Ask a Manager

It’s tiny answer Tuesday — seven short answers to seven short questions. Here we go…

1. Required to use vacation days for hurricane

I’ve got another Hurricane Sandy-related work question. My husband works at a post-production facility in Manhattan, though he’s actively looking for a different job. During the Monday and Tuesday of Hurricane Sandy, the facility was technically open, but as we live in Queens and all subways were shut down and bridges and tunnels were closed, he was unable to go to work. He was one of the few people to go in on Wednesday after the storm, and it took him 3 hours to drive the 4.5 miles into work. Now he’s been told that he is being docked for Monday and Tuesday, and that he needs to decide if he wants to take these as personal or vacation days.

I’m assuming that this is technically legal, but seems so completely unfair. His vacation and personal time is very limited to begin with, and losing 2 days will impact our ability to spend Christmas with our families. Is there any legal recourse? Or does he simply have to argue with his (completely unmoved) boss? This attitude is the exact reason they have trouble holding onto talented workers.

It’s legal. No law requires employers to give vacation time at all, so they can place whatever policies they want on it as long as they’re not docking exempt workers’ pay. However, he could certainly try talking with his boss about how other employers have handled the storm and suggest that they take care of their employees by doing the same. (Here’s a commenter describing a much more compassionate way of handling this.)

Read an update to this letter here.

2. Left a job after one month because of bullying

I’ve been reading through your blog and have noticed a number of the write-ins were about workplace bullying, but they all seemed to be people with full-time jobs. I’m a college student who just recently quit her waitress job after only working there a month. I felt that the work environment was not professional, the girls all talked about each other behind their backs, they were very fake to each other, it was all based on seniority, but the main thing that made me quit was I saw some of the girls talking bad about me on Twitter. I didn’t report names, I just told my boss I was leaving because I didn’t feel comfortable and I saw things about me on the internet. My question is what should I write in the “reason for leaving” section on future job applications?

I actually wouldn’t include it on future job applications at all, since you were only there for a month. In general, short-term stays on your resume do more harm than good. More here.

3. Asking contacts to recommend you for a job

I’m writing on behalf of my husband, who is a grad student. He recently applied for a job in his university’s administration. He also reached out to several different contacts within the administration to see if they would recommend him to the hiring manager. Two have emailed her directly, but the other two (who work together) sent him the hiring manager’s email address and asked him to write an email to her mentioning that they recommend him for the position. This seems like a really odd approach to us, and he can’t decide whether to email her or not. Do you think he should email her, or suggest to his contacts that they email her directly?

Neither. He already asked, and they didn’t take him up on it. Asking again risks being pushy, and it also risks them sending the hiring manager a lukewarm recommendation (since their enthusiasm wasn’t sufficient to do it the first time). What’s more, being suddenly inundated with multiple people recommending a person for a job (proactively without being asked) often looks like a campaign orchestrated by the candidate, which takes a lot of the power out of it. Four people reaching out before he’s been interviewed probably passes that threshold. One or two is better.

If he hadn’t already applied, it would make sense to mention these two people’s names in his cover letter, but since he already has, at this point I wouldn’t do anything more.

4. Can’t get promoted because I’m not 21

I am just curious if this is some kind of age discrimination. Two of my immediate supervisors have tried to promote me on two separate occasions for two separate manager positions, taking it up to the district level, where it was refused because I am 20 years old and not 21. I understand having an age requirement, but obviously I’m qualified for the job (except my age) so you’d think they’d make an exception. There’s nothing about the job related to the drinking age, ability to rent a car, or other obvious age qualification. I have thought about going directly to the company’s president and “pleading my case” so to speak. What do you suggest I do?

In most jurisdictions in the U.S., age discrimination laws only prohibit discrimination against people 40 and older, so this is legal. I don’t know why they have an age requirement, but they apparently they do so I’d ask your manager for advice on whether talking to someone higher up would make sense, and if so, who would be the right person to talk to. But if she doesn’t think it’s a good idea, there’s not much you can do other than waiting until you turn 21 and trying again.

5. Manager won’t let me fire a problem employee

I an fairly new to a very small business with national exposure. I inherited a problem employee from two previous managers, who are still in their roles. This employees has been on probation twice in a one-year period for numerous issues relating to attendance, job performance, and insubordination. I even found out she shredded documents to cover her tracks on some issues (for which I thought she should have been terminated), much to the knowledge of my bosses.

We agreed to start fresh noting her past issues, but now she is exhibiting the same behavior. We have addressed this in discussions with the HR rep present, but she continues. My manager insists we should keep her so they do not have to train another person. This has become frustrating to me as they do not have to manage her. I have seriously thought about moving on due to this issue. I feel they are moving her from one manager to another and not dealing with the fact that the is the common denominator and carries the same issues from one manager to another.

