can I ask why my coworker was fired? by Alison Green on October 29, 2024 A reader writes: I have always thought of my job as a place where people didn’t get fired unless they were obviously and consistently bad at their jobs. I have been here for six years and I know that when we get the “goodbye so-and-so” emails from HR about people unexpectedly leaving, that probably means […] Read the full article →
I got fired for attending a conference that I wasn’t invited to by Alison Green on September 25, 2024 I’m off today, so here’s an older post from the archives. This was originally published in 2017. A reader writes: I started working at my job eight months ago, not long after I completed college (thanks in part to your write-ups about cover letters, resumes, interview questions and job searching). A few months ago in […] Read the full article →
my boss was suddenly fired and my employees are freaking out by Alison Green on September 18, 2024 A reader writes: I work at a small company and my team is even smaller: it’s just me, two people who report to me, my boss (until yesterday), and the much more senior person who leads the team. My boss has always been incredibly competent, done great work (by my own account and by my […] Read the full article →
my husband’s boss was fired after he told the truth about her in an exit interview by Alison Green on September 9, 2024 A reader writes: I’m writing on behalf of my husband, Bob, who recently left his job after two years. During his exit interview, he explained exactly why he was leaving. The reasons included his supervisor’s disorganized management style, expecting him to answer texts and phone calls at all hours, expecting him to log on to […] Read the full article →
I’m supposed to fire my husband’s ex-wife by Alison Green on May 21, 2024 A reader writes: I have recently accepted a job I am excited about. I have been working a long time to get to this level of position. I am taking a week off before starting my new position. While I was interviewing for the new position, they mentioned that one of my potential direct reports, […] Read the full article →
how to get severance pay when you’re fired or laid off by Alison Green on January 23, 2024 If you’re fired or laid off, can you expect or negotiate severance pay? What about if you’re resigning? You probably know that severance pay is an option in some situations, but you might not know when gets it, when, why, or how to take full advantage of your options. At New York Magazine today, I’ve […] Read the full article →
I’m about to fire an employee … but we just hired her husband by Alison Green on December 5, 2023 A reader writes: One of my staff is about to be fired for grossly inadequate performance. I’m confident that we’re on safe legal ground with the firing, and her performance issues have been documented and addressed with no improvement. However, the complication is that we have just hired her husband to work within the same […] Read the full article →
I was fired for what I think are trivial reasons by Alison Green on November 2, 2023 A reader writes: A while ago I lost a position after just a few weeks of working there. I got really good feedback on my interview, and even got great feedback during the first days for going above and beyond what was expected of new teammembers. After a while my grandboss asked me how I […] Read the full article →
why won’t my company fire my notoriously terrible manager? by Alison Green on August 28, 2023 A reader writes: I was part of a mass exodus from my former employer, and most of us left because we didn’t want to continue working with our director, “Ken.” I can spare you the details, but Ken is completely awful. I saw wonderful coworkers who were otherwise completely pleasant and professional be reduced to […] Read the full article →
is a performance improvement plan always going to end with the person being fired? by Alison Green on May 22, 2023 A reader writes: Can you talk about the right way to use performance improvement plans (PIPs)? I’ve heard other managers talk about them as if they’re just paperwork because by the time you’re using one, firing the person is mostly a foregone conclusion. I’m uncomfortable with that and it seems unfair to the employee. Shouldn’t […] Read the full article →