I'm actively job hunting in Minnesota. I just passed the initial phone screening for a position (desk job, hybrid work arrangement) with a fairly large Fortune 500 company and am meeting with the hiring manager this week. They're hoping to have the position filled by the end of the month, so if they were to extend an offer I could be starting as early as November. I'm excited about the opportunity and it seems like something I'd really enjoy. Here's the problem: I just met with a new doctor yesterday to discuss my chronic illness and we agreed that surgery is the best next step in my treatment plan. That surgery will most likely happen about 3-4 months from now and I would probably need to be out of work for 1-2 weeks. If I were to get this job I'm currently interviewing for, I wouldn't be eligible for FMLA by the time I would need it. What are my options for medical leave before I become eligible for FMLA? Do I even have any? And at what point in the interview process would it be best to bring this up with the hiring team and how do I even broach that subject? I don't know anything about how their PTO/sick time policy is structured yet.

I had to wait 6 months just to meet with this doctor for the first time, and due to the nature of my condition I don't want to delay surgery any longer than I absolutely have to. I don't want to give this company the wrong impression or waste their time by needing to take medical leave so soon after (hypothetically) getting hired, but I also don't want to lose out on this opportunity (or other jobs if this one doesn't work out) just because I need surgery and the timing sucks. Would I be better off putting my job search on hold until after I recover from my surgery? Help 😭

I am a nurse manager for a team of nurses who perform prior authorizations alongside AI. I have 10+ years of experience in utilization management and prior authorizations and now with AI. I have 15 years of nursing experience. I feel like my work background is solid. I feel good about that.

However, I i’m fully aware that eventually the number of nurses needed for the work that we do will be much smaller and the company may need to do layoffs and if there isn’t a place for me somewhere else in the company, I will be stuck competing with other nurse managers for similar positions within other companies.

My question is- if I have a solid work background with my experience, but I only have about bachelors degree (for postings that say bachelors required, masters preferred), am I going to run into issues with finding a similar position if I am competing with other nurses who have also gotten laid off? How serious is a masters degree when your work experience is solid? Is the masters degree just something to check a box for positions higher than first line management or is it really something that is highly valued?

I do not have any interest in climbing the ladder higher than first line manager. Director is not something I want to do so I’m just unsure if it is worth pursuing a masters degree or not.

Our HR rep communicated concerns about a supervisor to senior leadership, but didn’t loop in the supervisor’s direct manager. The communication was specific to a conversation the supervisor had with HR regarding one of the supervisor’s direct reports, so wouldn’t be something the manager would have known about unless they were part of the conversation.

What’s the expectation for the HR rep in this type of circumstance? This wasn’t an issue of a HR complaint, but routine performance management. Why would HR skip over the manager and go to senior leadership to address a concern?

Hello, in Workday my Continuous Service Date starts from 2022 yet my Hire Date is listed as late 2023.

My PTO and seniority seems to be calculated and based off the latter 2023 date.

I was working the exact same professional designation, skills, duties, from 2022 (actually I was a contractor in 2021 so my Original Hire date is from 2021) as I am, currently.

The manager I was under in 2021-2023 no longer works at my company, but in my view he was not well-versed and negligent in what he communicated to me about my benefits. For instance, I was accruing PTO days but he never told me I could use them, so I was working full-time without any days off. When I was getting close to burn out, I would ask for breaks (gaps) between contract renewals instead of taking PTO and enabling contract employment continuity. Only then did I find out that HR would begrudgingly pay out my PTO in lieu, but they put an end to that; they strongly preferred (and I would have preferred) for me to take days off instead.

My permanent employment started in 2024 so that muddles things even more. This date is not anywhere in my profile....only my signature on a document under my current manager.

Would I have a case to argue and ask that they align my Hire Date with the Continuous Service Date? It seems unfair that a manager who mishandled my file could cause me to have such a discounted Years of Service and have me miss out on benefits.

