I can’t say no to clients and it’s destroying me by Alison Green on May 13, 2024 A reader writes: I’ve run my own business for nine years, and I’ve found financial comfort and fulfillment in my work. This did not come easy. I was barely scraping by the first couple of years. Not anymore. I don’t have to hustle. I have built rapport and trust with steady, well-paying clients who respect […] Read the full article →
I don’t want to be pied in the face for work by Alison Green on May 13, 2024 A reader writes: I work in a medium-sized location of a small-in-the-grand-scheme-of-things business as one of the upper managers on site. The site manager recently asked me to keep an idea on the books for sometime later this year: to do a donation drive with manager names on donation boxes. Donations would earn someone a […] Read the full article →
pregnant employee is lying about work, coworker attacked my boss, and more by Alison Green on May 13, 2024 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Pregnant employee is lying about doing her work One of my employees is pregnant and has been having a long series of issues at work since the beginning of the year. It shouldn’t matter, but just in case, I am a woman. However, I’ve never […] Read the full article →
weekend open thread – May 11-12, 2024 by Alison Green on May 10, 2024 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: Funny Story, by Emily Henry. When a librarian’s fiancé leaves her for his long-time best friend, she moves in with the ex’s new fiancée’s […] Read the full article →
open thread – May 10-11, 2024 by Alison Green on May 10, 2024 It’s the Friday open thread! The comment section on this post is open for discussion with other readers on any work-related questions 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 take your questions to […] Read the full article →
ouija board decor at work, coworker nags me about drinking diet soda, and more by Alison Green on May 10, 2024 I’m off today. Here are some past letters that I’m making new again, rather than leaving them to wilt in the archives. 1. Ouija board decor at work I share an office with two other coworkers who seldom see — I work nights, they work days/my days off — so I don’t know them well. […] Read the full article →
data from 13,000 people’s real-life salaries by Alison Green on May 9, 2024 Last month’s salary survey received more than 13,000 responses. You can view all the responses in a spreadsheet that you can sort by industry, job, location, and more. However, that’s a lot to sort through so reader and data analytics professional Angelique Dawkins created graphs looking at some of the data. Read the full article →
update: employee’s speakerphone disrupts everyone around her by Alison Green on May 9, 2024 Remember the letter from a librarian asking how to deal with a cleaner whose use of speakerphone disrupted everyone around her (#2 at the link)? Here’s the update. First of all, thank you for your suggestions and the comments from readers who offered help. To clarify, Patsy had definitely been told quite clearly on multiple […] Read the full article →
let’s discuss the best and worst office decor you’ve seen by Alison Green on May 9, 2024 Let’s discuss the best, worst, and weirdest office decor you’ve ever seen. Have you had a coworker who moved so much stuff from home into their office that it felt like an overcrowded living room? Had so many plants that entering their cubicle was like entering a rainforest? Worked under a huge phallic oil painting […] Read the full article →
a patient threatened to hit me, leadership won’t meet with me, and more by Alison Green on May 9, 2024 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. A patient threatened to hit me I work as a dental hygienist. I see most patients several times a year and build a relationship with them while providing their care. I love my job and especially love winning over anxious patients who are worried about […] Read the full article →