I'm a generalist and just got a position where I will be back in the office a couple times per week. The org is a non-profit and the dress code is business casual.

I enjoy dressing in bold, colourful, prints and patterns, with unique details, that's vintage leaning, with interesting jewellery, and trend a little fancier- dresses, blouses, cute shoes and purses, etc. It's never too much- too juvenile, or "girly", or over the top; it's still professional, but definitely more colourful and out there than typical office wear.

My question is, do you think dressing this way will harm my career? I want to express myself, but also ensure I'm taken seriously. I don't want people to write me off because I'm wearing a dress with a sweet moth motif. I know my stuff and am good at my job, and want to go far in my career, but I'm worried I can't do both of these things at once. Or am I over thinking it? Do any of you dress in a similar manner, or have experience with a similar situation?

So applied for a job, got a offer of employment. Started doing the background check, which not fully knowing I listed a PBJ in the conviction box. Spoke to who does the background check a separate company from who I applied. Told what to do seeing it isn't a conviction, great, no longer have to explain how I tried contacting my ex to parent with them and everything else that followed. Seeing I don't have a conviction, I really don't want to sit there and explain and if hired be triggered at work merely looking at the HR person.

Try to explain to HR without creating that type of dynamic simply going to work (of course if hired), however still haven't heard back from whoever they need to speak with. I keep getting the same email from the company I was looking to get a job with. Try to explain to them via email how it isn't a conviction, no one ever replies just sends the same email again.

Trying to be patient but if I don't hear back or am outright denied now at this point, anything I can do legally or least mention. Sort of to the point just waiting to hear back of just saying to hell with it finding somewhere else to apply, not put that and just get it finally expunged because it an extremely annoying situation to sit there and explain, while I always could...sincerely it's extremely annoying. Only reason I even put it down in the first place having been unsure if it was considered a conviction least then they can't come back and say hey you didn't mention this.

I have worked in my fair share of interesting workplaces - old mill, massive printing press, usual corporate offices (open floor plan and private offices), farm, manufacturing - so I am no stranger to adapting to a space and its challenges like loud noises, limited space, interesting smells (the farm was especially fragrant). However, I just started a job that feels like an HR red flag parade.

Wondering if I am getting soft or if this is a run-for-the-hills moment.

• No running hot water anywhere in the building
• Open air bathroom (meaning there is just a box around the toilet, no ceiling, and you hear everything...everything throughout the entire office, meetings have been punctuated by a turd drop or a heavy stream - no prostate problems here)
• There are three workspaces in total and all use the aforementioned single bathroom in the main office (It is also used by children who attend events throughout the year)
• It's in an industrial area, and there are fumes that are not piped away from the buildings, instead they linger into the offices above and next door
• There aren't enough chairs for everyone - one day the only option was a broken kitchen chair that I was waiting to collapse under me - and 8 hours on hard wood was no great thing

It's a smaller company with about 15-20 employees of varying status - part-time, full-time, contract, etc. - and I was brought on with the agreement that I would be a consultant and could work hybrid/remote after a short training period of not more than 3 months. It's been barely two weeks and I dread going in. To be direct, I never want to go in again, it's not a productive working environment.

There have been other issues not even related to the space that I won't even mention because I am most curious what any of you think about the physical space alone.

They have a part-time HR person that I have never heard from, I don't even know his/her/their name. All of the hiring and interviewing was done by the owner and a long-time manager. NONE of these things was obvious when I interviewed over the course of a month. Only two of the interviews were done in person, so I knew the space was rough, but I had no idea it was like this.

I would like to work with them as they clearly need my help - I specialize in helping companies clean up their operations during growth phases. However, I desperately want to move to fully remote, which I am set up to do and have done for more than 10 years, and only go in for imperative meetings. But, I would like to be able to have some sort of foundation by pointing out that it's not a safe working space, which has me wondering if it's even illegal.

Thoughts?

As title says. My pregnant friend has been with this employer for just shy of 10 years and they terminated her on Friday one week before she was eligible for maternity leave. To be clear, she was a trailblazer with this company, developed the infrastructure for sales team, was the top sales representative(literally brought in millions of dollars of revenue which is huge for a small company), laid the foundation for training not to mention trained and built the sales team.

