how should we handle remote work and extreme weather? by Alison Green on May 4, 2023 It’s the Thursday “ask the readers” question. A reader writes: I work for a small nonprofit, and most of our employees telework full-time. They live all over the state, some in urban and some in rural areas. We have been experiencing regular major extreme events (fires, floods, storms, etc.) that have substantial impacts on the […] 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 →
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 company decided to close for 2 weeks last year — and charged me a chunk of this year’s PTO for it by Alison Green on April 27, 2023 A reader writes: I have a question I’ve been curious about since it happened to me at the end of last year. My company decided that since a “large portion of the company” had not used their PTO, they were going to close the company for the last two weeks of the year. Anyone with […] Read the full article →
what are the minimum benefits an employer needs to provide? by Alison Green on April 25, 2023 A reader writes: What do you think are the absolute minimum benefits an employer should provide? I’m a business development consultant, and work with a lot of start-ups assisting in total compensation development. I, of course, try to work with my clients to develop the most competitive benefits package they can afford. However, I’ve often […] Read the full article →
I desperately need breaks between my back-to-back meetings by Alison Green on April 24, 2023 A reader writes: I’m looking for some practical advice to create breaks between meetings. I started a new job about six months ago and the meeting culture here is slowly killing me. My old workplace had done some improvement work that resulted in, among other things, hour-long meetings being scheduled from :00 to :50 instead […] Read the full article →
can we talk about GOOD companies for a change? by Alison Green on April 20, 2023 It’s the Thursday “ask the readers” question. A reader writes: I work for a large company that, when I started, I thought was going to be really great. It isn’t. It is the opposite of great. On an almost daily basis, I am blown away by how cruel this company is to its workforce. What […] Read the full article →
my lying coworker claimed someone said I couldn’t eat at my desk by Alison Green on April 19, 2023 A reader writes: I have a very low-stakes question that I’ve been wondering about since I left my last job a few years ago. In my previous role, I shared a four-person office with two junior employees and one other senior employee. The other senior employee, Sam, had 20 years more experience than I did, […] Read the full article →
a manager (not mine) told me to stop organizing lunchtime yoga by Alison Green on April 17, 2023 A reader writes: I work for a large corporation. There are 30 people who do my job. We are divided in to three teams of 10, each with one manager. Our culture encourages taking lunch hours, and it’s common for people to leave the building, schedule an appointment, or eat together in the break room. […] Read the full article →
my company is not planning well for my retirement … what’s my responsibility? by Alison Green on April 12, 2023 A reader writes: I have worked for the same small company (less than 20 employees, including the owners) for almost 30 years. I am full-time, salaried, and exempt and handle a niche set of clients who have specific rules and regulations that must be followed. Approximately 85% of my work falls in two busy seasons, […] Read the full article →