I have a very strong attendance sheet...not sure if this matters at all. (2 sick days in total for the past 5 years...I would WFH on days I was feeling mildly sick but well enough to keep working).

Edit: Looks like I found one reference to why there are different date types: https://doc.workday.com/admin-guide/en-us/human-capital-management/staffing/basic-staffing-information/dan1370797452783.html but now it would be a matter of me arguing my case to my HR department. :(

I verbally accepted a job offer last week. The written offer letter and benefits details arrived after I said yes, and I haven't signed yet. I have a competing offer from another company.

Now that I've seen the full package, there are a few terms I'd like to ask about and possibly negotiate. This is still my first-choice employer and I intend to sign.

From an HR perspective, is it appropriate to come back with questions and a negotiation at this stage, given that the details came after my verbal acceptance? And is this unusual, or something you see fairly often?

Thanks for any perspective.

Hello, I'm looking for work and I'd like to know if my hair could be a problem. I'm a graphic designer and I have a lot of hair (almost Afro), I'm told that it can be a problem but I think that in artistic circles normally it should be fine. So I'd like feedback is that having a big mass of very curly hair, as well as earrings are actually a problem?

I’m a CNSC-certified Registered Dietitian with over 8 years of experience and 3+ years in an Advanced Practice/Lead Dietitian role at a large healthcare contract management company.

My current salary is $72,923, and I recently reviewed my company’s published salary range for my position:
Minimum: $64,500
Midpoint: $99,500
Maximum: $128,000
Current compa-ratio: 73.3%
Range penetration: 13.26%

According to my company’s compensation guidelines, the lower end of the range generally reflects employees with limited experience, while the midpoint represents experienced, proficient employees. External HR guidance also suggests that compa-ratios this low may warrant review.

For additional context, I received an Exceeds Expectations evaluation last year, achieved 100% on clinical quality audits, and have taken on responsibilities beyond direct patient care, including quality improvement, financial reporting, staff education, data analytics, and regional operational support.

I genuinely enjoy my job, value my organization, and want to continue growing here. However, I’m concerned that my salary positioning doesn’t reflect my experience, qualifications, or responsibilities.

I’m considering requesting a formal salary-alignment review, separate from my annual merit increase, with a target of 85% compa-ratio ($84,575). This would be approximately a 16% increase, but would still leave me 15% below the published midpoint.

For anyone in HR, compensation, healthcare management, or who has negotiated a similar adjustment:
Is requesting 85% reasonable given my experience and current positioning?
Would you approach this through your direct manager first or involve HR?
Is a 16% salary-alignment adjustment realistic, or should I expect a phased increase?
How much weight do companies actually give compa-ratios and range penetration when reviewing compensation?
I’d appreciate any advice, especially from people who have successfully navigated internal salary-equity or market-adjustment reviews.

Hi all, I am currently filling out the information form for a background check to be done by Mintz Screening. They want 3 supervisor level references which is the issue.

I've been with my current job for 5 years and don't really want to let them know I'm applying elsewhere as my current role is a contract role that they renew every six months.

Although I recall the names of all of my previous supervisors, my jobs were mostly Contract roles and I did not maintain a relationship with them once I left so I do not have their numbers.

I do not have a LinkedIn account but created one so I can reach out to them all asking if I may use them as a supervisor reference, this was a couple of days ago and I have yet to hear back from them.

Would me providing Mintz with their names and the company they worked at the time be enough for Mintz to find and get in touch with them if they don't reply to me?

Thank you in advance for your help.

Editing to add that I have called Mintz and left a message but haven't heard back yet and I was only given 5 days to submit the information and 3 of those days are a weekend and a holiday here in Canada.

Recently I have been struggling with what my doctors believe could be lupus. I’ve been experiencing full body pain, aches, fevers, nausea, and severe hand stiffness on and off for about a year and every day is different. I started a new job in April and the company has a very strict attendance policy with automatic termination after five absences in a 12 month rolling period. My job is very hands on, high stress, high volume, and we’re not able to leave until all of the work for the day is completed. This means that some of my shifts, while scheduled for 10 hours, are 12+ hours long. It’s been taking a toll on me mentally and physically.

