During the interview for my current job, I emphasized that I wanted a job with professional development opportunities. The hiring manager said that professional development was important and definitely a priority. After six months, I approached my supervisor about a recognized professional certification that I wanted. It was an 18 month online course, so I wouldn’t miss work, but it was expensive. He said no.
The company announced this week that the same training program would be available at no cost to the department, but I’d have to be out of the office for 20 days. My boss said 20 days away was a no-go. I told this to a co-worker, and she said the management team said I’d be perfect for this. However, my boss said, “She’s so good, they’d probably try to steal her way from us.”
I want to go back to my boss and ask her to reconsider my application. But, I can’t bring up anything I know about what my coworker said, for fear of getting her in trouble. How can I do this?
To read the answer click here: Dear ReWorker: What Should I Do About a Lack of Learning Opportunities?
Question – would it be illegal for the boss to punish the coworker for revealing this information? I thought talking about working conditions is permissible under the NLRA?
I can’t give a straight answer for that, since training opportunities aren’t expressly covered under NLRA (to the best of my knowledge), and most companies aren’t up to date on all the laws anyway.
Plus, we have a strong culture about keeping our mouths shut, so her coworker would feel uncomfortable.
Yeah, this strong mouth-shutting culture is responsible for a lot of bosses getting away with illegal behavior.
Thanks for your response. I’m not trying to sound snarky, but I get increasingly frustrated with people, usually women (as in your example above) being exploited.