I saw my coworker buying a beer during work hours, using personal days for religious holidays, and more
It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…
1. I saw my coworker buying a beer during work hours
I saw a coworker at the pharmacy near our office this morning (9:45 a.m.) buying a 40-ounce can of beer. I was confused at first and I couldn’t figure out what to make out of it, but then I also remembered that this coworker always falls asleep in meetings.
I wasn’t sure if I should have approached her (I didn’t want her to think I’m being nosy). I do not want to jump to conclusions because I also thought she might have bought the beer for someone else (i.e., a homeless person in NYC or whatever). She got back at her desk around 10:15ish without the bag. I also saw her sleeping at her desk (pen in hand, head down) at noon today.
In terms of her quality of work, my team and I stopped going to her because we never get good answers from her anyway. I also overheard her team members question her ability in doing a project. Is this something that I should report in case she needs help or in case this requires disciplinary action?
The fact that you saw a coworker buying a beer before work is not, in itself, damning. She could have been buying it for after work or, as you say, for someone else. Who knows.
If she’s sleeping on the job or otherwise not performing her work in a way that affects you, or if she’s coming to work smelling like alcohol and/or appearing intoxicated, you should absolutely talk to your manager about those things. But “my coworker sucks at her job” and “I saw that same coworker buying a beer” is not enough of a connection to report someone for being drunk at work — that’s just too much speculation. Focus on the things you know for sure.
2. I have to use personal days for my religious holidays, while my coworkers don’t
Not a high-stakes question, but I did want the opinion of someone outside my company. For a little background, my company is amazing! They are great to employees and I truly love my job. However, the vacation/holiday/personal/sick day situation leaves a lot to be desired. I have had to take many days off as I have a toddler in daycare (aka, a petri dish) and daycare has strict rules as to how long a child needs to be fever-free before returning to daycare.
All of that being said, I am Jewish and had to use my personal days (of which I get three a year) for the high holidays in the fall. Due to my dwindling supply of sick/vacation/ personal days, I only took one day off for Rosh Hashana (as I expect to need to use my final personal day as a sick day before the end of the year).
Last week, my company got an email stating that the office would be closed on Christmas Eve (as well as Christmas Day). As happy as I am to get another vacation day, it rubbed me the wrong way that we are all getting an extra day off for a day that isn’t a holiday, and I have to use personal days (or come in to work) on a holiday that I observe. Am I being too sensitive?
It’s annoying, but it’s really, really common. Most people in the U.S. who celebrate non-Christian holidays are in the same situation. That doesn’t make it okay — if we were designing the system from scratch, we presumably wouldn’t design it this way — but maybe it’s useful to know that your company is doing what most companies do.
That said, you could certainly point out to your employer that you have to use your limited personal days for religious observance and suggest that they offer some floating holiday days that people can use for whatever days off they want to observe (which don’t need to be religious in nature).
3. Should I use my full name at work to seem older?
I am a current university senior who is in a full-time student teaching position. I have gone by my nickname (let’s say “Meg,” although it’s not that) during my university time. My problem comes in with the fact that I am a rather petite, very young looking female. When I say young looking, I get mistaken for an eighth grader at my K-8 school on the regular when I am wearing business casual and makeup and the kids are in leggings. I just have a young looking face and, based on my mother, it isn’t going away anytime soon. Sooner or later, people start calling me “Meggie” or some other cutesy variation of Meg, which I rather loathe and usually try to make a reason to introduce myself rather quickly to someone else as Meg.
So as I start job searching and moving into the professional world, I have been wondering if I should start going by my full name, “Meghan,” as to seem older and more professional. I understand that this may be silly and I’m fixating on something so small, but I am at a loss as to what to do to make myself seem older so I don’t get mistaken as one of the kids. I’m also thinking using my full name might ward off people thinking it’s okay to use a cutesy nickname which implies that I am some cute thing rather than an adult professional woman.
Would it cause problems if people from one part of my life know me as “Meg” and a new part know me as “Meghan” for references and such? I’m at a loss as to what to do to make myself appear older – I wear subtle makeup daily, loafers and business casual are a regular part of my life (appropriate for my work with kids) and I have been complimented on my professionalism in my various work settings as I make it a point to avoid using slang, swears, and other language that would readily identify myself as part of the younger crowd. Any tips? Would the full name help or is there something else I can be doing?
If you’d like to go by Meghan professionally, there’s no reason why you can’t. Lots of people use their full name professionally but a nickname with family and friends. And as long as the nickname is commonly recognized as connected to the full-name (as with Meg/Meghan, although I know those are just examples), it shouldn’t cause confusion with references. People being asked about “Meghan Plufferton” are going to connect that with “Meg Plufferton” pretty easily.
But if you prefer Meg, it’s okay to use that and push back on the people who are changing it up. If someone calls you Meggie, say firmly, “It’s Meg, please” or “I don’t go by Meggie. Just Meg.” Reasonably considerate people will hear you loud and clear and will cut it out.
4. How should we announce we’re offering health insurance, but not to part-timers?
My husband and I own a small, three-year old restaurant and we’re finally able to offer health insurance benefits in 2019! I couldn’t be more excited to offer this benefit for our staff, knowing many choose to go without despite the mandate.
The problem is that we’re only able to offer this benefit to our full-timers, which excludes about a third of the staff. No matter how many times I crunch the numbers, I just can’t justify paying half a premium for someone who works just one shift a week.
What’s the best way to share this information? I’ve considered holding an all-staff meeting, which is rare for us, but I feel uncomfortable inviting part-timers to a meeting where they won’t be getting the benefit (especially if it falls on their day off, just icing on the cake!). It also doesn’t feel good to just allow the part-timers to find out through the rumor mill. I’m a fan of upfront communication but I’m not sure how to navigate this one.
Yeah, definitely don’t make part-timers come in on their day off just to hear about a benefit they won’t be getting. You can talk to people one-on-one, post a notice in a central location where you know everyone will see it, or hold a series of smaller meetings over the course of a week so you reach everyone by the end of it (without requiring anyone to come in specially for it). It depends on how you normally communicate information — but any of those options should work.
When you do, be straightforward about the finances. It’s pretty normal not to offer health insurance to people who only work a shift or two a week, and people probably won’t be shocked by that.
5. Can I send my resume in a Google Doc?
What would hiring managers/HR think of receiving a resume in Google Docs? I’m in a sector now with a very specific job-application process (I’d be pasting my resume into an internal application system), so it doesn’t really apply to me, but I’m a bit curious. Would a Google Docs resume be accepted, or is “Not Word format” still considered a negative?
Don’t do it; it’s really annoying to your recipient. The issue isn’t that they’re not Word, because PDFs would also be fine. The issue is that there’s no easy way to get a Google Doc into most applicant tracking systems, so when I receive these, I have to write back and ask the person to resend their materials as attachments instead (and plenty of people won’t bother to do that and instead just won’t consider you).
Plus, if your materials are in a Google Doc, that means you can change them after I look at it the first time, which I’m not comfortable with since I may pass them on to someone else involved in hiring to look at and I want to know they’re seeing the same version I am.
Send your cover letter and resume as attachments — Word docs or PDFs. Do not send them as a link to a Google Doc or any other website.
I saw my coworker buying a beer during work hours, using personal days for religious holidays, and more was originally published by Alison Green on Ask a Manager.
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