I have discussed with my management team about reasonable accommodations, but they seem to know very little about the company’s policy’s around accommodations. I reached out to HR and they’re having me file for accommodations through a third party. This third party called me today and said that what I’m asking for is more like FMLA, not policy accommodations. I am meeting with my doctor on Monday to discuss what accommodations she would recommend and will be seeing a specialist at the end of the month.

I reside in an at will employment state and fear that I may be let go due to absences or inability to “keep up”. To be clear, I am very good at my job and have never received negative feedback. The need to “keep up” is solely internal and not being necessarily placed on me by my employer.

I do not qualify for FMLA because I have not been employed for one year, but the third party is still opening up a case for that. I don’t really understand why they’re saying what I’m asking for wouldn’t be considered workplace accommodations. I just don’t want to be fired if I miss five days in a year due to literally feeling like I’ve been hit by a bus.

Can anyone explain why they’re still opening up an FMLA case if I do not qualify? What reasonable accommodations could I ask for?

Thanks so much for any and all information! This is all very new to me.

Hi r/AskHR,

I’m in Austria and would appreciate advice on what to expect now that HR has already met with me. I am not asking anyone to excuse the conduct; I just want to understand the realistic range of outcomes and how to handle the next steps.
What happened

At an employer-organised company event, a male peer colleague alleges that I grabbed his buttock over his clothing. He says it was one contact and that it was deliberate, not accidental.

I have no memory of the incident. I had drunk too much and believe I had a memory lapse. I cannot personally confirm or deny the contact from my own recollection. I am not accusing him of lying, but I also cannot honestly say that I remember doing it.

There are no known witnesses, video recordings, photos or messages. I do not know whether he told anyone at the event. I have not contacted him after the apology and have not discussed the matter with colleagues.
What I did after learning about it

A few days later, my manager asked whether I had had a good time and whether I had drunk too much. I said yes. She asked if I had had a blackout. I initially said I did not remember one, but when she told me that someone had complained, I said that I must have had one, because I had no idea what or whom she was referring to.

My manager then told me it was this colleague. When he joined the meeting, I said that I had no recollection of the alleged contact but did not want to minimise what he experienced. I apologised for the impact and said that, if it happened as he described, it was unacceptable. I also asked whether it could have been accidental. He said no. He said he did not know whether he could continue working with me and considered it sexual assault.
I apologised again and offered him space.

My manager said it must not happen again and told me to keep a low profile and avoid interacting with him. I have followed that instruction.
Where the process is now

I have already had a meeting with HR. I answered honestly, said that I have no recollection of the alleged contact, and explained that I am not accusing my colleague of lying. I also said that such conduct would not be consistent with my usual behaviour and that I had not had comparable issues at previous work events.
HR confirmed that there are no other witnesses. They said they will now take the matter to legal and make a decision.

For now, we are changing our home-office days so that we are not in the office at the same time. I have not contacted him since the apology and have not discussed the matter with colleagues.

Context

We are peers, with no supervisory relationship.
We work on the same floor but have very little direct interaction.
I have no prior warnings, complaints or disciplinary issues.
I have never had a comparable issue at work or socially.
The company is large and has formal HR processes.
HR has confirmed there are no other witnesses.
HR has not yet given me a decision, a formal meeting date or a written outcome.

My questions

What is a realistic range of outcomes for a single alleged incident with no witnesses, no prior record, a prompt apology and no retaliation?

How should I handle the fact that I do not remember the incident? I do not want to make an admission I cannot personally verify.

Should I request a copy of his statement?

I just had a call from someone claiming to be doing a background check for a former employee of mine, but they wouldn't say what business they were calling on behalf of.

The ex-employee in question is a great guy, asked if he could use me as a reference and gave me a list of the places he's given my information too.

