my employee lies to me about things he just said 30 seconds ago by Alison Green on August 23, 2021 A reader writes: One of my employees, Paul, lies to me regularly about random things. When questioned, he immediately backtracks and acts like I misunderstood. For example, he will tell me that he completed X, Y, and Z reports, and I will say, “Oh, but I didn’t see your report on Z, will you please […] Read the full article →
our boss won’t speak to us, hides in his office, and drops off calls if anyone greets him by Alison Green on August 4, 2021 A reader writes: I work for a small (12 person) agency that has exploded over the past few years. Most employees have been there for between 1-2 years, including our executive director. Eleven of us get along famously, but our executive director has stopped speaking to anyone. He has always been an odd duck, but […] Read the full article →
interviewer badmouthed me to my references because I didn’t want to “harness the power of QAnon” by Alison Green on July 28, 2021 A reader writes: After 15 years as a nonprofit executive director, I’ve struck out on my own as a nonprofit consultant. While much of my business is word-of-mouth and comes to me, I do sometimes throw my hat in the ring for positions I see posted online. One such position was for an organization that […] Read the full article →
my boss won’t speak to us and says “please” is disrespectful by Alison Green on July 27, 2021 A reader writes: I started what I guess you can call my “dream job” six months ago, and it’s been going well except for one thing: my new boss. My boss, Jane, is a highly uninvolved person, and I am struggling to figure out the best way to communicate with her. When I started my […] Read the full article →
a manager scolded me for having a cold sore on my face by Alison Green on July 26, 2021 A reader writes: Is it unprofessional to go to work with active cold sores on your face? I occasionally get them and have never considered it to be a big deal until recently when someone at work commented on it. Last week I had a cold sore in the middle of my lower lip. It […] Read the full article →
my boss will not physically acknowledge me in social settings by Alison Green on July 14, 2021 A reader writes: I’ve noticed something odd about how my boss talks to me. He doesn’t physically acknowledge me in social settings — if I’m standing in a group with him and others, he doesn’t look at me at all, but he does look at everyone else. I can’t remember the last time he looked […] Read the full article →
my new office has a no-humor policy by Alison Green on June 22, 2021 A reader writes: I’m an analyst at a small (25 employee) firm. I applied here mostly because of the great reputation this place has for putting out good work in my industry, and started this job about three weeks ago. It’s my second job after grad school, so I have a little experience under my […] Read the full article →
my ex-boss is using my firing as content for her company social media pages by Alison Green on June 16, 2021 A reader writes: My former boss is using my firing as content for her social media pages, including recording herself singing songs about it. The background: I worked for my boss for five years and now see the MOUNTAIN of red flags I ignored because I was desperate to break into the field — behavior […] Read the full article →
my neighbor plays loud adult content while I’m on work calls, letting candidates know my boss is a micromanager, and more by Alison Green on April 30, 2021 It’s six answers to six questions. Here we go… 1. My neighbor plays loud porn while I’m on work calls While all my colleagues and I are working from home, I can sometimes hear what’s going on in other people’s environments: things like traffic noise, roadworks or their partner on a call nearby. That’s totally […] Read the full article →
HR questioned me for hours about a sex injury by Alison Green on April 6, 2021 A reader writes: This happened a few weeks ago and I’m hoping it’s resolved, but I’m at a loss as to what I could have done differently. In my personal life, I enjoy BDSM. I keep it out of my work life, obviously. I don’t ask anyone to call my partners master or wear obvious […] Read the full article →