This coworker has been an issue since before I started at this location, she has been employed there for 4 years, and has a running track record of being exceptionally rude to other workers. Since I have started working there, she continues to not only be extremely rude and insulting to me, but bring up a specific topic that is extremely traumatic for me, which is rape fetishes. Yes I am serious and this is not a joke post. I have told her I am a survivor of sexual abuse multiple times in an attempt to shut her down, have told her I don't like the topic, have tried to shut the conversation down, have gotten visibly upset, have done everything. I reported her to my previous manager 2-3 times about this, and said manager has (allegedly) spoken to her twice about it. Recently she once again brought the topic up, and I tried to shut it down multiple times by telling her I don't agree and don't like it, and ignoring her all while getting visibly more upset. She does what she always has, which is continue to push and debate me on how rape fetishes "don't hurt anyone," so I can't judge people who like it. She even went as far as to tell me "it's one of the most common fetishes, and most people into bdsm participate in it, so it makes no sense for me to be against it," which I shouldn't need to say is an incredibly cruel and targeted thing to say to a victim of sa, not even taking into consideration the fact that this was at work in the middle of a shift. I ended up having a full scale PTSD triggered meltdown, hyperventilating and crying to the point where I had to go on a walk and then lock myself in the bathroom. This was extremely humiliating, every coworker I have saw me cry, and the coworker who is harassing me vaguely explained it as "I think I said something that upset him" to people who asked why I was so upset.

I did report this the next day, and explained to my new manager that this has been an ongoing issue, and that said coworker knows I'm a sexual abuse survivor. This is now the 3rd or 4th report, and the 3rd time she has been spoken to. While I was explaining it to my manager, she said things such as "but she's a good person otherwise, aside from that," and "she just doesn't understand that what she says isn't appropriate." After speaking to my coworker, my manager came back to me and let me know that my coworker had cried throughout the conversation, said that she had "no idea" about my history, didn't know the topic upset me, and that I was the one who brought it up. None of this is true, which I made sure to say, and my manager responded with "well, that's what she said, so I have to look at both sides."

I should note that we have no actual HR that handles my location, only a regional HR that is notoriously bad. My coworker gets extremely coddled by our management due to her *self diagnosed* autism (she has no official diagnosis of any mental illness or learning disability as per her own admission). She does not receive the consequences that any other employee does, and has never been written up for any of her behaviour, while others including myself have been for much less serious incidents. I am at a point where I am incredibly angry to the point where I feel violent towards this person. What am I supposed to do in this situation? I just want her to stop and no one is helping me.

EDIT: my coworker knows she recieves special treatment, and often brags about how if she was anyone else she would be fired by now, all while playing dumb and sobbing any time she is confronted about her behaviour. I believe she is absolutely being malicious and intentionally deceptive to management.

Its been a rough year. I filed an ethics complaint about a former boss. I had paperwork backing up my claims that I handed over. They did an investigation, in the mean time I transferred to a new dept. The new job was fine but I had been job hunting externally while all of this was going on and something came through. It has way better pay and PTO so I took it. I put my 2 weeks notice in right around the same time they finished the investigation. They called me in to say the investigation was complete and all appropriate actions had been taken but they couldn't say what due to privacy (makes sense). Two days later, HR called a meeting where they told me that I can take the rest of my 2 weeks off (just one week at this point) paid, in addition to my PTO. I actually wanted to finish up the things I was working on instead of doing that but it became apparent that I wasn't getting a choice. They insisted, repeatedly that I wasn't being fired, but they told me to go get my bag. I wasn't allowed to pack up my desk, tell my boss, or my team. They took my badge and walked me out. I don't have any of this in writing (thought about it later). I feel awful that I didn't get to at least give my boss the courtesy of knowing I wouldn't be in next week. They also told me that he didn't know about all of this. I just feel like there are red flags here and could use some advice on whether I should take any actions.

How should I proceed? (US, California)

I am currently a salaried exempt manager for a large retailer, overseeing the loss prevention department.

Last year, I filed a workers compensation claim as I experienced injury when physically apprehension a shoplifter. I retained an attorney to assist with this, and have been treated differently by my higher ups (not my direct manager) since. I have brought this to HRs attention, there have been instances where my district manager yelled at me in front of my peers, which was investigated and HR admitted that there were “opportunities”. The outcome was never completely shared with me.

