how can you convince your employer to hire additional staff?

by Alison Green on November 26, 2013

A reader writes:

What are the best tactics to take to convince The Powers That Be to hire additional staff? For context, I’m a middle manager at a family owned company. The decision maker is the owner and CEO. We would like to hire an additional entry-level associate to fill a position that became available after a more senior person retired and another associate was subsequently promoted. We’ve added other new positions to the department over the past year, and I think the CEO is looking at overall staffing (last year your department had 20 people, this year you have 23, why do you want to hire another person?). In reality, while we created new positions and placed people in those roles, we’re understaffed in the entry-level role (last year we had three analysts, now we have two and the same amount of work).

In general, any tips on getting the green light to hire more people would be appreciated! In my last position, I worked for a very large company, and our hiring was boom or bust. You either had a dozen new hires, or begged for resources for 18 months (before being gifted with a dozen new hires all on the same day…when you only asked for ten). Should you approach things differently when talking to the CEO of a smaller company versus corporate HR?

Do this:

1. Write down what’s currently not getting done as a result of not having that extra staffing slot. You can include things that aren’t getting done as well as they should be (assuming that’s due to competing priorities and not performance issues). This list could contain things that aren’t happening that the new person would do, and it can also contain things that your existing, more senior staff would do if their time wasn’t being spent on the work that the new person would take over.

2. Write down what additional things your team would achieve if they did have that spot filled. (Be realistic here; you’ll ruin the credibility of your proposal if you include pie-in-the-sky stuff. Assume that you’re essentially committing to achieving these things if your request is approved.)

3. Put this all on a single page, two maximum, ideally in bullet points. Make it easy to skim and digest. Don’t assume anyone will read a long memo. This is the business case for making the new hire.

4. Then go and talk to your boss about it. If you have a reasonable boss and you’ve laid out a compelling case, you have a decent chance of getting a yes. Reasons that you might get a no include: unreasonable boss, no money in the budget, higher priorities to allocate funds to right now (this is a big one), or concerns about your management or your team’s effectiveness (probably not the case if you’ve added other positions this year).

In your case, be aware that your boss might be annoyed or concerned that you didn’t bring up the need for this position when you made the case for the other slots you added earlier this year. If this position is necessary because of those additional slots (because you need more support roles when you have more people), your manager could be rightly annoyed that that wasn’t included in that earlier proposal. Or, if position is actually more crucial than the ones that were added earlier this year, your manager would absolutely be right to question why you weren’t thinking long-term when you proposed the others (unless something has changed that you couldn’t have anticipated then). If you think your boss is likely to wonder about any of these things, it’s smart to bring them up proactively and address them.

With all of this, you may need to tweak it for how things work in your company, but these are the basic principles that create a strong argument for adding staff.

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what every manager should know

by Alison Green on November 26, 2013

Doing the work I do, I’ve witnessed a lot of managers who struggle to transition from being part of a team to effectively managing one. In fact, one of the issues that comes up most frequently in my consulting work is coaching new managers who want to get it right but are walking dangerously close to some common landmines.

Here are eight things that I want to tell them all.

You’ll Develop Managing Skills on the Job

People often become managers because they were great at something else – communications or engineering or whatever you were doing before the management role came along. As they move up, they begin taking on management roles … and discover that the skills needed to get things done as a manager (as opposed to on their own) are entirely different, such as setting goals and holding people accountable to them, giving feedback, building a great team and so forth. And since most managers don’t get much, if any, training in how to manage well, they’re left to figure it out on the job.

This results in some really tough first few years for most managers (and often their teams), and a lot of learning through mistakes. You can’t avoid that entirely, but you can cut down on it by deliberately working on your management skills; don’t be shy about seeking out management classes, books and blogs, and – often most helpful at all – more experienced mentors.

Establish Your Authority, Even If It’s Uncomfortable

If you’re like most new managers, you’re going to feel awkward about doing “manager” things like delegating work and giving feedback. I sure did – in the first year of managing, I was convinced that people would bristle if I was particularly directive on an assignment (“I need you to do X rather than Y”) or made course corrections to a project, let alone if I gave tough feedback. That made doing those things an angst-filled experience for me (and probably for my staff as well), until I figured out that employees expect their manager to do those things. The only person feeling weird about it is the new manager.

So if it doesn’t feel natural to speak and act with the authority of your position in the beginning, fake it until it does – no one else will notice.

Watch What You Say and Do

As a manager, your throwaway remarks are suddenly going to be studied and analyzed. If you express enthusiasm for one person’s idea, people will assume that’s the idea they should back. And if you’re in a grumpy mood, some employees may spend days wondering what they did wrong and if their jobs are in danger.

You can’t entirely avoid sending inadvertent messages like this, but what you can do is to be aware that you’re on a stage now, and be deliberate about finding ways to counteract that effect. For instance, in a meeting you might choose not to weigh in on an idea until everyone else has had their say, to avoid biasing people in favor of your opinion.

