an acquaintance is lying about his credentials, I’m afraid my coworkers will out me to my mom, and more by Alison Green on May 3, 2023 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. An acquaintance is lying about his credentials I recently found out that someone I know lied about his credentials when he applied for his job. He was let go when his boss learned of his deception, but I’ve since learned that he lied to his […] Read the full article →
does it look unprofessional to have an energy drink at my desk every day? by Alison Green on May 2, 2023 A reader writes: I’m about to start my first real office job soon. I’m in my mid 20s and still working on my degree, so I’m a little worried about seeming immature. I have an unfortunate habit of drinking one or more energy drinks per day. Ignoring the health aspect of that, will it look […] Read the full article →
how to gracefully decline a job offer by Alison Green on May 2, 2023 You’ve been interviewing for a job and now it’s paid off with an offer – but what if you want to turn the position down? There are lots of reasons why that might happen: maybe the salary is too low, even after you tried to negotiate, or maybe the manager seems awful or the work […] Read the full article →
no one wants the office an employee died in four years ago by Alison Green on May 2, 2023 Warning: this letter includes a death by suicide. A reader writes: I work for a small company (about 150 employees) that is about to merge with another company. We are in the midst of planning for allocating offices and reconfiguring our space to make it work, but our leadership team is stuck on what to […] Read the full article →
my employee assumes I’ll always pay for her food, no answer to a time-off request from new job, and more by Alison Green on May 2, 2023 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My employee assumes I’ll always pay for her food This is more of an “am I the asshole?” type question. My husband and I run a small business and have one full-time employee, Jane. During tax season, it’s really stressful and one day we decided […] Read the full article →
update: my coworkers keep asking about my assault by Alison Green on May 1, 2023 Last month we had a letter from someone whose coworkers kept asking about her assault and were being really pushy about getting answers. Here’s her update. (Content warning for discussion of assault below.) Thank you so much for the advice! It was really helpful to get a more objective view of the situation, and to […] Read the full article →
how can I get our employees to arrive on time? by Alison Green on May 1, 2023 A reader writes: My organization operates in a very traditional office setting: business professional dress code, strict lunch hours, and a strict 9-5 day. In theory, this is for efficiency and to allow employees to feel more separation between their work and personal life. However, new staff tend to struggle with it when they first […] Read the full article →
my boss from before my gender transition is now my colleague by Alison Green on May 1, 2023 A reader writes: My first full-time office job was at an awful place. I was there for nearly three years before I was unceremoniously laid off, just a week before I was supposed to take on a new title and a raise. My boss, Marcy, handled it really poorly. It turned out that, although she […] Read the full article →
my boss won’t help with my workload, interviewer made a weird sexist comment about his marriage, and more by Alison Green on May 1, 2023 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. I asked my boss for help with my workload, but she didn’t come through Like a lot of people, I’m drowning at work right now. I have more work than anyone could possibly do and no one who assigns me tasks can accurately tell me […] Read the full article →