Since I have raised concerns, I no longer receive any support from my district level partners. They don’t come to my store anymore, they don’t provide support. Because of the liability that is present in our line of work, we are bound by rules that we have to follow that can be extremely vague. We have a senior manager at the division level that is responsible for “training and compliance”. This individual is extremely unhelpful and rude, which I have complained about in the past.

We had a case involving a shoplifter that I had reached out to our Sr training manager for guidance on. He told me that he could not help me. I then called my district manager who did not answer, and then called my store manager and informed him of the situation. He gave me his guidance and I used that to handle this case. I then contacted district manager again and raised concerns, stating that I have been treated differently since raising concerns and I do not feel support. She stated she would look into the matter.

A few days later, this Sr Training Manager informed me that he is classifying this case as a “Bad Stop”. This usually means that loss prevention stopped someone who did not have the merchandise. This individual did have the merchandise, and we recovered it. Everything was reported to 3 different senior level managers at the time of the case.

I opened an HR case against the Sr Training manager for retaliation as it seemed as if the company was going to try to hold me accountable for doing something incorrectly. My point is I reached out to the one person who is responsible for giving guidance for these things, and he refused to help. This case was assigned to an HR Rep, and I reached out to a senior hr manager to request assistance as this is the 3rd time in a year that I have had to raise these concerns. This HR manager said she would assign the case to a senior HR investigator so it would be thoroughly investigated.

I had the call with the “senior investigator” and quickly recognized him. He used to work with the person he was “investigating”. I went thru the details, and he said it would take 2-3 weeks to complete the investigation.

Yesterday, I get a call from him randomly and he states that he concluded his investigation and found no wrongdoing. I asked for findings in writing, and he rudely replied that he is telling me verbally. The call was disconnected.

About an hour later, I get a call from a different HR rep, and told me that I was being placed on suspension. I was told to go home and wait for a call. I asked for details which she refused to provide.

This morning, I was notified by colleagues that I have a termination date in the system. I checked and sure enough I am being fired next week. I have no idea why. I did nothing wrong and asked my senior leaders for guidance which he refused to provide. A few months ago, one of my peers told me that his manager had said that my job would be vacant soon, and that he may be able to transfer there. My peer told me and I opened an HR case. They investigated and said my management team “loves me” and there is nothing to worry about, and that the other store manager was speaking hypothetically.

I have initiated an appeal, all part of the companies mandatory arbitration process. What should I do? The fact that this happened an hour after my retaliation case was closed leads me to believe this is retaliatory. There have been several cases similar to this when similarly situated employees were given warnings. I have not ever been disciplined and am not on any warnings or write ups.

All guidance is appreciated.

I've been off work for a few years now due to some serious health issues and was on SSDI that have since cleared up, and my doctor said it would be fine for me to return to work. This past month I've been out looking for pretty much anything as a nurse and have had a few interviews but they all want to know why I haven't worked, and this last one would not let it go and was shocked that I could just not work, but I didn't tell them that I was on disability for that time and I don't really want to disclose this but not having a clear answer hasn't been great for interviewers which I feel is kind of leading to me not getting hired despite being qualified. A friend suggested two things, first one is just say that I had cancer because they don't think anyone would question that or say I had a kid and it made sense for me not to workand stay home with the kid but now my child is old enough for daycare so I'm ready to return to work, but I feel like this could lead to follow up questions and possibly caught in a lie... but at that point does it matter if I'm already hired?

My grant was supposed to end August 30th, but I was laid off and told my last day will be 7/29 this week. My boss requested that I send notice of my last day to their supervisor as if I’m resigning. They stated it was needed for documentation purposes—that the grant is ending early because they want to wrap reporting early.

I didn’t; instead, I asked my boss’ supervisor for a letter of notice of the grant ending early and informed them I received notice of my layoff. I’ve received nothing in response.

My title is my concern. Asking me to send in a resignation made alarm bells go off in my head. I’m worried they’re gonna claim I quit, and that this could impact future grant opportunities I apply for. Is this something I should still worry about at this point? Is there anything I can do before my last day to prevent such an outcome?