Be Clear About What Your Team Shouldn’t Do, Too

It sounds obvious, but managers often get pulled in too many directions instead of figuring out the most important things for their teams to achieve and focusing there. Some activities will have more of an impact than others, and those are the ones you should focus on – which means saying no to the others. Ineffective managers frequently say yes to anything that sounds like a good idea. Effective managers are rigorous about asking, “Is this the best possible way we could be spending our time and resources?”

Don’t Try to Be Friends With the People You Manage

You’ll need to have professional boundaries between you and the people you manage, so that you can objectively assess their work, give direct feedback, and even potentially fire someone one day. That means that you can’t have the same types of office friendships that you probably had before you became a manager. You might really click with someone on your staff and you can have a warm and supportive relationship … but you can’t be friends.

Over and over, I’ve seen new managers think that this message doesn’t apply to them – that they’ll be the exception who can be friends with their staff members without running into problems. But one of the trickiest parts about this rule is that people who violate it always think it’s working out fine, until the moment that it’s not fine at all: the moment that you need to give tough feedback or delegate undesirable work or lay someone off or whatever else comes up that shatters the friendship illusion.

Face It: Some People Just Won’t Like You

If you’re doing your job, not everyone will like you. You’ll need to tell some people their work isn’t good enough, hold people accountable who might not like that, enforce policies that might irritate the heck out of some people, and yes, fire people. It’s unsettling to know that some people will dislike you simply because you’re doing your job, but it’s unavoidable. (And ironically enough, if you’re too invested in being liked, over time the opposite will happen: As problems go unresolved and difficult decisions go unmade, staff members will become frustrated and complain, and the best among them will leave.)

Don’t Sugercoat Critical Feedback

Your staff deserves clear and direct feedback, which means you’ll be having some tough conversations. And you can’t hide behind email either – you need to do it face-to-face. Don’t underestimate how hard it will be the first few times (and even thereafter), and how tempting it will be to soften the message – but you can’t, because while you might feel kinder sugarcoating a difficult conversation, it’s not at all kind to let someone miss an important message.

Treat People With Compassion

Even in the hardest moments, like letting someone go, and even when you’re frustrated or angry, treat everyone you manage with kindness and dignity. You have the power in this relationship, and that comes with the responsibility of exercising it with reason and compassion.

Doing that won’t undermine your authority; in fact, it will generally make you look stronger.

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low-drama coworkers, telecommuting, and other things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving

by Alison Green on November 26, 2013

It’s easy to complain about work – from annoying coworkers to difficult bosses to the Accounting department’s inability to issue your expense reimbursement on time, there’s plenty to be frustrated by. So why not take a moment to appreciate some things about the workplace as well?

Here are seven work-related things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

1. Low-drama coworkers. Coworkers have a dramatic impact on our quality of life at work, so if you’ve found a workplace that’s more or less free of know-it-alls, backstabbers, drama queens, gossipers, or negative Nancys, appreciate it while you have it.

2. Using vacation time without guilt. If you’ve ever worked somewhere that discouraged you from using the vacation time you accrued, you know the pleasure of using it all without anxiety or being seen as a slacker. Another bonus: Being able to truly unplug, rather than being expected to answer calls and emails on “vacation.”

3. Telecommuting. It wasn’t too long ago that almost no companies allowed telecommuting for employees at any level. Fortunately, that’s changed. Companies that allow telecommuting – especially when a staff member is slightly under the weather but can still work, or when someone needs to wait at home for a repair person or delivery, but also for no reason at all – go a long way toward earning employees’ loyalty.

4. Professional development and training. As the economy has pushed companies to try to do more than less, budgets for training and development have taken a hit. If your employer offers you professional development opportunities like outside classes and workshops or tuition subsidies, take advantage of it!

5. Labor laws. We usually take them for granted now, but we didn’t always have workplace safety regulations, laws preventing racial or religious discrimination and sexual harassment, laws requiring prompt payment for your work, whistleblower protections, overtime pay for non-exempt workers, and the other laws we have today.

6. Good managers. Any employee who has held more than one or two previous jobs knows the value of a good manager – the ones who set clear goals, gives useful feedback, recognizes great work, ensures people have the resources they need to do their jobs, and knows when to cut some slack and when to push harder.

7. The paycheck. Let’s end with the big one. With so many people still out of work, it’s worth remembering that as frustrating as work can sometimes be, it’s awfully nice to have steady income coming in. Sometimes it’s helpful to remember that someone else out there wishes they had your job!

I originally published this at Intuit QuickBase. 