She should have already been fired, long ago, and this “fresh start” thing makes no sense. You don’t start fresh with someone who shreds documents to cover her tracks, to say nothing of all the other issues. If your managers won’t let you fire her, they’re sending you a powerful signal about how they operate — as well as how they expect you to operate. And believe me, this isn’t going to be the only problem; if they’re handling this so badly, they’re going to turn out to be terrible managers in plenty of areas too and will prevent you from managing well yourself too. The decision you have to make is whether you want to work someplace like that.

6. I don’t want to get my doctorate

I love my current job — they trust me with my responsibilities, I do what I love, I get great constructive feedback — but I know I won’t be in this position forever. I am in position for another who is back at school for a couple of years. While they might have the funds to keep me when he returns, this is a program where they encourage their employees to get their doctorate. When I was hired, I had all the energy/optimism to pursue this, but now I don’t think it’s right for me. I want to keep my boss informed of my goals/wants and make sure I’m not hindering the needs of the program, but I don’t want to give the impression that I will stop researching my field or that I don’t want to be there. How should I handle this?

Be straightforward! Say what you said here — that you love your job and why, that you’re no longer sure pursuing a doctorate is right for you, that you don’t want to give the impression that you don’t want to be there, and that you’re wondering if that’s going to be a problem. It sounds like you have a good boss who will be able to give you useful guidance.

7. Explaining why I left a past job

I interned and then volunteered at one organization for over two years. Without going into details, all the board members were horrible people, and they made being there incredibly frustrating and stressful. I ended up leaving because it got a point where the stress was affecting my health. Several other people have left because of the board too, so I know the problem wasn’t me.

A year later, I’m trying to find another organization in my field to intern or volunteer, and I’m worried that someone might ask why I left the first organization since I was there for so long. Should I just tell the truth (the board made being there too stressful and I had to leave) and say I’d rather not talk about it if they probe for details, or is there a better way to handle it? I considered saying that I didn’t have time for the volunteering anymore because I started grad school, but then they might want to know why I’m not returning to that organization now that I apparently have time to volunteer again.

Don’t say the board made it too stressful or that you’d rather not talk about it — both responses will raise more questions than they answer. I’d say that you wanted to focus on grad school, but that you’re now ready to take on an outside commitment again. It’s unlikely that they’ll ask why you’re not going back to the previous organization, but if they do, just say that you’re interested in broadening your experience. That’s completely normal; it’s actually more common to go somewhere new than to go back to a previous job.

It’s short answer Sunday — six short answers to six short questions. Here we go…

1. Coworker laughs loudly all day long

This is going to sound weird, and possibly also like I’m an 80 year old curmudgeon telling teenagers to get the hell off my lawn. I have a new coworker (she’s been with our company for maybe 2 months now) who laughs. A LOT. Like, all day long. It’s really more like a cackle. And it’s really loud. Apparently, everything is funny. Who knew?

It’s really, really distracting. I sit in a separate office from her, across the office, and I can still hear it if I close our door (we sit 3 or 4 people to an office). I feel so bad for the people who share HER office and cannot get away from it. Our direct managers don’t really have the clout to do anything personnel/HR related, and our boss is hands off (and out of the office in meetings a lot, and sits farther away/can close his door). I’m pretty sure he’d say to just learn how to deal with it.

It doesn’t feel like it’s any of our (coworkers on the same level) place to talk to her about it, and truly, though it is super annoying, I don’t want to make her feel bad. We just need to be able to concentrate and do work. It’s already become something we all kind of acknowledge, and honestly, talk about under our breath. Which is not good for office morale.

Laughing loudly all day long in an office falls outside the bounds of professional behavior, and you’re entitled to ask her to hold it down, so say something! In a very nice, possibly apologetic tone, say “Could you keep it down? Thanks!” Say it once a day if you need to.

If being asked to keep it down daily doesn’t cue her to rein it in, you’re dealing with someone especially oblivious. (At which point your choices would be to get more direct with her, enlist some of those equally annoyed coworkers in supplying additional pressure, involve your manager, or start wearing headphones.)

2. Company asked me to donate to its PAC

Recently I received a request from a high-level manager at my company for me to sign up for payroll deduction contributions to the company’s Political Action Committee (PAC). Are there corporate political implications to my decision? Who usually knows whether and/or how much an individual contributes?

There are only corporate political implications if you work somewhere flagrantly unethical. Try ignoring the request or simply declining and see what happens; if there’s going to be additional pressure, you’ll get a follow-up request soon enough. (And by the way, if your employer is coercing or outright requiring employees to donate, it’s an illegal violation of FEC laws.)

