Things Your Boss Won't Tell You

Here is a List of Things Your Boss Won't Tell You

1. 'Yes, we are reading your emails (and your IMs)

Many financial services firms monitor the daily emails, instant messages and social networking activity of its employees. They use an email monitoring software to flag certain types of messages and keywords within messages.

That's fairly extensive, but many firms are, at the very least, monitoring some of employees' Internet, phone and email use, especially larger companies and those in sensitive or heavily regulated industries.

2. 'I know when you're faking the flu.'

The boss often knows if you're slacking off, job-hunting, sneaking out, faking sick or padding your expense report. In fact, a growing number of companies are hiring private investigators to track employees who call in sick with a suspicious illness, according to an article published last month in Bloomberg Businessweek. Perhaps it's a sign of tough times. More than one in four employers say they think more employees have been faking illness and taking the day off since the economic downturn began.

3. 'Your kid? Your problem.'

By now it's common knowledge that women earn less than men — about 81 cents for every dollar. Having a kid hurts women's earning potential even further. The so-called "mommy penalty" may manifest in many ways: A mother may get passed over for a promotion because the boss thinks she takes off too much time to care for her kids or that she's more concerned about the family than her career.

A mom may get overlooked for high-profile projects because the boss fears she won't devote enough time and energy. Those are hard slights to quantify. Not so for the penalty faced by women who take time off to raise a child — even for a period as short as 18 months.

4. 'I'm your best friend…'

For the six out of 10 workers who say they've considered a boss a friend, this won't come as a surprise: Being the boss's pal, or pet, comes with perks. Some bosses play favorites in obvious ways, like giving a particular subordinate the plum assignments or pushing upper management for his raise. Good relationships tend to lead to higher worker engagement; compatibility can help a worker get a raise or a promotion; everyone likes to work with people they like and trust.