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can employers blackball you from your field, logos on your resume, and more

by Alison Green on November 26, 2013

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

1. Can employers blackball you from working in your field?

Can you be blackballed by HR if you left a position under unfavorable conditions? I know that when I was working with organizations in my field, we would go to conferences or have networking events where “things” would come up that seemed that they could hurt the person being referred to. So I wondered if HR people talk to each other that way and make statements such as, “Oh Jane Doe! I would be leery of hiring her!” or other things that would inadvertently spread like wildfire through the community effectively blackballing Jane Doe.

Yes. People talk, and they talk about employees and job candidates — just like they compare experiences with software, vendors, managers, or companies. This is one reason why reputation matters so much.

It’s pretty unusual for this to result in someone being blackballed from an entire field, though, unless that field is extremely small.

2. Putting company logos on your resume

I was working a career fair for my company and one resume that I will never forget had a small picture of the logo of the company she worked for. She shared with me that she picked up the style from a marketing major she had met. I told her how much I loved it and that I would totally implement that technique into my resume.

I recently uploaded my resume onto my school’s career site and the person who reviews resumes prior to allowing them to be posted kicked mine back telling me that the logos looked unprofessional. Is it indeed unprofessional, is it something that should only be used at career fairs to stand out, or is it just one of those things that some people will like and others will not?

I’m sure some people might like it (you did, after all), but in general, no, most people will not think logos belong on a resume and many will find it a little tacky looking. The resume is about you, not your employers, after all, and so logos there are out of place. (Moreover, you probably can’t even use those logos without the company’s permission, as they’re typically copyrighted or trademarked, which will be a strike against you in any field where you’re expected to care about things like that.)

Even aside from that though, I’d have to ask why you want to do this. Your resume should stand out because of your qualifications and accomplishments, not for any other reason.

3. My new job wants to pay me under the table

I work for a local business as a marketing assistant. On my first day, the manager asked for a bunch of information to “give to his accountant” so he could pay me. While I’m used to retail/customer service where there’s a ton of paperwork, it seemed reasonable to me. Today, he basically said he was paying me under the table.

I’m not really comfortable with this, since I’m assuming I could possibly find myself in hot water tax-wise. I know I can’t exactly convince him to pay me on the up and up, but I need this job badly. The pay is decent, but more importantly, I desperately need the experience, being a recent graduate. I know other people who have worked for small businesses and got paid under the table before, but they were happy about “not getting robbed by Uncle Sam.” I’m not sure how to handle this, but I can’t quit (not without another job lined up, at least). I’m also concerned about all that sensitive information I gave him. What should I do?

I would say this: “My understanding is that we could both get into trouble if we don’t report my wages, and it also means that I won’t be paying into Social Security or Medicare, which could affect my ability to collect in the future. I think we’re required by law to do this on a W2 and take payroll taxes out.”

By the way, is he not reporting the wages at all (“paying under the table”)? Or is he paying you as an independent contractor? The latter is legal in some cases, but probably not in yours. But in case that’s what he’s doing, here’s different advice on handling that.

4. Can a former employer disclose why you were fired?

My husband (soon to be ex) had a VP position and got fired for dating a coworker on a lower level. He has been job hunting for 2 months and has hd no response, not even one interview. Is the former employer able to disclose why he was fired? Or to disclose the fact that he was fired? Are there hidden ways they disclose such a fact?

Yes, they can disclose that he was fired and why he was fired. However, I doubt that’s what’s happening here, since most employers don’t check references until much later in the hiring process. If he’s not getting interviews, it’s more likely that the problem is something else (his resume, cover letter, fit for the jobs he’s applying for) or that it’s simply a reflection of the overall competition in his field (lots of qualified candidates and fewer openings).

Of course, if he’s in a small field and people are familiar with him, it’s possible that his reputation is keeping employers from calling him for interviews — but that would be pretty rare.

5. What does this email mean?

I don’t know how to interpret this email from an employer: “Just wanted to let you know we haven’t come to a decision yet, but didn’t want you to think you were forgotten. Hopefully after the holiday we’ll be able to move forward again. Thanks for your patience!”

Does this mean the company is no longer hiring for this position? I’m a bit hesitant to ask the hiring manager because I just sent a “thanks for letting me know email” already. My boyfriend pointed out the ambiguity.

I don’t see ambiguity here, and would love to know what your boyfriend is spotting. The email says that they haven’t made a hiring decision yet but hope to move the process forward after the holiday. (Actually, I see some ambiguity about what holiday they’re referring to — Thanksgiving or Christmas and New Year’s?)

The exception to this would be if they had earlier told you that they were considering not hiring for the position at all. If that was the case, then it’s more likely to refer to that (but I imagine that you would have mentioned that if it were the case).

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can an employer change your rate of pay retroactively and make you pay back the difference?

by Alison Green on November 25, 2013

A reader writes:

My boyfriend and I are really concerned at this moment. Three months ago, his company told him they were giving him a raise of $1.50/hour. This also came with the burden of working two locations a week. However, just today, they “realized they made a mistake” and that at his position, he’s not supposed to be paid that much. He doesn’t have this in writing; it was jut a verbal agreement.

