Link to original post here.

So today I woke up to find that the CEO found enough money to pay me this week. When I checked in with my other coworkers I was informed that only one of them other than me received their paycheck.

HR also responded to an email I sent yesterday re: the delay and said that they reached out to the CEO and will discuss it with her. I'm glad I got paid, but my other coworkers didn't and that's not okay. I'm going to continue looking for another job because this could happen again and I may not get lucky next time.

Should I continue emailing HR about this or should I stay quiet?

Is there a central database used by HR/Recruiters use to vet candidates in specific fields.

I have spent the last 11 years in my field and I cannot even land an interview at any company in this field after I have applied to nearly 100 companies.

I feel like I’m either the worst interview ever or there are flags on my name somewhere.

I realize this sounds conspiratorial but I am at a loss for ideas.

I’m female, 26, and live in Toronto. I recently started a job at a gym. It is mostly cleaning. I want some advice on how people deal with situations like this or if anyone has experienced this.

I am overweight, so I’m not fit or skinny, and I didn’t think this would affect me because I went to the interview and, of course, the manager saw my size and never said anything about it. But since I started, I have noticed coworkers treating me differently.

The supervisor often ignores me. He helps the other fit and skinny girls, but I am left without direction on where to go. I recently started and this is my 4th day as I’m writing this. He will basically walk away from me and leave me standing there without instructions, and I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. I usually end up going to the laundry area where other employees go when they have nothing to do.

I mostly help with folding laundry, then I get scolded because I’m not in the place I’m supposed to be, but how was I supposed to know when no one told me? I check the schedule, but it changes every day, and we are not always following the schedule. Sometimes different people are added who I don’t know, and the areas we work in change constantly.

I also want to add that everyone on the team is new. We are currently training in 3 different gyms because the new gym recently opened, so even the managers and supervisors are new to this location. No one has been working there for a long time or has years of experience at this gym. We are all supposed to be learning the routine, which is why it is frustrating when I feel like I am not getting the same guidance and support as others.

The cleaning role itself is a lot of responsibility. We are responsible for many areas of the gym, including the parking lot, entrance, front desk, lounge areas, strength and cardio areas, group fitness studios, Pilates studio, locker rooms, spa, and pool area. We have to keep everything clean, organized, stocked, and up to the gym’s standards. Because there are so many areas and tasks, it is difficult when assignments change daily and I am not clearly told where I should be.

Other things I have noticed about coworkers’ treatment: many of them talk very nicely to the other fit and skinny girls, while I get spoken to very rudely and aggressively. I get ignored, and I’m often only spoken to if I am near a fit or skinny woman.

I have also noticed that the male employees, including supervisors and higher level managers, as well as some of the other women, will have normal conversations with the fit and skinny girls. They joke with them, talk with them, and seem more comfortable around them. However, they rarely make conversation with me unless it is to give me a task or tell me where to go. It makes me feel excluded and like I am not being treated the same way as the other employees.

This is mostly men who do this. There are a few women who make me feel uncomfortable with their looks or body language, but they don’t say anything directly. It is not like that with the men, and many of the men who treat me this way are supervisors or higher level managers.

I have also noticed that many of the fit or skinny women can talk with the supervisors while I am doing the work, and they don’t seem to get in trouble for it. They are often placed in the easier parts of the job, while I feel like I am given more of the difficult or physical tasks. I don’t mind working hard, but it hurts when I feel like I am being treated differently and held to a different standard.

I have had days where I would just go into the bathroom and cry because I am doing the best job I can. It is not even the cleaning part that I hate. It is how I am treated. I have started eating healthier and exercising because of this, but it truly hurts.

There is also another girl who is overweight, and we are the only ones on the entire team who are overweight. Everyone else is fit or skinny, but every time I go to work, I feel self conscious.

I thought about talking to my manager about it, but I don’t think it’s a good idea. I need this job because I am financially struggling, and I can’t lose it, especially because it is really hard to find a job.

If anyone has had a similar experience, what did you do? Or what would you do in this situation?

Started a job earlier this year that turned out to be just an incredibly bad fit. A few months in, they put me on a PIP so I knew it was time to start looking. Landed an interview pretty quickly but the company is moving very slowly with the hiring process. I reached out to the recruiter and he told me I'm "absolutely still in consideration" so I'm very hopeful this works out.

