employee won’t report his hours correctly — Ask a Manager
employee won’t report his hours correctly by Alison Green on April 8, 2025 A reader writes: At my small company, employees have a small number of set hours each week but can set their own schedule to be as full or as empty as they’d like by scheduling sessions directly with the clients they are […]
my boss loves being told she’s beautiful — Ask a Manager
A reader writes: My boss clearly loves compliments on her appearance, and our team is responding with more and more of them. It feels embarrassing and a bit ridiculous to me, especially since no one ever makes these kind of compliments to anyone else (e.g., “I love your shoes” to another team member but stuff […]
should I check if my boss is OK when she’s late to work, coworker is using parts of my resume as their own, and more — Ask a Manager
It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Should I check on my boss when she’s late to work? I have autism and this falls into the realm of social norms that I struggle to navigate. My department is made up of just my supervisor and myself. We’re in public-facing roles and our […]
can I poach an employee from my mentor? — Ask a Manager
A reader writes: I am going to be leaving my company soon and starting my own business, and will need to hire support staff. One of the employees at my current company (Taylor) has told me she is looking for a new job. I find Taylor to be an excellent employee and I would be […]
the storage labyrinth, the tape terrorism, and other things you thought were normal early in your career but were actually very weird — Ask a Manager
Last week we talked about things that you thought were normal early in your career … but later learned were actually just weird things your old workplace did and which were not typical at all. Here are 15 of my favorite stories you shared. 1. The packed hotel rooms My very first internship was the […]
boss embarrassed me at a meeting, pre-hire drug and alcohol testing, and more — Ask a Manager
It’s four answers to four questions. Here we go… 1. My boss embarrassed me at a department meeting My company is being bought out for a larger organization. Our jobs will no longer exist in four months. We’ve been encouraged to review the job postings and apply to jobs for which we might qualify. I […]
boss was upset I wanted to leave when our A/C failed, when a beloved figure is laid off, and more — Ask a Manager
It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My boss was upset I wanted to leave when our A/C failed Last year, my coworker spent the majority of an eight-hour Saturday shift in a public building with no operable bathroom. She reported a sewage backup to our boss and the answering service of […]
open thread – March 21, 2025
This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. It’s the Friday open thread! The comment section on this post is open for discussion with other readers on any work-related questions that you want to talk about (that includes school). If you want an answer from me, emailing me is still […]
weekend open thread – March 22-23, 2025
This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. This comment section is open for any non-work-related discussion you’d like to have with other readers, by popular demand. Here are the rules for the weekend posts. Book recommendation of the week: Real Americans, by Rachel Khong. This is an epic family […]
how to serve patients when you’re feeling fragile yourself — Ask a Manager
I can relate. I worked in a medically adjacent field working with vulnerable adults with disabilities and their caretakers at the same time that my eldest with chronic health conditions, is Autistic, and complex mental illness was going through an incredibly rough period after years and years of not an easy period. Things I did […]