I’m waking up to dozens of after-hours emails from my boss. Help!

Each week, Dr Kirstin Ferguson tackles questions on the workplace, career and leadership in her advice column “Got a minute?” This week, navigating after-hours emails from the boss, casual sexism, and finding a new career.

Because my workplace is all working from home, my boss seems to work unusual hours. It’s not uncommon for me to wake up to a dozen emails from my boss which have all been sent overnight. I am finding it a really stressful way to start the day and I am also feeling like I should be checking my emails in the evenings, which I really don’t want to do. I don’t feel I can speak to my boss about it, so what I can do?

This is a tricky one since working from home does mean everyone’s usual routines are completely tossed about. If your boss has kids home schooling and is simply trying to manage their home life during a pandemic, as well as managing their job, they may only be able to catch up on work emails outside “normal” hours. It’s hard to know their situation without having an open discussion with them.

I do think there is a responsibility on your boss as well to explain, and make it completely OK, that their emails are not read or actioned until the recipient gets to them whenever their working from home circumstances allow. I have noticed some people are putting a note like that on the bottom of their email signatures just reassuring people they work at strange times and have no expectation that you do. Even better are the people who use the schedule function so emails are sent during regular hours.

Basically, I think a conversation does need to be had. Find a way to inquire with your boss about their expectations on all the emails you are waking up to each morning, and see how the discussion progresses.

I am the only woman working in a team of men and virtually every email that is sent to us as a team begins, “Dear Gents and [insert my female name]“. It’s so old-fashioned and is just a constant reminder that I am the only woman in the team. Bringing it up seems really trivial and I doubt anyone else has even noticed. What do you recommend?

“Gents” is such a dated word. What you have identified is casual sexism and I’m sure you are right, none of the men receiving or sending the email would have even noticed. I know I’ve experienced this sort of thing earlier in my career and was never brave enough to say something – I always worried that the issue, in isolation, would be seen as hardly worth talking about. I may even be tarred as one of those “crazy feminists”.

Well, that was early in my career. If it happened now (and I am so sorry to hear that it clearly is still happening now), I would speak up and happily risk the compliment of being a feminist.

I might try and find a humorous way to address it or I would go straight to the person who always uses that language and just ask if they could use something else like “Hi all”. It’s not that hard to be inclusive, but so many people who have never experienced feeling excluded sadly don’t make the effort.