It’s 5 solutions to 5 questions. Right here we go…
1. My boss needs to be on the hospital for my coworker’s surgical procedure
My work has a behavior of not having the ability to differentiate between work/life stability and generally even makes use of the phrase “we’re like family.” It’s one thing I’m making an attempt to alter, however these ideas are actually ingrained in administration.
We’ve got one HR supervisor (Amanda) and a reasonably small administrative group, which I’m part of. Amanda beforehand had two terrible conditions of their private life: (1) Her sister died and she or he got here in to work the identical day as a result of the one different one who knew easy methods to run payroll was our boss and there was nervousness he wouldn’t be capable of do payroll correctly. (2) Her husband needed to go in for emergency open-heart surgical procedure and our boss went to the hospital and BROUGHT HER WORK as a result of he thought “she would need one thing to do.” He sat there along with her whereas she waited. Even excited about it now makes my blood boil.
Horribly, Amanda simply came upon she has ovarian most cancers and is having surgical procedure subsequent week to take away her reproductive organs and discover out what her choices are. It’s completely stunning and terrible, and I really feel horrible for her and her husband. The factor is, my boss instructed me yesterday he plans on being on the hospital throughout her surgical procedure to be along with her husband! They’ve grow to be shut and the husband additionally works at our firm, however I can’t see how that is applicable. I mentioned so to him and it was obtained terribly. He mentioned very angrily that I simply don’t get it, they’re like household, he’s positively going to be there, and that’s that.
I talked to Amanda after her husband’s surgical procedure and was instructed how dangerous it was that our boss was there and introduced work for her to do, so I really feel like I’m not out of line saying that his going is inappropriate. I don’t know what to do now. He’s an proprietor, her boss, and apparently looks like he’s shut sufficient with them to be on the hospital. What would you recommend? I’m simply fully thrown off and upset, however possibly my feelings about her prognosis are getting in the way in which?
What, no, that is horrible. You don’t present up for this form of factor with out being (a) extraordinarily shut and (b) invited. In case your boss hadn’t proven up uninvited with work for Amanda throughout her husband’s surgical procedure (!), we may possibly give him the advantage of the doubt that Amanda’s husband requested him to come back (since they’re buddies) … however given his monitor file of violating boundaries, it’s extra possible that he’s simply pushing his approach into a particularly high-stress private state of affairs.
Anyway, are you able to inform Amanda and/or her husband ASAP about what your boss is planning? In the event that they know prematurely, they will inform him instantly to not come, or guarantee he doesn’t know the place and when the surgical procedure can be, and even ask the nurses to maintain him out.
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my manager shows up while I’m having chemotherapy to talk about work
2. My boss is pressuring me to be extra “seen”
I’m the top author at a 50-person firm. For the final six months, my boss Adam has been encouraging me to be “extra of a strategic chief” and extra “seen.” What this appears to translate to is speaking about and presenting to anybody who will hear about how superb our writing is and what’s taking place within the writing business. Adam would love me to be talking up about all issues writing in firm conferences, to purchasers and in public boards.
I don’t need to!
I’m a author who was promoted to guide the staff a couple of years in the past. I’ve by no means pretended to need to be a public speaker, a salesman, or a PR. I understand how to jot down effectively for my job, however I shouldn’t have a number of wider business data to have the ability to communicate as an professional.
Final yr, I used to be off work for 2 months attributable to despair. The stress of a heavy workload was a catalyst for my ailing well being, and it then took many months to recuperate and really feel like myself once more. My boss was extraordinarily understanding and continues to be conscious of my psychological well being and workload. I’m now quieter total and extra eager to remain inside my consolation zone. Some years in the past in one other job, I used to frequently current to 100+ individuals on a stage — I used to be good at it, nevertheless it was irritating. I’d not need to return to public talking (or elevated “visibility”) in good well being, not to mention on the opposite facet of this.
Now, at the moment, my Large Boss Eve has mentioned there’s the chance to do a high-profile business speak and it will be “soooo good” for me. Eve is conscious of my psychological well being episode and has been sympathetic. How do I say no? I simply need to play to my acknowledged strengths as a author and supervisor. Assist!
A variety of occasions managers assume you’ll be delighted to tackle stuff like this, however will cease pushing it in the event you explain that you’re not. Not all the time, in fact — generally the position actually has modified in a approach the place the brand new obligations are actually a part of it, but when that’s the case it’s higher to deliver that into the open you may each work out what to do about it. (In your case, I’m guessing it’s most likely extra the previous than the latter, however who is aware of.)
Discuss to Adam and say one thing like this: “You’ve talked about a couple of occasions that you just’d like me to speak about our work and current to purchasers and at conferences. Whereas I’ve executed that work up to now, it’s not an space I need to return to, particularly given my well being state of affairs proper now. I need to be up-front about that and discover out if will probably be an issue for this position.”
3. Is it okay to take a number of trip time after we’re understaffed?
In September 2021, I rejoined an organization I beforehand labored at for almost 10 years. A part of the negotiated settlement is that I’m awarded the identical trip time as these with 10+ years.
