I’m not too good with finance or stuff like that so I need help. My mother was laid off from work about 2 weeks ago and she was confident on receiving a unemployment claim, or something like that. It’s where you get money until you get a new job, I think. So yeah, she was confident on getting that and she applied for it but that was 2 weeks ago, all she’s been getting are letters that say they can’t pay her yet. She talked on the phone with one of the workers over there, and explained the situation. The worker told her that Bi-Mart[where she worked] was trying to make it look like they didn’t fire her, and I just told her that sounded wack. She was given a notice on April that a important customer complained about her, he said she needed to improve on her English [she's mexican =o]
The company made her sign something that said that she would have to improve on that if she wanted to keep the job, and she needed to learn a system requirement or something. She took classes in order to help her improve her English and she studied the system [it's called PDX]. They were going to give her a test to see if she knows the system and to evaluate how much her English improved. Buuuut mother asked to change the date because she didn’t feel ready, and they did. They also postponed 2 more times afterward, my mom didn’t ask for those. So one day the boss of the whole place here in town came and told her that they were letting her go due to economy and such, but mom believes it’s more out of discrimination. She claims business was going well for the store, sometimes it wasn’t but most of the time it was. The worker after hearing that said that the whole thing sounded fishy and that Bi-Mart wanted it to look different [the situation]. She also said that Bi-Mart need to pay taxes and it depended on them to see if she could get the unemployment pay thingy.
Bottom line [sorry for all that shenanegans] she wants to know if she can force them to pay taxes so she can get her pay thing, she’s worried they’ll keep saying no and she might loose all her savings. I feel bad cause I don’t know what to tell her, she doesn’t want to get a job because she’s tired of working and she wants to have a break. Also, she doesn’t want to get a job until the holidays are over so she can visit the family down in cali. So yeah I need some advice to help her out of this tricky situation.
I just want a answer to question, NOT put downs. I want to help her in all this not make her feel even worse. Also, I know that everyone has to work and such but she hasn’t seen her family in awhile personally I don’t care much about that, but she does and she doesn’t want to be tied up to work again.

A friend comes to you with the following problem. "I provided my boss a cost equation using regression analysis. He was unhappy with the results and told me to do more work and not return until I had a lower cost estimate for one of the variables – the number of machine-hours. My initial analysis covered the last 36 months. By dropping four months in which the relation between costs and machine-hours was very high, I was able to get a lower cost estimate for machine-hours." Was what your friend did unethical? Explain.

My boss has a phone which cannot be used to transfer calls so when we put a call through to him and he wants us to take it back on our phone we don’t know how to do so or if it is even possible. Could someone please elucidate. Thanks

I work for a manufacturer as sort of a building improvement coordinator, which means I’m responsible for coordinating the efforts of contractors and city financing assistance to improve various aspects of the facility. We’re talking things like HVAC systems, flooring repairs, exterior/interior wall repairs, etc. I bring in the contractors, get the quotes, and apply for city and state-run programs that provide financial assistance (in the form of loans and reimbursements) for these improvements. I’m not the engineer or the warehouse or production manager, but I am really the only one around here who gets how to work with the government to partially subsidize these projects.

So I’m not too familiar with working with contractors. As part of the application process for some of these grants, I had to bring in three different contractors to provide estimates for the work to be done, and because of some deadlines and I needed them in a hurry. I’ve decided who I want to work with, and barring any disagreements between me and my boss, I want to call him and start coordinating on the work.

What do I tell the other contractors? I mostly feel awkward about it because they all kind of rushed out to do the estimates at my behest. They are aware that we were looking towards other contractors, both so that we could secure competitive bids and because the programs I mentioned require multiple bids for the same projects; but is it ok to leave the unselected contractors hanging? Part of me says yes, they’re used to that and it’s just part of running a general contracting business. But I feel like I owe them at least a phone call because we were on a deadline and they went out of their way. Or maybe they didn’t go out of their way and they’re used to that too. I have no idea!

Any advice would be great.

My boss and I share a line on a Cisco IP Phone. When a call comes in, I cannot tell whether she is on another call or not. There must be a way besides barging into her office.

