It’s five answers to five questions and a sixth thing. Here we go…
1. My coworker is in quarantine with pay — and doing deliveries on the side
The place I work at still needs to be open despite the pandemic. The work cannot be done from home. Our managers are doing what they can to make me and my coworkers safe even though we can’t work remotely.
Two of my coworkers are off work because they were exposed to COVID-19. They are in self isolation with full pay. I live with my uncle, who is staying home as much as possible during this. We are having the pharmacy deliver his medication and other things he needs. I was home for the second delivery. The delivery person was Lisa, one of my coworkers who was supposed to be at home and in self isolation. I am 100% sure it is her. I even double-checked my doorbell cam to make sure it was her. She left immediately when she saw me.
I’m not her boss. Her title is higher than me but she isn’t a manager. If Lisa is getting full pay from my work and working another job, is it any of my business? (I don’t know if she was really exposed and needs to self isolate and is still going out anyway, or if she lied about being exposed to get paid time off. We haven’t had any COVID-19 cases in our city or the surrounding area, but everyone is still being as careful as possible). I feel like I should tell my boss and show the video from the doorbell camera, but at the same time I don’t want to tattle if it is none of my concern. Do you believe I should stay our of it or tell?
This is awful either way. If she lied about being exposed to get two weeks off with pay, she’s taking advantage of a crisis and policies that are intended to help people who truly need it. If she was really exposed and is doing deliveries anyway (to sick people, of all things), she’s potentially exposing dozens of people to the virus (which could ultimately mean hundreds/thousands, given the exponential nature of infection), while being paid to stay home and quarantine.
Given how horrible either of the options are … yeah, I think you’ve got to tell your boss. It’s not “I want to get Lisa in trouble.” It’s “I’m aware of a major policy violation and potential public health risk, and I have a responsibility not to cover it up.”
2. My company expects people to keep working long after they quit
I’ve been planning to leave my toxic job for several months now and will be giving my notice next week. I am moving across the country the day after my notice period is over. This job has been all sorts of awful that I won’t get into here. The higher-ups have displaced workplace norms, one of which is that they expect people to stay on and continue working even after they quit. In the past, they have even reached out to someone who was fired for help with a project. One of our employees left over six months ago and is still doing reporting and working on our taxes.
I have not been treated well and I am done. I want to communicate that I will not be available after my last day, and am not interested in staying on a contract basis or working for free. What is the best way to communicate this in a clear, concise, and non-confrontational manner? I have an excellent relationship with my manager, and of course I will be happy to answer any questions he may have after I leave. I just want to shut down the expectation that I will still be able to do my job after I am gone.
It’s so bizarre to expect people to continue doing actual work after they leave (as opposed to just answering a few questions) that I don’t even think you need to explain ahead of time that you won’t be doing that. If they contact you with work once you’re gone, you can simply say, “That’s not something I can work on now that I’ve left” or “I’m swamped with my new job and not able to help” or “I don’t have any room in my schedule for contract work.” (Or you could give them the unvarnished answer, which is that YOU DON’T WORK THERE, but when you can achieve the same outcome without telling them off, most of the time you might as well.)
But if you want, you can certainly prep your manager for this now with something like, “I know the company has often turned to former employees for help with projects. I won’t be available for that once I leave, so we should make sure you get everything you need from me before my last day.”
3. My coworker is getting on my last nerve
I work on a team of 10 where we all belong to the same department but we don’t all do the same thing. We are all working from home and receiving lots of emails from our manager, our country head, our company head, and stakeholders … and in the midst of this, one coworker, Kate, feels the need to send out emails so she feels important and shows she is working — reminding us that it’s the last day for the census, replying-all unnecessarily, telling others to fill in a team spreadsheet when said items are not required, etc. And while on Zoom calls, she brings up things that should be offline as they don’t involve anyone but her and my boss, but she wants everyone to know what she is dealing with.
I spoke with my manager today and she complained about Kate and how she had to clean up another of her messes. When I agreed with what she was saying, she said, “You should say something.” I replied that Kate does not report to me and will have an attitude. I do have a higher title but I don’t supervise her. But I want to send her a private email because after the census email, I have had enough. I just want to say, “Thanks for the update, but if it does not relate to my work, please keep me off the emails and reply-alls.”
