My Young Colleague Has an Eye-Raising Approach to What She Wears to the Office. That’s Not Even the Worst of It.

Good Job Photo illustration by Slate. Photos by Jupiterimages/Getty Images Plus and PEOPLEVISUALS/Getty Images Plus. Good Job is Slate’s advice column on work. Have a workplace problem big or small? Send it to Laura Helmuth and Doree Shafrir here. (It’s anonymous!) Dear Good Job, I am a middle manager at a large international company. Owing to a liberal work-from-home policy and recent downsizing, we have moved to a small, open-plan office featuring hot desks. Many of us are managed remotely by supervisors in other locations. My problem is an employee who is early-career and not adapting to office norms after more than a year in the role. For example, she does not always dress appropriately (think short-shorts and a halter top) for our business-casual office; she makes loud personal calls in the open plan area; she watches Netflix on her phone at her desk. She also monopolizes shared locker space—we have a system where you can lock up your items during the day, but aren’t supposed to leave personal items overnight. She abuses this by keeping the key. Her manager is based in another location, so much of her report’s behavior may be unknown to her. We also don’t have an HR person on site every day to notice what’s going on. If this were my direct report, I would absolutely take this as a mentorship opportunity and nudge her in the right direction. I believe that sort of direction would be valuable to her in her career, in addition to making her less annoying to work alongside. (Office gossip is not kind to her.) I have occasionally let her know when she has crossed a line in the moment (for example, when her Netflix is audible to others trying to work), but it hasn’t stuck. Should I have a word with her direct manager (whom I know, but not well)? Or is this something I should take up with HR, with a focus on the distracting impact of her behavior on those of us in the open plan? —Not Her Boss But Wanting to Help Dear Not Her Boss But Wanting to Help, Let me get this out of the way first—unless you have an employee handbook with a clear dress policy (which it sounds like you do not), don’t address what she’s wearing. It’s too fraught and not appropriate for you, who are not her direct manager, to take on. As for everything else: These are tangible conduct issues that are adversely affecting everyone else in the office. It’s not your job to guide her in her career, but you can flag what’s been going on to her manager. The loud phone calls, Netflix, and the locker policy are all things that you can bring up to her manager. I would frame it in a way that’s more “I want to flag this for you before it becomes a bigger problem,” and less a feeling like you’re tattling on an employee. Separately, I might also bring up how she’s abusing the locker policy to HR, because that feels like a facilities issue that’s easily solvable (i.e., let’s get a new key, and enforce the daily rule). And again, I would ease off on framing this as wanting to help her—as you point out, you are not her manager, and moving yourself into this role, even unofficially, is likely going to backfire. But for the sake of office harmony and your own peace, I hope you’re able to get the noise issues in particular resolved soon. —Doree Classic Prudie I enrolled my two boys into an exclusive private school in our new hometown. At a school event I bumped into an attractive woman whom I didn’t recognize. She came by and asked if I remember her. It turns out that she was someone I bullied in high school. Never miss new Slate Advice columns Get the latest from Prudie and our columnists in your inbox each weekday, plus special bonus letters on Saturdays. Advice Workplace Jobs