My boss installed internet tracking software on our office computers, including keystroke recording. After learning this, I changed all my personal e-mail account/facebook/banking passwords from home. Is there anyway he could still access those accounts if I do not log into them from work anymore?

I work in a small office that’s growing. Right now, it’s just me and my boss and someone new that will be joining us soon. How do I set up call transfers/multi line phone systems for our office instead of hollering for my boss each time someone calls? We have 2 land line, one that is used primarily for fax machine and internet, and the other is the main line.

I’ve tried calling AT&T, our provider, to ask for help/instructions but had ended up banging my head against the wall many many times out of sheer frustration.

So my main questions are:

1) Do I need to get new phones for the entire office of the same brand? Or can we use our existing collection of phones which are of different brands?
2) The call transfer feature: do we have to call AT&T to get that started or is it something i need to set up with the phone on my end?

Best of all, I will really appreciate it if someone can write a dummy proof step by step instruction list. I’ve been wrestling with this problem for over a week and am near tears.

my old job required me to make constant phone call all day. My boss promised me a Business phone after my 3 months "probational" period. Seven months later, still no phone. I gave him my phone bill only to be told that i had to itemize the bill between the personal and business calls. That in itself would take hours that i would not get paid for. I quit two weeks ago but feel that the charges for being over my minutes (they are in the hundreds of dollars) should be compensated just don’t know how to get my compensation.

Someone here in the office found out my hourly wage and spread it around to others in the office. When I found out I was angry because I never told anyone and my wage is none of their business. They’re all complaining, saying its unfair because I’m in a low level position but earn the same hourly wage as all the other higher ranking (but non-management) office personnel. I work for a small family owned contracting firm in Texas, near Houston. I’m concerned because these guys are going to petition and convince the owner to cut my wage to /hr…the going rate for my position in this area for a company this size. Texas is an at-will state so I think the owner can legally do this if he chooses. Considering how I remember my boss arguing with the owner over the phone about paying me /hr (owner wanted /hr or less) I think he is likely to do it.

I’m an Administrative Assistant making /hr. I answer the phone, handle city permitting and inspection issues, handle visitors and counter sales, back up for scheduling…when this guy isn’t in I fill in for him 100% (take all his calls, schedule installations, trims, and final work) scan & email paperwork, and scan in paperwork for archival purposes. I also happen to be the only extremely computer savvy employee in the company. I provide software assistance for all packages including AutoCAD (have an honors degree in drafting), troubleshoot the computers and issue a report to accounting who then contacts the outsourced maintenance company to complete the repairs, maintain/upgrade all databases, create new applications, maintain/upgrade the in-house created software (originally created by my ex-boss who quit earlier this year).

In your opinion…is /hr too much for my position considering my duties as listed above?

My boss would like me to call old clients who haven’t been here in awhile in an attempt to get their business back.

How would I go about wording this?
I don’t want to seem too pushy or just look like we need money or something.
"it’s a love hate thing": That’s a great way to say it! Thank you!!!

<by Sherman Burton
HOW INCOMPETENT MANAGERS CAN AVOID BEING FIRED
In these days of company downsizing, it is not hard to become paranoid about losing one’s job. Managers that cannot conceal inaptness are an endangered species. This is how you survive when you find yourself, an incompetent, 1950s born, missed out on everything, technologically illiterate, newly promoted, head of a department in this environment.
Since incompetents do not get promoted on merit, you must be an expert at sucking up to higher management and taking credit for the good work of others. Those are real strengths among incompetent managers in today’s market. Get your nose buried comfortably in the right spot on the person you answer to. Your first goal is to learn which manager beneath you shines the brightest and your second goal is to learn what output from your department is considered the most important.