Shortly after becoming pregnant they put her on a PIP even though other people in the company had the exact same performance and sales that she did, no PIP was given.

Her severance package is a joke and below industry standards, and it’s tied to a separation agreement that has 10 pages of legal stipulations, essentially amounting to hush money, which she has five calendar days to sign. She is now unemployed a week before her baby is due.

She has been through so much the past few years and it hurts to see her raked over the coals again.

Some extra information: She signed a no obligation for severance when she first started. The company has an unlimited PTO policy.

What can and should she do? Let me know if anyone needs more details.

TL;DR: Have work authorization on a dependent (J-2) visa, how do I bring it up in resume and during interviews/pre-screens?

Hi everyone!

I asked the folks at r/EngineeringResumes for help with my resume, and they told me you'd be better equipped to answer my questions around work authorization.

My problem is as follows: I'm on a J-2 visa, which means I am dependent on my wife to stay in the US. This visa is valid until December 2026, and the USCIS has given me a work authorization for two years that will expire in March 2026. This work authorization can be renewed without sponsorship.

On top of that, our visas will most likely be renewed because my wife's job is planned to take more than 3 years, and so my work authorization should also be renewable beyond December 2026.

My last job on my resume was abroad, which immediately leads recruiters to wonder about my work authorization status, and I've had some ask me about my visa status. To clarify this, I have added a line in my resume that states that I am able to work without sponsorship. You can see my resume here: https://www.reddit.com/r/EngineeringResumes/comments/1cj8xg8/4\_yoe\_aiming\_for\_hpcuniversity\_jobs\_as\_a\_foreign/.

My question is twofold: how should I mention my status in my resume, and how should I bring up my situation when asked by a recruiter? Should I mention my visa status at all, or should I just mention that I am authorized to work without sponsorship?

Thank you for reading me, and sorry about the long post!

I’m the new manager of a health care department I have been a part of for 15 years. This year our company is instituting a bell curve for our performance reviews for the first time. There are 3 rankings we can give and they want 75% of our staff in the middle. We don’t have to have anyone at the bottom. I have a staff of 40, but I have two supervisors, three leads and two coordinators directly under me in addition to some health professional staff. All of these people do different jobs, but I’m theoretically supposed to rank them against each other. In the past, our old manager gave everyone glowing 5 star reviews, so I know some people are going to be mad that we’re forced to do this. My director isn’t giving any direction, so I thought I’d ask here for advice for anyone who’s done bell curve reviews before.

This is what’s going on in my head:

#1 - Not that you should think about this but a 5% raise to someone making $15/hr means more than one person making $45/hr. Plus I feel we’re more at risk of losing entry level. #2 - I have people that are experts at their jobs, but because I have to compare them to each other, someone has to be ranked as not being an expert.

One of my ideas since this is year one is, do you just rank everyone middle of the road to be fair? I have no idea what to do and these rankings are due Wednesday.

TIA.

How to ask 2nd time from HR to increase my appraisal

Hi, I recently received an appraisal and I raised a ticket to HR in order to increase it as I wasn't satisfied. He connected with me, asked me about my expectations and what I have done in the past year. Then, in the next call, he informed me that they discussed internally and it's the best offer they can give.

I was okay with it at first, until I found out that another person with the same appraisal had their ticket approved for an increase, unlike mine where they bluntly told me it was the best offer. The catch here is that I have a better rating than that colleague and I also work as an SME.

Though we have different projects, we have the same experience and designation (3+ years). I raised the ticket again and plan to focus on my rating and role in the discussion which I have already done initially, but how can I convince HR further as they've already told me they cannot offer more?

I was diagnosed with cancer 15 months ago. Returned from medical leave in March. Here is my question: I work for a large company in a very fast paced sales environment. The job is very stressful to say the least. Can I request a job change to another department? Reason- the high stress is affecting my recovery. My fear is I can get fired if they think I cannot perform. The department I’m looking into has openings. What is the best way to approach this with HR?

