Ask a Manager

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…

1. I have an awful assistant who I can’t fire

I’m a nurse and I work with several nursing assistants. I have no authority to hire them, fire them, or implement any kind of substantive rewards or consequences, but I am responsible for their work.

Most of them are great. One, however, is extremely unpleasant to deal with. If I ask her to do something, she will scowl and mutter darkly about how busy she is and how unreasonable I am. Sometimes she yells at me and sometimes she outright refuses simple requests. I do a lot of work that should be hers because it’s easier than having a fight every time. She also bullies the other nursing assistants, talks inappropriately to patients about her personal problems and weird conspiracy theories, and the entire atmosphere of the unit is tense and miserable when she’s around.

I am at my wit’s end. Every time I try to initiate a conversation about her attitude, she scowls and mutters and walks away. I have talked about this issue with my manager and the director of nursing, but all they ever do is talk to her, and it doesn’t change anything. I would fire this woman in a heartbeat if it were my decision, but it’s not, and I don’t know what to do. Do you have any ideas?

Talk again with her manager. Say this: “I know that you’ve spoken with Jane multiple times about issues like X, Y, and Z. But it’s continuing. I think we’re at the point where we need to escalate this — putting her on a formal improvement plan with a clear warning that her job will be in jeopardy if this continues.”

If her manager refuses, ask this: “I’m at the point where I simply can’t get what I need from her, and she’s resisted everything that I can think of to change the situation. Since I’m responsible for her work, I need something to change. What do you suggest?” You might also ask, “If you don’t think it’s at the point of a formal improvement plan and warning, can you tell me what would bring it to that point for you?”

If this gets you nowhere, you’re dealing with horrible management, and they’re actually more the problem than this particular nursing assistant is.

2. People keep asking how old I am

I have been with my organization for almost 2 years. Although I am only 22 years old (graduated from college early), I gained a lot of respect in my field in a relatively short period of time, and do a lot of networking and presenting with various organizations the national level. There is also a training component to my job where I am the instructor. In my field, most of the people I am interacting with are male, and around 35 years old or older. Despite dressing professionally and wearing makeup, I have a bit of a baby face and I am often asked some variation of “how old are you?” by peers or clients I’ve just met. Although I think most people are just curious (though one or two have actually been rude), to me it comes across as unprofessional and makes me feel like I need to justify my position and experience level. Is there a light-hearted way to not respond to this question?

You could try “oh yeah, I know I look young” … “older than I look” … “I’ve been out of school for a few years” … or “85.” But you might be better off just owning it — “I’m 22.” Say it confidently and then move on.

Some people are going to be skeptical about your experience level, and that’s probably true no matter how you answer the question. But the best way to respond to that isn’t by feeling like you need to justify anything; it’s by demonstrating that you’re awesome at what you do. Show them that (and don’t get rattled by the age questions), and the age stuff should fade away pretty quickly.

3. My boss doesn’t want me to use a fan at my desk

It’s winter in Scotland and our office seems to be overcompensating by having the heating on at least 25 degrees. I realise I tend to run far hotter than my colleagues so I have a fan on my desk to try to combat this. I dress in the minimum that is decent, drink plenty of water to try to keep cool, and regularly visit the warehouse (which has no heating and feels lovely) but I can’t get through my day without nasty headaches and feeling nauseous due to heat.

Lately, my manager has started telling me to turn my fan off (it points only at me and I have no coworkers near by to get hit by the blast) because other people are cold and even resorted to turning it off when I leave my desk. I’m at the end of my tether; I understand other people are cold so I don’t complain about the ridiculous level of heat, but every single day people who don’t generally work in our office visit and make comments “it’s like an oven in here!” and yet it seems the cold blooded get listened to more simply because they whine louder. I’ve spoken to both my manager and my supervisor but all I get is a shrug or the more usual “you need to see someone, you’re not right.”

I’m at the end of my tether here and can’t think of any more reasonable steps to take. Why can’t I have a fan on if the heating is on 24/7?

Welcome to the universal thermostat wars, in which no one can agree on the right office temperature.

I’d say this to your boss: “I don’t want to impact the temperature for other people, but I’m warm to the point of it making me feel sick and being to focus. I keep my fan pointed only at me so that it doesn’t impact others, and it’s the only way I’ve found to be physically comfortable without asking for the overall temperature to be lowered. Can I continue using my fan as a compromise?”