Next, study the files of the employees in the Shining Star’s division along with those of their boss. Learn their strengths of record, then dig deeper during face to face encounters. Your objectives are twofold: You want to make them know they have a friend above their boss, on the one hand; and, discover what skills you can call upon in getting things done in areas, especially technology related, that you will be expected to produce. Using these employees will not only get work done which you can claim as your own but it will also place the shining star under pressure to maintain production.
Now, it is time to befriend the shining star. This is the person next in line to take your job. Start with an invitation for a chat in your office. This highlights the fact that you are the boss. Keep the conversation about that person. Be generous with the,( me too, wow, I thought I was the only one that thought that) surprised discovery of similarity exclamations. Extend these meetings to luncheons and, if appropriate, to the mall or golf course. Where genders do not match, include significant others in the away from the office excursions besides the luncheons. Learn what aspect of the job your opponent finds most challenging. When you clue your boss, pretend that you discovered this by way of astute observation. The purpose of every conversation is to dig for any dirt or personal weakness which you can, at opportune moments, pass to your boss.
Always be alert for opportunities to be noticed by persons further up the chain of command. You could get an employee to sneak some digital shots of departmental employees in unusual poses. Then burn a CD presenting the pictures with witty descriptions in a Power Point Presentation. You bypass your boss and mail it directly to the home office with a suggestion that it would make for a hilarious surprise during the annual meeting of department heads and upper management. The Brass is sure to be impressed by your sense of humor and creative ability.
Your likelihood of being fired will be greatly lessened if you micro manage. That usually requires a major drop in that output your boss considers the most important. Unequally shifting the work load by keeping selected employees of that division busy doing other work is a neat way of causing such a drop. Once the stage is set, tell your boss the entire department is threatened, and, as much as you hate to do it, you must micro manage to restore the productivity back to acceptable levels. Then, as a micro manager, the chain of command runs directly from you to each employee. You will be the only one that knows what is going on. That is every incompetent manager’s dream. I am sure you, like most incompetent managers, have the type of character to accomplish it.>

Hi, my boss asked me to to figure out a way to cut down drastically on our telephone expenses. Although I don’t handle telephone systems per say, I’m a computer IT guy and figure I can handle this.
We currently have a 30 year old dinosaur phone system supported by Avaia and it’s routing four phone lines from ATT..then a fifth dedicated fax line which goes to a computer with fax software. Total 5 telephones, it’s a small office.
My goal is to cut down the telephone lines to 2 or 3 as business is very slow (we only advertise one number too). I’m hoping to get rid of the whole telephone system (which looks like a big switchboard and currently takes up a large closet) and get rid of the avaya bill too..phones can be bought on ebay for cheap when they break…we’re only paying for Avaya to keep the dinosaur alive, and they don’t want to do it. Basically the only features we need in office are the ability to put calls on hold and the boss likes his speed dialing…intercom would be nice.
Any suggestions..what would you do? Links to telephone routers or voip or something would help. Thanks.

what are the rules on recording a phone call or conversation that you are having with someone else.
I was told that as long as one person knows it’s legal. (ie you record you and a boss, you know so it’s legal)
Please post your sources.
I’m in texas if that counts

Ok, Me and this girl both got hired at the same time for the same position. I work at a Credit Union. I am 24 yrs old and she is 39 yrs old. I am the kind of person that takes my job seriously. Within a week that I got hired, I learned the new system very fast, how ever, the other girl didn’t.
For some reason, my boss so some potential in me and decided to give me more responsibilities, like handling internal business accounts, passing journal entries, calculating investment dividends and so forth, and the girl (her name is Wanda) didn’t like that. Wanda is the kind of girl that likes to flirt and smile at everyone, tell everyone her problems, talk on the phone even during working hours about person business and complain about when she wants to go to lunch so that she can watch her favorite show at a certain time.

So anyways, last Friday, we had a meeting and my boss announced that I was going to be promoted as her executive assistant because of my vast knowledge on lots of things, plus my salary will increase 12% from 28500….(the salary part wasn’t announced) I was excited, but Wanda had the nerve to say.."Why is she getting promoted, she is too young and does not have enough work experience, plus I am older and I have children, I should be the one getting promoted and getting the raise, its only fair."

And when my boss asked me if I accept the offer, I said yes, and Wanda started tearing up.

Was I wrong to accept the offer. I could use the money plus the experience.

hi all~ there are 3 issues here; first the background –

i’m the fiancee of a great guy and one of my best friends and her husband hired him in mid-2009 to work in their small biz shop. (My fiance also counted them as his friends; he has his own history with them. They’ve been friends with me 8 years, with some time off cause we were living in different states; a little less for him.)