Now they’re talking of the possibility of the company cutting their losses at my boyfriend’s expense. This means that he will personally have to pay all the extra money back, by them taking it out of his paycheck.

Mind you, we recently moved in somewhere we can only afford with his current income. Also, I’m pregnant and due in 4 weeks! Is his company allowed to do this? If not, is there someone we can speak to ? If they decide to do this, can we take legal action? Why should we suffer from their mistake after months, and also why should they have the audacity to make him pay it back?

They can absolutely change his pay at any time going forward. But they cannot change it retroactively. After all, if I hire you for $10/hour and then in six months I change my mind and want to pay you less, I can’t require you to pay back the part I wish I didn’t pay you.

(However, if I told you I was going to pay you $10/hour and accidentally paid you $12/hour, that’s a payroll error and I can collect the difference.)

The key thing here is that they promised him a certain rate of pay. He did the work on that understanding. They cannot go back and renege on it after the work has already been done. Maybe he would never have agreed to do the work at that rate — who knows. In any case, nope, can’t do it.

So… how should your boyfriend handle this?

Well, he could go straight to a lawyer or file a wage complaint with your state labor board. And that might indeed work … but it would also probably sour the relationship with the employer in all sorts of ways. If he plans to leave his job soon anyway, that might be fine with him.

But if he’d like to stay and remain on good terms, I’d start with a softer approach, one that gives them the benefit of the doubt that they just haven’t fully thought this through yet (and that they don’t realize what the law is). He should talk to his manager and say, “I’m disappointed that my pay rate is changing, although I understand that you’ve realized that it’s outside the range for this position. However, I’ve made decisions based on this pay rate, including moving into an apartment that I otherwise couldn’t have afforded. Since I’ve been doing an excellent job and have made plans based on what I understood in good faith to be our new pay agreement, I’m hoping we can keep it where it is.”

(I don’t normally advocate mentioning life circumstances like rent when talking about pay, since they’re usually irrelevant. But in this case, it’s worth pointing out to the company that he made major decisions based on their word. You can’t push that too far, because ultimately everyone is responsible for managing their own finances and accounting for the fact that their jobs aren’t permanently guaranteed, but I think it’s reasonable to mention in this context and could end up being helpful.)

From there, see what happens. If they don’t budge and also make moves to deduct the “extra money” from his paycheck retroactively, then he should say, “It’s my understanding that we can’t deduct pay retroactively like that. I understand that the pay will be different going forward, but I don’t think we’re allowed to make retroactive deductions.”

Note the use of “we” there. That’s key, because that’s positioning your boyfriend on the same side as the company. Yes, the subtext might be “You can’t do this,” but it’s much, much less adversarial language.

At that point, if it still looks like they’re going to make the retroactive deductions, he can come back with more to-the-point wording: “I looked into this, and it’s actually prohibited by law to do that.” And then, if they’re still proceeding, he can decide if he wants to go the legal route. But he has a much better chance of solving this and keeping good relations with them if he tries the approach above first.

Good luck.

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my boss refuses to close the office between Christmas and New Year’s

by Alison Green on November 25, 2013

A reader writes:

I work for a small marketing company. There are four of us: John the boss, Sarah, Mark, and me.

For the last two years, the office has been open during the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day. The boss and Sarah traveled those years, so it fell to Mark and me to alternate being alone in the office.

There was no reason for us to be there. The phone literally never rang. No emails came in. All our clients were closed. I caught up on some work, but I really resented sitting in a chair for eight hours while friends and family were free.

Once again, the company calendar shows John and Sarah traveling, so Mark and I must once again rotate into the office the Thursday and Friday after Christmas and the Monday and Tuesday before the New Year. Since there’s no HR department, and no real process for requesting time off, we decided to sit down with John and ask for us both to have those four days off: we’d forward the phone to our cellphones and check our email once a day. We pointed out it was our third year in a row of being asked to give up some of our holiday. And this has been a bad year for the company, so we’re probably not getting raises or bonuses; this four-day vacation could be a little year-end gift.

John seemed offended at the very notion. He didn’t like our “attitudes” at bringing the issue up. We went through all the reasons not to be there — since Mark and I knew firsthand and John had never been there — and it was like arguing with a wall. He kept saying “The office is open,” as if it wasn’t his decision. He talked about having someone in the office to get the mail and deposit checks, but mail can be left at the building’s front desk and how many checks need to be deposited in a week’s time?

I’m very angry at having to give up part of my holiday week for no reason other than the boss likes the idea of a warm body in an office. Even our proposal of working those two or four days from home — which the boss and Sarah do all the time! — was anathema.

So: what is our next move? Is there a next move?

