This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. It’s a special “where are you now?” season at Ask a Manager and I’m running updates from people who had their letters here answered in the past. Remember the letter-writer whose boss made them all attend a session with his therapist? Here’s the update. I do have an update to this situation, which will probably shock no one: I got a new job. It was pretty clear that Bob’s behavior was part of some personal crisis, and while previously I was content to sit and wait out his ever-rotating business ideas, this one seemed more in ..read more

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader writes: I’m part of the senior management of a small company I’ve been with for several years. While I’ve consistently been a stellar performer, I do have one major flaw — I am always late. Doesn’t matter if it’s in the morning, the afternoon, or the evening. I am what you’d call a “crammer” — I’m always trying to fit in “one more thing” before heading to the next event and, as a result, I am late in the mornings, late to meetings, etc. I regularly work 70+ hours per week, which I feel should earn me some flexibili ..read more

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. Welcome to the mid-year “where are you now?” event at Ask a Manager! All this week and next, I’ll be running updates from people who had their letters here answered in the past. Remember the letter-writer whose employee was excluded from a team-building event (zip-lining) because of their weight? Here’s the update. I wasn’t able to comment in the comments the day that my letter was published but I did read a lot of the comments and I appreciate the advice that you gave as well as some of the comments. A lot of the commenter ..read more

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Should I try to verify a doctor’s note if it looks fake? I’m a manager in a service industry establishment where daily attendance is very important because of the nature of the job. Obviously people get sick or have legitimate reasons that prevent them from coming to work – I expect this! However, I am currently dealing with an employee who is beginning to have a serious pattern of poor attendance. I don’t want to be a one-size-fits-all type manager, so I do take into cons ..read more

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: I Hope This Finds You Well, by Natalie Sue. A not-well-liked office worker who sticks to herself accidentally gains access to all her coworkers’ emails. It’s a surprising combination of darkly funny and sweet. * I make a commission if you use that Amazon link. You may also like: all of my 2022 and 2023 book recommendations ..read more

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: I Hope This Finds You Well, by Natalie Sue. A not-well-liked office worker who sticks to herself accidentally gains access to all her coworkers’ emails. It’s a surprising combination of darkly funny and sweet. * I make a commission if you use that Amazon link. You may also like: all of my 2022 and 2023 book recommendations ..read more

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 your best bet*, but this is a chance to take your questions to other readers. * If you submitted a question to me recently, please do not repost it here, as it may be in my queue to answer. You may also like: my coworker is setting toilet paper on fire in the bathroom pretending to be ..read more

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. It’s four answers to four questions. Here we go… 1. Working from a one-bedroom apartment with a baby and nanny I work in tech and have worked remotely for my whole career. I live in a one-bedroom apartment and my desk is tucked into a corner of the living room. This setup has worked great for the past five years, living with my husband. We had our first child three months ago and my maternity leave is ending soon. We have in-home childcare arranged (combo of nanny and grandparents). I want to continue breastfeeding my child ..read more

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader writes: A few weeks ago, my boss mentioned that she’d been hearing rumors about herself and said if I was the one spreading them, I could just come to her and talk to her. I assured her that I’m not spreading rumors about her or gossiping about her. Because I’m not. Earlier this week, she accused me of frequently sharing looks with another coworker in our team meeting and asked if we were mocking her or had some sort of hidden animosity towards her. This person and I often sit across from each other (for some reaso ..read more

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. Here are three updates from past letter-writers. 1. My boss keeps leaving her kid with me I am the person who kept having to watch over their manager’s kid during my shift (from this post). I appreciate everyone’s input, and I wanted to thank you for your advice. When I said I was “in my 20s,” I meant very early 20s. I’d had only one job before this one, and it was arguably even more dysfunctional, so all the feedback really opened my eyes. Even with the limited information I gave, it was so obvious to others that I needed ..read more