my boss won’t leave me alone when I’m sick or on vacation by Alison Green on April 7, 2021 A reader writes: Every time I have ever had a day off, whether it is a scheduled vacation day or a day I’ve had to call out sick, my boss calls and texts me with questions, many, many times throughout the day. It wouldn’t be bothersome if his questions were ones that only I would […] Read the full article →
my boss sent me work questions while I was in the hospital by Alison Green on March 25, 2021 A reader writes: A few weeks ago I had a bizarre experience with my usually great boss, and I’m not sure if I handled it right. I had a medical emergency over the weekend and ended up having an emergency appendectomy on Sunday morning. (Side note: ouch.) Sunday evening, while recovering in the hospital, I […] Read the full article →
my boss offered me money to film a sex tape with two coworkers by Alison Green on March 23, 2021 A reader writes: So…I’ll just come out and say that I know this it totally inappropriate, to say the least, and I need to find a new job ASAP. What I’m looking for is advice on how to cope with this in the meantime, and how to salvage my career moving forward. I’ve worked for […] Read the full article →
should I tell my boss I hate my job? by Alison Green on March 22, 2021 A reader writes: I started a new job a few months ago, and at first I was crazy excited about it. I was really looking forward to all the cool things I’d get to work on, the smart people I’d get to meet, and the new things I’d get to learn. Plus, the company I […] Read the full article →
Captain Awkward and I answered some letters by Alison Green on March 15, 2021 A year ago, right before the lockdown, Jennifer of Captain Awkward and I met up for drinks and ended up collaborating on some letters. A year later … maybe with the end of the pandemic in sight? … we’re doing it again, minus being in-person and minus the drinks. Our topics this time: A boss who keeps […] Read the full article →
my terrible boss asked for feedback — should I be honest? by Alison Green on March 2, 2021 A reader writes: My boss, Kate, has asked for feedback. The thing is … she is not a good manager. She doesn’t respond to questions asking for feedback or our requests for documents that we need to complete our work. Then she throws a temper tantrum that we didn’t do X thing in the way […] Read the full article →
my boss told me I’m “not a good human” when I asked to be paid for my time by Alison Green on March 1, 2021 A reader writes: I work for a professional firm that has a long history of devaluing non-partner contributions. Let’s just say we have problems: • The pay structure for employees is all risk and no reward. Salaries are artificially low, below market, supposedly because of our bonus structure. • If clients don’t pay, that comes […] Read the full article →
should I report to someone with less education than me? by Alison Green on March 1, 2021 A reader writes: I work for a major content creation company and the story of my professional life is that I have had to take jobs I was underqualified for to help out family and take care of some personal issues in the past. I have an MFA in digital media and an MBA in […] Read the full article →
my boss called me “disgusting” for not cleaning up my male coworkers’ mess by Alison Green on February 22, 2021 A reader writes: I work for a medical facility (think live-in treatment or residential care). I share a desk with the night and weekend staff, “Jim” and “Dwight.” I’m an administrator, and the desk and surrounding area need to be neat and tidy during the day because of the type of work I do. I’m […] Read the full article →
I was used as a public example of what not to do at a team meeting by Alison Green on February 15, 2021 A reader writes: Today we had our monthly team meeting, in which our managerial team usually chooses one topic to discuss and instruct the rest of the team on. Let’s say the work we do is llama grooming and today’s instruction was about the tone we use when writing the llama grooming documents. My grandboss, […] Read the full article →