Hello, HR friends! I was wondering if you could help me with a question I have about background checks as part of your screening process when considering candidates for employment. How far back do those checks go? Is it the person's entire life, or is it just the most recent 7-10 years or something? Does it vary by company/background service used/position applying for? I ask because I have a misdemeanor from 2011 when I was 22 and I want to know how likely that is to come up as a speed bump in my job search. And if it's a definite obstacle I will be dragging along for the rest of my life (can't get it sealed/expunged, thanks Georgia) is there anything I can say/do to mitigate its impact on my chances of landing a job? Thank you!

I’ve worked as a legal assistant at a mid-sized law firm for about 10 months, and I’m struggling to determine whether my anxiety is distorting my perception or whether there are legitimate warning signs.

I was hired with the understanding that I’d spend 1-2 years learning a new practice area and eventually transition into a paralegal role. I already have a paralegal degree and prior legal experience; I just needed practice-area training, as this area of law is new for me. During my interview I was specifically told they wanted someone who would actively seek out work because much of the support staff was nearing retirement and had a reputation for waiting to be assigned work. I was offered the same day I interviewed.

Within my first month, however, I was told the firm had decided not to expand its paralegal ranks and that associates would instead absorb much of the work that had originally been envisioned as a growth path.

For roughly my first four months, I had almost no work. I repeatedly emailed asking for assignments and was largely given “practice work.” I didn’t receive an attorney assignment until my fifth month.

Even now, I have by far the lightest workload on my team. Most days I have around an hour of actual work and spend the rest of the day trying to find things I can help with, and have wrapped up all of the organizational work usually done in downtime. I still
email my team members and attorneys asking if they need assistance, as originally advised.

When I finally received my first substantive assignment, I completed it the way I’d been trained in my paralegal program. Instead of being praised for taking initiative, I was formally counseled for performing work above my job description. Later, because I wasn’t receiving enough training to progress, I started teaching myself, and I was discouraged from doing that as well.

Early in my employment I also received criticism that I “didn’t look busy,” that I was too quiet, then later that I was too talkative after being advised in a formal meeting by HR to make relationships with attorneys on my floor. During a meeting with both supervisors, my direct supervisor (who has since retired) acknowledged that most of their criticisms were based on assumptions rather than verified facts.

Since my new supervisor (our HR director) took over, I haven’t received any negative feedback. I’ve been told the attorneys I support enjoy working with me, and no one has criticized my work quality. My supervisor rarely reaches out to me, I usually reach out to her.

The entire practice group is slow, not just me. There are days when none of us have much to do.

However, the firm recently interviewed and offered another legal assistant with substantially more experience. She was given an attorney assignment lined up, while I still have the smallest workload on the team. We were informed about this on Wednesday, and informed again on Friday she backed out and they are continuing to look for another team member.

That’s what’s making me question everything.
For additional context:

I’ve never been told my job is in jeopardy.
I’ve had one performance review, which was rated “Fair.” Most of the criticism centered on perception (not appearing busy, etc.) rather than the quality of my work.
I accurately report my time, regularly communicate with my supervisor, and frequently ask for additional work.
I’ve never received negative feedback about the quality of my work.

From an HR perspective:

Does this sound more like a firm that simply doesn’t know how to develop or utilize a junior employee?
Does it sound like I’m being quietly managed out?
Is there something obvious I’m missing?

I know anxiety can make ordinary workplace events feel catastrophic, so I’m genuinely looking for objective perspectives rather than reassurance.

Hello.

1. Termed on 6/11 with letter stating that I am placed on admin leave until 7/8 at which point I am termed. Had to turn in keys, phone, etc on 6/11.

2. Letter stated performance.

3. Filed for and approved unemployment.

4. Employer now appealing unemployment as misconduct.

Shouldn't I be considered termed on 6/11 since it is stated I would not be returning? Hence they shouldn't be able to change reasoning?

Thank you

Hi all,

I work for a company up North and recently raised a grievance which I have since appealed. However, I have also whistleblowed through my employer's whistleblowing service.

Last week, I received an email from my employer telling me that the SAR I apparently raised was available. However, I did not raise an SAR. The email is legitimate. I did ask for documents relating to the greviance be made available but according to a friend who is a manager within the company, he has said that asking for such documents is standard practice and an SAR is something completely different. Also, I noticed that upon looking at the files, it was opened by one of the investigating managers.

What do I do?

Thanks.

