Question:  My supervisor, “Jake,” is infatuated with me. He vies for my attention and pouts when I insist on keeping our relationship strictly professional. He has even hinted to his buddies that we’re having an affair, which is totally untrue. Before his behavior became obsessive, I used to be friendly with both Jake and his wife. I keep telling him that I’m not interested, but he still continues this sad, pathetic fantasy. Short of filing charges, how can I put a stop to this? — Not Interested

Question: “Two people in our office are falsifying their time sheets. As a result, they get paid for lots of overtime when they actually don’t even work their regular hours. Our boss is in a different location, so she doesn’t know what happens here. When  we gently tried to inform her about this problem, she said we were being petty. The rest of us are honest employees who show up for work, do our jobs and make up any time we miss. Our co-workers’ dishonesty hurts morale and causes a lot of resentment. What should we do?”  -- Honest & Angry

Question: “I’m not sure whether to trust one of my co-workers. “Amy” is helpful and considerate to me. She provides useful information and makes friendly, encouraging comments. She seems like a good team player. However, some co-workers say Amy stabs people in the back because she wants to climb the corporate ladder. According to them, she shows off her knowledge, points out others’ mistakes and makes a big deal of her workload. Amy clearly has the trust and confidence of management, so apparently her other side is seen only by her peers. If Amy really is a skillful manipulator, how do I avoid being hurt by her tactics, especially when management thinks so highly of her?”  -- Cautious Co-worker

Question: “My manager asked me to take over a very difficult position for which I had no background or training. He has been pleased with my progress. However, a group of guys from another department seem determined to make me fail. They ignore my requests, withhold information and argue about everything. My male predecessor left because of their behavior, so my being a woman is not the only problem. I tried making peace by offering to help with their work, but that only made things worse. Apparently, they viewed my olive branch as a sign of surrender. Recently, my boss and their manager decided that all communication between us must go through the two of them. This worries me, because it looks like I can’t handle the situation. Any suggestions?” — Not One of the Guys

Question: “One of our co-workers, “Bob,” regularly comes in quite late. Until he gets here, the rest of us have to answer his phone and deal with callers’ problems. Bob is taking advantage of a nice boss who is not a micromanager. Our boss knows that Bob is usually late, but he hasn’t said anything to him. What should we do?” — Tired of Bob

 

Question: "How do you handle a co-worker who constantly uses foul language in a professional office?  I’ve hinted to her that I don’t like it, but that did no good. I talked with her boss and the human resources manager, but they seem to view me as a tattletale. Do I just have to learn to live with the four-letter words?" — Offended

Question: "I supervise a group of women who are simply supposed to sit and enter data. No matter what I do, several of them talk nonstop, which disturbs some of their co-workers. How do you get grown women to just work quietly?"  Frustrated Supervisor

Question: “I work with a co-worker who is in a high-anxiety crisis mode every day. All conversations are about her personal problems. Even though I’m not the manager, people often come to me to complain about her. They seem to expect me to do something. How do we keep this woman from driving us crazy?” — Not Her Therapist

Question: “What do you do about a co-worker who never completes anything on time? I’m an administrative assistant, and one person who reports to my boss is always late with his paperwork.  His expense accounts are now three months overdue. Our manager is very unhappy about this, but I don’t think she has said anything to him. I constantly remind him about deadlines, but he usually ignores me. I’m ready to stop helping him and let him hang himself. What should I do?” — Tired of Nagging

Question: “I recently started a new job and can see many ways to improve things. However, 'Beth,' my main co-worker, refuses to consider any of my ideas. She has been working here for 15 years, and she gets very defensive if I suggest ways that she could do her work more efficiently. How can I get her to listen to me?” — Frustrated

Question: “One of my co-workers is a bitter, miserable, snide person. “Judy” hates her life, her job and everyone around her. She does no substantive work and treats everyone with disdain and disrespect. So why is Judy still working here? Because no matter what she does, the owner of our company protects her. When other employees complain, he accuses them of failing to get along with her.  He has even threatened to fire people. I'm certain there is no "hanky-panky" going on between them, so his tolerance of Judy’s attitude is completely baffling. What can I do about this?” — Fed Up

Question: “Tom, a long-term employee, recently transferred into my unit. He has a reputation of being "difficult," and now I know why. On good days, he’s productive, upbeat and pleasant. But on bad days, he’s critical, rude and hostile.  Unfortunately, the bad days outnumber the good days. As his manager, I’ve tried to be calm and supportive, but he’s exhausting me! What can I do?” -- Dr. Jekyll’s Boss

Question: "One of my employees has a toxic attitude. He criticizes co-workers, blames them for his problems and argues about everything. His rude and insensitive e-mails imply that everyone is an idiot, including me. We have had many long, drawn-out debates about these issues. Sometimes, I feel like we’re making progress, but then he’ll send another complaining e-mail. Talking things through with him clearly doesn’t help. I’m emotionally drained and have no idea what to do next.” — Worn Out 

Question: “One of my employees is a good worker, but she’s a real motormouth. “Brenda” talks nonstop to anyone she can corner, repeating the same stories about her marriage, her family and her medical problems. She not only keeps other employees from working, but she also runs off potential customers with her nonstop conversation. If Brenda would just shut up, the office would greatly improve. I’ve been patient about this so far, but now she’s demanding more money because she’s getting divorced.  Brenda has told co-workers that she could earn more elsewhere, so I'm tempted to just tell her to leave. I have invested time training Brenda, and I can’t fault her work (when she’s not talking).  But I don’t know how to correct this problem without tossing her out the door.” — Frustrated