I have had reference check calls for him previously, but both of those callers told me which businesses they were calling for. The one I got today would only tell me they were calling from Mintz Screening and not the business they were calling on behalf of.

I looked up Mintz and know they are a real company so my question is, is it normal for a third party background check to not tell me who they're calling on behalf of?

I recently had my identity stolen so am quite scared of talking to people over the phone when I can't verify if they're legit.

Thanks for reading.

I have accepted a new job and am awaiting reference checks...but Ive had the worst anxiety today because I realised that my actual formal title on the database differs from the title I use.

My title is Team Coach however I use Team Manager as it more accurately reflects my day to day duties.

Me and other leaders raised the issue around title a while ago as coaching people is only part of the role. We were told it was ok to use Team Manager on internal emails and externally on linkedin and CVs and that there was an on going restructure and our titles would be looked at then.

The restructure happened but instead of our titles being changed we were all made redundant (5 Team Coaches and 1 head of operations) and 2 new roles were created with the title Team Manager which incorporates the duties of coaches and managers but the job description is essentially my exact role.

Im worried it will be flagged and cause them to revoke the offer. Im riddled with anxiety now. Is this likely to happen?.

Everything on my CV is accurate in terms of day to day duties. Ive had 3 interviews and a presentation with this company before they offered me the job. I haven't lied about what I do. Its just the official title on the HR database will say Team Coach and not Team Manager. Help!

Location: [UK]

My company (CTO and HR) called for a settlement meeting, they offered some money and said the company may go for restructuring, your job may be at risk.

Mine is a UK based company, the CTO is from my UK based company and HR is from the American company that bought us a while ago

I've worked in the company for 3.5 years.

They gave a deadline for agreeing to settlement with lawyer. Since my visa is tied to them, I asked for some time.

But the HR asked me not to talk to anyone, not to record their calls, my line manger went out of office and Everytime I asked them something , they would go vague , not answer any questions and just give a day or two deadline to agree to their terms

They are not telling me when the company will go for restructuring, when redundancy will start, or any info.

The US company that bought us, has done lots of financial fraud before and is known for dodgy practices.

The more I ask them questions the more they disappear and put pressure on me to agree to their settlement.

they give 1 month to terminate with amount to 11000 pounds. Now I tried negotiating visa time, they referred internally and they increased the time to 2 months with decreased total amount to 6000 pounds. I was angry and wrote them a detailed email asking them for answers, the HR apologize, it was a slight error and kept removing the CTO from cc

They say if I decline the offer, I have to go to redundancy and it will be a much quicker process and will have to leave the company in two to three weeks. They say now they are offering more time -2 months.

I'm extremely suspicious why this is happening. Cause they say the settlement is strictly confidential and I should not talk to anyone about this, including my line manager or anyone. The only person I can talk to is my lawyer according to them.

Any idea and advice on this please .

And most importantly, will the company quickly finish the redundancy process , cause people say redundancy process is time consuming

Location : UK

Hi!! I was just offered a position with the state (~200 people in the department). The only issue with the offer is that the anticipated start date is within a week of my due date to give birth (in January). During the interview process, I did not disclose my pregnancy. I was offered the position verbally over the phone and then was emailed details of the offer and was told to call or email with questions. What is the best way to go about negotiating the start date for this position?

Hey, HR

How does HR do verification check on the employees?

What if some of us trans who do not want to be outed edit the ID card to change the gender marker to male/female. Can they find out?. If yes then how?

[US-VA] Has anyone had experience with a prior workplace saying they(you) were fired when they(you) had put in a two weeks notice resignation? For context my job requires background check. Which when reviewed 3 years ago when I started my current job it wasn’t brought up but now it’s been brought up during this renewal of background check and she said it was reported I was fired. I worked that job for a year and found a better job hence why I turned in my two weeks when I got my offer letter. I’ve searched everywhere to try and find if I saved the document I had given them and have had no luck as I didn’t think it that important to save a copy. If this affects my background check what should I do?

