213
Be careful of ultimatums
You have every right to want a smoke-free work environment and are entitled to one by law. In your shoes, I would consider quitting myself. However, if you want to give them a chance to fix the problem you are simply more likely to achieve your goal by not making demands.
{Boss},
I had to leave early today because the smoke ...
116
You tagged your location as New Jersey. To be clear, what your employer is doing is very much illegal. Here are some references:
https://www.fda.gov/tobacco-products/compliance-enforcement-training/report-potential-tobacco-product-violation
https://www.nj.gov/health/fhs/tobacco/regulations/
You said,
I know that this is probably illegal but I don't ...
92
I had to move my desk to my manager's office and we started a much
more intensive training program to get me up to speed, since for 8
months no one would assign me any work except for easy scripts or
stupid impossible tasks like "Make a program that lets me speak to
Microsoft Word". The job is bioinformatics by the way, and yes I'm
actively ...
68
The direct answer to your question is: If, as you say, you are paid hourly, then you could say that you expect to be paid for any extra time that you have to put in and that you will record this time on your timesheet. (Or however hours are kept.) You could soften it by saying, "hey, I just can't keep up with this workload", i.e. make it your problem instead ...
24
Inform your manager that due to the "Smoke-Free Air Act of 2006" his actions are illegal.
Politely request he bring the office air quality up to code.
(I am not a Lawyer, this is not legal advice.)
24
If you're interested in remaining employed there, and the number of hours of this "homework" isn't excessive, then maybe you should consider doing it, seeing as you've spent some number of hours for which you were paid doing personal things like posting on Workplace.
That seems like a fair and equitable way of dealing with this.
They pay you to work. You'...
23
HR is not your friend... BUT in this case, actually it's not your managers friend.
I wouldn't bother talking to your manager about this; at all.
He will know full well that he's breaking the law; and if he doesn't; it's not your place to tell him so. Trying to tell your boss what to do will ALWAYS end badly.
HR however may thank you for the tip off - as ...
17
Should I ask for an extra raise?
Yes, definitely ask. However, if I were you I would not worry about past raises. I would focus on what you are currently worth, and in particular what are you currently worth to the company?
There are many sites you can use to get the average going rate for your skill set and experience. Come to the discussions about ...
17
This is a red flag for it's secondary effect: you may we'll find yourself sitting next to someone doing the same job who didn't raise this concern and is not receiving the 40% negotiating bonus you have. Expect higher turnover of colleagues who don't negotiate well. Management's failure to consider this is concerning. I would also have concerns about how ...
17
Go for it! It’s not unusual to request a number of phone calls with potential colleagues or to visit a new workplace before accepting an offer.
Talking to potential peers and managers is a very prudent step in your job search. Ask the recruiter or hiring manager to help you organize some phone calls with potential peers. Or, if you’re not relocating for the ...
16
Define homework.
If you're being asked to do workplace tasks in your own time, that clearly isn't acceptable. If the homework is directly linked to a project, consider complaining.
However, you say you're on a PIP. This implies that you are lacking key skills to do your job - and not just that, but that you were probably lacking those skills when you ...
15
Is this act normal?
Generally speaking, no its not normal practice.
Also, holding the company accountable for what was promised in a personal email would be hard to do. You would even be in worse shape in regards to under the table benefits should the hiring manager leave.
Was I right to decline the position and further negotiations on this
ground?
...
15
I'd suggest the following :
A brief formal request in email to stop smoking in the workplace, stating is a legal entitlement to have a smoke free workplace. Don't be inflammatory but simply state the facts.
If that fails address your complaint directly to HR, emphasizing the health and safety and legal aspects. Health and safety concerns are normally the ...
13
Your manager allowing smoking, without consulting others, let alone considering the law, is quite unprofessional, but lack of professionalism on the part of others isn't blanket license for you to be unprofessional. If you find the smoke intolerable, the professional thing to do is to give your manager an opportunity to rectify the situation before just ...
11
You asked a few questions.
Can I negotiate or ask if they would be OK with me taking a few days off after I join since I have family coming in from out of town for a family event?
Yes, you can always try to negotiate anything. Pre-planned PTO is fairly common, although different employers will have different responses. Some employers may be happy to ...
