Ask a Manager

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

1. Who should attend an exit interview?

I handle internal HR for a small organization (less than 20 employees.) I have two exit interviews coming up for exiting employees in two different departments. For one, my manager (COO) wants to be present, and for the other (a finance employee), he wants my CFO to “observe.” The CFO is relatively new to leading the vertical and has not worked directly with that exiting employee.

Who is it appropriate to include in an exit interview? I have concerns about my COO being at the first one because I’d expect feedback from that employee to specifically touch on aggressive communications from the COO. For the other, I have no problem with the CFO participating as I don’t expect any of the feedback to be personal, but is it weird to have him “observe” versus participate (or not be present?)

What are your general recommendations for including extra individuals in exit interviews?

The goal of an exit interview is to get candid information from the exiting employee. The more people you have present, the less likely the person is to be candid. I can’t think of any compelling reason to let someone “observe” exit interviews or otherwise include additional people; the atmosphere you want is one that’s a safe place to talk, not one with “observers” — let alone intimidating observers.

2. Managing an employee who is regularly in the bathroom

I have a team member who I supervise who uses the bathroom a lot. Like, at least once an hour, she is away from her desk for 5 minutes or more, with one or two bathroom breaks lasting 10+ minutes. Unfortunately, I know that she is actually using the bathroom during this time, because if I ever go to the bathroom, she’s clearly in one of the stalls having some intestinal distress. This has been the case as long as I’ve been here, about a year.

If she has a real medical issue, I think she’s probably covered by the ADA. But she has never disclosed a medical issue to me, and I am not sure if it is appropriate for me to ask. But to that end, I’m just not sure how it would be possible for me to accommodate someone whose medical issue causes them to need to go to the bathroom for 45+ minutes total each day, sporadically taken. I want to help her and be kind, but this issue is frequently disruptive to my team’s work, as she is our administrative assistant and she is not always at her desk and cannot dedicate a full hour to any one project without interruption. It’s becoming more of a problem lately because our work has picked up; I was more or less able to ignore it before but that seems unfair to my other team members who rely on her (and me).

If being at her desk without regular interruptions is an essential component of the job, you need to mention it. Say something like, “Jane, I’ve noticed you’re away from your desk at least once an hour for bathroom breaks, which is causing workflow disruptions like XYZ. How can we solve this problem?” This is an opening for her to bring up any medical issue, but if she doesn’t, you can say something like, “When employees have medical conditions covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act, we’re required to make reasonable accommodations for them, starting with a conversation exploring what accommodation is needed.”

From there, you’d want to talk with a lawyer about how to safely proceed under the law and figure out what reasonable accommodations you can offer, or whether it would meet the legal standard for undue hardship on your business. (Do not decide something would be an undue hardship without talking to a lawyer; you might be surprised by what the law can require.) However, you want to begin with process of talking with the employee about what accommodation she needs and making a good-faith effort to negotiate something that will work on both sides.

3. Can my employer make me return my relocation bonus if I leave after three months?

A little over three months ago, I relocated to a new city for a new job and negotiated a relocation bonus. The situation has been a nightmare and I am preparing to turn in my resignation, but wanted to know what recourse my current employer might have in trying to recover the relocation bonus they paid me. A few things to consider.
– They only paid me two-thirds of the agreed upon relocation bonus.
– I did not sign any contract or agreement of any kind regarding the relocation bonus or my employment in general.

From my standpoint, since there was no agreement in place regarding the sign-on/relocation bonus and it was used to cover expenses I incurred moving, they really have no recourse. I am curious about the outstanding relocation bonus I am owed, but imagine since there is no agreement in place neither party has a legitimate claim.

Yeah, if there’s no record of an agreement to repay it under certain circumstances (such as if you don’t remain in the job for a year, a common restriction with relocation bonuses), then there’s no reason to assume that they’d ask or expect you to repay it. And if they did ask or expect it, you never agreed to do that, so they’d have no legal recourse in trying to get you to return the money.

4. How does Toastmasters look on a resume?

What do you think of Toastmasters International? If you see Toastmaster credentials on an applicant’s resume, are you impressed? For example, the first levels are Competent Communicator (CC) and Competent Leader (CL).

The greatest benefit Toastmasters has achieved for me is getting over my fear (i.e. terror) of public speaking. Although I will never be a polished and professional public speaker, I no longer wilt when called upon to get up and speak, for example, introducing myself. So, there are definitely benefits to investing in Toastmasters; I am more curious from the standpoint of an employer if the credentials are recognized.

