We’re all upset with members of Congress because they have trouble playing nice with each other, even for the greater good of the nation. But maybe we should look in the mirror.

Elected officials don’t have a corner on the we-just-can’t-get-along market. I can’t tell you how many emails I get from readers, and even from friends, seeking advice on how to deal with a manager or coworkers who bullied them, undermined them, was jealous of them, gossiped about them, or took credit for their work. A CareerBuilder survey found that one in four workers felt bullied at work; and 27 percent thought people gossiped about them.

Yes, often it’s a boss we grumble about, but we can’t see eye to eye with our fellow cube mates either. Many of us don’t think our coworkers are very well behaved, according to a Monster poll. Here’s a list of what ticks us off about those workers in the cubicle next door:

> Coworkers who gossip: 35%
> Coworkers who don’t clean up after themselves: 25%
> Coworkers who are too loud: 14%
> Coworkers who text or email when they’re in meetings: 10%
> Other / none of the above: 16%

We might be expecting a lot from Congress after all. If we get on each other’s nerves so much, how the heck can we do our best on the job? (more…)

Is your boss watching what you wear?

Should you care?

Check out my MSNBC.com column on how Corporate America is ratcheting up the fashion police.

Contract, freelance and temp workers are the second-class citizens of the workforce.

That’s just how it is folks. You’re not a full-time employee with health benefits, sick time and vacations days. And adding insult to injury, an employer can kick you out the door when ever the heck he or she wants.

Michael D., a long-time contract engineer for a major computer company on the West Coast, recently went through this indignity. But his kick-out-the-door was worse than most. He was ousted because he ate a manager’s salad by mistake, a Caesar salad to be exact. (more…)

“When somebody higher up [is] telling you to do something, you’re going to do what they say.”

This statement was made by Ricky Lee Campbell, a 24-year-old coal shuttle driver and roof bolter who worked at the Massey Mine in West Virginia before a blast took the lives of nearly 30 workers there.

He’s referring to another worker who was asked by a manager to disable a methane gas monitor that measured dangerous toxins. The move appears to be a major violation in safety protocol, but Campbell is making excuses for the guy who followed the dumb orders that were driven by business sense, not common sense.

Campbell witnessed the incident. He talked about it in a radio broadcast this morning of an NPR investigation of the Massey tragedy that uncovered the incident:

“He knew it was dangerous. He knew he shouldn’t have been doing it. But when somebody higher up [is] telling you to do something, you’re going to do what they say. And he just [did] his job and [did] what they said to do.”

This mentality is not unusual. (more…)

There’s is nothing worse than having a loved one who’s treated badly at work. Unfortunately, in this economic environment, fuses are short, people are over worked, and sometimes that causes hell for workers.

I typically write about how employees can deal with problems they face on the job, but lately some of you have been asking me how to help a loved going through this.

Becky emailed me recently about her older brother who is being bullied at work.

“My brother is being harassed on a daily basis in his workplace. He’s called a ‘fag’ regularly, is told to ’shut up’ and is constantly overall ridiculed, insulted, disrespected to say the least. He’s not gay but is single and, of course, in this world that’s enough to label you gay. His work environment is absolutely unbelievable. I guess there must be worst situations out there, but this one is pretty horrendous.”

She’s so upset over how her brother is being treated it’s starting to impact her own mental health because she has no clue how to help her brother. What to do? (more…)