Just wish to know from the perspective of local employers with regards to the following question:

What is the complete list of consideration factors that you guys would personally adopt for giving your employees the pay raise and/or job promotion that they deserve? What are the solid pieces of advice that you guys as the employer of your company/organisation would give to your fellow employees who are aiming for consistent pay raise and/or job promotion within short periods of time?

On top of this, what is the periodical intervals that you guys would adopt for giving them their deserving pay raise and/or job promotion? (Eg. Every 4 months, 6 months, 1 year, 1.5 years, 2 years etc)

Certain examples of consideration factors:

1. Being a good team player (Can value add to the needs of the team well)

2. Displaying good character at work (to both fellow colleagues and superiors)

3. Ability to hit different KPIs within short range of time

4. The amount of earnings that the company/organsation manage to accumulate

over time periods.

Can I be fired for a dispute with my employer based health insurance provider?

So I am currently going thru a pretty serious cancer scare. My employee provided health insurance provider (BCBS of Alabama ) has been pretty much a pain to deal with. They denied me an mri and when I got my employer involved they lied to them saying my doctor never submitted the paperwork. This is not true. To prove it I had to give my employer my medical records and the denial letter. I really didn’t want to provide the medical records but at this point it is what it is.

Because bcbs denied my mri I had to file complaints with the Alabama insurance commissioner and ebsa. Eventually my employer is going to find out about these complaints. Anyway I guess my question is can they legally fire me for complaining against bcbs. I have never had any issues at work, I have been with them for 5 years and every year they sent me an award for best performance and a gift. I have received bonuses and raises etc.never disciplined at all.

I have not been diagnosed yet. That is why I needed the MRI. Thanks in advance for your input.my company is headquartered in Alabama I work remotely in Maryland.

Hi everyone, as the title says, my cologne was stolen by another team member.

long story short but, I had just gone to my lunch break. When I came back, I had noticed that my locker was rummaged through (Door was wide open with my zippers open and my bag was in a different orientation) with my cologne missing.

I notified the manager straight away and they conducted bag searches of all the males that were present. The cologne was found in another team members bag. I could definitely tell that it was mine, as it had the same scratches and amount used as mine did.

When questioned about it, he exclaimed that it was his and that he had bought a month ago for an event next week, with cash. He couldn’t provide a receipt but claimed to have the box that it comes in.

When he was later questioned about the cologne, he couldn’t didn’t know the name and said that it costed $40 (It’s roughly $120). To me, it’s clear as day that he had no clue what it was and had clearly stolen it because it had the same marks on the bottle, and he didn’t know any information about it even though he had ‘bought it’ a month ago. Not to mention, he had also been caught previously (And admitted to it) stealing money from the mangers office which I saw fall from his pocket later on which I had written a witness statement about. (This was also his first shift back from admitting that he stole the money)

Once the shift had ended, I had to write up another statement about the events that had happened. This was all submitted to HR which have been investigating until today. The team member who stole from me had somehow produced the box that it came in a week after it happened, which seems like to me that he has gone out and bought the cologne to try and save face and create enough reasonable doubt.

It appears to have worked because I was informed by HR that he has been sacked due to the money stolen previously ($30) but we had to give him ‘his cologne’ which was clearly not his.

Do you believe HR has handled this appropriately and is there anything I can do to get my cologne back?

They said that my prior 2 weeks wont be paid until my regular pay day on 5/10/24. Is this right or are they in the wrong? I was under the assumption everything has to be paid on my last day of work as it has with every other job i had.

Assuming new job will start on June 17, I was initially planning to give my 2-weeks notice on June 3 out of courtesy and to not burn bridges.

I am already aware that they might ask me to pay my health insurance out of pocket under FMLA rules and that’s fine but I was wondering whether they would ask me to pay them back all the money that I earned during my 8-week paid parental leave?

Also, assuming I give my 2-weeks notice on June 3, I know that there’s a big chance that they just terminate me on the spot so employer does not have to pay me for the next 2 weeks. Is it a better approach to just return to work on June 3 and submit my 2-weeks notice while I am “in office”? I put “in office” on quotes cause I work remotely. Again, I do not want to burn bridges and just resign the day itself.

Exactly as it says. He's leaning Chick-fil-A as they hire 14yo with over 4.0 GPAs.