4. Will I be judged for using two spaces after a period?

I have always used two spaces after sentence ending punctuation. I know the norm is now to use only one, but habits are hard to break. I have read several articles recently that say this can make you look old and outdated, like a relic from the typewriter era.

What is your take? Personally, I am in my late 20s and am otherwise extremely confident with my work/email writing style. Do you think anyone is judging this minute detail? I would be interested to hear what your readers have to say about it.

No one is judging you on it because so many people still do it, but it’s outdated and if you’re someone who cares about such details, you should train yourself out of it.

(And because I’m bracing for an outcry: It’s true that lots of us, including me, were taught to put two spaces after a period in our seventh grade typing classes. But the practice came from typewriters, which used monospaced type, meaning that each letter took up the same amount of space. Double spaces after a period were used to give a visual pause so you could see that the sentence had ended. Now that we have computers with proportional fonts, a single space after a period is the rule and has been for a while. Change with the times! More here.)

5. Asking whether a job is still open before applying

Is responding to an online job ad, asking whether or not the position is still open prior to actually applying or sending them a resume/cover letter etc. likely to hurt my chances of potentially being hired for the job?

The question is meant to pertain to any job situation, but in my particular case, the month-old ad in question instructs applicants to demonstrate ability by thoroughly editing and source checking a lengthy article. (A cover letter and resume are still required.) The position would be a great fit for me, but I also need to secure a job yesterday. I know myself well enough to realize that this particular application process will consume at least several hours of my time, and wasting time is something I can ill afford to do at the moment. (Perhaps this process shouldn’t take me so much time, but I’m just working with the facts.)

I don’t want to throw away that time if the position has been filled, but I can also see how contacting the employer with only that question could come across in an unattractively casual manner, & create the impression that I’m not a “go-getter,” or that I’m not properly enthused about the job being offered.

It won’t hurt your chances. But you might not get a response, and while you’re waiting for one, the position might close. Some employers just don’t respond to questions about their openings, especially from non-applicants. So if you’re strongly interested, I’d go ahead and apply.

For the record, asking applicants who haven’t passed any initial screening yet to spend several hours on a test is really poor form. (It’s rude because the majority of applicants won’t even get interviewed. The employer should spend 15 seconds considering whether a person is a reasonably promising candidate before making a request like that.)

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…

1. Can I ask employees to stay home if they’re sick?

I’m the head of a team of 15-20 part-time employees who are paid hourly and do not get benefits or paid leave. It’s flu season, and some of them have been coming to work clearly sick–some to the point that they look like they can barely stay awake. Is there any reason I would not be able to instate a “if you’re sick, you can’t come in” rule to keep the germs from spreading around? I understand these guys want their pay, but when someone brings a disease into the office it spreads like wildfire, and the overall effect is detrimental to both productivity and morale.

You can indeed implement such a rule, and in general it’s good guidance to give people, both so that people aren’t spreading germs to others and so that they’re staying at home resting and taking care of themselves. However, it’s pretty hard to do this in a situation where people don’t have paid sick leave. If people have to choose between coming to work sick or paying the rent or the electric bill, most people will choose coming to work sick. In that context, you risk just driving it underground (i.e., people will still come to work sick but will try to hide it from you) and/or creating resentment about the lack of paid sick leave.

I know these are part-time jobs without benefits, but I bet you’d get better results if you offered paid sick days even to your part-timers.

2. Asking to be absolved of intern hiring duties

I work in a small design firm of eight people. I am squarely in the middle of the hierarchy; there are three people with more seniority (the owner, the director, and a senior designer) and three people who are more junior than I am.

Recently, the task of hiring interns for the office has fallen on me. I have been asked to review resumes, conduct interviews, and advise the office manager about which candidates to send offers to. The owner actually came to my desk the other day and told me that it was unacceptable that we didn’t currently have more interns and that this couldn’t happen again. So it would appear that he believes that I am in charge of hiring interns.

This makes me very uncomfortable for a number of reasons: 1) This is not part of my job description; 2) I have absolutely ZERO training in HR matters; and 3) I am not compensated additionally for performing these duties.

Additionally, I have a feeling that some employment laws are being broken. The office is very informal and questions about candidates’ ethnicity and sexual orientation are made post-interview, and this strikes me as not being kosher. Furthermore, the position that I have been tasked with filling is — to my understanding — illegal. It is a freelance/contractor type position (1099) but the interns are required to be in the office during specified hours, use company-owned computers, do not set their own rates, etc. Do I have a case for asking to be absolved of these duties?