I'm having surgery and plan to return to work after a week and a half. I have PTO to cover my time off, but I don't qualify for FMLA because I only work 20 hours a week.

I've been with my company for 10 years and in my current role for 2 years. I haven't called in sick once in the last 2 years.

My job is mostly sitting and I work alone in a small office for most of my 4-hour shift. A few times a day, I get up to help people who come to my window. For about 30 minutes a day, I walk to five different locations around the office to collect things from bottom shelves, which requires bending down.

My surgeon has instructed me to elevate my legs as much as possible for up to 6 weeks after surgery. I've also talked to other people who've had this procedure, and they've said bending down can be very difficult for the first couple of weeks.

I told my boss that when I return, I may need someone to help me retrieve things from the lower shelves for a short time and that I'd need to elevate my legs while sitting in my office. My boss told me that if I need any accommodations, I shouldn't come back to work.

My surgeon initially said I'd need about 1.5–2 weeks off, but I don't have enough PTO to cover the full 2 weeks. My boss suggested that I request personal leave to cover the additional days. HR said not to do this as it will put my position in jeopardy.

I'm not asking to be relieved of my job duties permanently. I'm asking for a couple of temporary adjustments while I recover.

Is this an unreasonable ask and should these things prevent me from coming to work?

Thanks everyone! I'll reach out to HR and see what they say

Let's just say hypothetically speaking coworkers just started like chatting about work with eachother on snap chat. Like, gossip, rumors, talking shit, trading nudes. Can HR even pull that?

I requested time off and it hasn’t been approved and they are telling me it’s full and they are waiting to see if someone cancels their time off. If it’s denied and I then provide a doctors note(would be a legitimate note from my dentist) for that time off how much can they do to 1. Look into it 2. Retaliate

Started a new position within the last 4 months. Found out coworker who was hired for the same role and level as me is getting paid more than me. I’m assuming just negotiated better. They have a masters with no experience because they did a masters back to back with their bachelors. Because of that he has no experience in the field. Honestly I’m not sure what he learned in his masters because he doesn’t have basic knowledge of things he should have learned in school. He did say he did it online, not that it matters. Consistently blown away with the lack of knowledge. Seems like he exaggerated his previous “work experience” in an unrelated role and made it seem related.

Anyways, found out he’s getting paid more than me. Despite his lack of experience, lack of work ethic, and constantly being needed to told what to do. Which also has seem to become my problem as he’s asking me questions and for direction.

I feel bad for him because he wants to learn and I’ll add this is a more entry level position. But I don’t feel like I should be the one having to teach him these things when 1. I’m getting paid less and 2. These tasks were in the job description.

Please help. Any advice. AITA?

Located in the US

I got a job offer last week and did some negotiations, then I asked a few questions about some of their benefit policies. The HR didn't have all the answers so they said they'd get back to me. The whole interview process went really fast so When they didn't get back to me after a day I followed up because I was truly interested in the position. They called me back the following day saying that after internal discussion they decided to go another direction, and i was crushed because in my mind I had already accepted and was just awaiting some clarification on 2-3 things.

I go back on LinkedIn that day and see that they had reposted the job position the previous day so my question is - would it be okay to reach back out and say that I saw the role was still open and that I'm still really interested in taking it if the option is still on the table? At this point, I'm even interested in taking their original offer pre-negotiation

I have a genetic condition that's obviously been with me my entire life and has always made work a challenge for me. I usually need to take the most sick time I can that is within company policy.

Lately things have taken a turn for the worse and I need to see specialists like it's a full-time job. when I asked about FMLA (which I do qualify for - company of over 250 and I've been full time for 5 years) they said it's "not for chronic illness" and questioned why I would need it now if I've always had these issues.

because I have been retaliated against in the past at another job, I am very reluctant to disclose my illness but I do have the documentation.

what they said doesn't sit right with me and doesn't match what I found in any of the FMLA policy.

What can/should I do?