can I ask my employee to remove his pronouns from his email signature, stuck paying for a business hotel, and more by Alison Green on February 15, 2021 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Can I ask my employee to remove his pronouns from his email signature? My employee recently added pronouns to his signature line: (he/him). Can I ask him to remove this from his signature? It seems highly unprofessional, especially in our industry. Please don’t. It’s not […] Read the full article →
weekend open thread – February 13-14, 2021 by Alison Green on February 13, 2021 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: Necessary People, by Anna Pitoniak. Two friends, one rich and one who’s had to work hard for everything she has, find themselves at professional odds when they […] Read the full article →
it’s your Friday good news by Alison Green on February 12, 2021 It’s your Friday good news, with more accounts of success even in this weird time. 1. I’ve literally been waiting for the day I get to share good news for good news Friday! I was very very unexpectedly laid off at the beginning of August. I was devastated as I loved my job and coworkers. […] Read the full article →
open thread – February 12-13, 2021 by Alison Green on February 12, 2021 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 (that includes school). If you want an answer from me, emailing me is still your best bet*, but this is a chance to talk to other readers. * […] Read the full article →
boss sends us daily sales pitches for a money management app, pressure for virtual socializing, and more by Alison Green on February 12, 2021 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My boss is bombarding us with daily sales pitches for an app One of my bosses has made a money management app available as a perk for employees — think a Dave Ramsey program. She sends us daily emails strongly encouraging us to “sign up […] Read the full article →
should we provide the name behind anonymous feedback to a customer? by Alison Green on February 11, 2021 A reader writes: My company develops a customizable system that we sell to various companies, and my team is responsible for providing support to the hundreds of companies who buy and utilize our system. Recently, one of my coworkers was asked by one of our customers to provide the name of the user who wrote […] Read the full article →
updates: the coworker who came to work with Covid and more by Alison Green on February 11, 2021 Here are three updates from past letter-writers. 1. My coworker knowingly exposed me to COVID-19 First of all, I did not get COVID from Stacy (and have somehow managed not to get it from anyone else either, despite living in one of the worst hot-spots in the nation). As for what happened after I got […] Read the full article →
how do I talk to my husband about his poor work ethic and bad attitude? by Alison Green on February 11, 2021 It’s the Thursday “ask the readers” question. A reader writes: My question is regarding my husband’s transition from a manufacturing job to a more corporate environment. My husband (“Jim”) worked on the line in a factory setting for many years. Just over two years ago, he accepted a new job related to his previous field, […] Read the full article →
do I have to cover self-harm scars, boss resents that I can work from home after having a baby, and more by Alison Green on February 11, 2021 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. How will I know if a new job will require me to cover my self-harm scars? I’m recently out of grad school and applying for my first office job. In my teens, I went through a rough patch where my mental health really suffered. I […] Read the full article →
I negotiated and got more money — why do I feel so weird? by Alison Green on February 10, 2021 A reader writes: An old boss of mine contacted me out of the blue for a position at his growing start-up that sounds perfect for me. I lost my job earlier this year so I have been seeking a position that is the right fit and this just kind of dropped into my lap, and […] Read the full article →