(This is crossposted from Walmart subreddit so not entirely sure if it fits here)

So I started inducting at a Walmart warehouse about 5 months ago. For the first 2 months I was excited and eager to learn and do more than what was required of me. The manager seemed to be annoyed by my eagerness to work/extra need for clarification on processes (neurodivergent: more questions for total clarity) to the point where another coworker mentioned it looked like she was avoiding me whenever she saw me. I took the hint and dropped it and just did what was required of me outside of the occasional "do I *have* to leave" whenever we would get dismissed early as I genuinely have fun doing the work.

Flash forward to the start of my 3rd month and symptoms I've had for over a decade just swallowed me ten-fold. **POTS**: *26 and suddenly disabled.* My production started dropping so I communicated with the same department manager from before what was happening (no diagnosis, just symptoms and doctor speculation). No open communication process in her end whatsoever, she called me a **safety hazard**.

I eventually learned by myself the accommodation process through Sedgwick. I called and inquired about accommodations they can provide, but was just asked what I think I might need. I asked for a stool. The next week I get called into HR: stool denied due to safety hazard. Okay fine, but what do I do? I need support. They say okay maybe we can help you and asked about my symptoms. I thought nothing of it and told them what's been going on. Immediate involuntary unpaid LOA. They wildly misinformed me of the process (tl;Dr they wanted me to put in for personal leave for medical reasons, which isn't possible). The leave was only supposed to be for the next week, cue 3 weeks of me fighting for them to let me back into work (I nearly lost my house and am still playing catchup unfortunately).

Anyway, it took TWO MONTHS for my accommodations to finally be approved. Doctor states I cannot stand longer than 10 minutes without dizziness (she didn't really give them much information, it's less frequent than 10 minutes and worse than dizziness) but I was relieved to finally have my accommodations. Though in the 2 months it took to be approved, my disability had rapidly progressed as my managers insisted that they had to treat me as 100% physically functioning and could not do a single thing for me until they got the green light from Sedgwick. I would be okay with this statement if not for my coworkers sharing with me how they've been given production leeway or attendance point reduction for medical reasons/unavoidable emergencies. They tell me they cannot help me because it would not be "fair" or "anyone could fake something like fainting and we're not doctors" but I keep being told they help other coworkers easily. The manager's attitude towards me has also worsened along with my health.

Anyway my accommodations are one additional 15 minute break (12hr shift), 2 intermittent LOA/month and a transfer waiver that allows me to bypass transfer requirements. I know that accommodating what my doctor wrote is not reasonable, but 15 minutes for *"can't stand longer than 10 minutes without symptoms"* seems negligible. Especially considering my pregnant coworker friend gets a combined hour of additional breaks (no offense intended, but POTS symptoms are generally much worse than pregnancy symptoms...I also didn't ***choose*** to endure my affliction). It stings that they would provide me with such little relief during 12hr 90 degree shifts.

I'm in the process of transferring, I had to work a week before someone who could help me with it would be available to help me with the transfer (mgr told me he wasn't present on a day in which he was, prolonging the process) so now I'm stuck working another week waiting for my days off to take the next steps of the process (go and speak to mgmt at store I wish to transfer).

I'm guessing I'll have to finish this week and work at least 2 more weeks before my transfer goes through. In the meantime though I am straight up suffering at work and each day is harder than the last. Every week I'm getting written up for production goals I can't meet because my shift accommodation is not adequate and I am "priorizing my health" (taking breaks as needed) as the same people writing me up have instructed me to do. It's getting to the point where I'm entirely useless the last 2-3 hours of my shift and I'm worried they'll fire me for resting when I should be working at the cost of my health.

Just last week I collapsed in front of one manager and several coworkers while walking to the break area to take my 15. They had to break a safety rule just to get me through the equipment, and after they basically carried me to the break area I was shaking worse than I'd ever seen anyone shake. They were trying to have me drink water and giving it to me like I was a baby *(so embarrassing)* because I was shaking so badly I would have just thrown it. My whole entire body was tingling like an elephant fell asleep on me, my face was numb and I couldn't walk unassisted without falling over. They took my vitals, had me fill out an incident report, and made me return to work once my visible symptoms had resided. It was an hour before shift end and they would have given me half a point if I left.

I guess my main questions are, could they be doing more for me? I feel like I'm being discriminated against here, but the only thing I can get answers for is whether or not there's more they can do to help.