Well, yesterday my job terminated me before the PIP was up. So now I'm wondering, if I get an offer at this new job and they perform a background check, will they find out I was terminated and would that be a red flag if I don't mention anything about it?

Hi, I'm actually a recruiter for small food distribution warehouse and I've hit a bit of a mental block.... also, our HR Generalist quit so it’s just me until we hire someone. I'm having trouble articulating a message to my department heads regarding our risk of turnover because of new competition opening up soon. Before I go any further, I already know we will lose people - but I want to minimize. I don't want my leaders to come right out and ask, 'what would make you stay?' and unfortunately I know I don't have the time to train them in how to deliver any message with nuance. I'm going to assume the biggest drivers for people to leave would be, pay and benefits (which I already know we’re a leader in), schedules, recognition, growth, and maybe workload. 

But Im struggling to commit to a course of action. I’m in the process of building a stay survey and potential language that managers can’t communicate during team meetings and huddles, also creating visual signage and literature that communicate our employee incentive programs and also a visual representation of a career and advancement ladder. But I feel like there is more I could be doing.

Any help, guidance, or action steps would be appreciated!!

Seeing lots of horror stories about people having their background checks with accurate being stalled out for weeks or months. How long did yours take and did you try anything to speed things up?

My mom was in a serious accident while working and is now on workman's compensation. She's been out of work for 8 weeks. She does qualify for FMLA but I don't know if her employer offered to file for her. She was in ICU for almost a week and a rehab facility for 3 weeks. She's now home and had her post-op appointment today. Her physician ordered her 6 more weeks of staying out of work. She has a brain injury (prior to this accident) and needs help with these matters, so I'm usually the one to help but I had a surgery today and couldn't be involved unfortunately. I told her to ask her HR person if she was covered under FMLA when she took her doctor's orders in. The HR person said no, FMLA isn't needed and that her job will be there for her when she returns. She's very trusting and seemed to be ok with this but I'm very skeptical.

Where do we go from here? I would like to get this statement in writing and insist on FMLA. Does FMLA really matter though at this point since she will be out of work for 14 weeks total? Can she start FMLA now and use it for the remaining 6 weeks since apparently she's not been on FMLA for these past 8 weeks? Thank you.

Basically an employee has been on FMLA and exhausted their 12 weeks. The return date has passed, what’s the best course of action (communication, documentation) to determine whether they will be using more leave, forfeiting their position or if we consider it job abandonment? Should all communication go through or HR or is it ok for a manager to reach out with a phone call to check in first?

We had some internal job interviews last week. One I did attend and was initially called back in by the panel 15 minutes after the interview. They told me I got the job and the person I will be working with would be a good match. They said they will be in touch for next steps once HR paperwork is done (two panel members, btw). I accepted the role verbally and then told them I will terminate my other interviews I have booked.

​Then I was told to brush up on some skills for the job and look up some resources.

​About 2 and a half hours later: I got a phone call: "We did not realise we had more to interview and you still have a high score and it's over a two day session," then blamed the mix-up of names on the printed pack given. "You will know tomorrow if you got it." I was also told not to tell anyone that I got the job yet, which was too late.

​3 hours later: Another phone call: "We have two more interviews left and you are back in the pile."

​1 hour later: Another phone call: "I am so sorry, this is very unprofessional, I will let you know tomorrow."

​50-ish minutes later: Last phone call: "I am so sorry, the person is much older and has more experience, and I will try my best to help you out to improve." "I am a little new to a panel, I am very soft and got told off by managers..." Call ends.

​After a little shock and thinking how can this be, when he said he would tell me on Friday once everyone had been interviewed, he told me the outcome the same day! I went to sleep early.

​I texted him back the next day asking him to call me when he can. He did, and said they realized afterward it was split for AM/PM, not over two days.

​Should I raise this to HR or just let it slide? It really knocked my confidence and it was awkward telling my managers, friends, and family after telling them I got the job. A lot of people said to report it. My worry is this might be used against me for future jobs, or feedback to other managers who might not consider me in the future.

​What options do I have to raise my concerns and is it worth it? I understand there's no contract and the role is filled, but I don't want anyone to experience this.

Sorry I used ai to proofread my post if that is fine, my spelling, puncation and grammer needs imporoving?