Sure, Toastmasters is a good thing to have done, and it’s worth putting on your resume. “Impressed” probably isn’t the reaction of most hiring managers — something more low-key than that. More like taking note of a positive, like, “Ah, good, she has some confidence in and practice at speaking in front of groups.” Not blown away, just a good thing to tick off. It’s not likely to get you a job on its own, but it’s worth noting there.

5. When the pay offered isn’t the pay advertised

Can an employer change the rate of pay once the position has been advertised for and fulfilled? Wouldn’t do so be false advertising?

It’s perfectly legal for an employer to decide to offer a different salary than was advertised or even a different position than was advertised. The candidate can then decide whether or not to accept it. (And there are legitimate reasons for an employer to do this — such as if the candidate has less experienced than was originally envisioned, or the job needs change, etc.)

What they can’t do is to change your rate of pay retroactively after you’ve accepted and started a position. They can lower your rate of pay going forward, but not for hours you already worked under a different agreement.

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

1. Job candidates who won’t share what salary range they want

How do you respond to applicants who won’t give you their desired salary range? I had two open positions recently, and when I called two applicants to discuss the positions, I asked each for their salary range. One applicant just flat-out refused to answer. Her application indicated she was currently making over $100k, and this job would pay $40-50k a year, so I wanted to be sure that would work for her, but she kept refusing to even give a range – not even to say, “I’m currently making X, but I’m open to something in the Y-Z range.” She just kept saying, “Well, it all depends on the job responsibilities…” I kept saying that I understood, “but the range is A to B. Would that work for you?” She kept dancing around the question.

It’s like they were thinking that if they agreed on a range, then they’d have no room to negotiate. I was clear with both that we couldn’t go higher than $50k, no exceptions, and when I asked if that was acceptable, they kept replying, “Well, I think that if you bring me in to interview, you’ll see all that I have to offer your organization.” And I’d say, “That may be; unfortunately, our salary range isn’t negotiable. Is this something that would work for you?” And again both applicants would tell me about all the experience they have, and wouldn’t commit to an answer.

I’ve been burned a couple of times with bringing candidates in, going through several interviews, and having them ultimately reject the job offer because it wasn’t in line with what they were looking for. I don’t want to bring a candidate in without knowing this info, and frankly, this applicant’s refusal to answer resulted in my moving on to other applicants. What are your thoughts?

Yep, I’d move on to other candidates too, and I’d let them know why. It’s absolutely understandable that candidates don’t want to throw out a number first, because they don’t want to inadvertently undercut themselves if you would otherwise have offered them more. However, you were already telling them what you planned to pay and simply wanted to know if that was prohibitive for them or not. The refusal to answer that is obnoxious, especially combined with that crap about “if you bring me in, I’ll wow you so much that your budgeted salary range won’t matter.” You were being straightforward with them, and you have just as right to be annoyed by this as candidates do when employers play salary games with them.

It’s reasonable to confirm that you’re on the same page about salary before spending your time and theirs on lengthier interviews — as long as you’re willing to share your own range, as you did. (It’s not reasonable when employers want this to be one-sided, with the candidate giving a number while the employer stays silent.)

2. I was demoted after my maternity leave

I had a baby a few months ago and just returned to work after 8 weeks of short-term disability, followed by 5 weeks of PTO. Just prior to my leave, a replacement was hired to take over my position as supervisor of a small department of hourly workers. I knew she was being hired and had agreed on a new role with my general manager. I do not get anything in writing, but several other members of management were aware of the change.

On my first day back, I was informed I would be assuming the duties of one of the employees I used to manage. I no longer have an office and since I’m breast feeding, I have to utilize the file room to pump twice a day. The assignment is supposed to be temporary, “to help fill a void,” and after a month I will transition to my new role. To add insult to injury, some of the personal belongings I left in my old office (because I was under the impression I’d be returning to it) have gone missing. The new supervisor boxed my things up and dumped them in a supply closet.

Is it legal to return from maternity leave and be temporarily demoted? My pay has not changed and I am still considered part of the management team. I have not escalated the issue to HR or anyone at a higher management level because I am concerned it will hurt me more in the long run.

You’d need to talk to a lawyer to be certain about the details in your case, but in general, no, it’s not legal to demote someone upon their return from maternity leave — unless the employer can show that the demotion was unrelated to the pregnancy and leave. (For example, if the employer can show they would have demoted you anyway, because of performance or other issues, that’s not pregnancy discrimination.) Absent unrelated reasons, they must return you to the position you held before taking leave or an equivalent position. And that doesn’t just mean pay, but also job status (like authority, responsibilities, and prestige). That said, I’m not sure how the fact that this is a temporary, one-month arrangement might impact the legality here, and you’d need a lawyer to tell you for sure. (But either way, since it’s only for one month, I suspect that you’re right that raising it would hurt more than help you in the long run.)

