my awful former boss is my new coworker’s sister by Alison Green on January 20, 2021 A reader writes: I’m a freelancer in a creative industry, and recently I’ve started a new project with a new company. The other night I was invited to their monthly team drinks as a way to welcome me aboard. One of the managers I was introduced to, Bob, said he had read my resume and […] Read the full article →
my coworker is changing her appearance to match mine and rips my work off the walls when she’s mad by Alison Green on January 20, 2021 A reader writes: I’m an elementary school employee and relatively new to the job. I get along well with most of my coworkers, with the exception of “Therese.” Therese is in her 60s and works next door to me, and when I first started this job, I thought she was a friendly (if eccentric) coworker. […] Read the full article →
my coworker hijacks our meetings with endless questions by Alison Green on January 19, 2021 A reader writes: I have a question about a coworker, Sam, who has LOTS of questions in our weekly team meetings. Because of the busy nature of our job and our small team, we have lots of situations where we have guidelines to follow but are free to make judgment calls as needed since there’s […] Read the full article →
I pushed back on my coworker’s bigotry: a success story by Alison Green on January 18, 2021 A reader writes: This isn’t a question, I just wanted to reach out and let you know how much your blog has helped me get through this situation at work! I work in healthcare, specifically pediatrics. I’ve worked in healthcare for over a decade, and I’ve been in some truly toxic workplaces, but the clinic […] Read the full article →
was my company right to fire my coworker for accidentally sending me a graphic email? by Alison Green on January 12, 2021 A reader writes: I have a question about a situation that occurred quite a while ago. How it was handled has always bothered me, but I don’t know if maybe I was too close to the situation to see clearly, so I’d like your take. I was working on a matter with a colleague, and […] Read the full article →
my coworker asked me to hide my breast milk because she doesn’t like seeing it in the office fridge by Alison Green on January 11, 2021 A reader writes: I have been pumping breast milk for over a year and today came across an issue at work. A coworker stopped me before I went in to pump to make a request: she would like me to keep my pump parts and breast milk bottles in a sealed bag. She said that […] Read the full article →
2 of my coworkers spend all their time together and don’t do any work by Alison Green on January 6, 2021 A reader writes: I work in a training environment. One of my colleagues, who I’ll call Nikki, joined us 12 months ago. Jack works in an adjacent department a few floors down. They are both trainers but Nikki is still unqualified (this is a huge problem but not the point of this particular query) so […] Read the full article →
I accidentally threw a sandwich and it caused a work crisis by Alison Green on January 5, 2021 A reader writes: OK, this is a ridiculous situation, but it’s also serious and spiralled out of control (we think?) and my coworker and I dug ourselves into a hole by staying silent. Our grandboss is, let’s say, frosty. Elegant, always in glorious suits, not-a-hair-out-of-place Anna Wintour type. Renton is a younger (30ish) lad-type. He’s […] Read the full article →
my coworker put a magical curse on her boss by Alison Green on January 4, 2021 I am very happy to be starting 2021 with a letter about witchcraft. A reader writes: I am an employee at a gas station. We have been hiring new people to fill a few positions, and I have been asked to train our new members of the team. When I was training one of my […] Read the full article →
my team’s assistant is grumpy and impatient by Alison Green on January 4, 2021 A reader writes: My team’s administrative assistant, Olga, is incredibly impatient, and expects me to quickly complete things that I don’t have any control over. For example, I work often with her on finalizing the contracts for freelancers that we work with. She will create the contract and I will email it to the freelancer, […] Read the full article →