3. Telling a coworker he looks “kinda gay”

We were required to wear t-shirts given out by the company to work in today. (We usually wear business attire.) My male coworker was wearing a particularly snug shirt, obviously too small for him. I blurted out, “Your shirt is too tight. You look kinda gay.” Aside from a warning, does this statement warrant any serious action?

Not sure if it’s relevant, but our dress code says that we aren’t allowed to wear anything too snug, especially if our backs are bared when we bend down. This was the case with his shirt, so it was actually a violation of the dress code.

Pointing out that he was violating the dress code isn’t the issue here; using “gay” as a slur is the issue. Your second paragraph makes me wonder: Do you really not see that pointing out a clothing issue and using bigoted language are two completely different things?

If this is the first time that you’ve made a remark like this, you’re probably just going to be warned … but take this as a sign that it’s time to update your language and that you’re likely offending plenty of people around you.

4. Explaining why I moved without a job lined up

I recently moved from one major city to another, without having a job lined up. My lease was up on my apartment, and I was feeling a bit antsy with where I was in my current position. Not to mention, I was living in a rather pricey city for the past two years, and was ready to rid myself of the financial burden that comes with living in one of the nation’s most notoriously expensive cities.

With that said, how do I mention these details to an employer during an interview process? I am searching for jobs that are on a different, but almost similar path, to the two full-time positions that are reflected on my resume (one of my main reasons for relocating, wanting to break into a different line of work that reflects what I went to university for). I don’t want to come off as impulsive and rash when asked in an interview why I left a position without having something lined up. Any advice on how to bring up the issues listed above without seeming irresponsible?

I’d just say directly that you really wanted to move to the more affordable and livable City X and that you knew it would be easier to find a job there once you were actually living there (which is true).

5a. Letters of recommendation when you’re been working in a foreign country

For the past few years, I have been working with an NGO in Latin America, but I plan on moving back to the U.S. at the end of the year (I am a U.S. citizen) and have started looking for jobs. I know that you generally don’t like letters of recommendation, but should I ask my organization for letters before I leave in December? I have a hard time believing they are going to call my NGO for references, particularly since no one here speaks any English. This is my first job after graduating from college, and thus I don’t have any other professional references aside from short-term jobs and volunteering while I was in college. Or should I just not worry about it and let potential employers decide what they want to do?

It wouldn’t hurt to get a couple of letters in this case, as long as you understand that they don’t substitute for references. Employers can take them or leave them as they see fit.

5b. Which reference would be better — my short-term manager or a longer-term manager who’s worked with me less closely?

On a related note, I have had 10 different managers during my three and a half years with the organization. (I’m not kidding; in fact, only 3 of the 20 people in my area were here before me, and I’ve lost track of how many people I’ve seen come and go, and the situation is pretty much the same throughout the organization.) Should I get a reference from my most recent manager even if I have only worked with her for a few months? Or would it be better to get a reference from my boss’s boss who has been here for 3 years and has a very high opinion of my work but has less direct contact with me?

Someone who’s worked with you longer than a few months is better, as long as she can speak to your work in a reasonable amount of detail (which she probably can, if she knows enough about it to have a very high opinion of it).

6. Moving to a post-science career

I have been in a particular branch of science for my entire career. I majored in it in university, taking almost no other type of coursework. After school, I was extremely fortunate to take a research position at a really wonderful institute. I spent eight very happy and productive years there, doing a lot of great work, and enjoying the satisfaction derived from getting the opportunity to publish papers, present abstracts, help write chapters for textbooks and books, and speak at symposiums. Alas, my laboratory lost funding and with it, my position.

I have since taken a position at a prestigious big name university, but it’s been a very different story so far. Budgets are razor thin, morale is medium-low, pay is very low, and opportunities for publication inclusion have not been apparent (this is decided by superiors). I thought my previous experience would help me establish myself here, but it’s a tough work environment.

When I was hired, the HR representative said that the university preferred a year’s commitment before moving on. At the time, that seemed like nothing. But now that I’m here in the position, I struggle. It really makes me realize that I had a very special position at the institute, and perhaps I may not see that sort of opportunity again. I am now considering leaving science entirely.

Do you know of any resources for people considering moving on to post-science careers? Would your readers have any advice for me? Although I only have side projects and volunteer work that is non-scientific, I do think I could move on to other career paths if needed. The stoic part of me says to try to stick this out for at least the year, and then decide so I don’t get blacklisted at this university (a big employer in my state). But many if not most days I cry either going to work or coming home, and if I don’t cry, I feel like it.

I’m posting this here in the hopes that readers will have resources or advice that might help you. But I encourage you not to decide to leave science entirely just because of one bad job! Lots of careers that people find extremely satisfying have the occasional bad job within them — and that’s no reason to leave the career entirely. Why not look around at what other opportunities are out here before moving such a major decision, based on a single bad experience?

Read an update to this letter.