To sign or not sign the boss’s name?
Your boss asks you to sign his name on correspondence on his behalf, without putting your own initials next to his signature. He’d like for it to look as though he took the time to personally sign the letter.
Is that ethical?
Not without taking one more step, says Nan DeMars.
“If that occurs, my suggestion is to type a to-whom-it-may-concern note on your company stationery, put a date to it, and say ‘I give authorization to my assistant, Nancy Jones, to sign my correspondence on my behalf.’ Then have your boss sign the note,” says the author of You Want Me To Do What?
Tuck the note in a file. If you do have a problem some day, the note will offer some protection.
“Of course, this applies to just normal correspondence,” DeMars says. “If you sign for your boss on a legal document, you must initial it.”
Is that ethical?
Not without taking one more step, says Nan DeMars.
“If that occurs, my suggestion is to type a to-whom-it-may-concern note on your company stationery, put a date to it, and say ‘I give authorization to my assistant, Nancy Jones, to sign my correspondence on my behalf.’ Then have your boss sign the note,” says the author of You Want Me To Do What?
Tuck the note in a file. If you do have a problem some day, the note will offer some protection.
“Of course, this applies to just normal correspondence,” DeMars says. “If you sign for your boss on a legal document, you must initial it.”
