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In episode 9 of “The JoyPowered™ Workspace Podcast,” JoDee and Susan answer voicemails from listeners. Topics include managing people older than you, what to do if your company wants you to relocate and you’d rather not, and whether you should offer unlimited PTO.

Bill, a professor, wonders what to tell his students about how to manage people who are older than them. JoDee and Susan urge them to understand that respect is earned; you can’t assume you have it because you’re in authority.

Zeke wants to work remotely instead of relocating, and the hosts suggest making a business case in terms of cost, relationship, and reputation, and consider offering to travel to the new location a certain number of days each week or month to be face-to-face.

A listener asks about offering unlimited PTO, and JoDee and Susan don’t recommend it. It makes people uncomfortable about the amount of time they’re taking off and results in less time being taken off.

Bob asks what JoDee and Susan would say to someone who feels that HR doesn’t have the employees best interest at heart, and is just representing the company. They suggest understanding the perspective of the HR team and that most HR people are trying to look out for both the people and the company.

Another listener wonders what to do about an employee who dyed her hair purple, and the hosts mention that there’s no legal protection regarding hair color, but it’s best to focus on their behavior and not the way they look – choose your battles.

Evelyn wants to know if not getting promotions because she “doesn’t have executive presence” or “isn’t assertive enough” means she’s being discriminated against, because that sounds to her like “not male enough.” JoDee and Susan say it’s hard to tell whether discrimination is occurring, but advise asking more specific questions about why she’s been passed up, and trying to work on her assertiveness and executive presence.

JoDee and Susan wrap up the episode by discussing a big case in the 7th district federal court of appeals in Indianapolis, which found that sexual orientation is protected under sex under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Mentioned in This Episode:

• Purple Ink, the HR consulting firm JoDee owns
• Susan Tinder White Consulting, the HR consulting firm Susan owns
• JoyPowered, JoDee’s book
• “Why Unlimited Paid Time Off Is Bad for Your Employees”, an Inc. article listing reasons why unlimited PTO is unfair
• SHRM’s 2016 Employee Benefits Report, which states that unlimited vacation is offered by less than 2% of companies in the US
• StrengthsFinder, an assessment JoDee and Susan promote