They spoke to us that my fiance could really be the guy for the long-term, they want to groom him, and well, my fiance was excited. The nature of what they sell is *very* specific and you might say a little controversial and I personally have literally not met anyone in my major metropolitan area who would a) have that specific knowledge or b) truly care as much as my fiance did about his work and my friends’ business. My fiance created a product that went viral soon after it was placed for sale — it received coverage in a major newspaper. My fiance’s freaking smart.

well – first time they let my fiance go because their small biz was broke – they literally showed us the bank account statements – and they couldn’t afford to pay him. Fine. A week or so later they apparently realized their mistake and hired him back. He had extreme loyalty to them, and they had hired him to replace TWO employees. Well, as weeks progressed and my friends the business owners still hadn’t set systems in place for organization and work process, my fiance began to hear his boss tell him to work more quickly, multi-task more, take less time on quality. My fiance did the best he could and tried to be understanding. Long story short the male biz owner called my fiance on a Sunday night right after he had put in a half day of work on the weekend to say, sorry, too slow, things are still too backed up, we need someone in here who can do everything faster, you’re out of a job.

My fiance was BLINDSIDED. He was in *grief*. Actual literal grief. My heart ached for him, and I felt foolish for being so optimistic in the first place. My fiance, by all my observations ( i’m aware i have a bias ) was the very best and most *trustworthy* person they’ll hope to find. I fully respect that a business owner can run his/her business as he sees fit. My thing is, I feel there was so much missing in terms of communication, smarts and basic respect from them while he was on the job… I saw sides of them I’d never seen before, and I was disappointed.

issue A) – my own personal problems with my female friend the biz owner; I feel ignored and cast aside. One month before they fired him, my female friend had been very difficult to get responses from via phone or email, not responding to messages, if we would run into each other afterwards, I always heard the refrain of "sorry I’ve been busy". Usually I would have to place calls to her just to be social. One time when she and I were face to face at the shop I invited her to lunch, she said yeah, definitely, we’ll do lunch next week. I said great… but no follow up from her, nothing. I understand busy-ness. I work full time and got lots going on and keep a busy schedule too.

It was at this time my fiance got me my beautiful custom made engagement ring and we formally announced our engagement. Messages and calls poured in for best wishes and congrats — again, I heard *nothing* from my female friend! She hadn’t seen the ring and expressed no interest in seeing it. I was and continue to be ASTONISHED at this. …But a week or so after her husband FIRED my fiance, she left a message to call her — she wanted to know if we were coming to her Halloween party, apparently as her ‘no hard feelings’ gesture. I could only laugh. Here we were, newly engaged, planning a wedding, with one of us suddenly out of a job, money tight as hell, newly moved into a new apartment — and she’s concerned about if we will grace her goddamned party. Well suffice to say, she got nothing from us. My fiance had been curious if her husband would even call just as a follow-up, or to see if he found a couple cds of his – nothing from him. Meanwhile, I wanted to see what she would be motivated to do in November. No follow up calls, no emails did I receive from her either.

issue B) – is my fiance’s grief/disappointment and lack of respect for our friend the male business owner. Last time we discussed it, my fiance did not want anything to do with them, and him especially. However, the other day my fiance did say that he did not want to hold a grudge against them.

NOW… our WEDDING is coming up- and we have-

issue C) – is I want to respect my fiance and create the best day for him, as he is for me. He has not yet suggested we be in talks with them or invite them to the wedding. I *could* feel good about inviting them, but in my opinion my female friend would have to get right with me first and stop being such a deadbeat friend (it’s always "call me!"). I feel like I’ve made too many overtures that were spurned, and that s
(continued) that she just plain didn’t care about what was going on in my life. Yet we heard through the grapevine that they were worried and upset that we weren’t at their party.

This sucks. We’re in a limbo, no one wants to make a move first, and I’m seriously thinking of enlisting the assistance of a third party — a mutual friend to all four of us. As it stands right now, I’m going to be sad if they wouldn’t be there at the wedding, and sad if they would be there at the wedding without a full airing out of the situation and grievances.

Ideas, plans, admonishments, praise, criticism? Let me know! Thanks.

** p.s. – he and I met, by and large, through this couple. **