our boss is demanding a gift with an accounting of names and how much each person contributed by Alison Green on May 18, 2022 A reader writes: Our boss informed us that she’s leaving for a new position at another company. Hooray for the boss, and hooray for us because the boss was truly awful. Here’s where things get icky: the company is throwing her a farewell party. Everyone has been invited to make a financial contribution to a […] Read the full article →
my manager yells at her boss through my office wall by Alison Green on May 11, 2022 A reader writes: I’ve been with my current employer nearly five years. My current boss has just reached her third year with our company, after spending 20+ years with a different company. She has been struggling to adapt, throwing screaming tantrums whenever she doesn’t like a procedure. She compares our company to her old company […] Read the full article →
my boss won’t stop texting me — and I’m in a hospital bed by Alison Green on May 10, 2022 A reader writes: I’m writing you (literally) from my hospital bed, wondering if it’s worth trying to redirect my boss, who has texted me 8-9 times since I had surgery 10 days ago. That’s more texts than I received from my best friend. None of the texts are about work, which would actually make this […] Read the full article →
is my melodramatic, credit-hogging boss a deal-breaker? by Alison Green on May 9, 2022 A reader writes: How do I handle a melodramatic boss? I’m aware I have a low tolerance for melodrama, but I’m starting to think this is a bad fit. It’s a small company of ten people, no HR, we work directly under the business owner, “Paige.” I’ve been here about five months, everyone else has […] Read the full article →
I’m a member of The Satanic Temple and got outed at work by Alison Green on May 3, 2022 A reader writes: I’m a member of The Satanic Temple. That information got out at work and now things are unpleasant and awkward. I became a passionate patients’ rights advocate when a family member almost died after they were denied emergency medical treatment on religious grounds. The unexpected delay in care almost cost my family […] Read the full article →
the CEO is obsessed with me and wants me to be his emotional support by Alison Green on April 26, 2022 A reader writes: Please help me understand what is going on with my role as an executive assistant to the CEO of my company. I’m struggling to understand if this sort of thing is normal and I wasn’t prepared for it or if something is actually wrong here. Some days are okay but I’m feeling […] Read the full article →
my boss called a mysterious meeting with me and I’m afraid I’m going to be fired by Alison Green on April 20, 2022 I sometimes correspond privately with people who send me letters. I’m sharing this exchange (with the writer’s permission) because it’s something lot of people worry about. The initial letter: Hi Alison, I’ve been getting great feedback from my boss lately. However, we recently had 2 employees who were fired and I’m on edge. I was […] Read the full article →
when your boss has to correct your behavior, does it impact their impression of you forever? by Alison Green on April 6, 2022 I’m off today. Here’s a post that was originally published in 2017. A reader writes: I’m in a bit of a bind: I struggle with anxiety and PTSD-ish symptoms stemming from my last job. I was in a very toxic environment in which my boss was extremely passive-aggressive and I was basically set up to […] Read the full article →
my boss wants me to do her dirty work by Alison Green on April 5, 2022 A reader writes: I switched to a new team at my company last year, working on a project that was understaffed until several of us were recently brought on. One of my teammates, Joe, staffs a work area that heavily intersects with mine — on which he is supposed to operate fairly independently. Soon after […] Read the full article →
my boss makes me sign personal contracts for every rule he implements by Alison Green on April 4, 2022 A reader writes: Recently my significant other told me that his boss frequently makes him sign personal “contracts” at work. These are not contracts through his (very well known luxury car brand) employer, but a quickly typed Word document with a few sentences. The most recent ones he was given stated, “I will work every […] Read the full article →