Telling Your Boss About Your Divorce: Four Tips

Last week, we discussed how to talk about your divorce to your co-workers and colleagues. This week, we will tackle the issue of telling your boss that your marriage has come to an end.

Why do you need to tell your boss about your divorce? While it isn’t required, it’s likely that you will need to make changes to your health care plan, your tax status, and other human resources paperwork. It is also likely that you will need to miss some work due to court appointments, counseling appointments, or divorce mediation. Finally, it’s likely that you will want your boss to know and understand that you are going through a difficult time at home.

How should you tell your boss about your divorce?

• Avoid being too confessional. When you tell your boss about your divorce, do so in the context of your job and responsibilities. Let her know whether you will miss work, whether you will need help with your workload, and any other professional details. You don’t need to explain what went wrong in your marriage
• Let your boss know what she can count on. Provide as much information as possible regarding how the divorce will affect your job. Be honest – this is your chance to let her know if you will need extra time, attention, or understanding.
• Don’t use the divorce as an excuse. Unfortunately, the work world goes on – no matter what is happening in your personal life. Realize that you will need to continue performing at work during the divorce process. While you should count on understanding and help from your manager and co-workers, you should also realize that there are still consequences for not doing your job.
• Ask if you need to do paperwork. When your marital status changes, you will likely need to update your information with the human resources department, such as tax information and health care information.

Telling people outside of your friends and family about your divorce can be especially difficult – you are sharing a private part of your life with someone who is outside of that sphere. However, since a divorce will have an affect on a number of aspects of your professional life, telling your boss is often necessary.

Are you in need of legal assistance regarding your Washington State divorce? Contact Seattle divorce attorney Molly Kenny today.