Nope, probably not.

Your boss doesn’t want to close the office during the week between Christmas and New Year’s.

You might think that’s silly based on the lack of work that week, but it’s not outrageous. Many, many offices are open that week, and yes, many of them are very slow during that period. But they’re open — because clients could call or work needs to move forward or something could come up that would require staff there to deal with it, or yes, just because their management feels the office should be open.

I agree it would be nice if you could have those days off, and it’s frustrating when you can’t see any reason to show up and simply sit in the office without much to do. But sometimes that happens at this time of year. It’s pretty normal.

It doesn’t make sense to be angry at having to “give up part of your holiday week” when there’s no particular entitlement to have that week off. You weren’t told you’d have it off when you were hired (presumably), and it’s not so common to have that week off that there was reason to assume/expect that you would. The reality is that your office doesn’t do that. You asked your boss to consider it, he didn’t want to, and … that’s pretty much the end of it. Being angry about this isn’t going to take you anywhere good.

What your boss is telling you is that this is the job. It includes staffing the office during this week. You’re free to reject those terms and find somewhere where you can take that week off. But it doesn’t make sense to be angry or resentful over something that isn’t all that unusual.

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6 workplace rights to be thankful for

by Alison Green on November 25, 2013

This Thanksgiving, if you’re thinking about what you’re thankful for, don’t forget to think about your workplace. Even if you’re not thrilled with your job and don’t get along with your boss, there are some key elements of the workplace that we can all be thankful for.

We usually take our workplace rights for granted, but it’s important to remember that we didn’t always have these:

1. Laws preventing racial or religious discrimination and sexual harassment. It wasn’t until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that the U.S. government outlawed workplace discrimination based on race, religion, sex, or national origin. And it wasn’t until the late 1970s that the courts began finding that sexual harassment was a form of sex discrimination. Since then, the legislation has also been supplemented with protections against discrimination based on age (1967), pregnancy (1978), and disabilities (1990).

2. The right to discuss your salary and working conditions with your coworkers. The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) says that employers can’t prevent employees from discussing wages among themselves. (In practice, many employers have policies against this anyway, but these policies violate the law.) Similarly, your employer can’t stop you from discussing your working conditions with your coworkers. Here again, NLRA protects you, since it reasons that employees wouldn’t be able to organize if they were forbidden from talking with each other about such important issues.

3. Workplace safety regulations. It wasn’t until 1970 – when the Occupational Safety and Health Act passed — that the United States had major federal workplace safety regulations. By regulating things like machine usage, airborne pathogens, and electrical system design, workplace safety standards now keep tens of thousands of workers from work-related injuries, illnesses, and death.

4. Federally mandated overtime pay. It wasn’t until the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 that employers were required to pay certain categories of workers time-and-a-half for all hours over 40 worked within a given week. If your job is categorized as non-exempt, your employer must pay you overtime. The protection is so strong that you’re not permitted to waive this right even if you want to, nor can your employer offer you comp time in lieu of overtime pay. (Wondering about this “non-exempt” category? The federal government divides all types of jobs into one of two categories: exempt and non-exempt. Your categorization is not up toyour employer; it’s determined by government guidelines and based on the type of work you do.)

5. Laws requiring prompt payment for your work. Most states have laws that require employers to establish regular paydays and pay employees by that time. These paydays generally cannot be more than a certain number of days from when the work was performed. That means that your employer cannot decide to withhold your pay when business is slow, or because you performed poorly this week. You must be paid within the time limits established by your state. (And if you’re not, you can file a wage complaint with your state labor agency.)

6. Whistleblower protections. Wondering what would stop your employer from retaliating against you if you raised concerns that any of the laws above were being broken? Thank the retaliation provisions of all of the laws above, which make it illegal to retaliate against a worker for reporting violations of these laws. Under these provisions, employers cannot fire you, demote you, harass you, give your worse work assignments, or otherwise take action against you as retribution for reporting a violation of labor law. In fact, even if your charge was eventually found to be baseless, your employer still couldn’t retaliate against you, as long as your complaint was made in good faith.

I originally published this at U.S. News & World Report.

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asking a reference to withhold information, how long can you skip work without getting fired, and more

by Alison Green on November 25, 2013

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

1. Can I ask my reference not to mention my likely timeline for a new job?

I was an assistant for almost two years, working hand in hand with my boss in her home. Having spent so much time together over the course of my employment, we have a fairly close relationship where we discuss personal lives and goals for the future. A couple months ago, I put in my notice because I decided to switch career paths. My new one requires further education, but I’m in a weird limbo state of the application process for going back to school. I could be accepted in August 2014 or it may be January 2015. I will be applying for new jobs to start January 2014.