Read an update to this letter here.

3. My manager didn’t show up for a conference call so we proceeded anyway

I recently scheduled a conference call with myself, my boss, and a few coworkers who work remotely. After a few minutes, my boss – whose presence was not crucial to the conversation – had not dialed in, so I decided to proceed with the call with everyone else on the line. A few hours later, he forwarded the meeting notice to me with a note that he had been waiting for me to come to his office and had just realized the meeting was a conference call. He is now asking me to reschedule; I guess he thinks we tabled the meeting without him. What would have been the proper thing to do? Ask the others to hold while I track down my boss, or proceed as I did?

It varies by culture and by manager. Some managers would have assumed you’d proceed without them; some would be shocked that you didn’t. Absent any information about the culture and taking you at your word that your manager’s presence wasn’t needed for the conversation, there’s nothing wrong with proceeding without him; it might have made a ton of sense to do that. But there’s really no useful answer here without knowing more about your manager and culture, because those are the determinative factors in how this kind of thing is perceived.

As for what to do now, I’d simply say, “We figured you got tied up with something else and went ahead and talked over X, Y, and Z. In the future, would you like us to reschedule if you don’t join the call, or move forward like we did here?”

4. What does this email from a hiring manager mean?

I finished my final interview on December 17 and it felt perfect. The conversations went very well and I felt confident with each of my answers. I realize that in late December things slow down a bit for the holidays. The employer let me know of this and had told me that she hoped to be in touch before the new year.

I ended up reaching out to check in and this was her response: “Happy New Year! Thanks for reaching out. I was hoping to be in touch this week with our final decision on filling the position but unfortunately, there have been some delays. I will follow up with you next week (if not sooner) with an update. Thanks so much for your patience.”

My question is how to interpret this. Why would it take so long to hear a simple “we are pursuing other candidates” or “we have decided to extend you an offer”? I would greatly appreciate your insight.

You should interpret it as meaning that there have been some delays and she hopes to follow up with you next week with updated information. In other words, it means exactly what it says, no more and no less. It doesn’t say that they’re rejecting you or making you an offer, because they haven’t decided either of those things yet.

They might be waiting to interview other candidates. They might be checking references. They might have an offer out to someone else and be waiting to hear if it’s accepted (and you might be their second or third choice if it’s not). They might be resolving questions that came up about the position itself. They might not be working on anything hiring-related at all right now because they have other priorities. Who knows? All we know is what her email said, and you should take that at face value.

5. Disciplined for comments made off the clock

Can an employer write you up for comments made off the clock on a break and outside of your building ?

They sure can. An employer can write you up because you wore a green shirt while you were home on your couch last weekend, if they want to. That’s not likely, of course. More practically speaking, when people get in trouble for off-the-clock behavior, it’s usually because the employer believes the behavior impacted work in some way, such as harassing comments made to a coworker outside of work, representing the company poorly to customers, etc.

It snowed on Friday, and my mail shows it. Today we have four questions about how companies should handle snow days.

1. My company wants me to use PTO when I’m working from home on a snow day

My company is requesting that workers who work from home on days of inclement weather use the day as a vacation day, although sometimes we have deadlines that don’t allow us to actually take the day off so we are still working a full 8-hour day at home. I feel strange using PTO time while actually working.

Yeah, that’s not okay. If you’re taking PTO, you should be getting the day off. PTO isn’t for full days spent working from another location; it’s for days spent not working at all.

It sounds, though, like this may be an issue of your company-wide policy just not being in sync with what’s going on in your department. Your manager should be able to exempt you from this policy on days when you’re working from home due to weather. I’d assume she’ll be reasonable on this until proven otherwise, so I’d start by saying to her, “I need to spend the full day working from home, so can you ensure that I’m not docked PTO for the day?”

If she says that’s not possible, then say, “How would you like me to handle this then? I have work that I need to do today, but obviously I can’t spend a PTO day on it. Should we change the deadline and have me use PTO today, or do we need to keep the deadline and have this be a regular, non-PTO work day for me?”

2. I worked from home on a snow day and then was told to use vacation time for it

I work for a large institution which provides bus service to our off-site office location. A major snowstorm caused the bus service to be suspended today, which I had anticipated, so I brought my laptop home last night. I had been working for several hours today when my supervisor told me that I would have to take the day as a personal day because I didn’t make it in to the office. I’m an exempt employee, and have worked from home in other bad weather situations, so I was shocked when I was told I had to take the day off and use my time. Although there are a few alternative ways for me to get to work, none were viable options today.