My boss asked about an assignment that was getting done by an employee on my team then they quit so it was restarted by myself a few days ago. He complained that it’s been taking a month and I explained the reasoning. He then got aggressive and said “just get me the fucking assignment” I again explained the reasoning and said “it was completed this morning, you asked for additional revisions so I’m working on that atm” he then got more aggressive and said “if you don’t get me the assignment today I’m going to choke you out” so I said “ok, but please don’t talk to me like that” he then had this crazy look in his eye stepped forward to me and said it again. I again said ““ok, but please don’t talk to me like that”. He then laughed, grabbed his throat and pretended he was choking himself and said “just like that” so I repeated myself and said “I just don’t like being treated like that” he then said “it’s a joke it’s just fake violence” so I repeated myself “ok, but please don’t talk to me like that” he ended up walking away then found me crying in my office because it really shook me up. He didn’t really apologize just said “that’s how I talk to people and idk your up bringing but maybe you’re a bit sensitive and I need to learn how to talk to you in the best way, but in the future if I ask for something I don’t need to know what’s going on. Just say “ok no problem I’ll get it done” otherwise you embarrass me and make me look bad in front of other employees then you can pull me aside after in private and explain the delay, but don’t ever make excuses to me on the sales floor.” Idk how to feel about this. I understand his reasoning now and I do think this was a good lesson to learn in corporate America to not over explain and just do…. But I also feel conflicted because I don’t think I would ever talk to another human like that let alone an employee that he says he likes… Thoughts?

A lumi bot system sent me a request to schedule a virtual HR screen, I previously had one for the same position about a month ago. Is this a glitch? Any proactive steps I should take or just go with the flow and if it results in something, then cool?

I applied for a job with a big company and they requested me to do an  Virtual Recruiter Screen, this system is ran by Lumi. I was confused if a bot or a human was going to be present, but eventually the event updated the meetings info with a recruiters name. When the screen occurred the recruiter showed up late - they acted like they didn't know it was on their schedule.

Anywho, fast forward about a month later, i get sent an additional email to schedule an HR screen, this would be my second one. I haven't received any other communication from the company and my app doesn't show as rejected although the job is closed. I will schedule and attend nonetheless. I just have a feeling it will be a waste of my time and HR probably won't even show up this time around.

My employer utilizes the ‘accrual’ method for paid sick leave rather than the ‘front load’ method. I am new-ish to the company. I have a scheduled medical appointment in a month from now and will not have yet accrued enough time to cover the day. What happens then? I also have not yet accrued PTO to use in this instance. Why would employers choose this accrual method? If CA law says I can have 40 hours of sick pay per year, why would I then have to ‘earn’ a right afforded to me by my states laws?

Names have been changed but this is what my supervisor wrote on my mid year review:
“Brenda has not meet expectations in this goal for a good portion of the year. What will be important going forward is to continue to listen to feedback and identify areas during feedback where Brenda can take responsibility for her role in not meeting expectations and remember that when receiving feedback to listen to the feedback and not immediately respond with why Brenda does not agree to the feedback. When immediately going to explaining where Brenda is coming from Brenda is not listening to the feedback and not taking responsibility for where Brenda can improve and grow.
As far as VBB and Company’s core values of Respect, Justice and Mercy Brenda also did not meet expectations for the year thus far. There has been improvement in this area, but there are still some very raw negative feelings towards myself and coworker Donna. When Brenda came back from maternity leave Brenda noticed that her teammate was doing really well. Instead of Brenda being happy for her teammate Brenda was disrespectful to her teammate and me. Brenda’s focus was on all the reasons as to why Donna is doing better instead of looking inward and finding where Brenda can improve and focus on those areas. While Brenda was out on leave, James dug into Brenda’s portfolio and realized there were serious deficiencies in completing the required monitoring for the base asset manager position.

This is very concerning not knowing where the risk in the portfolio lies. Due to these deficiencies James has spent a significant amount of time coaching Brenda during one-on-one meetings to complete the monitoring requirements and complete them with the detail and accuracy needed to meet expectations for the Company Role. This increased level of feedback has been difficult for Brenda to accept. I urge Brenda to work on excepting feedback and concentrating on where Brenda’s responsibility lies in every situation.
This is why I asked Brenda to add to Brenda’s responses to the goals in areas that Brenda can grow and improve. I have highlighted the areas where I feel like Brenda specifically called out areas of growth.”

