Dear Good Girls,

I work in a small dental office – just the dentist, the hygienist and myself. (I run the front office.)

The problem is the dentist. He goes through our desk drawers when he thinks no one is looking. He looks through everything, even personal items, and doesn’t even bother to put things back where they belong. He also hides around corners to listen to our conversations and personal phone calls. This feels like an invasion of privacy.

I tried to tell him we are entitled to some personal space, but he just laughed and denied everything. Help!

Dear Reader,

While you could hide a mousetrap in your top desk drawer, the pleasure of catching your snoopy boss red-handed might be outweighed by the difficulty in getting a new job after he fires you for trying to maim him.

Your boss has some serious boundary issues. But since he denies the problem when you confront him, you’ll have to take steps to protect your privacy. Keep all your personal items in a locked box in your desk, and keep the key in your pocket. Make any personal calls off-site using a cell phone. Set up lunch dates away from the office to chat with your co-worker.

These measures should effectively guard your privacy. That they will also drive your boss insane with curiosity is just icing on the cake.

Dear Good Girls,

I’m a senior technical employee for a large health care organization. My boss, who is 20 years my junior, got his job because he’s related to a senior corporate executive. I consider him totally inept.

I used to come in 30 to 45 minutes early every day to get a jump on things. I seldom took breaks, and often worked through lunch. Because my company has a strict no-overtime rule, I usually left a little before the official end of my workday, or saved up my extra time to leave a couple of hours early on Fridays.

My boss had a problem with that, and gave me an official reprimand because I was not seated at my desk every day until 4:30 – without acknowledging that I always came in early. Because his complaint is in my personnel file, I won’t receive a merit raise this year.

Now, I don’t show up until exactly 8 a.m., and I refuse to attend any meetings that interfere with my 15-minute breaks at 10 and 2:30. Every day I drop what I’m doing and leave at 4:30 on the dot.

Is my boss happy? Yes, because he “managed” me and showed me who’s in control. Is the company better served? No, and my boss hears about it from the higher-ups. But when he complains about my new inflexible schedule, I just point to the policy manual.

Dear Reader,

You know, we think we used to work for this guy. Is his name Dennis?

But seriously – while we understand your frustration, we must remind you that it’s never wise to play power games with your boss, especially a boss whose uncle is in the corner office. So be a grown-up. Tell your boss that you’re caught between the company policy book and your desire to work in the most efficient way possible. Ask him for some suggestions on adjusting your hours to better fit the work flow.

The Good Girls write for the Chicago Tribune.

t, or write to us at P.O. Box 5063, River Forest, IL 60305.)

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(c) 2003, Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.

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