I lodged a complaint, and stopped working after letting my colleagues know that they would have to complete the task I was doing and canceling a conference call I had slated for the afternoon.

Do I have any recourse for the time I put in before learning that I would have to use my accrued time off?

Not legal recourse, no. Your company is allowed to structure vacation time any way that it wants, which includes what they’ve done here. However, I’d push back on this with your boss. If you’ve worked from home in bad weather in the past, what changed this time? I’d point out to your boss that you made a reasonable assumption based on what was allowed in the past, and ask why he felt differently about it this time.

You’ll have the best chances of the outcome you want here is if you don’t approach this adversarily, even though you’re rightly pissed off. Approach it from the stance of genuine confusion and trying to understand where he’s coming from so that you’re on the same page in the future, even if in your head you’re thinking he’s an ass.

3. When bereavement leave overlaps with snow days

I get three days off for the death of my brother. I am exempt. The third day, the company was shut down due to weather. Should I be charged for that day or do I get another day off?

It depends on your company’s policy. Some companies would be glad to extend the bereavement leave by another day, and some would consider it to overlap with the snow day (and so wouldn’t extend it). The best thing to do is to simply ask your manager. Say something like, “I’m uncertain how my bereavement leave works with the snow day. Should I count Monday (or whatever the day after the snow day would be) as my third day?”

I’m so sorry about your brother.

4. My manager called me at 6:30 a.m. with snow day weirdness

Due to the storms today, my company had a delayed opening. This is my first delayed opening I had with this company. I figured this would happen, so I ensured we finished the work due today yesterday.

The weather hotline for my company advised at 6:30 this morning that it was a delayed opening, liberal leave was in effect, and if you were commuting from the area I live in to contact your manager because the state said not to be on the road.

A few minutes later, my manager called me. I assumed my manager was calling about what the recording said about coming to work if you live in my area. Boy, was I wrong.

My manager was calling to have me contact all of my staff to see if they were coming in. During the conversation, my manager told me she was unaware of the recording indicating a delay. She still told me to call my staff.

My concerns:
1) Company policies require staff to contact supervisors; there is no department policy advising otherwise. My staff who utilized leave followed this policy perfectly.
2) This phone call took place almost 4 hours prior to our opening. I feel that is too early to assess whether a person can come in. Plows may have not hit all roads.
3) Employees don’t have to contact us until an hour before we open.
4) My manager was completely unaware of what the recording said.
5) On a bitter note, there was no wishing me a safe commute!

Overall, I feel like this was most unnecessary. I would at least like to tell my manager that when there is a delayed opening, calling my staff 4 hours before while the sun is not up will not be useful because people cannot completely assess their situation. Does that sound reasonable?

Sure. But I’d be more focused on the fact that your manager seemed not to realize that the company had already issued people directions on this. The fact that she didn’t know that could explain the whole thing. So I’d focus on that first, saying something like, “In the future, if the company hotline has announced instructions for the day, is it okay for me to follow that and have my staff follow that?”

If she tells you that your department needs to handle things differently than the company-wide policy (which could legitimately be necessary), then work with her to create a policy for your department that meets whatever its needs are. That policy should not include you calling everyone to find out their plans at 6:30 in the morning. If you need to hear from them individually, the onus should be on them to contact you (I’d hope through email, a voicemail on your work line, or another method that’s less intrusive than a crack-of-dawn phone call at home).

You can also point out to her that if your staff needs to make a decision about coming in three hour before everyone else does, people are more likely to err on the side of caution and stay home. If they can wait until later, when they can more accurately assess road conditions, you’ll probably get more people coming in (not to mention being generally safer, if the roads get worse rather than better).

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

1. My employer monitors employees to make sure we’re not job-searching

I am employed for almost 2 years now with my current employer and I already feel the need to explore opportunities somewhere else. I am an assistant manager and I love my team, they’re actually one of the biggest reasons why Im still here. However, I’m beginning to dislike the company. For me, the corporate values are just engravings on the walls- something that isn’t really embodied by the organisation.

However, our COO is watching every move of all managers. He tracks our jobstreet/monster accounts and flags anyone who he thinks is exploring other jobs. Yes I admit that my loyalty to the company is not 100% anymore but that doesnt mean I’ll not meet my deliverables as I ease myself out. You see, it has been a recurring thing that he is bitter whenever someone leaves the company for greener pastures. Now I don’t know how to make my career move. I want to explore but I don’t know how. Is it unethical to update my job accounts while I’m still employed? Do I really need to explain myself?

