Question: I am a project manager at a small, extremely busy advertising firm. One of our clients has direct communication with the creative director, completely bypassing me. This coworker posted conflicting information about a very large project. I asked him about the scope and due date and he told me to “just sit tight”. To me that is something you say to an anxious 8 year old child and not to a coworker who is just trying to do their job. This person regularly makes off-color comments but this response was directed specifically to me. Thoughts?
Category: Troublesome Coworkers
Mom and Sis Management of Problem Employees
A question to Ask the Workplace Doctors about how should managers manage unacceptable behavior:
I don’t have a job but my mother is a supervisor at her job and my sister is the manager at her job. Mom always complains about their workers slacking off, being unprofessional, or being rude to them. They’ve been having the problems for months/ years. I wonder how someone in her position would deal with those problems in a professional way. Mom is a supervisor at the Department of Children and Family Services(DCFS). She has a worker who stays up all night watching movies and who frequently calls off for work or calling in because she will arrive late.
You Can Get Away With Anything Working in a Family’s Business
A question to Ask the Workplace Doctors about coworkers’ jealousy:
I have been working at my family’s restaurant for over 7 years. I love being able to interact with my family in the work setting and learn new skills/recipes that have been passed down from many generations. I work with over 3 aunts and uncles and about 8 cousins. It makes work fun. The one thing I have always got for many years ever since I started working is the “oh you’re family, you can get away with anything” For some reason that has really bothered me because when you’re in a family’s restaurant it gives you more of a reason not to slack. Family will expect more out of you. But some coworkers don’t understand that because they think a family member can do no wrong in the family owner’s eyes, but that is not that case. Almost everyday I hear something like that, How do I answer that when it actually bothers me?
Signed–I Can’t and Don’t Slack:
Bullied by Coworker
A question to Ask the Workplace Doctors about a coworker who throws another under the bus:
I have a co-worker that not only likes to throw me but other colleagues “under the bus” every chance she gets. She likes to point out my mistakes in front of my supervisor. She is abrasive and I feel she is a bully. How can I combat this situation?
Signed, Bullied
Dear Bullied:
Your follow up email indicates you work from home. I assume since you submitted your question at this time that working at home is a result of state regulations or your employer’s efforts to not enable COVID-19 to infect others. If that is the reason, please continue to stay sheltered in place and, as much as possible, avoid the push and/or urge to get out. I’m following that advice and wearing a mask and avoiding close contacts when out. These rules and guidelines probably will continue for sometime.
I Feel I am Being Pushed Out of My Subcontractor Job.
Question:
I joined my company 3 years ago as a subcontractor working 2 days a week. I stayed on after the project with other production tasks, as well to operate a new piece of equipment, and started working the full week.
Months later a part-time staff in a managerial position was leaving, and the boss asked if I wanted to take over their correspondence, bookkeeping, and database management tasks. I accepted the offer, and organized my roles accordingly. These tasks usually combine together into a full work week, while otherwise each task would only take half to one work day to do.
How Can I Show My Coworker Didn’t Have My Best Interest at Heart?
Question:
One day I did not turn up to work at the expected time. My co-worker, who I do not get on with, was stomping around the office asking other co-workers why I had not turned up, intermittently going into a shared office and asking “has she not turned up?”
Later he asked where I live and my phone number to contact me. He distracted quite a few people who were tying to get on with work. Basically he made a show of it.
Is it Sexual Harassment for a Co-Worker To Be in Relationship With a Family Member of Mine?
Question:
A coworker of mine had a sexual relationship with a family member of mine. Is that considered sexual harassment?
Response: I can understand that such a situation as you describe could be uncomfortable at work, especially if the coworker and your family member have broken up or if there were bad feelings between them at some point. It would also be uncomfortable if some aspect of the situation was problematic—for example, if one or both of the people were already married to someone else.
Co-Worker Plays Music and Managers Haven’t Helped!
Question:
I have a co-worker who has been in our office six months. I have been there ten years. She plays her music right next to my cubicle and I’ve told her many times I can’t concentrate with her music on. But she doesn’t care. I’ve gone to my managers and all they say is well we can hear you when you talk or laugh way back here. Nothing is done about the radio or the disrespect this girl shows towards me. I’m at a loss. Is there a law about this anywhere? I am a federal employee so I’m not sure if the laws are different.
Co-Worker Is Obsessed With Her Dislike of Me!
Question:
I’ve worked for my company for about 1 year now. I was promoted 2 months after I started. My old boss is now my colleague as we share the same boss. I was promoted to a trainer position on her shift. Any new employees that comes in, I am responsible for their training and development.
The first day of my new position she came up with the idea that I was trying to take her job. She is known for being extremely rude and unbearable. Plenty of people quit because they couldn’t deal with her behavior. She has loud outbursts on the production floor, she yells at people and cries at the drop of a dime. I’ve always been cordial to her and tried to help her as much as possible.
Coworker In Affair With My Husband and Making My Work Difficult.
Question: I work with a woman who I have discovered is having an affair with my husband and assisted him in moving out of my house. I have filed divorce papers and he is hiding and living with her. She is making my work life horrible as well. We sit on the same team and she undermines and questions all my actions. What can I do?