Here are three updates from past letter-writers.

1. Local businesses refused to comply with our salary transparency law

A little context here about the businesses refusing to comply with our salary transparency law: in our small city-town (small town that grew to a small city and the people haven’t accepted that), one of these restaurants includes the only 24-hour place, and a bakery downtown that has been around for about 20 years and started at farmers markets before becoming brick and mortar. The owner is a character — very loud Facebook posts, very strong opinions, and very protective. She is very much a representative of the old small-town ways, compared to the newer people (like myself, who came from the big city).

It has become a very interesting turf war between the old-timers and the newcomers, and there is a lot of interesting anger over it all.

My husband (who is from the area, if not the exact city) and I have taken to reporting it but, as people expect, nothing will really happen because this is too small for the government to effectively enforce.

Not a big update, but the steakhouse has hired someone while the bakery has tripled down. Her Facebook page has been a never-ending ride — complaints about the city not letting her plant flowers, a city statement in response, threats to close, and most recently a suggestion that she should run for mayor. Based on her Facebook posts, that sounds like a bad idea.

I agree with the comments: report small businesses that are breaking the law even if they are cornerstones of a community. We want better labor laws and environments for everyone.

2. I’m managing an employee through a PIP — and it’s really hard

I wanted to share an update on my letter about managing an employee through a Performance Improvement Plan. First of all, a huge thank you to you and your readers. I was really struggling with choosing to let an employee go during the current job market, and hearing that I had done what I could to help this employee succeed — as obvious as it may have seemed — went a long way toward allowing myself to let go of the guilt I was feeling. It probably won’t surprise you to hear this was the first time I’ve managed an employee through a PIP!

On to the update: it took months longer than expected, but we did eventually let the employee go. The PIP started out fairly straightforward, with detailed, quantifiable performance expectations and weekly check-ins to discuss and document how her performance aligned with those expectations. Things went sideways when my employee took FMLA multiple times during what was supposed to be a 60-day PIP period. I won’t go into the details, but suffice to say it was complicated and got increasingly contentious.

With the help of my HR team, we continued the PIP when she was present. Despite very clearly outlining that she wasn’t meeting the expectations laid out in the PIP and sending follow-up emails saying the same thing, the employee was still surprised to be let go. I truly don’t think I could have been more explicit about the circumstances with her throughout the process.

As emotionally draining as the process was, my employee’s behavior toward the end of the PIP really quashed any remaining hesitation I had. The cherry on top was learning that she had re-applied for her open position — with an extremely embellished resume. I cannot fathom what made her think applying for her old role with a resume claiming she did not just my role, but also my boss’s and grandboss’s roles was a good idea, but that’s precisely what she did. People are wild!

Thanks again for your excellent advice.

3. Explaining to an interviewer why I’m leaving when my job is a crapshow

I tried to be vague about all the awful things going on at my (now former) workplace, because it sounded fake given how toxic it was. However, I’m out of there and the business ended up closing, so even if someone is able to identify the company based on what was going on, it really won’t matter at this point.

At the time of my letter, I worked for a small family-owned business in a niche industry. Some of the myriad issues going on there included:

  • A co-owner in severe cognitive decline who wouldn’t retire and flew into rages
  • A co-owner who was mentally checked out but wouldn’t instill any authority in me or anyone else to handle things
  • A mistress of the co-owner occasionally popping in and trying to assert authority over all employees
  • Unpaid bills to the point of the power being cut off in part of the building for the last month we were in business
  • Shady business practices of every flavor, including me finding documents with forged signatures

I started job searching months before writing in, but wasn’t making it a priority. Eventually, after being the target of a memory-related rage, I ramped up my efforts to move on — but that’s when paychecks started bouncing. Throughout that summer, every payday turned into a mad dash for who could leave to cash their check first, because usually only one person would be able to, with the rest of us being staggered throughout the following week. In retrospect, I should have left nearly a year prior, when they stopped offering direct deposit.

Eventually, they announced they would be closing their doors. They gave us two weeks’ notice and told us they would provide glowing recommendations and support us as we found our next opportunity. That was absolutely untrue. It was much easier for me to cite the company closing as a reason for looking for a new position. I ended up with less than a two-week gap between my former company closing and starting my current position. My final paycheck was late, as was my W-2, which I only received after making myself a nuisance.

Now I’m two years into a senior management position at an amazing company in a different industry that I love. I’ve earned several raises in the past two years, received regular bonuses, and I’m treated with authority and respect. Much like leaving a toxic relationship, I’ve struggled with imposter syndrome, learning to accept being treated well, and being confident in my role. It’s taken a lot of work to feel secure in a stable workplace after spending many years in that situation — but it has been absolutely worth it.