How to approach problems with your boss

By Jenesy Gabrielle Burkett Fox

Let’s face the facts: sometimes our employers treat us poorly. And I’m not talking about the general not valuing our work or paying us the bare minimum while asking for more and more. I’m talking about concrete problems that arise with your boss: them asking you to complete tasks outside of your job description, them pawning their mistakes off onto you, them being shady about time off or scheduling.

What do you do if your boss isn’t doing their job? What do you do when your boss tries to put their responsibilities on you? What if they aren’t listening to your concerns?

Bosses aren’t necessarily the villain. Before anything else, it’s important to recognize that even managers are just trying to get by like the rest of us. That said, whether bosses intend to or not, sometimes their actions can lead to problems with their employees. Here are some tips on how to approach those problems when they arise.

Email everything

First and foremost, create a paper trail. On any issue that isn’t day-to-day normal stuff, email, email, email.
Asking for time off? Email. If your boss doesn’t respond you can follow up via email one to two days later which will show your boss didn’t respond to a time off request promptly — which should be a job requirement of anyone in a supervisor or managerial position.

Your boss asked you in person or over Zoom to complete a task that is outside of your responsibilities? Email them after you talk with a quick “Hey, you asked me to complete X task, I’ll be sure to have that done by this date.” If that feels unnatural to you, email them after you complete the task saying, “Hey, you asked me on Monday to complete this task. I completed that today,” And boom, you have documentation.

Paper trails are important because they leave a concrete trail in case you need to confront your boss or their superior about ongoing problems. They also provide you with some perspective to see how your boss responds to your concerns.

If your boss tries to follow up on an email you send them in person rather than responding via email, carry out the conversation as usual and conclude by asking them if they can respond to your email with that response. If that feels unnatural or they don’t email you, you can always email them by saying, “Hey, I appreciated you coming to talk to me earlier to follow up on our email conversation. Just to clarify, this is what we discussed ...”

Your HR department, if operating by HR best practices, will give you written notice for any warnings. If your HR department asks for an in-person meeting or a virtual meeting without notes, be sure that they send you a follow-up email briefly describing what was discussed in the meeting. If they don’t within one business day, make sure to send them an email clarifying what was discussed in the meeting. This will provide you with documentation for what was discussed in the meeting.

It may feel unnatural at first, but as you do it more often it will become more comfortable. And any boss worth a dime won’t take issue with the added communication.

Protect your energy

At the end of the day, your boss’s primary concern is not your well-being. It is how much work they can get out of you. We have been taught that if we work harder, faster, better, prove that we are valuable, that we will be rewarded with recognition and money. We were taught this in school with grades. We were shown the path to success by climbing up a ladder either by starting small at a company and working up or working your way through school.

Unfortunately, our current job market isn’t working that way. We are fighting tooth and nail to get paid minimum or entry-level wages while companies fight to see how much more work they can get out of us. Now, in many cases our bosses are really just employees like us trying to keep their job and get their paycheck. They’re not necessarily a villain, but they don’t always have your best interests at heart either. Just remember that your job is worth only so much of your energy.

Header photo by Roberto Hund / Pexels