Josh Goodbaum: Hi, Amanda.
Amanda DeMatteis: Hi, Josh. What are we going to talk about today?
Goodbaum: I want to talk about an employee who’s having real trouble with their boss because the boss has totally unreasonable expectations. They keep piling on work. They have more demands than anybody could meet in an 80-hour work week, let alone a 40-hour work week. How should an employee deal with a boss like this, and is there anything in the law that protects them against a boss with unreasonable expectations?
DeMatteis: The answer is maybe. These are some of my most difficult consultations, Josh, when a person comes to me and is telling me about a boss that they have that just is unreasonable or really unfair. But if that boss is treating all of their employees that way, there’s usually nothing legally that we can do to protect you from a boss like that. If he’s uniformly or universally just really difficult to work for, maybe that’s poor management, maybe it’s unfair, but it’s not illegal.
However, there are a number of other facts or considerations you can look at. Are you being singled out? Is your boss treating you differently? Are you the only one with these abnormal or unusual job expectations?
If so, you’ll want to look at how this boss treats your peers – other similarly situated employees to you. If it’s better, why? Can you differentiate yourself from those peers who are treated better by this boss? If you can, that’s one reason why you’ll want to speak to an employment lawyer.
Goodbaum: Great advice, Amanda. Thank you, and thank you all for watching. We’ll see you next time.