can my employer lay me off and ask me to volunteer? by Alison Green on March 30, 2020 A reader writes: My employer, a medium-sized nonprofit, is experiencing a lot of understandable fundraising and budget anxiety during COVID-19. While I know everyone’s doing the best they can to prevent cuts to staff or layoffs, I heard through a coworker this week that one idea our CEO has been kicking around has been to […] Read the full article →
exactly where to report employers for violating shelter-in-place orders, by state by Alison Green on March 27, 2020 When I wrote on Wednesday about what to do if your employer is violating shelter-in-place orders, commenters were a wealth of information for individual states. Here’s crowd-sourced info on where to report non-compliant employers, by state. I will verify and add additional info here as I get it. • In California, if your county declared […] Read the full article →
what can you do if your employer is violating shelter-in-place orders? by Alison Green on March 25, 2020 A reader writes: I haven’t been able to figure out the answer to this question. What are employees supposed to do if their employer is violating state shelter-in-place rules? Our state is under a shelter-in place advisory as of noon today, and all non-essential businesses have been ordered to close their facilities. However, a younger […] Read the full article →
we have a new paid (paid!) sick and family leave law by Alison Green on March 24, 2020 I’m switching to five posts a day this week because there’s so much to talk about. There’s still one more coming after this one… The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), which became law last week, offers some American workers expanded family and medical leave — and it’s paid. That’s a key difference from the […] Read the full article →
I exposed myself at work because my coworkers didn’t believe I had cancer by Alison Green on March 11, 2020 A reader writes: I made a huge mistake and I am trying the best way to dig myself out of this mess. In 2018, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I had surgery to remove that cancer and one breast in early 2019. My recovery went smoother than expected and I ended up just needing […] Read the full article →
my new job sprang a surprise medical exam on me by Alison Green on March 4, 2020 A reader writes: I’m going to be working in in an office department of a company that manufactures items. They have the whole manufacturing plant and the office all in one big building, and when I was hired they explained to me that there are a lot of rules that come over from the manufacturing […] Read the full article →
my manager and a coworker had sex in his office, loudly by Alison Green on October 30, 2019 A reader writews: If you’re going for your WTF square on your work bingo card, here you go. I work for a small company. When I got this job last year, I didn’t work for my current manager. “Bill” got promoted and my boss, who I respected, left and Bill took her place. Bill has […] Read the full article →
my male boss won’t have closed-door meetings with me because he’s married by Alison Green on October 15, 2019 A reader writes: I work directly with our CEO and lately I have noticed that whenever we are having a meeting (I am a woman and he is a man) that he will randomly open the door. I thought it was odd and so yesterday I asked him if there was an issue or was […] Read the full article →
how do I tell our HR director she’s breaking the law? by Alison Green on September 16, 2019 A reader writes: Our HR director sent a message to everyone today saying that due to many people failing to take their required lunch breaks every day, they are instituting a policy by which your time will be deducted automatically if you do not take a lunch. This is illegal in our state, but I […] Read the full article →
my employee keeps groaning in pain — and won’t get medical treatment by Alison Green on August 26, 2019 A reader writes: One of my employees, “X,” has been having pains that I won’t specify for the sake of anonymity. Many months ago, X went to their doctor, who then referred them to a specialist. It turns out that the condition is degenerative but can be managed quite successfully through physical therapy and occasional […] Read the full article →