my last company was horrible — how do I save other people from it? by Alison Green on January 25, 2023 A reader writes: I recently started a new job and escaped my previous job. The previous job was for a CEO who fancies himself a LinkedIn influencer and life coach. His actual business is a for-profit tech company. He brags about putting his employees first and people over profits. The actuality of working there was […] Read the full article →
why are there so many abusive bosses? by Alison Green on January 23, 2023 In the 15 years I’ve been writing Ask a Manager, I’ve heard about some really bad bosses. There was the boss who crashed an employee’s wedding (and then wrote her up for having him escorted out!), the boss who told bizarre lies about all her employees, and even the boss whose negligence killed someone’s horse. […] Read the full article →
my ex-boss threatened to contact my husband, his coworkers, and my father-in-law if I don’t return $48 of office supplies by Alison Green on January 18, 2023 A reader writes: I received an email today from my prior boss (I left in November) requiring that I return equipment. However, there was no loaned equipment or return equipment clause that even existed for me to sign. They never provided me with anything outside of a $48 office supplies order from Amazon that included […] Read the full article →
I dated someone who was using me to get back at his ex-wife … who turned out to be my boss by Alison Green on January 17, 2023 A reader writes: I have a question about something that happened to me a number of years ago. From time to time, I remember everything that went down and I wonder to myself if I reacted the right way or how things could have been different. I was about three months in to a new […] Read the full article →
the worst boss of 2022 is… by Alison Green on December 19, 2022 The final votes are in, and I work at Twitter — or rather, that person’s boss, Elon Musk — won the Worst Boss of 2022 Award, with 53% of the vote in the final match-up. A close second, the CEO who was obsessed with his assistant and wanted her to be his emotional support, captured […] Read the full article →
my company will only give me a raise if I quit first by Alison Green on November 16, 2022 A reader writes: I work for a small company within a very niche field. The owner has been running it for decades and is an expert at this craft, and is in very high demand. The service the company offers is so specialized that the job takes about six months to a year of training, […] Read the full article →
my company advertises every job all the time to make sure we know we can be replaced by Alison Green on October 12, 2022 A reader writes: I work at a mid-sized company in a highly competitive field where turnover is usually very high, and most positions are either sales-focused or service-based with a few office/administrative occupations making up the roster. The sales openings do not require any specific training, while the service positions are considered skilled trade jobs […] Read the full article →
my boss only wants to hire attractive young women by Alison Green on September 20, 2022 Announcement: At 2 pm ET today, it’s part of 2 of last month’s speed round! Last month’s speed round had 700+ questions submitted, so this time I’ll be answering some of the questions I didn’t get to in round 1. Follow along live on the home page later today. A reader writes: My boss, Todd, […] Read the full article →
pregnant coworker keeps saying awful things to my terminally ill sister by Alison Green on August 31, 2022 A reader writes: Hoo boy, this will be short but brutal. My little sister has terminal cancer — she has between 2-4 years left. No symptoms yet, so she’s still going to work every day. They’re a small company of 10 people (read: no HR dept) and one of those 10 is a woman apparently […] Read the full article →
workers are being forced to put up with truly awful behavior from the public by Alison Green on May 23, 2022 If you have the sense that we’re living in a ruder, more hostile world, you’re not alone. Some of that hostility has gotten a lot of attention—like the aggression directed toward flight attendants for enforcing mask mandates or the rise in assaults on health care workers—but what’s gotten less attention is that workers in nearly […] Read the full article →