549
votes
Accepted
Boss asked me to sign a resignation paper without a date on it along with my new contract
Don't sign that paper!
I don't know the rules of your specific country but resigning would be treated very differently to being made redundant/sacked in a lot of places when it comes to claiming any ...
- 6,282
366
votes
Employee (my direct report) underperforming due to religious fasting - how to address?
My question is: how to address underperformance and mistakes with an employee who's a poor performer anyway but it is at "breaking point" due to religious fasting?
Don't treat it as a fasting problem,...
- 198k
316
votes
Employee (my direct report) underperforming due to religious fasting - how to address?
In my opinion, your biggest problem is not Charlie or his fasting, it's this:
we are short staffed anyway and typically working in "overclocked" mode to meet deadlines. We are a team of 3 including ...
- 3,481
313
votes
Accepted
How will losing mobility of one hand affect my career as a programmer?
It need not have a significant impact. Many programmers work with medical issues ranging from quadriplegia, to blindness, to carpal tunnel syndrome. Some programmers have long and productive careers ...
- 6,911
303
votes
Accepted
Prospective employer asking for my current pay slip during interview
My usual answer is, "I don't ever disclose my current compensation package, but I can tell you that I need a total compensation figure of $###,000.00 to leave my current role." That statement ends ...
- 1,574
295
votes
Boss asked me to sign a resignation paper without a date on it along with my new contract
Giving a full answer. Calling in sick 2 hours after you are supposed to start working day is nothing to fire anyone. You could be at a doctors office for that time. Had emergency procedure or ...
- 15.2k
243
votes
Engineer asks for a title change and raise with a change of responsibilities
What could be the possible solutions here?
The only solution is to provide the correct title and compensation based on the work required for the role.
Whatever title and compensation you are offering ...
- 65.5k
240
votes
Being asked to sign a "termination certificate" 6 months after resigning
The Employee View
No, you do not.
Companies often want you to sign things at termination (noncompetes, IP agreements, NDAs, promises not to sue them...). These agreements are ubiquitous especially ...
- 33.1k
225
votes
Accepted
Complaints from (junior) developers against solution architects: how can we show the benefits of our work and improve relationships?
During last year HR and some managers informed us of a relative high number of complaints from junior and middle level developer about our way of work: in particular they say that we “impose from ...
- 110k
221
votes
Asking about eating policy during interview
This might be a good reason to consider remote work - that way you won't have to deal with other people working beside you.
You say you don't want to appear to be the person who "causes problems", ...
- 21.4k
210
votes
Accepted
Colleagues speaking another language and it impacts work
Ahh, the issues when you leave your own country.
I have experienced this situation many times when I first moved to the country I live in now. There are two local languages that are spoken...neither ...
- 2,855
193
votes
Accepted
Colleague blocks change request in peer review because of perceived mistakes in code, but suggested improvements do not work
He might be correct that the code needs fixing, but he's going about it the wrong way for any code review I've ever seen. Code reviews should fail for very specific, addressable points, eg:
...
- 34.3k
173
votes
Accepted
Why do job listings specify M//F in the title?
German nouns (including job titles) have a grammatical gender.
A programmer for example would either be "Programmierer" (male version) or "Programmiererin" (female version). It has been common usage ...
- 110k
168
votes
How to deal with complaints about you - if you warned against the risk?
After that I repeated my estimation of the situation again per email.
This was ignored.
Now the client complained about me that I seem to appear to meetings unprepared and they need to tell me things ...
164
votes
"Startup" working hours - is it normal to be asked to work 11 hours/ day?
It feels unethical and even immoral
In Germany, it's illegal. As in against the law. The relevant sections are "Arbeitszeitgesetz (ArbZG)"
§3: Die werktägliche Arbeitszeit der Arbeitnehmer darf ...
- 110k
156
votes
How can I deal with a manager who keeps insisting to stay with no clear offer after I have already accepted another company offer?
How to deal with a manager who keeps insisting to stay with no clear offer after I have already accepted another company offer?
Politely without committing to anything. Once you hand in your ...
- 198k
155
votes
Accepted
Is it advisable to inform the CEO about his brother accessing his office?
It's not a bad idea to mention it off-hand, but I wouldn't make a big deal out of it at all. You need to make sure this comes off as an FYI, and not any sort of accusation. Next time you see the CEO, ...
- 29.7k
151
votes
Boss asked me to sign a resignation paper without a date on it along with my new contract
Hahaha that's an excellently badass, reprehensible move of that boss.
DON'T SIGN ANYTHING LIKE THAT, EVER!
If signed, it's a get out of jail card for the company to circumvent ANY legal roadblocks ...
- 11.4k
149
votes
Firing an incompetent subordinate in the relatively far future: when to tell him?
To summarise the problem (please correct me if this isn't quite right):
Your colleague can do the easy work, and you have 3-4 months of easy work stacked up
You believe they lack the fundamental ...
- 4,910
148
votes
Accepted
Asking about eating policy during interview
So the first question is whether or not this is a drop-dead requirement. Are you willing to simply discard any job that does not offer this out of hand? How will you handle it if there are no ...
- 20.9k
144
votes
How to deal with complaints about you - if you warned against the risk?
First, you should stop working 14 hours a day: it might be sustainable for a few days (and I insist on the 'might', and I'm kinda confident it can't be applied to everybody), but a project is not a ...
- 2,105
141
votes
Company pushing me to sign records about working hours while I was on vacation
You amend the printed document in your own handwriting. You initial the parts you amended. You sign the amended copy. You keep a copy for your own records.
Taking too long to discuss this issue was a ...
- 52.8k
134
votes
Is it "ok" to work on personal projects when home sick?
It is always important to avoid the appearance of impropriety.
While there is nothing wrong with working on your project per se, an employer might take a very dim view if they note any time stamps ...
- 156k
128
votes
Asking about eating policy during interview
I think rather than trying to find out what the eating policy is, you need to find a way to work around this. I don't believe I have ever worked in an office where eating at your desk is prohibited (...
- 14.9k
127
votes
Bad performance review despite objective successes and praises
Can I do anything to still solve the situation before quitting?
Yes, by not trying to do anything.
My manager said I wasn't with the company long enough for him to have trust in me and give me a ...
- 61.6k
126
votes
How will losing mobility of one hand affect my career as a programmer?
I am a web developer, and I lack the use of both hands and wrists due to quadriplegia. You need not fear that losing the use of a hand excludes you from the programming field. As you say, there is ...
- 800
126
votes
Accepted
Company didn't warn me my interview would be a panel interview with 9 people
Continue as if nothing had happened.
Panel interviews are one of a variety of legit interview formats and they don't really need or are expected to get your permission ahead of time for it.
You might ...
- 33.1k
125
votes
Accepted
Is it appropriate to give a culturally-traditional gift to a female coworker?
Is it appropriate to make a gesture towards a female coworker?
In a word, no, do not do this – local custom or not, specifically because you state you had or have a crush on her.
At the moment, you ...
- 84.1k
122
votes
Accepted
Will declining my company's many social events negatively influence my career?
When they said they valued get-togethers and game nights I expected the occasional friday afternoon gathering or a game night every now and then.
Did you actually tell them this?
If you decline, ...
- 21k
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