Your COO is ridiculous and I can certainly see why you’d want to get out of there. Luckily, you can conduct an active job search without ever updating a monster.com or similar account. In fact, simply passively posting your resume online is one of the worst ways to job search. Instead, leave those accounts alone and just apply for specific jobs directly. That’s going to get you better results anyway, and your activities won’t be broadcasted online for your absurd COO to track.

2. Required to sign a non-disclosure statement in exchange for severance

Did you see Gawker’s bit about the guy whose severance was withheld because he refused to sign a non-disclosure agreement? I always thought that pretty standard and would love your thoughts.

Yeah, it’s completely normal, so I’m not sure why Gawker presented it as a noteworthy thing. Generally, in exchange for receiving severance, you sign what’s called a general release — a legal document agreeing not to disparage the company and releasing them from any future legal claims of harassment, discrimination, etc. You’re asked to sign this not because the company thinks it did something wrong (usually), but because they’re giving you free money that they have no legal obligation to offer you, and so it’s generally considered reasonable for them to say “hey, we don’t want to give you free money if you’re going to turn around and stab us in the back.”

3. Using a school-issued email address when job-searching

I know that you have addressed using a yahoo or hotmail account as your primary email, but is using a school email (yourlastname@stu.school.edu) going to hurt you on an application? My boyfriend and I have been having this discussion for a long time, and I think that being a person in their late 20’s still using their school based email is not going to look good to any potential employer. My boyfriend is still in school, but trying to find a better job, and he thinks that it’s fine and why start a new email when the old one works just fine?

School email accounts are completely fine to use in job-searching and will not hurt you.

4. My coworker slacks off on shared responsibilities

I work at the front desk of a doctor’s office with two other women (let’s say Barb and Suzy). We all get along, and we all really like each other and have had no issues so far, but recently Barb and I have started noticing that Suzy is slacking off. We have duties that are given to us as a whole, and we each have our own personal duties, and Suzy is doing her personal duties just fine, but when it comes to the group duties, she never does them. We have two or three things that are quite time consuming and no one likes doing them, but she never even attempts to do them. We are very behind on one of the tasks, and at the beginning of the day Barb will say to us as a group, “How about we each do 20 of the calls we need to make?” and Suzy never completes any. Suzy will either ignore that the work is there or she will say things like “I don’t know how to do that” or “Oh, you guys will have to show me how to do that again” when she has been trained 3 or 4 times already.

Barb and I aren’t sure what to do, because we don’t want to cause friction by going to Suzy directly and say that this is bothering us, but we also aren’t sure that going to our manager is the right thing to do either (it feels a bit like tattling, and other people in the office have a very bad habit of tattling about anything). Any advice?

It’s not tattling. It’s reporting an issue that’s getting in the way of own work, because you’re having to pick up Suzy’s slack. It’s absolutely reasonable to ask your manager for advice on how to handle this or even to intervene, although you should talk to Suzy directly first. If it causes friction, that’s on Suzy, not on you, as long as you do it in a pleasant, professional manner. I’d start by just getting more assertive about dividing the work: “Suzy, I’m doing X and Barb is doing Y, so you’ll need to do Z today.” If she says she doesn’t know how, say in a genuinely puzzled tone, “What’s going on that you’re having trouble with this? I know we’ve talked many times about how to do it.” Or, “I know you’ve mentioned that before, but you’ll have to be responsible for this on many days, so let’s figure out right now how to ensure that you have all the training you need and this isn’t an obstacle going forward.”

From there, if she continues to slack off, say, “Hey, we keep getting stuck with X, Y, and Z and we don’t have enough time for all of it. Can we work out a better system so that it’s evenly divided?” And if that still doesn’t work, that’s when you need to get your manager involved.

5. Can I ask for an informational interview when I’ve applied for a job with the same company?

I’m a recent graduate looking for work in the human rights field, and I recently applied for a paralegal position at a prominent civil rights firm that I would be incredibly thrilled to join. As I sent in my application, I thought of the following question— is it okay to contact someone at this firm for an informational interview even though I applied for a job there? If that’s inappropriate, can I ask later on, if I get rejected? I really don’t mean it as a sneaky way to get an official interview, and I don’t want it to be perceived in that way. It’s just that I’m in the “informational interview” stage right now, particularly concerning legal aid services, and I really would love to speak with someone at this very impressive firm, but I don’t know if it’s appropriate, as I applied for a position there.

Nope, don’t do it. Because you’re currently applying for a job there, it will come across as a back-door attempt to get an interview. However, if you get rejected, you can absolutely ask at that point.