Category: Comstock

I work at a small, privately owned company of 15 people. I am third in the chain of command. Our CEO/owner is near retirement and at this point in his career is really only acting as a figurehead. My direct boss has just put in his notice, and

Everyone always says if someone harasses you at work, make sure you document it, but what does that mean? Just write it down? Record the harasser with my phone? Do I get witnesses to write stuff? I have no idea how to go about this. To read my

I have an employee, Kate, who does mediocre work. Not good enough to be promoted, but good enough to keep from being fired. This isn’t a problem, except she’s constantly complaining about the job. I want to tell her to go find another job or shut up. The

The owner wants everyone back in the office at least a couple of times a week. This is a small business with only two managers: Jane and me. One of us needs to be in the office every day. This is fine. We worked out a schedule. The

I’m tired of having people get unemployment benefits when I fired them for being bad employees. Stealing, lying and coming in late — it doesn’t seem to matter. What can I do to make sure people don’t get unemployment payments? Can I document better? To read my answer,

I’m running into a weird problem with employees working from home: power and internet outages. California will undoubtedly have rolling blackouts again, plus unexpected outages. My employees do customer service over the phone. They cannot work without power and the internet. Do I have to pay them when

I’ve noticed one of my employees, “Julia,” eating lunch frequently with another manager in a different department, “Greg.” There are no rules against dating across departments, but I know this manager. He’s been through multiple women, and it all ends badly, and she quits. I don’t know if

I manage a laboratory, which requires staff to be on-site around the clock. Our analysts and other on-site workers were classified as essential workers early in the pandemic, and they diligently came into the lab even when the rest of the world was sheltering in place. Today, many

I manage employees that earn $17 an hour to start. We used to be an employer of choice for entry-level candidates as we paid more than our competitors and our jobs require minimal training — a couple of hours, and you’re ready to go! California’s minimum wage is

I have one very difficult, challenging and toxic direct report. He goes behind my back and attempts to undermine me — and it appears to be working. My manager and director seem to be supporting my toxic employee. After a meeting where my employee took center stage and