I'd like to present more options. Not that his is bad. This is entirely about giving him options.

I've got a consulting job coming up that may be long term and I'm going to see about some data entry stuff.

I had a weird background that was great.

At 15, I was an apprentice carpenter building circular stairs.

I want something for him that includes learning how to be a person that knows how to do shit.

Hey everyone! So my boss is going on vacation this coming week and I am going the week after. When I talked to my boss a few days ago, she said that our next meeting (the Tuesday when I get back), we will review my yearly objectives and HR will be present since we’ve had communication issues. I got pretty nervous when I heard that but then again if I was going to be terminated I would think they would have done it before she and I are off, right? Like why pay for my vacation time if they weren’t going to keep me?

What do you all think? Am I about to be terminated? What would you suggest I do?

HR placed me onto an administrative suspension 6 weeks after I requested medical accommodations for a traumatic work injury. I worked without any medical accommodations for that 6 weeks.

Not long after, I was informed that I’d be facing disciplinary action for various vague reasons upon my eventual return to work. This of course is impeding my recovery.

I decompensated during the suspension without knowing what was going on, and facing persistent threats and intimidation by HR, leading to my doctor demanding that my employer transition me to a medical leave that is instead managed by WCB. My employer refused. My employer was preventing WCB from helping at the time with their strange actions.

A few weeks later, and to make matters worse, I learned that my grandmother was placed in palliative care. I requested to take 6 days off my administrative suspension to go see her, and this request was denied. I proceeded to ask for assistance on how to properly request time off during an administrative suspension, and tried 4 different types of time off requests, all of which were rejected. We have no policies that restrict travel during administrative leave, or about administrative leave in general.

I went to see my grandmother anyway because of the circumstances, and now I will be facing disciplinary action for that too whenever I can return, for “going on an unauthorized leave”.

I know there’s a lot wrong with what happened above, but does anyone know how things should have played out? The situation is so unusual, I can’t exactly google it.

Here is some background, I am a team lead under my supervisor and there is a coworker that is creating a negative environment in my office.

This started a couple months ago when the coworker started making complaints and negative comments about another employee with disabilities that affect how she perform tasks and attendance. At first, the complaints were reasonable because she had to cover some of the other employees responsibilities, but now there’s a complaint every day. She has also formed a small posse that she gossips with and they have been going directly to my boss to complain instead of seeing my supervisor and myself. On days when she is not here, I hear no complaints from the posse and the day flows smoothly, but when she’s here, there’s so much stress.

The coworker has also complained about having too many tasks to cover, which we addressed that we would delegate some of her tasks to others to even out the responsibilities and so she can focus on time management. Lately, she has been falling behind on completing her tasks and but will still complain that she has too much to do. At the same time, she has expressed that she wants to learn more tasks even though I had told her that I don’t want her to and to just focus on what she currently has on her plate. This has also led to a complaint about me not being a good team lead, but I don’t understand why she complains about having to do so much but also wants to do more.

There has been more gossip and complaints about our whole team lately from the posse and it is going as far as some employees don’t want to do their own tasks because they are scared of being complained about. My supervisor left the other day crying because she’s so stressed that this coworker is going around complaining/gossiping. Her complaints are also affecting her production in the office because she spends half the day chit chatting instead of doing work.

She has also been asking me why some people aren’t doing this or that and getting into other people’s business. I feel like she’s micro-managing me even though I am her superior.

How do I address this situation with this coworker? She’s creating a negative environment to the point where people are scared of what she’s going to say. I feel like there is more stress than the problems are worth dealing with.

I’m hoping to learn from others whether my experiences with HR are normal practice.

During disputes between employees and managers, the union will represent the employee, while reaffirming management’s position, while the employee’s HR rep will represent their manager.

HR has hidden policies that they actively apply to employees, but employees aren’t permitted to inquire about them - even if application means adverse effects to their employment.

HR derives policy where the collective agreement falls silent, and doesn’t tell the affected employees about these derived policies - creating confusion about why things are happening the way they are. Sometimes HR will flip flop on which kind of policy is being used on a single issue, sometimes stating it’s a hidden policy, and other times stating it’s derived from where the CA falls silent.

