New England Personnel of Hartford, LLC

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Kathryn "EXTINGUISHED ROMANCE WITH BOSS SMOKES FUTURE JOB HUNT"

Dear Kathryn: Bad judgement in my personal life is now haunting my professional life.

I stupidly got involved with the owner of the printing company where I was employed for twelve years. As I worked out of both the CT and Rhode Island offices, the affair was an on and off thing. Unfortunately, his wife found out about our relationship and I was subsequently terminated. Now, trying to get a reference from my longest place of employment is impossible.
I've called many times to get copies of my reviews and have received no return phone calls. Now that I'm interviewing, job applications ask if they can contact my employer and I'm scared to death to check "yes". I don't even know what to say as to why I left, as I really did love my job. I'm determined to move on with a positive attitude but feel all the forces are working against me. I can't believe my ignorance about what I thought was a little bit of fooling around could end up costing me so much trouble. HELP.

CLAUDIA P., Groton, CT

Dear Claudia:

Your positive attitude and recognition that workplace romance can result in more problems than you imagined indicates your thinking is on the right track. Your concern about needing a reference from the employer for whom you worked for twelve years is also on target. While your former employer can easily avoid references requesting information, your ex-employer can't refuse your requesting a copy of your performance evaluations.

Even though you've left your employer, CT State Statute Section 31-128 provides you the right to request a copy of your personnel file for the cost of copying. As you mentioned, you worked out of the Rhode Island location as well as CT. I checked Rhode Island law as to your obtaining your performance evaluations. RI State Statute Section 28-6.4-1 is similar to CT's. It allows you to request the evaluations as well. Attorney George O'Brien of Tyler, Cooper & Alcorn suggests you send a written request for copies of your performance evaluations and plan on providing them at the time of your interviews.

Regarding your reason for leaving, indicate that while you very much enjoyed your job and the accomplishments you attained while with the company, you were ready to move on to new challenges and potentially a new industry.

While your performance was excellent as can be verified by your reviews, and your personal romance should be of no concern to a future employer, potential employers may still want to speak to a supervisor from the company. Do what you can to line up a few executives and even clients of the company to vouch for you. By providing the evaluations and a few reference names up front, there's a good possibility you can avoid any mention of the company owner. Good luck.

Dear Kathryn:

As the office manager of a large billing operation, I supervise over fifty female employees and thirty male employees, all clerical levels. The mix of employees is quite diverse and it's not unusual to have daily personality conflicts and "cat fights". Usually, I'm pretty good at running interference, but a recent explosive argument between two employees resulted in the police being summoned and my regional manager taking my head off.
My big boss now is expecting me to play fortuneteller and "do a better job hiring the right people" and keeping the work environment "friction free". He says he's worried about workplace violence and my job is to: "Hire better and get my problem children under control."
HELP, I'm dealing with barely above minimum wage employees!

DANIELLE P., Springfield, MA

Dear Danielle:

"Workplace violence" is one of the hottest concerns among employers today. Your big boss is right to try and spot problem employees before they are hired and keep the workplace violence-free.

Starting with the hiring process, some employers have implemented pre-employment testing designed to reveal aggressive tendencies in their potential hires. Many psychologists and employers feel this testing is all hogwash and there's no test that could indicate if the employee harbors hostile feelings and aggressiveness. The University of Tennessee disagrees and claims that their "hostility testing" guarantees results. They say their test doesn't provide obvious "right" answers, as some personality testing does, and therefore can identify problem employees.

My suggestion is to do more open-ended probing interviews. Your interview questions should ask the candidate to describe work situations and past bosses that made them feel good and those that discouraged and possibly angered them. Conversation requires the candidate to immediately respond while written testing gives them an opportunity to analyze their answers carefully before committing it to paper. Policies and procedures visibly posted sh

ould be discussed pre-hire in addition to immediately being addressed when they're not adhered to. When you spot any deviation from the employee's normal good attitude and productivity, address it immediately. Don't wait until the situation worsens or until their formal review time arrives. In-depth background checks made with former supervisors, not just human resources, is vital. Provide a reference release that the candidate signed and try to get some insight into their past behavior.

My last suggestion is to hold weekly staff meetings. Encourage employees to give feedback, volunteer suggestions and air their feelings about improving the workplace and overall efficiency. If employees have a feeling of belonging-- even ownership of their job and company-- they're more likely to protect their workplace because they value it more. Good luck.

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