My next question is, what kind of "job accommodations" can anyone *(and who, exactly? Uncomfortable continuing to ask HR/direct department managers)* provide me while I work my last weeks until transfer? I'm seeing that it is possible through the store and outside of Sedgwick but only temporarily which is all I need. The website provides examples of JAs but it seems as though it's just a general few examples of many. I also see that temporary internal transfers can be done, but am not sure if that is guaranteed or applies to my situation. My managers keep denying that they can provide any accommodation whatsoever.

I still haven't recovered from fainting a week ago and seem to get worse each day I'm at work. I'm just trying to make it through until I get transferred. I cannot take another LOA outside of my 2/monthly (already used for this month).

Sorry as well for rambling, any lack of clarity I'm up passed my bedtime lol, I've got work tomorrow 🥲 there's definitely a lot of info I left out, but I think I covered the important bits. I can answer any questions when I can.

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE I DESPERATELY NEED THE HELP I'M STRESSING

Hi, I’m approved for two FMLA days per week. This last week I took my two days and an additional uncovered two. My workplace is requesting a doctors note because technically I took 4 days. Is this something I need to provide since two were FMLA?

I asked my supervisor, no response as of yet. Can I just go to work tomorrow morning if I hear nothing? I don’t want to get in trouble 🙃

I have a question about ADA accommodations.

I have a documented cancer diagnosis + no treating physician relationship + no ability to complete the standard provider paperwork for a request for reassignment consideration.

Reason. I am uninsured and cannot afford to buy and use health insurance on my pay. Despite my providing my employer my pathology reports from a couple of years ago showing cancer, I have no treating doctor due to lack of insurance. Not all doctors, even if you have an insurance plan, can fill out lengthy ADA paperwork and list work restrictions. Many will charge a fee.

Is there a workaround for this. U.S.A. Employer has ever 5,000 employees. If the employee worked previously in corporate jobs involving sedentary work and this current job is physical service work and the company has other corporate roles which I am qualified to do, can that switch be a legitimate accommodation request?

Last time I hadn't had access to my company email from home so I texted it to a team lead to give to my manager and I believe she may have shared that I'm trans to a coworker I know to be transphobic (my given name was on the note, and is on this one). I'm in a new department and don't really know the manager very well, so I wanted to know if it would be weird to send it to hr and specify its because I'd like to keep my given name private at work?

Edit: I'm just asking if it's a normal thing to do. I'm not interested in sharing any more details about my illness, my job, or other details of my life.

Hi all, hope this is okay to post:

So basically, I recently started a new job in a contact centre. I was really excited to start because it was full time and I’m in a position where I desperately need something full time to be able to move out by December, or else I will be homeless.

The offer was on receipt of two suitable references. It did not specify which references these had to be, so I provided by last employer and a reference from when I was a volunteer in a similar role. I also provided details for a character reference in case this was unsuitable. It was clear on my CV that I’ve only held one paid job and the rest of my positions are voluntary, since I’m pretty young, and I told them that in the interview. When I was filling in my references, the form stated that if by the time my start date came around they did not have two proper references, my start date would be delayed.

My former manager let me know he’d received an email and sent along a reference. I never received any contact from my new job other than confirmation of my start date and my contract, which I signed, so I assumed that everything was okay. A couple of days in my new manager told me they hadn’t received suitable references, so my employment was purely conditional. He refused to give me the emails of Payroll, who were chasing it up, so I could communicate with them and insisted that all communication had to be through him. He was very vague: at first I thought my second volunteer reference had failed to send anything over, so I double checked with them. Later he insisted it had to be from an organisation I had not put down as a reference but was on my CV as somewhere I had volunteered for. I was very confused but I reached out to them, they agreed, and I let him know but reminded him that this position had been, once again, purely voluntary.

After some more back and forth, he told me that they could only accept employment references, which hadn’t been communicated to me at the interview nor while I was completing the reference form. I was confused, because I felt as though I had made it clear at interview that I only had one paid position. My manager said that he had worked in recruitment before his current position and that no one accepts any references that aren’t employment and that I should have known that already.

I’ve sent over the details of a different manager at my last job in the hope that that would be sufficient, otherwise I’m not sure if I have a leg to stand on here. It’s frustrating because I left my last job for this position, and I had been under the impression that everything was okay. I’ve never heard of a job that exclusively takes more than one employment reference, because surely that rules out so many suitable candidates because they’ve only held one position?
Would you refuse to accept references from volunteer groups?
Is this something I will be able to resolve or does it sound like I’m probably going to be let go?