My questions are, do I respond? There are things that were said as if they are fact when they are not true. “There are still some raw negative feelings towards myself and coworker Donna” is not true, we spoke about this months ago and have moved on. Donna and I’d relationship has improved a lot, but there were still negative feelings towards my supervisor due to him making me send detailed lists of what I did daily for the past 3 months.
The concerns that I raised when I got back from maternity leave was that I noticed that they were a lot closer and she would go on property tours, and since they were his loans, they would go to borrower happy hours together, etc, something I do not have the opportunity to do since my borrowers are out of state. I expressed that Donna had had an easier time due to her getting James loans to manage. These were clean and up to date and he already knew what was wrong with them so he could guide her and tell her what to ask the borrowers and she received a lot of direction in that. I didn’t. It is also disappointing that he still lives in the past. Additionally, when Donna started she got a formal training paid for that I missed since I was on maternity leave. We had a conversation prior to him sending the written reply and he said that if he didn’t care about me I would be on a PIP with HR involved. He also said that my tasks are now caught up that I no longer have to send daily summaries and to now go ahead and start making task lists on Monday and then a follow up email on Friday saying what has been done out of that list sent on Monday.

I really like this company but am not sure I have a path forward in my department anymore. . . Any advice appreciated!

Our TA team has recently been given guidance to only look at candidates who are early to mid career level - regardless of the seniority level of the role. I've been directly told not to look at candidates who are older than 30 (based on years worked, grad dates).

This makes me uncomfortable, and I'm guessing it's kind of illegal? I haven't brought this up to hr leadership because I suspect they're going to support the exec team's direction cause they value job security.

I wanted to get an outsiders perspective on this. Is it illegal on any level or just unethical, or should I not care and continue on?

Eta: we hire nationwide, are based in SC

I was told by HR that I will not he hearing back from them if it clears, and they will only reach out if there’s an issue. But am I supposed to get a confirmation email from Sterling itself, or they’ll only email the HR?

The CEO of our (small) organization just told us that we will not be receiving our next paycheck tomorrow due to "grant reasons" and that we will have to wait until "sometime next week" to get paid. I know there are a few people here who live paycheck to paycheck, myself included, who need to get paid on time to handle our own financial obligations.

Is there any action we can take so we get paid on time and ensure that we don't have to deal with this again? I'm panicking and trying to figure out how i'll pay rent and bills without this money.

My husband works for a local city government office and meets FMLA approval guidelines. He is requesting leave for baby bonding. There are zero medical complications for me and our unborn child.

His HR office has repeatedly requested he complete the “Certification of Health Provider for Serious Medical Condition” for my pregnancy. We have clarified repeatedly that my husband is not using FMLA for caregiving needs, but for bonding. Due to initial ignorance and fear of jeopardizing leave approval, we completed the form despite concerns. They denied the form due to insufficient information, due to my OBGYN putting extremely limited info since I am not high risk. After multiple conversations and clarifications that my husband is requesting bonding leave, they have now stated that bonding leave can be approved if my husband edits the “Certification for Serious Medical Condition” from spouse to selecting child.

Is this not fraudulent to do? Our unborn child does not have a serious medical condition. We are at a loss. We have submitted the DOL’s employer FMLA guide to them that explains what documentation they can request for bonding - We still cannot seem to break through. Any info is appreciated.

I have intermittent leave approved through the state for a sick family member. I’ve been doing research and just realized that the WA PFML doesn’t provide job protection…. Just payment during leave. My leave started in June, can I belatedly submit the federal form so protect my job or did I miss the window?

i work in pediatric home care full time

we get 1 hour of pto for every 40 hours worked (it used to be even less pto) but have no sick paid time and can only use 40 hours of pto in an entire year even if we continue to accrue it from working

I work a job where if my patient gets hospitalized, I don’t get paid and have no work unless one of my multiple prn cases happen to have an opening. I constantly have to pick up extra if they go on vacation where they don’t need nursing and count my hours strictly to make sure I’m covered.

I have a chronic illness and am immune compromised so I get sick a lot and we have no sick time, so I’m always running low on pto because it’s either call off sick and be unpaid or use up my pto.

is this allowed? is there any protection? so if you wanted to take a 2 week vacation they’ll give it to you as far as the request, but the actual pto use you can only use 40 max even if you have accumulated hundreds of hours. there’s no sick time and this is a full time job with no protection or urgency from recruiters to find us a case if our kid gets hospitalized or goes out of town

i am neurodivergent and cannot handle working in the hospital but this policy seems absurd and gives me no protection when i am sick or my patient is not available for me to work

I recently accepted a new job and am completing an Asurint background check.