HR isn’t usually helpful for any employee matters. They aren’t very responsive when you have questions about administrative matters such as payroll, but are quick to email you if they suspect you might be violating any written or unwritten policies. I’ve been waiting 3 months for a response about my pay, while I tend to receive correspondence about alleged poor performance within 1-2 business days.

I've been with my California-based company for over five years, initially working in-office for nine months before transitioning to remote work due to Covid. Despite policy changes mandating a return to the office twice a week, I've remained out of state with approval. I received this approval in writing three separate times (2021, 2022, and 2023).

In October of 2023, I received a promotion. The job description mentioned remote/hybrid expectations to be discussed during onboarding, but no such discussion occurred. In February 2024, my boss informed me that my role is now considered office-dependent and that I must make a decision by May 1. This was the only written correspondence I received regarding this matter:

“We’ve determined your role to be office-dependent. The company reserves the right to request relocation at any time based on the needs of the business. As noted on our call, you have until May 1 if you would like to stay at the company in this capacity or discuss a separation plan. By May 1, if we have not heard from you, we will presume you wish to resign from your position and will move forward in that manner.”

According to my employer, the choices are to return to in-office work or resign. My employer informed me that if I choose to remain out of state, this is effectively my resignation. I have no intentions of resigning on my accord. My employer has stated that my “resignation” (i.e., me choosing not to return to the office) would not come with severance.

Is it legal for my employer to consider my not moving back a resignation, rather than a termination? Are they legally allowed to force me to resign?

ETA: removed language about severance because my main question is in regards to whether they are allowed to force me to resign.

How offen job offer being rescinded before start date?

Hi there, I hope you all doing well.

I’m not sure I’m overthinking this but would love to hear your thoughts about it.

I have a new job offer. Finishing background check/drug test and received an email title “Clear to start” saying my pre-employment check is done and I’m clear to start on xx/xx

I’m ready to hand in my 2-week notice but then I have a second thought that there might still be a chance that my offer would be rescinded (found lots of stories on Reddit)

I need the income now and can’t really afford unemployment. I know that if I hand my resignation, I won’t be able to get it back.

Everything looks good though. The company I’m joining seems to be doing well (big company with global presence) and they hiring me (new grad ish) to replace the two experts who are retiring in 1-2 years. The hiring manager did say that the challenge in this position is the loss of knowledge when him and the other expert are gone.

However, that fear of job offer being rescinded and ended losing both job scares the hell out of me.

Is that something that happens offen (and why)? Or am I just overthinking?

NOTE: I am in TX, company is based out of California.

Recently laid off.

4/19 was my last working day, 4/25 was my official termination date.

As part of my severance, the employer is covering my COBRA payments through July. However, today I logged in to my health insurance carrier’s portal and my coverage is showing as terminated as of 4/30.

I am extremely nervous about this as I have recurring health issues that require continued treatment and prescription medication changes. I have 3 medical appointments next week and a surgery scheduled in the a few weeks after that. While I can cover meds and appts with my savings, the surgery out of pocket would absolutely drain me of every cent.

I haven’t received any COBRA-related paperwork; the only discussion of COBRA is in the signed severance contract, stating they will cover through July.

Am I just SOL? Are there any time frames I should be aware of? Do they need anything from me? They left me in the dark with no info, so any insight on what to expect would be helpful. I have reached out to HR but haven’t heard back. I’ll be reaching out again first thing Monday.

Thanks!

I had final interview a week ago and was told to send references while waiting for team to debrief next week.

But it looks like they are now waiting to do references next week? Here is how the convo went:

"Hi xxxxx,

Thank you so much for sending theses over and have a good trip. I'll be in touch next week. We planned to debrief on Monday. I wanted to see if I can get your permission to check references in the meantime? Thanks, "

Then none of my references heard from them so I did a quick follow up because I had a quick questions, and she said this in regards to references.

"Thanks xxx, I think we planned to reach out to references next week since xxxx isn't able to do it before the weekend. We are debriefing next week Mon and so I should have an update by mid next week at the latest. Have a great weekend!"

Am I thinking too much into this?