Is it acceptable for me to mention to my former boss that I would like her to stay mum about these goals and going back to school if contacted for a reference? I’m aware that most jobs would prefer to not hire someone for potentially only 7 or 12 months, but I have to work somewhere! I don’t want her to feel like she is compromising her integrity by not disclosing what she knows, but I’m not sure if that’s standard information to provide when giving references, anyway.

I wouldn’t. I can see why you want to ask her that, but you’d be putting her in an awkward position where she might feel you’re asking her to lie (which then might also affect her view of your integrity, which could also come up in reference checks). Your boss may decide on her own that it’s in your best interest not to mention your longer-term goals, but I don’t think you can really ask her to do that.

2. The title I was offered isn’t the job I applied for

I recently had an interview for an HR Manager position. On Monday, I was delighted to be offered the job but I received the offer letter today and the job title was HR Officer.

I don’t want to sound pompous by questioning such a petty thing, but the role was always referred to / advertised as HR Manager in various correspondence, and the responsibilities that go with the position would most definitely be synonymous with a managerial role. How can I go about contacting the recruitment manager regarding this, and do I have any legal rights?

There’s no legal obligation for them to offer you the title that they advertised, but I’d start out by assuming that this was a mistake. Contact whoever sent you the offer and say, “I noticed the offer letter says HR officer, but I think it was meant to say HR manager.” It’s likely that they’ll tell you it was an error and simply correct it. If not, and they tell you that this is the title they’re offering you, it’s reasonable to ask what the difference is between the two positions and why it changed from what you applied for.

3. How long can you skip work before it’s considered job abandonment?

You have stated that employers can require an employee to take vacation time for any time taken off even though they have worked over 40 hours recently. You have also stated that employers cannot dock an exempt employee’s pay if they do not work 40 hours in a week.

Let’s say that a person uses all of their vacation time and does not have any left. How long (hours, days, weeks, etc.) can a person skip work and still have a job and have it not be considered job abandonment?

I realize that it is probably up to the employer. I realize that in most states and places that an employer can fire an employee for almost any reason (except based on the protected statuses). Theoretically, a person could use up all of their vacation time, take an hour off, and then get fired for doing so, correct? Though, I think we all agree that would be a bit extreme.

What about a public institution, let’s say a university, which has a policy which requires years or months of documentation, a performance improvement plan, and similar items before firing someone? In such a case, I would assume that it would be difficult to fire an exempt employee for taking an hour off when they don’t have vacation time. In such cases, are there any regulations which define job abandonment in which the person could be terminated immediately?

It varies by employer, but usually even employers that have lengthy documentation requirements before firing typically have exceptions to those policies that allow for immediate firing in certain egregious cases — and not showing up to work for multiple days could certainly be considered one of those. (But it’s very unlikely that such a policy would be invoked in the case of merely missing an hour or two.)

4. Can I keep my old employer’s insurance when I start a new job?

I have an 8-month severance package and I am on my second month of it at full base pay. It also includes my health insurance, which I do contribute to. I just took a new position which offers health insurance. For a couple of reasons, I would like to stay with the insurance at the old employer until they pull it away and decide to offer my COBRA (which may happen in 60 days or so). Is it wrong/unethical to stay with the former employer’s insurance offering? I have not informed the past employer that I have a new position.

It depends on the terms of whatever agreement you signed with your old company, and any terms governing your COBRA. If neither of those prohibit it, I don’t don’t see any ethical problem with doing it. However, keep in mind that once your COBRA runs out, you probably won’t be able to sign up with the new insurance until their annual open enrollment period, which could leave you with a period of not being insured at all. So you’d want to find out when their open enrollment is, and make sure that you time everything accordingly.

5. How can I make this hiring process move faster?

I responded to an ad on Craigslist and was able to interview the following day with HR. Two weeks later, I interviewed with the VP of stores. Now nine weeks in, the VP states says there are many internal issues and delays in reaching the final interview. He keeps in contact, but this seems quite outrageous. I’m unemployed and really need this gig. What can I do/suggest to expedite the process without coming across aggressive?

Nothing, really. They’re hiring on a timeline that’s convenient for them, not you, and you’ll look out of touch if you try to force them to move forward because you’re getting impatient and need a job. Keep in mind that it could be months more, they could cancel the position entirely, or they could hire someone else.

I know that’s frustrating, but the best thing you can do is to assume that this job won’t pan out (because it may or may not) and continue searching for other jobs just as actively as you would be if this job didn’t exist.

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is it better to quit or get fired, being associated with a difficult client, and more

by Alison Green on November 24, 2013

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

1. I don’t want to be associated with a difficult client

I am currently the lead person working on an account that is causing some issues at my company. Some back story – I got this account in January of 2012 and was told there wouldn’t be too much activity on it. Fast forward two weeks and business began to come in. The key person at the company I’m working with really likes me and I’m the only one she wants to deal with (that’s a whole separate issue that I can’t do much about). Anyway, this account went from no activity to one of my department’s biggest clients. Which was great for me because I got recognition for the hard work I put in to grow the business.

