January 2012

overly rigid vacation policies

A reader writes: My wife works at a large hospital. She gets two weeks of vacation per year (after 16 years of working there, but that is a different story…..). The manager of her unit recently sent a note around saying: 1- You can only ask for vacation in 7 day blocks, Sunday to Saturday. […]

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asking a company about its bad reputation in an interview

A reader writes: I’m set to interview for a lead role in a service-based company. There’s not a lot of information about the company online, but the majority of what is there is highly negative. The job was posted anonymously, so I didn’t know the company name until I was asked to come in to […]

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how to set boundaries when contacts get pushy

A reader writes: I have a job overseas, and sometimes it feels like every week I have another person contacting me to help them get a job, an internship, etc. over here. I’d made myself available to the alumni community from the university I attended, and while I don’t typically mind when students, friends, or […]

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can my boss require me to interrupt my lunch break?

A reader writes: I usually spend my breaks walking around the store for exercise. I remove my name tag and stuff it into my pocket, and I don’t wear anything else that would identify me as an employee of the store. If I’m off the clock on a break and a customer stops me and […]

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short answer Sunday: 7 short answers to 7 short questions

It’s short answer Sunday — seven short answers to seven short questions. We’ve got someone who wants to transfer two months into a job, a union forbidding its members to eat lunch with managers, and more. Here we go… 1. Transferring soon after starting a new job What is the best way to go about […]

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update on employers who want to monitor your bathroom usage

Since answering this question from a reader whose employer was limiting her to three bathroom breaks a day unless she got written permission in advance, a commenter pointed out that OSHA rules are likely at play here. OSHA — the Occupational Safety and Health Administration — says that prohibiting employees from using the bathroom outside of […]

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secrets of a reference-checker

Job applicants often hand over their references without much thought about what happens behind the scenes. But references can be a make-or-break element of job-searching, and it’s crucial to understand how they work. Here are eight things about reference checks that you might not be aware of. 1. Policies about not providing references are frequently […]

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