I left work because no one would let me in, refusing to manage a problem employee, and more

It’s four answers to four questions. Here we go…

1. I left work because no one would let me in

I (19-year-old female) recently ghosted my job at McDonalds because my coworkers would lock me out at 5 in the morning. Why? I’m not completely sure, I’m guessing it was to keep the customers out but again, I’m not completely sure. All I know is that Every. Single. Time. they scheduled me to work at 5am, I would always be locked out the building and it would always take me roughly 10-25 minutes to get in the building without breaking the door down, blowing up the phone, or climbing through the drive-through window. Going to the drive-through didn’t help either because nobody in the building would wear headsets that early in the morning because customers barely come that early. It became so frustrating not only for me, but for my mom too because every morning when she would take me to work at 5 am and see me be locked out, she’d get angry and honk the horn and stay on it until someone came to the window. She would always cuss them out for leaving me out there, and I didn’t want there to be any conflict so I’ve just been walking to work.

I went to my general manager and another manager about it and asked for a shift change. I told them that I don’t want to be opening cashier anymore and that I’ll work night shift or mid shift, anything except morning shift. And they said okay and that “they’ll figure something out” but a whole month later, nothing changed. So went to them for a second time and said that I CANT be opening cashier anymore and they said it’ll take some time. Three whole months went by and I was working mid shift and night shift every other day, but they still had me as opening cashier.

Recently, I was supposed to show up to work 5-11, but I showed up late because of Uber so I didn’t get there until 5:19 and when I tried to open the door, they were still locked like always. So I tried to get my coworker’s attention because her head was poking out the window talking to a customer, but no matter how much I waved or called her name she didn’t hear or see me. I tried calling the store’s phone and nobody answered so I hung up and walked to the other side of the building to try the other door and it was locked (unsurprisingly) so I tried to call a second time. Nobody picked it up, so I hung up, looked across the street to Starbucks, ran over there to get myself a drink, and walked 45 minutes back home. Is it bad that I did this?

Did you ever go back? Or was that you quitting? Either way, it’s justified — you tried to get inside to work, you made multiple efforts to gain access to the building, and you couldn’t so you left. That said, at that point you should have contacted your manager to let them know — as in, “I’ve been outside the building for X minutes and have called and knocked repeatedly but can’t get in so I am going home for the day.”

But I can’t blame you for being fed up that you’d raised this issue repeatedly for months and nothing was done about it. (Caveat: I’m assuming that when you asked to stop working the morning shift, you explained why and asked them to resolve it.)

Were they paying you for all that time you were spending outside the building every day, or did they not pay you until you got inside and could clock yourself in? Because in many states, they would owe you for the time you were outside and couldn’t access the building; you showed up as scheduled and it’s on them that you couldn’t get inside. (Google your state name and the words “reporting time pay.”)

2. My boss wants to knock on our shared wall to get my attention

We’re currently in a temporary office space while our space is being renovated. In the old space, my boss’ office used to be at the end of a row of cubicles (only for our team of five), so she would call out our names (mostly mine) when she wanted our attention. I always hated it because not only did I feel like a dog who had to come when called, but she’d get annoyed if you didn’t answer her for whatever reason (not actually there, have headphones on, didn’t actually hear her). In the temporary space, we’re all spread out so she can’t do this (though she tries) and its been nice, though she’s taken to calling my desk phone instead of just pinging me on Teams.

At the end of the month we’re going to be moving back to the new space, and I’ll be in the office right next to hers. She’s “joked” that she can just knock on the shared wall when she wants my attention. Am I crazy or is this not normal? And how do I stop this before it starts?

Knocking on your shared wall would be obnoxious. Calling out your names is also pretty disruptive, although not outrageous. Being annoyed if you don’t hear her or, you know, aren’t actually there is ridiculous.

If she jokes about knocking on the wall again: “You’re probably joking, but gosh I would really hate that! Can you ping me on Teams?”

If you move into the new space and she does start knocking on your wall: “It really startles me when you knock on the wall and I have an instinctive adrenaline response. Can you ping me on Team instead?”

