a coworker prayed for my fiancé’s death so we didn’t invite her to our wedding … and now there is drama by Alison Green on September 28, 2021 A reader writes: My fiancé, “Ted,” has worked for 10 years on a small, very close-knit team, all of whom seem to get along exceptionally well. All the team members and spouses/partners socialize outside of work together as well, and we consider them all to be close friends. We thought they felt the same. A […] Read the full article →
employee showed up at kid’s birthday party, coworker keeps taking our snacks, and more by Alison Green on September 28, 2021 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Employee showed up at boss’s kid’s birthday party This is a low stakes question but my spouse has had ongoing hiring issues (the team has a “we’re a family” vibe) and the fact that he wasn’t bothered by this blew my mind. Our kid’s birthday […] Read the full article →
my employee relocated and didn’t tell me by Alison Green on September 27, 2021 A reader writes: I run an online business and we have not worked in office since March 2020. Like many Covid-remote workers, we saw some living situations shift: moving in with family, caring for parents, working in remote locations. That worked very well for us and I’m grateful. Our current return-to-work date is before the […] Read the full article →
companies’ lip service about “self-care” isn’t what employees need by Alison Green on September 27, 2021 Since the start of the pandemic, employers have been increasingly jumping on the self-care bandwagon – reminding employees to make time for self-care, sending out tips on incorporating yoga or mindfulness into their days, and even sometimes carving out work time for self-care practices as a group. But it’s hard to see that support for […] Read the full article →
our employee forged the owner’s signature on his mortgage documents by Alison Green on September 27, 2021 A reader writes: I have a remote medical billing job that I have been doing for the last seven years. The owner of the billing company, John, is a wonderful person who goes above and beyond for me and for his two other employees who are on-site. For context, I have run a highly successful […] Read the full article →
employee lied for months about his work, coworker wants me to turn down my radio, and more by Alison Green on September 27, 2021 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Employee lied for months about work he wasn’t really doing I have a small team of developers working under me. We were working on building a new product for our start-up. The main full stack engineer who was building the web interface had been working […] Read the full article →
weekend open thread – September 25-26, 2021 by Alison Green on September 25, 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: Under the Whispering Door, by TJ Klune. I spent much of my vacation reading this! It’s the latest from the author of The House in the […] Read the full article →
it’s your Friday good news by Alison Green on September 24, 2021 It’s your Friday good news! 1. I have a good news story. It’s not about me, but actually about my 15-year-old daughter. She has been talking for about a year about getting a job when she’s 15. She was volunteering last winter for a few months, and then the plague hit, so that ended. Other […] Read the full article →
open thread – September 24-25, 2021 by Alison Green on September 24, 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 →
a rogue admin, a silent snacker, and more by Alison Green on September 24, 2021 I’m on vacation this week. Here are some letters from the archives. 1. Our rogue admin has published her own strict rule book for new hires, without any authority to do that Our organization has an employee at a satellite office, Jane, whose job description clearly states she that supervises no one; she is administrative […] Read the full article →