These are five answers to five questions. Here it is…
1. Can a manager lead a Bible study?
I am a mid-level supervisor in a state government agency. Although I directly supervise many employees, about half of the employees in my section report directly to my manager, “Michael”. He, in turn, reports to “David” and “Jan”, who are the chief and second-in-command. There are several other sections within our agency that do different things, and those sections have their own respective Michaels, who also report to David and Jan.
Hypothetically (I currently have no plans to do so), given the fact that I supervise some staff, would it be inappropriate for me to organize a Bible study, book club where we read a religious book, etc., which would take place during lunch?
On the one hand, my religion is extremely important to me and my religious beliefs are not at all secret. (For example, I told a co-worker who lost a family member that I would pray for them, because I know they practice the same religion as me.)
However, I would not want anyone, especially those I supervise, to think that their participation (or lack thereof) in this type of activity is being encouraged by me based on my position. That is, I wouldn’t want there to be any pressure on people to participate because someone in management is doing it. Does it make a difference to the fact that when our agency has over 100 employees, many of whom do completely different jobs than me, I only supervise a handful?
No, a manager should not organize any kind of religious discussion at the workplace. No matter how honest you are in saying that people who participate will not receive favorable treatment from you, some of your employees will still be concerned that they will feel pressured to participate and/or they will find it unfair that people are getting additional networking opportunities with you based on shared religious practice. And to be honest, it would like be unfair – that Is An additional opportunity for networking with you, and it shouldn’t just be open to people who want to talk with you about religion (or religion at all).
2. Can I ask an interviewee about their bad customer reviews?
After being laid off a month ago, I’m in the early stages of interviewing for a learning and development role at a medium-sized corporation. Unlike my previous job, where I was creating customer-facing training, this role will involve creating internal training on a wide range of topics, which is much more aligned with my long-term career goals. However, when I was researching the company, I discovered that the service the company provides receives very low customer ratings (namely, 1.4 stars on Google reviews and Yelp and a ton of complaints from the Better Business Bureau). While I realize that these online reviews don’t necessarily reflect good experiences (there have to be some, right?), I was surprised by some of the claims people were making.
Right now, I’m leaning toward not moving forward with the interview process, because I’m not desperate for a job (yet!) and I’m reluctant to work for a company that has no compunctions about defrauding its customers. But part of me is curious to know how they’d respond if I asked them about those reviews – I mean, maybe they’re working to address the issues. I’m considering asking something like, “I’ve seen some online reviews where customers are really unhappy with the company’s services. I know people who are happy with the company won’t go on and on about it online, but I was wondering what steps the company takes to address customer feedback and how your customer service reps fit into your vision for the L&D team.” Or something along those lines. Is he completely unaffected? Should I just cut and run?
It is not untouched at all. This is a completely normal question to ask in this context, and they’ve probably been asked this before! They are aware of their reviews, and they know (some) candidates will be too. Your words are not particularly offensive or counterproductive; This is appropriate.
This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t cut and run. But if you’re otherwise interested in the job, go to the next interview and ask.
Connected:
Asking a company about its bad reputation in an interview
3. Should I tell a former co-worker that someone is talking trash about them?
I recently worked at a job where we were a team of seven, including the system admin, Amanda. His presence was sporadic, but it didn’t really have any impact on the rest of us. I felt like whatever arrangements he had with our team leadership were not for our benefit.
The guy in front, Kevin, and I talked regularly, and he often talked trash about her. He regularly made comments to me like, “Well, what does Amanda do all day? Why don’t we see her on X dates?” This made me uncomfortable because neither of us were Amanda’s supervisors and I felt it was none of our business since it didn’t affect our jobs in the slightest.
Now that I’m not there, should I warn Amanda that Kevin was talking trash about her? why or why not? Does it matter if I was fired for an unrelated reason? (It was my mistake, and I own it.)
Are you close to Amanda and do you consider her a friend? If so, sure, you can go ahead and tell her – if you feel she needs to know that Kevin is potentially stirring up drama that could affect her. If you’re only telling him on principle and not because it could potentially affect him, then no; In that case I would leave it alone because there’s no point getting involved when you’re not even there.
And if you’re not close to Amanda, there’s nothing to do. You’re not there anymore and issues at that office don’t need to take up any space in your brain (and approaching someone you’re not close to after you’ve gone to share something like this risks sounding awkward and dramatic).
4. Expected to be present in person even when not required
I’m a teacher at an independent school and I love my job for many reasons. However, I and my colleagues become frustrated with the administration’s expectations regarding our working hours. Like essentially all teachers, we work a lot outside of school hours; We work before school, after school, evenings, weekends and breaks. It’s just part of being a teacher. We are salaried, and sometimes we have to stay at the school after school or in the evening for meetings, events, parents nights, graduations, etc. This is also part of the job.
What is frustrating is that the administration and human resources departments tell us that we have to be on campus exclusively for eight hours a day (even when not teaching) and sometimes even on days when there are no classes or meetings. As teachers, we are a fairly highly educated group; Most have advanced degrees and can earn much more in other industries. It feels kind of disrespectful to our time and dedication when we’re told we have to be on campus when there’s nothing scheduled, and it seems inconsistent with other jobs for salaried professionals. What are your thoughts?
Yes, this is disrespectful of your time, your clear commitment to the work, and the extra hours you put in beyond the normal work week. It’s also pretty much par for the course for teaching, unfortunately, as far as I understand, it’s still very much a “you need to be in the building to appear to be working” culture.
5. Is it legal to set a limit on years of professional experience for a job advertisement?
I recently read on your site that for someone to be a recent graduate could be considered age discrimination. I’ve seen the director of a company post a job on LinkedIn (not an ad, a post from their regular profile) saying that the job only accepts people with a maximum of five years of professional experience. This is in America, so doesn’t that open them up to age discrimination? While they work in a field I’m not interested in, I’m close to 50 with decades of “professional experience” and this really seems like it’s a statement that “older people don’t need to apply.”
Yes, it certainly opens them up to liability for age discrimination. I wouldn’t be surprised if you don’t find that language in an actual HR-approved ad (because they know better) and this person, by writing their message, gives away the truth about who they prefer.