She’s probably going to keep calling out your name, though, unless you address that directly too. You might be stuck with that part of it, but you could try saying, “Sometimes when you call my name I’m on a call or don’t hear you. Could you message me on Teams so that way I’ll always know you’re looking for me as soon as I’m available?”

Related:
is it rude to call out an employee’s name when I want them to come into my office and they’re nearby?
my boss yells for employees to come to her — over and over

3. How can I refuse to take over managing a problem employee?

After a traumatic firing of an outstanding and beloved department director, our flat-organization department was told we would be reorganized with some hierarchies, to “increase productivity.”

It turns out what they mean is that they want to unload onto me the management of a problem employee, to “assist me” in my projects. I do not manage anyone now, nor do I ever want to (though I know enough not to tell them that I don’t ever want to).

Chris, the employee, is the sweetest, kindest, most cheerful and generous person you will ever meet. The previous director was trying to help them file for disability for a long time, unsuccessfully, for ADHD and a variety of other things. Chris often has nothing to do, because any project they are assigned to simply adds to the project manager’s work, so people try to get out of working with them. Nobody wants to be the one to have to deal with and possibly fire them.

I will not take on the practical, legal, and emotional workload of managing and probably firing Chris. I am willing to quit over it, though I hope I do not have to. What is constructive language I can use that will help me look like a team player while refusing to kill Bambi for them?

“Chris is a lovely person, but I’ve given this a lot of thought and I’m not comfortable being their manager.”

If they press you: “Because of the problems with Chris’s work, managing them effectively would require an enormous amount of time and energy that I can’t take on without significant cuts to the rest of my role — and to be transparent, that would be a significant enough change to my job that it would make it hard for me to stay. I’m currently very happy here so I hope that there’s another solution.”

Also, do you mange people currently? If not and they’re not proposing any additional compensation for taking on a management role, that’s absurd … not necessarily something worth pointing out to them because you’re not trying to negotiate a way to make this worthwhile, just trying to say no, but ridiculous nonetheless.

4. Would my old boss be open to me returning now that a medical issue is under control?

I worked in a laboratory for 1.5 years. My performance was spotty as my attendance was poor and I took frequent breaks due to chronic pain. My work always got done, but I was known as the “slow” employee. I had a particularly rough week where everything that could go wrong went wrong, and as a result I was placed on a performance improvement plan (PIP). Following that, I pushed myself and completely turned around and was performing spectacularly. My supervisor was thrilled. Despite this, the company was hit by a massive layoff that cut a quarter of my department only two weeks following the PIP. Needless to say, I lost my job.

That was a year ago. I’ve since gone back to school, been successful in my new position, gotten new certifications that are relevant to the job, and finally discovered the health reason behind why I was sick and in medically described “debilitating pain” all the time. I loved the job, and it was a niche field so there’s no other local location where I could do the same work. After my medical treatment is complete in a year or so, I want to reach out to the company and provide an explanation for the attendance issues, as well as open the door for potential rehire, possibly as a provisional seasonal/part-time employee. So, as a manager, would you consider hearing my case in this situation?

Realistically … it depends. If the main issues while you were working there were how often you missed work and how many breaks you needed, and you’re able to credibly explain that it was directly connected to a health problem that is now under control and that you’ve been working successfully without those issues for a solid chunk of time (probably  six months or longer), and you had otherwise done good work aside from that, I’d be open to it. That’s especially true if it’s a job that’s hard to hire for; if it’s not, I might err on the side of caution and not want to risk it.

But more importantly, while they might say no, it’s not outrageous to ask. I would actually reconnect with your old manager now and just update her about what’s going on, framed as, “I wanted to let you know that I was able to solve the issues I was having with ___ — turns out I have a medical condition that had been causing it, and it’s under control now. I’m working at X doing Y, and things are going really well. I really appreciate you working with me while I was struggling to figure this out, and I hope all is well with you, blah blah, small talk small talk.” Then, in a year when you want to ask about potentially returning, you’ll have already filled her in and will be able to refer back to that.

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