Someone wrote into the "Ask a Boss" column for advice on a very touchy subject. A junior employee writes that they always place the lunch order for the office and uses her personal card to pay. Everyone else in the office always pays her back in a timely fashion.
Even after the meal is done, the rest of the office always has a conversation as to what everyone owes for the order…. but the CEO remains oblivious and never contributes to the talk. As we can all imagine, the employee is feeling very bitter, both that the CEO doesn’t pay and that the wealthier colleagues are not saying anything either.
- The "Ask A Boss" column's advice is simple: to speak up.
- They suggest telling the CEO on the spot, before the order is even placed, how much he will owe for his food, adding a “Can I get that from you before the end of the day?”
- The "Boss" even suggests adding up what he owes from prior lunches and saying “Joe, I’ve been spotting you for lunch, and it’s been $X for the last three months. Can we settle up this week?”
- If this doesn’t work, they say to just stop ordering lunch for everyone or make sure everyone has paid before the lunch is ordered.