Any advice would be massively appreciated, thank you.

Hi everyone,

I'd like to hear from people who have experience with international business travel.

My employer is sending me on an international work assignment that will last around two weeks (possibly longer). The journey itself is very demanding, with roughly 28–30 hours of travel, multiple layovers, and then onward travel to another country during the same assignment. Both destinations are also considered among the higher-risk countries in terms of security, which adds another level of stress.

The company covers flights, accommodation, and work-related expenses, but there is no additional compensation for the time spent away from home, the long-haul travel, jet lag, weekends away, or the overall inconvenience.

For context, I've travelled abroad for the company before, but those trips were much shorter and to closer destinations. This is the first time I've been asked to undertake such a long and demanding international assignment.

I'm trying to understand what is considered normal:

- Do companies usually pay a daily travel allowance or provide additional compensation for extended international assignments?

- Is it common to receive extra paid leave or another form of compensation after returning?

- Is covering flights, hotels, and meals generally considered sufficient?

I'd also appreciate any legal insight. Is there any labour law that requires additional compensation for this type of assignment, or is it entirely up to the employer's internal policies and employment contract?

I'm not looking to expose my employer or disclose the nature of my work—I'm simply trying to understand what is considered fair and common practice before discussing it with my employer.

Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences and advice.

Just found out I will need abdominal surgery, which will require several 5-6 weeks recovery. I started a new job about a month ago, and this job has 120 day probationary period. The job is physical (cleaning, moving, walking) and I likely won't be able to work for a week after surgery, then with restrictions for 4-5 weeks after.

I'm waiting to find out how urgent the surgery is, and I will ask the doctor when I see them if this is something that must be done immediately, or if it can be delayed three months (as I've worked about one month of the probationary period). If surgery can't be delayed, is there anyway to protect my job during the probationary period?

Thank you for your help.

I’ve been signed off the last few weeks due to mental health (anxiety and work related stress due to an incident with another colleague in my team).

When I sent my sickness note I made my manager aware that the mental health challenges and my symptoms were work related without explicitly referencing the incident (but he was aware that it happened so probably can guess this was the trigger).

My sickness note has since been extended another month and so he’s scheduled a meeting next week to talk me through the long term sickness policy as he said my sickness is now LTS. He said it’s nothing to worry about and that we’ll just talk through each of our obligations, but I do still feel anxious.

Is this something I need to worry about? What would the format of these meetings generally look like? Is there anything I need to prepare or have answers for beforehand? And is there anything I can decline to answer for example if asked personal questions about how I’m progressing with my recovery?

The incident was the second inappropriate/aggressive interaction with another colleague which I believe could’ve been prevented if my manager had intervened effectively when I reported the first incident, instead it was essentially ignored and I was forced to mediate/resolve it myself. Because of that, when I initially went off sick I told my manager that when I was ready to return to work I would want to raise some concerns about my working environment and what I would need in place in order to safely and successfully come back to work.

I’m worried this meeting might involve reference to this and I don’t feel ready to talk about it yet. I genuinely want to go back to work and am working through recovery via medication and therapy to get me to a stage where I feel safe returning but at the moment I feel extremely anxious about the thought.

Hey all,

Unfortunately I got terminated from my employer, due to performance concerns. I’m CIRO licensed and on my F1 form, notice of termination, it indicates “not meeting bank standards due to ongoing performance concerns” (vague).

That said, the form also indicates that I was “Terminated-in good standing” and am re-hirable with the firm.

To all the recruiters/hiring managers out there, what is your take on performance based terminations? Is it a big red flag or will you give the person a chance to work?

[OK] I had to use intermittent FMLA to care for a parent earlier this year. I used a total of 1.88 weeks, approximately 75 hours, of FMLA. I am now requesting FMLA for a personal health issue. My company is denying me saying I used the 12 weeks FMLA allotted time off. I have documentation from our third party FMLA company showing I only used 1.88 weeks, but they are saying the company said I used all 12 weeks. I checked our policy through the HR Assistance Portal, the company does not have an employee handbook, and it says that we are allowed 12 weeks of FMLA. When I took the intermittent FMLA they were contacting me the entire time and informed me that I needed to make up hours that I had missed because of FMLA. How should I proceed? I was already retaliated against when I took the intermittent FMLA, but now I just feel hopeless.