Hello, I'm seeking guidance on navigating a sensitive situation. As a seasoned professional who has resided in Houston since 2021, I've garnered recognition for my performance in global corporations. Unfortunately, in my previous role, I encountered workplace harassment, leading me to escalate the issue to HR after receiving insufficient support from my manager. Regrettably, the resolution resulted in my laid off, despite the backing of several senior directors. Following this, I've recently joined a new company located in the same building, albeit on a different floor. Four weeks after the laid off. I feel uneasy about encountering former colleagues and managers due to the past situation, compounded by its impact on my visa status.

Could you please provide advice on how to handle interactions with individuals from my previous workplace, without divulging details to my current colleagues?

Thank you

A background check was performed and HR asked (due to question from investigator re: DOB discrepancy) if a specific alias had ever been used, initially the name was completely unfamiliar but then it was realized that name or similar was used to get a fake id (the real person was aware and provided their info for the ID) back in the 90s when person was under 21yrs old and wanted to buy alcohol or hangout in 21+ spaces. Many employer background checks have been performed over the years and this never came up. Reply was provided to HR that yes a similar name was used years ago for an ID. The bigger issue is that a petty shoplifting arrest is attached to that ID that was never resolved. The prospective employer, a local government entity, has not followed up with any info and the job responsibilities are not in conflict with the incident. Is this something that should not have been admitted to HR? What are the possible ramifications or outcomes of this situation?

Help please I need advice!! I work in DEI for a large company (no union) and I was accused of reverse racism by a member of senior leadership because I was advocating for more diverse representation on a project. He’s related to the CEO and I’m terrified of losing my job. What should I do??

I applied for a job and got it. During the offer I counter offered asking for more pay due to my experience of 8 years. They said they could not budge on wage. Three weeks later my husband got hired at the same company, same position and he has no experience got $1 more than me. Why is that?

I am currently on parental leave and will give a two-week notice as soon as my leave ends. I understand that my employer has the legal right to seek reimbursement of the health insurance costs it paid on my behalf unless I return to work for 30 days or more. However, I am uncertain whether my employer will exercise this right, as I have not found any relevant information in the employee handbook.

To ensure compliance, I intend to provide a 30-day notice as soon as I resume work.

In the event that my employer terminates my employment immediately after receiving my notice, can they still seek reimbursement of the health insurance costs incurred during my parental leave?

Hi. I am TP, located in Israel, without any previous automation experience (: I would really appreciate any help and explanation to get me started . 🙏

We have 2 TP functions (IL+US) and about five to ten open positions. I built new recruitment routines based on QOH to enhance candidate selection. 

To ensure smooth operation, I would like to implement the following automation (using make.com) to have constant updates for all parties involved and calls to action when needed.

Thank you for your help. ❤️

1. When the Google kickoff form is filled out, open a Slack channel for hiring team members apears in the Google dock response dock
2. Whenever Workable tags a team member, send an update as a private Slack message.
3. When a candidate is moved to their next workflow stage and will soon be evaluated, update team members by Gmail and Slack.
4. Remind the same team member to complete evaluation daily to move a candidate forward

Hey everyone, hoping to gain some insight on a situation. I met with HR for my employer recently who requested my spouse's medical records -including ailments, doctors, and medications. I did provide some medical information in an attempt to keep our insurance, but I'm not sure it's okay for them to request those details under ADA or OCR/California CRD standards in order to receive treatment.

Edit: they want us to leave our health insurance provider in the near future and switch to blue cross. Edit 2: I apologize for vagueposting and referencing Star Trek on May 4th. I’ve never been more down voted in my Reddit life. Trying not to give out too much information in case there is a case here- overall felt like the questions asked are not pertinent to keeping my coverage

I live in Florida and will be starting a new corporate job in several weeks. I have been sober for 18 years and am nervous about social outings put on by my new employer. I have no desire to be around people who are drinking and am wondering if I should approach HR about skipping work functions that are centered around alcohol. It appears to be a weekly occurrence. Is this a potential problem for my career? Should I keep it to myself about my hesitancy to be in this type of environment? Would it put a wall up between my new team and me if I were to ask to be excused?