Throughout Covid, we have been allowed to hold over extra time than regular. I didn’t take loads in 2022, as a result of we have been understaffed and really busy. As of 2023, I’m now left with approach an excessive amount of time to simply take, given the staffing and workload ranges, and I don’t see both of these altering within the coming months.
I primarily have to take greater than every week off each quarter to not lose any of my time, however I hate to depart my staff to select up the slack. And if I handle to try this, I’ll have a completely extreme period of time to take off in 2024.
My boss and the president (her boss) are hesitating to completely workers the division. We’d like at the very least an intern, a digital/graphics specialist, and a generalist to cowl extra workload/absences. Ought to I simply schedule my time without work as most well-liked, and go away the protection to my supervisors, or do I have to take staffing ranges into consideration? I don’t actually care if my boss is inconvenienced, however the remainder of the staff are buddies.
No, you don’t have to take your organization’s staffing selections into consideration when deciding whether or not to make use of your earned compensation. I get not eager to inconvenience your coworkers, however your organization’s staffing selections are what’s inconveniencing them, not your individual actions (identical to you’re not inconveniencing your coworkers by taking your full wage even when it leaves much less cash for division spending). Actually, not taking your earned vacation time simply makes it simpler in your firm to be in denial about its precise staffing wants.
Take your trip time.
4. Shouldn’t we get premium pay for weekend work?
I’m in manufacturing engineering for a automobile firm. Though we used to have a really difficult system of informal hours plus time beyond regulation throughout the week, time beyond regulation on Saturday, and double time on Sunday, that every one went away with the recession of 2009. We needed to combat our approach by seven years of comp time and prolonged time hell till in 2016 they determined, hey, you guys AREN’T overtime-exempt in spite of everything, and now we get time and a half for something over 40 hours.
With that behind us, I do know that they will’t take time beyond regulation pay for time beyond regulation work away. They’ll have us solely work 40 hours, and solely receives a commission 40 hours, and that’s high-quality. The sneaky trick I’m worrying about them revisiting is the dreaded “Your ‘weekend’ is now Wednesday and Thursday, so see you in right here on Saturday and Sunday doing these weekend installs on straight time” dodge that they’ve executed as soon as earlier than for a number of months.
The difficulty is that this. Additional time pay is paid for hours over 40, however you’re anticipated to be on the clock eight hours a day throughout the week. Thus, the weekend is all the time premium time. This jibes with the American idea of the weekend the place you go and do issues to have enjoyable; your youngsters have ball video games, you’re going to a park, your loved ones is internet hosting a cookout in your cousins, and so forth. Forcing you in on a weekend deserves premium compensation, by hook or by crook.
So, how about it? Can a non-minimum-wage firm power you to commerce Saturday and Sunday for 2 days off throughout the week, even when weekends are considered premium time? May they in the event that they gave you three days off within the week as compensation?
There’s no authorized requirement that weekends be handled in another way than weekdays — employers aren’t required to pay you time beyond regulation for them (so long as your total hours for the week don’t go over 40) or offer you further time without work to make up for it. The legislation treats weekend shifts precisely like weekday shifts.
That mentioned, your coworkers can actually making an attempt advocating for a weekend pay premium (and a few corporations supply that).
5. Is it awkward to reconnect with a contact proper after she posted jobs I’m all for?
I just lately moved again to my hometown and have been working from dwelling. I actually appreciated my job, however our group appears to be faltering a bit (not getting sufficient new enterprise, some poisonous management traits, too many departures). I used to be excited about reconnecting with of us from my previous community in my hometown who I’ve misplaced contact with over the previous few years to sort of put together for a future job search. Actually yesterday I assumed to myself, “Oh, I ought to attain out to Elsa?” however I hadn’t despatched the e-mail but. At present Elsa posted two separate jobs that I would actually be all for on LinkedIn. Ought to I simply apply to one of many jobs and say a few of what I may need mentioned in my reconnect electronic mail in my cowl letter? Ought to I ship the reconnect electronic mail and hope she has time to speak and after we do see if that leads in direction of an invitation to use? Ought to I be extra direct in my reconnect electronic mail that I additionally noticed she posted some jobs I could be all for? I hoped to genuinely reconnect, however now it looks like asking for a job and I hate that.
You’re not asking for a favor — she posted saying she’s searching for individuals to do X, you do X, and it’s in your each of your pursuits to see if it will be a very good match.
I feel you’re feeling prefer it’s someway impolite to use earlier than you’ve reconnected individually, nevertheless it’s actually not — that is how skilled networks work! It’s quite common to fall out of contact for some time after which get again in contact when it appears like your skilled pursuits align once more. These are enterprise relationships; it’s totally different than within the social realm (the place it will certainly be impolite to, for instance, reconnect with an previous acquaintance solely as a result of they’ve one thing you need like a lottery windfall or a summer time dwelling on the seashore).
Go forward and apply the way in which you usually would, after which ship her an electronic mail letting her know that you just did (precisely the identical approach you’ll with a enterprise acquaintance who you’d be in additional frequent contact with).