Dear J.T. & Dale: My co-worker has a new baby. Recently, the babysitter quit, and so she and her husband have been juggling the responsibilities of caring for the baby at home. We all work from home and do a…
Dear J.T. & Dale: My co-worker has a new baby. Recently, the babysitter quit, and so she and her husband have been juggling the responsibilities of caring for the baby at home. We all work from home and do a lot of conference calls together. The baby always seems to be fussing, and it’s super distracting. She always apologizes about it, and I can tell that she is stressed out.
J.T.: Wait a minute. This is really difficult for everyone. First, it’s difficult for your co-worker because finding childcare is not an easy thing. I’m sure she’s working as hard as she can to fix the situation. At the same time, if it goes on too long and nobody comments, she may assume that it’s OK, and she won’t look for daycare.
Dear J.T. & Dale: I started a TikTok account to show people how cool my job is. A couple of my TikToks went viral, and my employer found out. They’ve asked me to stop. Do they have the right to do that? — Hunter DALE: I’m not sure what they’re worried about. You should ask. Maybe there’s some intellectual property concerns. Or maybe it’s just a bureaucratic reflex of paranoia. Either way, they ought to want to work with you to make this something great for all concerned. So, take J.T.’s advice, and it’ll be a test of management to see if yours really is a cool job.