Unfortunately, as we are in the midst of contract negations, the client that really likes me is causing major issues for my boss and the sales team involved in the negotiation. She’s being absolutely unreasonable and if I had my way, I would start to say no to her, but that’s not my decision to make.

The issue I have is my boss was telling me the other day that he’s been referring to the person who is behind all the problems as my “bestie,” as he put it, to the powers that be. When I said, that’s not the case at all, he was like “Well, that’s what I’ve been telling people. She’s your bestie!” Odd language choice aside, this began to worry me. Let me tell you, this woman is not someone who I want to be associated with that way. She can be very rude, difficult to manage expectations with and has on more than one occasion made me cry at my desk. Which I know isn’t professional on her part, but it is what I deal with. Do you think I should be concerned about her reputation being tied to me? And if I should be, how should I go about addressing this with my boss?

Maybe. It’s possible that your boss is referring to how the client feels about you, rather than the other way around. But to make sure, I’d say to him directly: “Actually, would you be sure to make it clear to Jane and Bob (or whoever) that I’m not in any way allied with Amanda? I’m concerned about ensuring that they don’t think I’m connected to or approve of what she’s asking for.”

2. Is it better to quit or get fired?

A couple months ago, my boss approved me working 30 hours a week instead of 40 hours a week so that I could go to school (in an unrelated field — there isn’t really a way to move up in this company unless I moved to the south). Things have picked up at work — it isn’t anything crazy but my boss is treating it that way, and is insisting I work mandatory overtime. I only have the weekends to study since I work 10-hour days 3 days a week and am in school for the entire day the other 2 days. At this point, I am already overwhelmed with schoolwork while working 30 hours, and if necessary I wouldn’t mind not working and taking out more loan money.

I’ve told my boss (via email, she isn’t on location) that I’m sorry but I am not able to work any more hours than I already am. I was thinking about letting her know that I can either work 30 hours or not work for the company anymore, but my husband says I should stick around until they fire me (so that I’ll get unemployment instead of nothing). Do you think it looks better for future employers if I leave on my own terms due to school, or get fired because of school? If it’s better to get fired, how do I continue a conversation with my boss? “I’m sorry but I’m not willing to work more than 30 hours. Accept it or fire me” …?

If you’re planning to include this job on your resume in the future, you do not want to get fired from it. Having been fired can hurt you in reference checks, and it will mean you’re forever having to answer “yes” when online applications ask if you’ve ever been fired from a job. If you’re not planning to include this job on your resume, it will matter less.

Regarding talking to your boss, you could simply say, “I would like to be able to work the extra needed time, but after we agreed I could cut my hours, I enrolled in classes based on that agreement. I can’t work more hours and also meet my school commitments. I’ll gladly do all I can in my 30 hours a week here, but I’m not able to work more hours than what we agreed. Is there a way for that to work on your end?” If she says there isn’t, then you can say, “If there’s no way around that, how would you like to proceed? Do you need to replace me?” And from there, you can explore what the path forward (and possibly out) looks like. This won’t be a firing or a resignation so much as it should be a mutual agreement that your hours don’t fit her needs.

Also, I would call her for this conversation; this is too important a conversation to have it through email.

3. I can’t get through to my office’s HR department

I keep calling my office’s HR department and every time I call the receptionist says they are not available, and she asks me what I need to talk to them about. Don’t they have to be available to their employees anytime during working hours?

Nope. There’s no legal requirement for that. And it sounds like your HR department’s set-up is that calls are screened. While you can certainly debate the merits of this idea, that seems to be the case there. I’d give a general topic, like “benefits,” but if it’s something more sensitive, try saying, “It’s a sensitive matter and I’d prefer to talk to someone in person about it.”

4. Are there legitimate “work from home” jobs?

Wondering if you know of any legitimate opportunities to be able to work from home. Would like opportunities other than transcription and such that you would have to go to school for. I work best when by myself and do not have to be in the middle of the “social crowd or cliques” at work. Have any ideas?

It’s hard to recommend particular jobs without knowing anything about your skill set, but in general, it’s much easier to negotiate for telecommuting after you’ve worked somewhere for a while and have proven yourself. It doesn’t work for every job or every office, of course, but that’s the best path to it. It’s much harder to find a telecommuting job that telecommutes from the start — although they do exist. (If anyone has specific suggestions, please leave them in the comment section!)

5. Contacting a past employee of a company where you’d like to work

Is it ok to contact a past employee, say via Linkedin, from a company you want to work for? Or would that just be awkward? Personally, I wouldn’t mind if someone, even a complete stranger, wanted to know more about a position that I’d worked in the past. But I am not sure if that mentality would apply to everyone else. If you think it’s ok to do so, what (crucial) questions do you think I should ask? I was hoping to know about their experience working there, insights on the job and possibly any advice they could offer about the position.