I’m grateful to have a job and I know this comes off as petty, but I’m stressed and she is dancing on my last nerve. Can I send an email? Or do I just hit delete and move on?
Honestly, the problem is more with your boss! She should be running meetings better, and if she has complaints about Kate, she should be addressing them with her (because that’s her job), not complaining to other employees and definitely not trying to get you to address things with Kate so she doesn’t have to (!).
That said, in theory you could reply to one of Kate’s emails with something like, “We’re so busy right now that I’d be grateful if you wouldn’t include me on things like this — my inbox is really overloaded.” But I suspect you mostly want to do this because you’re annoyed with her and it feels good to say something. In reality, it takes two seconds to scan an email, see it’s irrelevant to you, and delete it, and that’s probably the better option.
The meeting digressions are a bigger problem since they use up more of your time. If you have the standing to do it, when she’s on a Zoom tangent that doesn’t affect anyone but her, you might be able to say, “I’m swamped today — if we’re done with things that affect everyone, do you mind if I drop off now?” (You have to use that judiciously. There are contexts where it would seem way too aggressive, but also times when it would be fine.)
But really, your boss is the bigger problem.
4. Employees want to work while they’re furloughed
Several of our employees were temporarily laid off this week. Many of them work closely with vendors and patients. The employees want to keep answering emails and taking calls, so they can maintain relationships. We have told them we are not authorizing them to do so. If they continue to work of their own volition, what repercussions will the business face?
It’s illegal for you to permit them to work if you’re not paying them, and you could get in trouble for wage law violations. You’ve got to tell them that you appreciate their dedication to their work but they’re putting the company at legal risk and you cannot permit them to work. Also, revoke their access to work email until they’re back.
5. How do I list collaborative projects on my resume?
I work at a government agency where almost every task is done in teams or via collaboration. My division has accomplished a lot, but I am never solely responsible for any particular achievement. I am struggling with how to put these things on my resume, and how to have a rocking resume in general when my accomplishments aren’t mine alone. I feel like I have to qualify every accomplishment in this way: [sample qualifying language in brackets]
[Collaborated to] achieve big accomplishment or create awesome product
[Co]-authored impressive-sounding report
[Supported efforts to] complete impressive-sounding task
[Worked on team that] accomplished this major thing
Even when I am the leader of a particular task force, I can’t claim it as my accomplishment alone. I could say “Led team that accomplished X.”
Will qualifying everything as a team effort look bad on my resume? If I lead/manage something, should I claim it as my own accomplishment even though multiple people worked on it?
Be specific about what your role was — what exactly did you do on the team responsible for the achievement? Don’t say “supported efforts to X” or “worked on team that achieved Y” because those are very vague. The first could mean you brought coffee to the people working on X, and the second could mean you didn’t do any work on Y yourself, just sat near the people who did. Instead, specifically describe the work you did — the specific way you contributed to the achievement. You still get to the name the achievement; you just need to be clearer about what your part it was.
When you led a team that achieved something impressive, “Led team that accomplished X” is perfectly fine.
6. Found a new job right after a layoff — at a higher salary
I just wanted to share my success story about how being laid off due to COVID-19 had a happy ending. One week after closing on my first house, I found out my position was being eliminated due to a reduction in force due to COVID-19 closures. It was a job and organization I truly loved, and I was devastated and extremely stressed to suddenly have no income after taking on a mortgage and dealing with moving costs.
I threw myself into applying for jobs and used your tips for my resume, cover letter, and interview prep. I was thrilled to get an interview request less than a week after applying. The company is not primarily remote, but they are working remotely right now and conducted an initial phone interview followed by two video interviews. On March 27, three days after my initial interview, I received an offer from them for a salary that is 28% more than I was previously making. I am off the payroll at my old job on April 1 and starting my new job remotely on March 31, so I won’t even have to file for unemployment.
Thank you for all your wonderful advice. I hope others out there in the same boat stay positive and keep applying. I am proof it is not a lost cause!
my coworker is breaking her paid quarantine, company expects people to keep working after they quit, and more was originally published by Alison Green on Ask a Manager.
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