Most people who hire interns don’t get paid extra for it, even if it’s not part of their job description; in small offices, it tends to be a duty that falls to the person who has the time and can reasonably do it. And unfortunately, most small offices don’t have a ton of HR training, if any, so that part isn’t outrageous either, although you can certainly ask for specific training.

However, you’re absolutely right to be concerned about discriminatory remarks and whether the structure of the position itself violates the law. But rather than asking to jumping straight to asking to removed from the work (which will leave those problems unaddressed), why not point out what you’re concerned about? For instance, you could say, “I have some concerns about how we’ve structured the position and how we’re assessing candidates and think we’re running afoul of the law — both by treating it as a 1099 position when the law greatly restricts when we can do that, and by remarks that people are making about candidates’ ethnicity, sexual orientation, and other areas that can get us into legal trouble (and shouldn’t be coming up regardless).”

If your manager isn’t open to changing course or — ideally — consulting with an employment lawyer, at that point it would be reasonable to say something like, “I’m not comfortable breaking hiring-related laws. For me to do the hiring work, we’d need to comply with the law. Otherwise I’d like to move it to someone else.”

3. Explaining a career shift that’s due to autism

I was recently diagnosed with high-functioning autism as an adult, and so I’m looking to transition from an HR people-focused role that I’ve struggled with, into a more data analytical role where I wouldn’t need to interface with people as much.

I don’t want to just say in my cover letter that my recently discovered autism is the reason that I’m looking to make a career change, since it is a disability that’s protected under the ADA. I don’t want it to either 1) cause them to not want to work with me, thinking that I can’t do the job, or 2) cause them to give me a chance simply because I’m disabled, since I don’t want special treatment.

However, I’m not being considered for these data analytical type roles because I only have 3 years of similar experience and that’s in an HR systems role only.Is there some way that I can explain why I’m looking to make the career change, without specifically talking about my disability?

I’d explain your reasoning without tying it to autism. For example: “After working in both people-focused roles and data-focused roles, I’ve found that I particularly shine in the latter. (Fill in specifics and evidence that you’re good at the data stuff here.)”

4. Can I ask my old employer to disable my old email account?

I recently left a mortgage bank. They still have my email address active with my name at the company, which means they’re still representing me as working there. Can I request that they no longer use my email as an email account?

You can certainly ask it, but they’re not obligated to change it. It’s not uncommon for employers to keep former employees’ email addresses active, so that they don’t miss messages that are sent to that person. It’s unlikely that they’re actively representing you as working there; unless you’ve actually seen that happening, I’d let it go.

5. My wages are being withheld because my boyfriend owes money

I was employed with a franchise McDonald’s in California. I went to pick up my paycheck and the general manager said she was keeping my paycheck and my boyfriend’s paycheck to pay back money he owed to her. Is she legally allowed to do that? I had nothing to do with their verbal agreement on the money she was loaning him from the company safe, nor did I sign any paperwork saying I would be responsible for his debt. My boyfriend didn’t sign anything as well. Please let me know what I can do.

No, she absolutely cannot withhold your pay because your boyfriend owes money. Say this to her: “I haven’t authorized you to allocate my pay to someone else, and under California law my wages need to be paid to me on our regular payday. I’d like to pick up my paycheck today, please.”

If that doesn’t work, contact the California department of labor and report that your wages are being withheld. California is pretty aggressive about intervening when something like this happens.

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…

1. Penalizing employees who don’t participate in wellness programs

My company plans to penalize employees who do not take care of themselves by denying them the privilege of purchasing low-cost insurance. I understand the need to control costs and that the cost of insurance is significant, but my employer is asking employees to do things that, while in the employee’s best interest, are fairly intrusive (tracking your weight, coaching if you have an addiction, taking a lifestyle questionnaire, getting regular checkups along with all other sex or age appropriate tests).

Of course this is the employer’s right, but I’m wondering if this is a trend that is likely to become commonplace. In five years, can everyone expect to have their employers this involved in what, up until recently, were very private issues?

Probably. Your employer is likely presenting it as a “discount” for employees who do participate in various “wellness” programs, rather than as a penalty for those who don’t, but yeah, it’s a growing trend as employers look for ways to control their health care costs. Of course, you might have the option of dropping your employer’s plan (and thus their subsidy, and thus their privacy invasions) and instead buying your own coverage from the insurance exchanges set up under the Affordable Care Act.