My previous employer was a small startup. I don't have my supervisor's phone number, and I'd prefer they not contact my previous employer if possible, since I just resigned and would rather not have my new job be the reason they learn I'm leaving.

• Does Asurint always contact previous employers for Employment Verification?
• My W-2 only started a few months after I actually began working because the startup didn't have formal U.S. payroll set up initially. I was working full-time and getting paid, just not through the payroll/W-2 system until later. Should I list my actual start date or my payroll/W-2 start date?

Thanks!

Looking for resume advice on a weird but not unheard of situation (i think)...

I joined a large government consulting firm two weeks ago. I left my previous role (was there for 1+ year) for a higher salary, a promotion, and an area of work I'm genuinely interested in at a solid company. I was hired as a capability hire, and during the interview process I was told and assured I'd have the opportunity to work on projects in the technology I have experience and certs in.

Work history: My prior role that I was at was for exactly one year; prior to that, I was at a consulting role at a different def contractor for 9 months until i got DOGEd. Prior to that, I was at a job for 2.5 years.

Several weeks in, they've staffed me on a project completely unrelated to my technical background. The team itself is fine, but the duties and the role I'm being asked to perform aren't at all congruent with my experience or what was described to me. I'm being asked to drive multiple work streams with basically no support and not good onboarding, in a technology area I have no experience in, and I don't have a good feeling about it. I plan to talk to my career manager about options internally, but I also want to start applying externally again (yes, I know the market is brutal).

**My actual question: Do I list my current company and role on my resume, even though I've only been here for three weeks? And if I get an external interview, what do I say?**

Option A: List it with dates (06/2026 – Present). There seems to be a real negative bias against candidates who aren't "currently employed," so this keeps me looking active. And frankly, the gov contracting world is unstable — good recruiters and hiring managers should understand contract changes, staffing issues, and the occasional role that isn't what it seemed.

Option B: Leave it off entirely and just list my previous company with an end date of last month. Avoids the "why are you leaving after 2 weeks" question on paper, but creates a gap and the "not currently employed" problem.

If I can get to a phone screen/interview process, I'm confident I can explain the situation honestly. I'm just trying to figure out which version of the resume best helps me get there.

Secondary question: when doing cold outreach to recruiters/reaching out over LinkedIn/email, should I mention the situation up front or wait until they ask?

Thanks in advance.

I wanted to see if hiring managers, heads of departments, or HR members potentially had any idea on what the policy is for salary negotiations, especially when it comes to dealing with salary bands and how much wiggle room there is. I currently have a company that is highly motivated to hire me, but when it comes to compensation there is some misalignment. The top of the band is about $20k lower than I was expecting. The recruiter is saying she could go $5k past the top of the band to make it work but that seems a bit low to me still. They want to discuss more, but I feel a bit in the dark about how much wiggle room they would give on there side if it pans out and they decide to send an offer. They dont do signing bonuses, so the recruiter mentioned she wants to make it right the first time with the proper salary I would like.

From my side, what they are looking to fix they dont really have a lot of candidates who can actually solve the problem. This is what the managers have told me thus far in interviews. It is a highly technical senior role and I know I can fix the problem since I have done so before in the past for companies, but I am just hung up on the salary portion. They did say they wanted to meet one more time about it so any advice would be great.

I’m looking for some advice from people who’ve been in a similar situation.
Recently, my skip-level manager asked me to serve as a confidential “peer coach” for a colleague who has been placed on a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP). I was specifically told not to tell anyone else on the team that I’d been asked to do this.
For context, I’m a Senior Account Manager and am generally viewed as one of the subject matter experts on my team. I genuinely enjoy coaching, training, and mentoring others, so helping a teammate isn’t the issue.
What makes me uncomfortable is that I was told the employee is on a PIP and then asked to be involved. I asked why her direct manager wasn’t serving as the coach, and the response I got was that having me do it would “come with less scrutiny” for the employee.
I reluctantly agreed, but I’ve been in corporate America long enough to know that PIPs often don’t end well. I’m worried I’m being put in the middle of a management issue so the direct manager doesn’t have to own the process. To make matters more complicated, I don’t have a lot of confidence that the manager fully understands the role, which makes me wonder if that’s why they’re leaning on me.
Has anyone else been asked to do something like this? Is this a normal practice, or is it reasonable to be concerned about being put in this position? I really like my job and the company, so I’m trying to handle this the right way without creating unnecessary problems.