So, I'm at work, on my cellphone, sitting in the bathroom in tears on my break. I thought everything was going just fine, but then my coworker tells me my boss has been complaining about me not doing enough. I am doing everything while my boss is on her iPad all day.... And when I ask her if she's happy with my work and if I could do more, she says that everything is great. Now I hear that she's very unhappy with me from a coworker I trust. Seriously??? My break is almost up -- I just needed to vent a bit. Sorry for typos--am on my phone less

So, I'm at work, on my cellphone, sitting in the bathroom in tears on my break. I thought everything was going just fine, but then my coworker tells me my boss has been complaining about me not doing enough. I am doing everything while my boss is on her iPad all day.... And when I ask her if she's happy with my work and if I could do more, she says that everything is great. Now I hear that she's very unhappy with me from a coworker I trust. Seriously??? My break is almost up -- I just needed to vent a bit. Sorry for typos--am on my phone less

Sorry you're having a bad day. However, I would not rely on what a trusted coworker says. They may have innocently misunderstood. I would discuss your performance with your supervisor. Couch it by saying that you were previously told you were doing a good job and you wanted to ensure that was still the case. And if not, what suggestions they could offer to improve your performance. At the very least, it would demonstrate to them that you are interested in maintaining a satisfactory performance level. less

Sorry you're having a bad day. However, I would not rely on what a trusted coworker says. They may have innocently misunderstood. I would discuss your performance with your supervisor. Couch it by saying that you were previously told you were doing a good job and you wanted to ensure that was still the case. And if not, what suggestions they could offer to improve your performance. At the very least, it would demonstrate to them that you are interested in maintaining a satisfactory performance level. less

When I had 6 employees working for me--I noticed a bit of misaligned, word-of-mouth comments. I would ask one of them to cut material and she interpreted it as the other person--who was working on a different projects I assigned---was not doing her job, etc. I finally had to sit them down and tell them I was tired of dealing with their office politics--either accept the assigned jobs or find a different job. There was no assigned areas of the job since it was all customized, tailored to the client that was ordering their particular items....

Tell your boss you have hears rumors about her being unsatisfied with your work and ask what can be done to bring it up to her standards.And make sure you leave the stress at work today---that is where it belongs, you need time for yourself as well, okay?? Huge hugs!!!!! less

I spent the rest of the day really working my ass off... to the point that I was literally exhausted. During the last three hours, I did not sit down once at all, or stop working. That's not a long time, really, but I was seriously working my ass off doing everything I could think -- including things that aren't in my job description.

At the end of the day, I turned to my boss and asked if there was anything more I could be doing. She got very quiet... This is how my boss is -- she doesn't like confrontation and will NEVER tell the person that she has a problem about it until she's at her breaking point. For instance, she used to complain to me about my co-worker never being willing to stay late, but she never mentioned it to my co-worker. She used to complain to me about another co-worker wasting supplies, and leaving a mess, but she never told the co-worker -- until the day she decided to let that co-worker go. So, I'm fairly certain that she did complain to my co-worker about me, because that is her style.

I finally broke down completely -- eyes filling with tears and all, and said to her, "you need to talk to me honestly, please. I can't do things if I don't know that I'm supposed to be doing them... I'm doing what I think I need to be doing. Can you please just tell me if I can do more?" ... she came over, gave me a hug, said she's "usually" very happy, but that she needs to me "help her more" -- again she didn't say what, even when I asked her what more she would like me to do, because I will gladly do it if I know what she wants.

But it just pisses me off... my boss is one of the laziest people I have ever met. I clean the entire center one day, and the next I'll come in and she'll have it trashed! Half of the day she spends playing words with friends on her iPad. And when she sees me working my ass off, she'll tell me "relax a little -- sit down and kick back." -- but now I don't help her enough?? She just can't seem to make up her mind.

The same is true with vacation time. She almost fired me a few months back because I had asked about vacation time. Then, when I was in the UK visiting my boyfriend -- I posted on facebook that I was very sad to leave, and she sent me an e-mail saying that I could have a vacation whenever I want, for as long as I want, as long as I let her know a few months in advance. And whenever she sees my boyfriend and I joking about our future vacation plans on facebook, she'll comment for me to just let her know when I want to go. But... then she acts like me asking for even a day off to go to the doctors is the worst thing in the world. Yet she calls in someone to cover for her three days a week so she can go to the gym.... ugh.

I told her today that I literally feel sick to my stomach every time I need to ask for a day off. I've been wanting to go see my boyfriend again in January, but I am absolutely terrified to ask for the time off.


/end rant less

I spent the rest of the day really working my ass off... to the point that I was literally exhausted. During the last three hours, I did not sit down once at all, or stop working. That's not a long time, really, but I was seriously working my ass off doing everything I could think -- including things that aren't in my job description.

At the end of the day, I turned to my boss and asked if there was anything more I could be doing. She got very quiet... This is how my boss is -- she doesn't like confrontation and will NEVER tell the person that she has a problem about it until she's at her breaking point. For instance, she used to complain to me about my co-worker never being willing to stay late, but she never mentioned it to my co-worker. She used to complain to me about another co-worker wasting supplies, and leaving a mess, but she never told the co-worker -- until the day she decided to let that co-worker go. So, I'm fairly certain that she did complain to my co-worker about me, because that is her style.

I finally broke down completely -- eyes filling with tears and all, and said to her, "you need to talk to me honestly, please. I can't do things if I don't know that I'm supposed to be doing them... I'm doing what I think I need to be doing. Can you please just tell me if I can do more?" ... she came over, gave me a hug, said she's "usually" very happy, but that she needs to me "help her more" -- again she didn't say what, even when I asked her what more she would like me to do, because I will gladly do it if I know what she wants.

But it just pisses me off... my boss is one of the laziest people I have ever met. I clean the entire center one day, and the next I'll come in and she'll have it trashed! Half of the day she spends playing words with friends on her iPad. And when she sees me working my ass off, she'll tell me "relax a little -- sit down and kick back." -- but now I don't help her enough?? She just can't seem to make up her mind.

The same is true with vacation time. She almost fired me a few months back because I had asked about vacation time. Then, when I was in the UK visiting my boyfriend -- I posted on facebook that I was very sad to leave, and she sent me an e-mail saying that I could have a vacation whenever I want, for as long as I want, as long as I let her know a few months in advance. And whenever she sees my boyfriend and I joking about our future vacation plans on facebook, she'll comment for me to just let her know when I want to go. But... then she acts like me asking for even a day off to go to the doctors is the worst thing in the world. Yet she calls in someone to cover for her three days a week so she can go to the gym.... ugh.

I told her today that I literally feel sick to my stomach every time I need to ask for a day off. I've been wanting to go see my boyfriend again in January, but I am absolutely terrified to ask for the time off.


/end rant less

I'm hesitant to suggest this with the condition the economy is currently in, but have you considered that it may not be worth working for this person anymore? It seems that there are issues that go beyond today's incident. Maybe take a good hard look at if you have other options at least? less

Sorry you're having a bad day. However, I would not rely on what a trusted coworker says. They may have innocently misunderstood. I would discuss your performance with your supervisor. Couch it by saying that you were previously told you were doing a good job and you wanted to ensure that was still the case. And if not, what suggestions they could offer to improve your performance. At the very least, it would demonstrate to them that you are interested in maintaining a satisfactory performance level. less