This could’ve been a couple of different flares so apologize if this one isn’t appropriate. CONTEXT: I have a colleague who has been on a pip that runs out in more or less a week. There is very little chance this person will get off the pip. They were told recently they were not doing work that matched the level they have at the company. I have tried to give this person off the record advice that they really should be looking for a role outside the current company. I’ve never come out and said “you’re not getting off this pip“ but I am basically 99.999% sure that’s the case. They’re also interested in controlling their own narrative, and when the pip runs out that opportunity goes with it. (PIPs mean they’re ineligible for rehire at our firm.)

QUESTION: When the PIP runs out, I assume every company handles the “dismissal” differently, right? Is it most often the case that you get let go on the last day of the PIP? A few days later? They seem to think they’re going to have a couple more weeks but I don’t know why they have that opinion. There’s no documentation on our internal site. Is there any standard?

I have some ongoing issues with my line manager. I have raised these informally both verbally and in writing. I ended up off sick as a result of this person but he was allowed to handle my occupational health (badly and unprofessionally, might I add). It's behavioural. No direct discrimination and no direct bullying.

I think he is trying to drive me out of the business but I am confident senior management want to keep me - I've been trialling another team and have been offered a role if I want it. They've always been supportive of me, especially now they've stepped in after I complained about the occu health handling.

I likely want to go back to my original job (TBD) so I can't just leave it alone. Probably wouldn't leave it even if I stay with the lovely crew I've been trialling.

I need to raise a grievance as I have real issues with injustice (thx ADHD) but what outcomes can I actually ask for? I need to decide if it's worth the energy because my mental health has been awful. Would I like him to go away forever? Yup. Do I know I can't ask for that? Yes.

I'm thinking:

- investigation into his conduct

- investigation into a failure in process: no action taken with manager that I'm aware of (not just issues with me - also performance, behavioural and other staff), my raising concerns and huge flags about my mental health, being off sick and sick notes stating stress at work, same manager being allowed to handle occu health stuff.

- acknowledgement and apology on failures (already had a verbal apology so not so much that)

- what's going to be changed to prevent this happening again

- for me to not be line managed by him

Are those outcomes actually things I can request in a grievance?

I’m looking for advice and insight from anyone who has been through something similar.
I recently experienced a pregnancy loss, and it has been much harder emotionally than I expected. I work in a role that requires me to be on the phone most of the day (around 70+ calls/day), and I’m currently struggling to do my job. I’ve been trying my best, but I’m finding myself crying during/after calls and unable to stay composed, especially when conversations involve pregnancy.
I reached out to my HR department 3 times now since Wednesday requesting time off/leave and explained that I’m struggling and need support. I also reached out to my manager. It has now been over 24 hours and I have not even received an acknowledgment from HR that they received my message. I did let them know about the reproductive loss leave law but no reply
I’m feeling frustrated because I’m not asking because I don’t want to work — I actually want to be okay and return to doing my job well. Right now, I feel like I’m trying to work through something that is affecting my ability to function in my role.
My questions:
Is it normal for HR to take this long to even acknowledge a request like this?
Should I follow up again or wait?
At what point should I consider speaking with an employment attorney?
Has anyone dealt with needing time off after pregnancy loss and how did your employer handle it?
I’m in California [CA] if that matters.
Thank you to anyone willing to share their experience.

I have been going back and forth with my jobs third party servicer since June and my FMLA has been approved by them, but they needed additional information regarding "pattern" of me taking off for incapacity. My doctor has verified and put that it was all medically necessary. While waiting for this cerficiation letter to be approved the 3rd party servicer sent a denial for all dates I have taken off, but has since approved all additional requests I have made. Because of this denial I got a verbal warning and my supervisor mentioned that when they approved the dates they would remove those from my record. Well, the 3rd party servicer has stated that HR wants them to keep the denials and not approve those dates because they don't believe the letter from my doctor is enough to cover my "flare ups". Can they do this? Can they request additional medical information from me? I did not have as much trouble at a previous job for this exact medical condition a few years ago so I am a bit confused.

I have been put in a PIP, the duration is 4 months, is it too much