10
Is this act normal?
I've never seen that happen.
Was I right to decline the position and further negotiations on this
ground? I was in love with the position and would have loved working
on the projects he had lined up, but I'm almost surely confident that
this is some type of ethics violation that could be considered grounds
for termination if ...
10
I disagree with the other answer encouraging to ask for extra raise.
is it normal that I ask for a "double" raise?
No, it is not.
Initially, you were supposed to have your employment and salary reviewed and revised after 7th, 14th and 22nd month, and if things work out, indefinite contract thereafter. So, there was a risk (however small that is) of you ...
8
Lowballing of this kind is a staple negotiation technique. The feeling of success when getting a massive upmark overshadows the fact that the end outcome is not that grest.
However, as you pointed out, it’s a recognizable technique which won’t work on more experienced people. Coming across this in salary negotiations is likely to be either a typo or a red ...
7
Any advice on what I should do?
Given that you have already talked or tried to talk to your manager several times and they have ignored it as much as they can, only thing you can do is work at x for this contract period. Whenever you are due for next contract renewal, do not make the same mistake again. Stand your ground at Y or higher. of course you would ...
7
The equity has to come from somewhere.
If the company is public, and there is not an employee equity program already set up, it is unlikely that there is an easy way to give you equity through the company itself. If you really want equity, you could allocate part of your salary to purchase shares yourself.
If it is private, it also really depends on the ...
7
I feel somewhat awkward discussing the money
Get over this. Very quickly, or you'll get raked over. They shouldn't be at all embarrassed by this conversation, but if they are that's a big red flag (because they'll get mauled by their investors or run out of cash).
running off a small grant and the two founders' savings and side
hustles
How small? You'...
7
Some good answers, but I think no one mentioned another important point: be prepared to get fired. A manager willing to violate the smoking law is also willing to violate laws against retaliation. And if he/she is of average intelligence, will not find it difficult to fabricate a plausible legal reason for the firing.
I’ve seen it happen, to me and to ...
7
During the interview process, nothing is private and everything is on the record.
That's perhaps a slight exaggeration, especially when it comes to personal information, which may even be illegal to share beyond a certain point. And a "chat" you specifically asked for may be less on the record than an official interview (but still not private). Although it'...
6
Instead of spending work-time on stack exchange, do you work.
Then do stack exchange at home.
This eliminates the need for homework and will serve you well should you stay at this job or go to another. If you do the work well, it will effectively make the PIP successful, and you will be too.
6
Would it be professional to just go home early and email my manager
that I'm working from home until there isn't smoke in the office
anymore?
No, that would not be professional.
The professional thing to do when confronted with a difficult situation is to talk to your manager directly. If this is that important of an issue for you, then tell them so.
...
5
If you are ready to get fired, then this should be least stressful situation for you.
You do best you can to learn and contribute without worrying about anything else. If your best is not good enough for them, they will fire you which is also an acceptable solution for you.
So just focus on your work and don't try to get fired. Take it easy on yourself ...
5
How to approach negotiating terms of my employment, renumeration etc?
Like any other salary/job-offer negotiation: figure out what your market value is, what money you need to make this work and all other parts that are important to you (hours, flex time, benefits, work from home, social concerns, etc.)
The only thing different about startup is a potential ...
5
How would you approach negotiation?
Personally, I'd shoot for the $60/hour you want, and adjust the hours worked as necessary to meet the hiring manager's monthly limit.
That way, if budgets loosen, you'll still be getting $60/hour.
Make sure your contract allows you to work for other companies in the hours you aren't working for this one.
5
At my previous employer they handled it by putting a cap on HCE (Highly compensated employees) contributions to 401k to be no more than the average % contribution of all the other employees from the previous year.
Alternately the employer could just deal with the consequences, which according to the IRS are:
If a 401(k) plan is top-heavy, the employer ...
4
Are these 3rd party recruitment firms taking a 'cut' % of recruit's salary, instead of a referral bonus?
Most likely - that's a pretty standard model for recruiters providing for perm roles. It actually works for the job seeker since it's then in the recruiter's best interest to get the wage as high as possible. This is one reason why they will sometimes "...
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