2. I was hurt when the person I’m covering for maternity leave attended our Christmas lunch

I’m filling a maternity leave role with the agreement in place that I will be hired full-time. Over the holiday season, our unit had a Christmas lunch and when we showed up at the venue, the person I’m replacing (who is still on her maternity leave) was there waiting to join us for lunch. I think it’s quite nice of my employer to include her, but I felt a little taken aback as I was not expecting her to be there. I have never worked at a company where they invited people who were on leave for any reason to events like this. Maybe that’s because this is the first office that I’ve worked in where within a month of starting I haven’t felt “accepted” within my unit’s circle. I’ve had very positive feedback from my manager on my work performance, but I feel very lonely at work. Perhaps this is why it felt insensitive to me, as I don’t feel accepted, yet any time “Betty” shows up it’s a big deal.

Again, I think it was nice but I can’t help feel this was a little insensitive towards me. I would be interested to read your reply.

It’s not unusual to invite former employees or employees who are on leave to office social events; it’s actually a really nice gesture! I’m sure that no one meant it to make you uncomfortable; after all, she isn’t your competition or someone who got you fired or anything like that. People might have even thought you’d enjoy the opportunity to talk.

I think the bigger issue is that you’re feeling lonely at work — but I wouldn’t take offense at their invitation to someone who’s still officially part of their team or see it as a reflection on you in any way.

3. Late pay for independent contractors

My husband recently accepted an independent contractor position. He only works for this company, as there is plenty of work to keep him busy. We live in Illinois, but the company is based in Iowa.

When he started, they told him the pay week ended Saturday night at midnight and started again on Sunday, with the cutting of checks on Monday. So, as long as all completed orders were submitted by Saturday night they would make that week’s pay. My husband has never missed that deadline. He was also told that printed checks would be mailed on Monday (with the exception of holidays) and most often be in our mailboxes on Wednesdays. This has only happened once in the last 2-1/2 months. Over Christmas and New Year’s, we anticipated a delay and didn’t speak up. However, on Monday he was told that checks weren’t printed for mail on Tuesday because the office gal was out. Assuming she would bust her behind Tuesday to print and mail checks, we didn’t get too excited. However, it is now Friday and the mailman has come and gone, leaving no check. My husband called the office gal and she indicated that his may have been forgotten and not mailed with the others (who we have now confirmed with have received their checks) and it should be there tomorrow, she hopes.

If he was told that his check would be cut on a certain day every week, does he have any actions he can take against the company, considering he is independent?

Not unless he has a contract that requires payment within a certain time frame and establishes penalties for late payment.

Employees have a lot more protections than independent contractors, including state-level laws that require that paychecks be issued by certain dates. For independent contractors, it’s just governed by whatever it says in their contract (which may or may not even be in existence).

4. Cover letter when applying for a job for the second time

I’m a relatively new grad, having finished my graduate degree about a year ago. Around that time, I made my first application to a job in my field. The interview went well, the managers were enthusiastic about the possibility of me joining the team… but ultimately an internal applicant got the job.

I bought your book (it’s great!) and maintained a connection with one of the managers. Lo and behold, the job was posted again! I followed your advice in the book about reaching out to my contact to see if they had suggestions as to how I could make my application stronger. My contact has given me lots of valuable info going forward, but I can’t find anything on your website or your book about writing a new cover letter in this instance. Should I mention my previous application? How do I make this cover letter seem fresh?

Yes, mention that you applied previously and that you continue to be strongly interested. I’d say something like, “I applied and interviewed for this position last February, and I’d love to be considered for it again. Our conversations last year only solidified my interest in the role, because…”

5. How long does it take for questions to be answered here?

I’ve always wondered how long it takes you to answer a question on your blog. It seems like some of the questions people submit a highly time-sensitive. Do you answer those questions right away? Just wondering.

It varies wildly. Sometimes a letter might get answered the next day, sometimes it’s more than a month later … and sometimes it’s never, unfortunately, because I’m answering 6-7 questions a day here but receiving 40+ daily. I used to try to ensure that everyone got an answer, even if it was just a few private lines, but that stopped being possible at some point, and I’ve had to make peace with that. Anyway, I do keep a backlog of questions that I’m excited to answer at some point; some of them are embarrassingly old, unfortunately.

But there’s an auto-reply that goes to everyone explaining that I can’t answer everyone, so hopefully people know not to wait on a response if something is time-sensitive.