It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…
1. My cost-of-living raise doesn’t cover my increased costs of living
I work at a very small education nonprofit with some of the typical issues therein: overworked, and underpaid, mostly. Last spring, prior to Covid-19, I completed my first year here, and received a very positive annual review with my boss, the executive director.
I was then told that I would not be receiving a real raise (which is fair knowing that I had only spent a year with them), and my boss gave the usual speech that “this is a tight year for us.” I did receive a very small “cost of living” adjustment that adds up to about $850 for the year, or $70 per month.
I was surprised, then, to see my adjusted paycheck for this fiscal year was lower than what I had been paid during the previous fiscal year, by a few dollars. It turns out that the cost of our health insurance plan increased, as did the taxes in this region, and that negated any “cost of living” adjustments that were made, leaving me with less net income than before. I know a few dollars here and there aren’t a huge deal, but I feel like this can’t be right?
I asked my employer about it and she said snippily that she “doesn’t control the tax rates.” Obviously I know that, but I thought that a “cost of living” adjustment to your salary shouldn’t come at a net loss and should cover the actual cost of living increases (i.e., rents go up, things cost more, taxes have gone up, health insurance rates increase). Am I totally out of line here, or is this not how “cost of living” increases should work out in practice?
A “cost of living” raise doesn’t necessarily mean it will cover the full increase in the cost of living for an individual person. They’re usually pegged to national inflation, often via the Consumer Price Index, and so it won’t necessarily account for things like a local tax increase or an increased cost for a particular health insurance plan.
Still, though, your organization should have been aware that local tax changes and the increase in health insurance costs would mean that some people would be getting lower paychecks, not higher ones — and at a minimum acknowledged that rather than saying nothing. It’s still possible that these raises were all they could do (it is a particularly terrible year for most nonprofits because charitable giving is down), but I suspect your reaction would have been different if they’d framed it as doing what they could to mitigate those two hits.
2. My company refuses to tell people why they’re being fired
I’m a manager in an office environment. I’m not involved in hiring or firing. I only make recommendations, and my boss makes the decision and implements it. My instructions are not to talk to the person about it and refer any of their questions to HR. I’ve heard from former employees that when the company lets someone go, they don’t tell them anything about *why*, just that today is their last day. In some cases the person getting fired expects it somewhat based on past conversations, PIPs, etc., but some people are completely blindsided and never know what made them lose their job. Is this normal?
No, it’s not normal. It’s not unheard of either, but it’s the mark of a seriously dysfunctional company. When an employee is in danger of being fired, decent companies will warn them — both so that the person isn’t blindsided if it happens and so they have a chance to make whatever improvements are needed. Giving that kind of feedback is one of the most fundamental parts of managing — not just because of fairness, but because a lot of people actually do improve when they understand what needs to change. It sounds like your company does sometimes have those conversations, but not consistently.
Moreover, when you fire someone with no explanation, most people will go looking for the answer — and if there wasn’t an obvious performance issue or they feel they were treated unfairly, they’re much more likely to assume something nefarious happened … and some of those assumptions can be about discrimination, retaliation for legally protected behavior, or other things that can prompt the person to involve a lawyer. And now your company is spending time and money defending themselves legally, when they might have been able to avoid that by communicating like adults in the first place.
It’s not normal, and it’s a very bad sign.
3. Should I reply to “thanks!” emails?
I have worked my way up from dealing with managers (usually we just call each other and supplement with quick emails) to directors (more formal emails and an occasional call) and now I’m at the point where my emails are circulating in the C-suite by virtue of directors and VPs adding their bosses, or my boss telling me to directly advise the C-suite.
Our C-level executives have very little time and expect compact, efficient emails. I’m a bit stumped about what to say when we’re concluding matters and I’ve given my final guidance. I’ve gotten something as simple as “Thanks!” sent directly to me, and most recently received a “Thanks all who looked into this issue, much appreciated” email (sent to about 10 other people) around 11 pm.
When do I need to reply to these emails, and what do I say? Should I reply to a general email from a C-level executive that thanks a group (when I’m the one who finished off the project)? I’m wary of adding to the clutter in their inboxes, but I also wonder if not acknowledging their thank you at all would be a bad move or seen as weird.
No need to reply at all. The “thanks!” is closing the loop; its subtext is “this is now resolved.” Replying to acknowledge the thanks would indeed be in-box clutter and likely seen as unnecessary and a bit much.
4. My office won’t deal with our mold problem
Back in March, a coworker discovered mold and mildew under our water cooler. The water cooler was removed, the water to the area turned off, and the carpet was vacuumed and cleaned of any visible trace of mold, but was not properly treated. Our department has repeatedly requested this be taken care of and no one is taking it seriously.
On top of this, I’ve developed difficulty breathing and shortness of breath (this started well before coronavirus and is unrelated) and recently discovered that I have asthma and am allergic to mold. My direct supervisor is aware of this but hasn’t made a move to really change the situation. I have also been told that multiple employees have developed similar problems over the last six years. The solution I was given was to put an air purifier in my office, but that only helps in that small space.
What recourse do I have to get this taken care of?
You might assume there would be OSHA regulations on this, but in fact there are no federal standards for airborne concentrations of mold or mold spores in workplaces.
If you’ve only talked to your manager about it, it’s time to escalate — your manager might be unconcerned while someone with more authority to deal with it might feel differently. If you haven’t already, talk to HR and/or your facilities people.
If you’ve already done that without success, then you’ve got two options: One is to push back with a group of your coworkers because a group is harder to ignore than a single person. The other is to make a formal request for medical accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act. If you go that route, keep in mind your employer doesn’t have to accept the accommodation you’d prefer (which presumably is for them to deal with their mold problem); they can decide another solution would work instead (such as having you work from a different location). But the process does need to be interactive and if they suggest something that won’t solve it for you (like the air purifier in your office), you can push back and explain it won’t solve the full problem.
5. Supporting a colleague’s campaign for local office
I have a colleague (same level) in my department who is running for local office. I donated some money to their campaign a while ago and a few other coworkers in my office have given or volunteered as well. From what I can tell, donating or doing low level campaign volunteering like phone banking on one’s own time is fine. However my workplace strongly encourages people to be politically active, so the norms where I work may be a bit different. How is donating or volunteering to a colleague’s campaign usually seen at other workplaces? Also, how does hierarchy affect things, like if the candidate was my manager or someone who worked under me?
Shouldn’t be a big deal as long as there’s zero appearance of abuse of power — meaning that managers shouldn’t ever accept donations or volunteer work from people they have authority over. You’d want to keep an eye on situations where there are other forms of influence too, because work presents all kinds of opportunites for favoritism (or the appearance of favoritism) beyond just manager/employee relationships (for example, scheduling, or who supports whose ideas and with what vigor, or who gets cut slack and who doesn’t, and on and on). And you’ve got to make sure any volunteering is done outside of work hours or it can cause campaign finance issues for your employer. But if you navigate all that well, it’s generally shouldn’t be A Thing.
my cost-of-living raise doesn’t cover my increased costs of living, my office has a mold problem, and more was originally published by Alison Green on Ask a Manager.
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