I decided to job search in February. I was in final interviews with two positions in […] Read the full article →
open thread – July 24-25, 2020 by Alison Green on July 24, 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 →
can I breastfeed my baby on video calls, credit checks in job interviews, and more by Alison Green on July 24, 2020 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Is it okay to breastfeed my baby on video calls? I had a baby in late March and will be returning to work next week, which means working from home in my case. My mother will be watching him while I work. One of the […] Read the full article →
my employee lied about having COVID by Alison Green on July 23, 2020 A reader writes: I work for a mid-sized organization that serves children of all ages, most of whom have special needs. Recently one of our (now former) employees admitted that they had lied about receiving a positive diagnosis for COVID-19 (presumably to get paid leave through the new paid leave law, though we never ended […] Read the full article →
updates: the crush, the up-front salary question, and more by Alison Green on July 23, 2020 Here are three updates from people who had their letters answered here in the past. 1. I have a crush on my boss and he’s being standoffish Shelter-in-place was really good for an introvert like me. I made a whole bunch of progress on my writing, did my regular home strength-training workouts, became an active […] Read the full article →
how do I change to “they” pronouns at work? by Alison Green on July 23, 2020 It’s the Thursday “ask the readers” question. A reader writes: I’m considering starting to use “they” pronouns for myself at work. I’m sort of flailing on how to request that people switch pronouns (particularly when it doesn’t fit the standard he or she pronouns), as well as wondering in my mind how much it would […] Read the full article →
coworker demands my attention when I’m busy, performance reviews during COVID, and more by Alison Green on July 23, 2020 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My coworker demands my attention when I’m busy I work with a woman who is senior to me in title. There are several of us and we each work for different bosses, but we all have the same grandboss. She is awesome when it comes […] Read the full article →
my manager makes us do mental-health surveys every day by Alison Green on July 22, 2020 A reader writes: Recently, my boss started attending personal therapy (she shared this information with me unprovoked) and shortly after starting her sessions she discovered Brene Brown. Her interest in Brene has moved from simply showing a video during a group meeting to having us all read through one of her books. My concern comes […] Read the full article →
what to say when people ask why an employee was fired by Alison Green on July 22, 2020 A reader writes: I just fired someone. It was necessary, and I’ve got no regrets. But while this person was terrible in many ways, they did have a great relationship with some staff members they worked with. And those staff are asking us (no doubt influenced by personal contact from the fired employee) why we […] Read the full article →