you can’t be held hostage to a bad employee by Alison Green on November 9, 2016 A reader writes: I belong to a small country church of the type where people’s families have attended for generations. One of our members has acted as secretary for over 20 years. A few years ago, we hired a new pastor and this secretary does not like him. She’s always been a prickly person to […] Read the full article →
I was fired from my internship for writing a proposal for a more flexible dress code by Alison Green on June 28, 2016 A note about this post, which is being linked to from all over the internet: This situation is not about “young people today.” The letter-writer’s generation is far from the first to bridle at dress codes or misunderstand office culture or start out with little knowledge of how things work in offices. This is about being […] Read the full article →
I was fired and then offered my job back a week later by Alison Green on May 2, 2016 A reader writes: I work for a small law firm as an attorney and left a higher paying job with a firm in another state to work there. I’ve been employed there for five months, but I’ve only been working for three months because I was severely ill and had surgery unexpectedly two months into […] Read the full article →
I was fired and asked to train my replacement by Alison Green on April 22, 2016 A reader writes: I’ve been at my job for only four months, but the owner has already hired my replacement. She brought me into her office to let me know that “this isn’t working out” and had a replacement in by that afternoon! She posted my job behind my back twice, has generally micromanaged and […] Read the full article →
everything you need to know about getting fired by Alison Green on March 28, 2016 Getting fired is scary and stressful. Not only has your source of income been yanked away from you, but you might be left with questions about what to do next, how to talk about it in future job interviews, and even whether what your employer did was legal. Here’s a quick primer on what you […] Read the full article →
what to say when people ask why an employee was fired by Alison Green on February 11, 2016 A reader writes: I just fired someone here at Big Research University. It was necessary, and I’ve got no regrets (and the full support of our department and higher-ups). But while this person was terrible in many ways, they did have a great relationship with some faculty members they worked with. And those faculty are […] Read the full article →
I think my boss just hired my replacement, but hasn’t told me by Alison Green on February 8, 2016 A reader writes: I think my boss hired my replacement. I’ve only been at my job for three months, but something doesn’t feel right. I’ll list reasons below: 1. Boss just hired a director’s replacement, and everyone knows except the director. The director and his replacement will be working together in the next few months. […] Read the full article →
no, it’s not ever “impossible” to fire people by Alison Green on January 5, 2016 Periodically I hear someone complain about a coworker or an employee and say “but it’s impossible to fire anyone here, so we’re stuck.” It’s not true. No sane organization truly forbids firing people. At worst, it usually means “we have lots of hoops to jump through in order to fire someone, but it can be done.” […] Read the full article →
how to replace an employee who doesn’t know she’s being fired by Alison Green on August 21, 2015 A reader writes: Do you have any advice on replacing a current employee before they know they are being replaced, when that employee is HR? In a small company with one HR person, we certainly can’t place an ad — and we want to have viable candidates before this person is let go. This is due […] Read the full article →
employee keeps asking if she’ll be fired by Alison Green on July 21, 2015 A reader writes: One of the people I manage is about one year into the position and is doing okay most of the time. She does make mistakes and has trouble remembering or picking up certain concepts. I am really hoping she will improve as she gains more experience. She has one habit I find […] Read the full article →