1. The construction work in my office is making me sick
I work for a company with a mandatory in-office policy. A third party company purchased our building, intending to convert it into residential apartments. Over the last year, the building has transformed from a relatively nondescript office facility to an active construction zone. The entire lobby is torn up, and the ceiling is exposed. Elevators often have issues. Some mornings, only the freight elevator is available. Sections of our office periodically go offline for construction, and the floor will suddenly be covered by construction paper. We often hear very loud construction noises from other floors: whizzing, buzzing, echoing, banging. One morning, we came in to find everything we work with covered in a layer of dust. A few weeks ago, the AC didn’t work on several floors. This is a large skyscraper, so the majority of the construction is being completed on other floors or the lobby. We still see and feel the effects every day. Despite this, our in-office policy remains unwavering.
I recently began feeling ill when I’m in the office. I sneeze frequently and my eyes ache. I am blowing my nose a lot, even though I don’t feel like I am actually sick. I chalked it up to poor sleep (which I do suffer from), until I worked from home for a few days and found my symptoms completely ceased.
Do I have any recourse here? I find it very frustrating that there is no plan to get us out this building. I know we have a lease, but the building is in complete disarray. What script would you suggest for addressing feeling sick?
Your employer has a legal obligation to do something about known health and safety hazards, even if the problem is being caused by the building owner or a construction contractor.
OSHA specifically recognizes that poor indoor air quality can cause eye, nose, throat, and respiratory irritation; lists recent remodeling, inadequate ventilation, and construction/renovation dust among potential causes; and says employers need to recognize and control those hazards. It doesn’t dictate a particular response (like breaking the lease or letting employees work from home), but they do need to deal with it.
The fact that your symptoms disappear when you’re away from the building makes it very reasonable to send something like this to HR and your manager, in writing: “Over the past several weeks, I’ve developed sneezing, nasal irritation and congestion, and eye irritation while I’m in the office. I recently worked from home for several days and the symptoms completely resolved. They returned when I came back to the office. Given the extent of the ongoing construction, I’m concerned that there may be an indoor air-quality or construction-related exposure causing these symptoms.” Ask whether the company has conducted or plans to conduct an indoor air-quality assessment of your office areas, what measures are being taken to prevent construction dust and other contaminants from entering your space, and whether there’s a temporary alternative-work arrangement available while this is being investigated, particularly on days when construction activity is especially disruptive.
Meanwhile, you might also talk to a doctor about what’s going on, since having medical documentation could be useful if your office blows you off. And if they do blow you off: OSHA allows workers to file confidential safety and health complaints and request an inspection when they believe there’s a serious workplace hazard.
2. My employee keeps working while she’s on PTO
I have an employee who just had a baby. She is continuing to answer emails and come in to the office to do paperwork on her PTO. This is regular vacation PTO, not federal or state-protected leave yet. She hasn’t used any of her time yet this year, so she has several weeks banked before she applies for that leave.
I have stressed to her that on her PTO all she needs to worry about is her and her baby’s health. There is no expectation from me to do any work. All her tasks have been reassigned and planned for her being gone up to six months. I have removed her from emails on projects and she keeps emailing everyone to loop her back in. And I don’t want the company compromised when she does start that protected leave.
Usually I have the opposite problem of people abusing their PTO. Any ideas how I should address this?
Well, if she were on FMLA or legally-protected leave, you’d have a legal obligation to stop her from doing this — and when she does move to that leave, you’ll have to (and it’s worth making that clear now so she knows what to expect). Until then, though, you do have the option of leaving it to her to decide how she’ll manage this time.
However, what’s the work impact of what she’s doing? If she’s causing confusion because people assume someone else needs to handle something and then she pops up to do it, or if no one knows if she’s going to take care of something or not, that’s a legitimate work-related reason to tell her that she needs to stop because it’s preventing the team from running smoothly and causing inefficiencies for other people.
It’s also possible that you need to give her a clearer “no.” If you’ve been saying “you don’t need to do this,” she might be hearing “but of course you can if you want to.” You might need to be a lot clearer and tell her directly to stop emailing people, adding herself back into projects, and coming to the office, period. You might point out that even if she’s willing to do it, it’s creating pressure on other people to feel they’re expected to stay involved with work when they’re on leave, and you don’t want that culture of overwork on your team.
3. My boss left with no warning, and I’m confused about my reaction
Last week, a division administrator called my team into a meeting, minus our team director, and informed us that our team director was no longer in their position and that they would be the interim director. They gave us the rest of the day off. My first reaction was one of shock, then sadness at the momentary break in my team, then fearfulness over layoffs or other unexpected surprises.
A formal email soon after that announced the exit. I texted my now-former director that I had received the email regarding their departure and wanted to remain in contact with them and hoped all was well. They texted back, wishing me the best and assuring me that they would remain in contact. No further explanation as to why they had left.
The following day, there was no mention of the director’s departure in our usual slate of meetings. I was surprised at how quickly everything had moved on. My teammates seemed fine. No comments were made about what happened the previous day, no questions about why it happened, working life went on.
A few days later, my feelings from earlier in the week had passed, and in their place was a sense of relief. By the end of the week, not only was I still relieved, but I felt more confident in my position and in my ability to produce good work for the organization.
It all seemed contradictory. I liked my team director. They offered great feedback and guidance. They were funny, warm, charismatic, supportive, and knew how to delegate tasks to each team member’s strengths. However, they could also be a source of stress and anxiety. If I had to offer conclusion about it all it would be that sometimes being a great people person does not always equal being a great manager of people.
But what is the most reasonable explanation for when a person in a position of management/supervision/team leader is responding to emails one moment and the next is being wished the best in “future endeavors”? And what’s the best explanation for the contradictory feelings and renewed optimism and commitment in the wake of my director’s departure?
There are a bunch of possible explanations: your director might have left voluntarily because of a family or health emergency or because they took another job that started immediately (or agreed with your company that they’d leave immediately because they were going to work for a competitor). Or they might have been laid off (although probably not if your company is rehiring for the role) or fired for reasons you wouldn’t necessarily have any idea about (and almost always wouldn’t be told about).
The most likely reason for your contradictory feelings is exactly what you identified: someone can be a great person and a bad manager. Your relief and your renewed confidence are probably telling you that was the case here.
4. How do taxes work if you’re at a conference in another state?
I’m in academia currently and a big part of that is going to conferences, which I know are also a big part of many other fields. As a student, I don’t really get paid to go to conferences, but I’m assuming that in many fields you would need to be paid to go to a conference. In the past you’ve talked about how working in another state can lead to those state’s income tax laws being triggered and how that means a company would need to be set up to account for that.
How does this work for short-term things like conferences? I’ve been assuming that given the short-term nature of conferences, states wouldn’t have to worry about income tax laws or being set up to work in other states, but perhaps I’m incorrect about that.
You are conflating two different things: the laws governing income tax for individuals and the laws establishing business nexus for employers.
Most states require you as an individual to pay state income tax there if you work X number of days per year in their state — and in some states that kicks in at only a single day. (You don’t owe them taxes for the whole year; it’s prorated for however many days you worked there.) In practice, this is rarely enforced — but sometimes it is (usually for high earners like professional athletes whose schedules are public and easily auditable).
Sales tax nexus for businesses is a separate thing. While employers do establish nexus if they have an employee regularly working in a state, temporary travel doesn’t generally trigger it (probably because states want to avoid crushing local tourism and convention industries). Generally if an employee is traveling for a short period to attend a conference (or on other work business, like visiting clients), it won’t trigger sales tax nexus.
Related:
why it’s complicated for your employer to let you work from another state