I think you can try that, as long as you have very specific questions for them — don’t just say “tell me what this company was like” because that leaves them to do too much of the work of having to figure out what you might be interested in hearing about. As for what those specific questions should be, it really depends on what you want to know — it could be anything from what the culture was like to what the downsides were to what they look for in new hires for a particular type of role.

Some people will reply and others won’t. But if you can find anyone in your network on LinkedIn to introduce you, that will up your chances of a response.

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asking for a better title as a volunteer, declining an offer to interview, and more

by Alison Green on November 23, 2013

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

1. Can I ask for a title that better describes the work I’m doing as a volunteer?

I am a licensed attorney, and have been for about seven months now. Because the job market still sucks hard, I have been clerking (for free) in the office of a local judge. While not ideal, this has gotten me both experience and exposure to the legal community. My issue is this: the judge, in introducing me to other attorneys, often refers to me as his “intern,” a title which bothers me because in the legal world “intern” generally denotes someone still in law school and otherwise unlicensed to practice. My position does have some similarities to that of an intern (most notably being unpaid) but I am an attorney and I do the job of one, and I would like other attorneys — particularly those that might employ me one day — to know that. Do you think this is a reasonable request, and if so, how would you go about asking it?

Yes, it’s absolutely reasonable. You’re doing what sounds like substantive work, and you’re doing it for free; you should at least get an accurate title out of it. I’d say something like, “Do you think we could give me a title? I’d love to be able to put something that accurately describes my work on my resume and be identified that way when you’re introducing me. ___ is a title that many offices like ours seem to use for someone doing the type of work I’m doing.”

2. Declining an offer to interview for a different position after being rejected for another

I received a rejection letter for a part-time position I interviewed for last week. The top half of the email was standard boilerplate: “We decided to move forward with other applicants …” In the second half, she stated that the company believes I would be a better fit for a different full-time position within the company and asked if I would be interested in applying/interviewing for that. I had read the description of this other role before I applied and I have no interest in it. I like to do follow-up emails, but the question I have here is how do I address the second half of her email in a polite, respectful manner?

Just be straightforward. It’s not rude to not be interested in a particular job. Say something like: “Thanks so much for mentioning the X position. It’s not quite what I’m looking for, but I appreciate your thinking of me for it. Thank you also for letting me know your hiring decision for the Y position, and best of luck with your new hire.”

If you’re inclined, you can be specific about why you’re not interested — “I’m focusing on roles with an emphasis on teapot construction” or whatever — but that’s not necessary.

3. Should I reapply to a position when I applied last month and haven’t heard back?

A company I would love to work for recently had a job posting for a junior position that seemed right up my alley. I quickly applied, heard nothing, sent a follow-up a week later, and still got nothing. This was about a month ago. The posting is still on the company website, even as others have been taken down, making me think they’re still looking. I’ve been toying with the idea of tweaking my resume and cover letter and applying again, which makes me wonder: is there any kind of expiration date on a job application? Is there a certain amount of time a job posting should sit empty before applying again (assuming I even should, or should I just take the hint and move on?)

If you reapply only a month later, they’re going to assume that you forgot you applied the first time and you’ll look disorganized. A better idea, if you want to reach out to them, would be to send the hiring manager a letter reiterating your interest (and if you sent a lackluster cover letter the first time, improve it now).

4. My interviewer discussed my interview with a former employee

I recently had an interview to become the manager of my current department. The day after my interview one of the ladies I work with tells me that my store manager discussed my interview with an ex-employee rather extensively. Is this illegal? I feel humiliated and degraded by her actions. What should I do?

No, that is legal. It’s legal for an interviewer to discuss your job interview with pretty much anyone in fact. And indeed, interviewers often do talk interviews over with others when they’re working through their assessment of a candidate. There’s no reason to feel humiliated by it, unless the discussion was particularly disparaging.

5. How are other companies increasing the number of women in upper management?

Today my company announced it will be introducing a mentor program and focusing more on training staff for upper management. During the meeting about it, I raised the point that our upper management is entirely men, and asked about whether the programs could help address that imbalance.

People were very positive about the idea but didn’t seem to have thought about it before; the CEO and HR head both came over to me to chat about it afterwards, and were both keen but also went “ah, well, it’s hard because we’re a male-dominated industry and sometimes the person with the most experience and skills is always going to be a man.” I agree this is currently true, but I think we should be working to change that rather than just iterating it.

I’d like to email the HR head who’s implementing our program with examples of how other companies are actively supporting women and equality in upper management and go “hey, look at what this company is doing, maybe we could incorporate something like this?” Do you (and/or your readers, maybe?) have any ideas or examples I could send him?

I’m throwing this out to readers for ideas. Readers, what can you offer that might help?

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