I really despise wasting my time for no purpose. And spending my time tracking what work the assistant is doing - or in our case not doing - and then not firing him when it was so blatant that he lied, is a huge waste of my time. What a crock of shit, to put it mildly. Because he was hired as a "favor" to this mentorship group, my boss does not feel she can fire him. Why, after repeated issues, I don't really know. She said she didn't know what to do, because of this. She said "if it were anyone else, they'd be fired". I said, well there's your answer and explanation to the mentorship. Add in minority status and welp, he's apparently got a free ride to be a shitty employee and lie and steal time/pay, where no "anyone else" would have that.
I'm angry and frustrated. This isn't (or wasn't supposed to be) a "mentorship" job. This was an actual job she posted out to the real world, that she said she wanted someone with some accounting background. I am not spending anymore of my time keeping track of what work he is going or not doing, when the only consequence is absolutely nothing. I am disappointed in my boss, for about the first time ever. Because the work he's not getting done eventually falls back on me to get done and the quality of work is my responsibility, in the end.
How demoralizing for the rest of us employees, (you know those of us that classify as "anyone else") to be expected to be honest and responsible and work the hours we are getting paid for, while this guy gets to skate by, time and again. My dd said the company she works for even has a warning when they log into their time cards that falsifying hours worked will result in disciplinary action and possible civil or criminal liabilities.
I’m sorry this is happening. You are absolutely right about everything. , your boss is not actually a good boss. She can’t do the hard parts of her job. Anyone can do the easy stuff. My Dh is the CEO for a pretty large, multi location company, and they recently fired someone for this exact thing. No warning, no nothing, because theft of time is no different than the theft of money, and they had indisputable evidence. It’s stuff like this that destroys morale at a company and causes turnover.
ReplyDeleteDiane
The bottom line is, he's not only cheating your company, but he's cheating himself. He'll get caught sooner or later.
ReplyDeleteI get your frustration absolutely! We had a mentorship programme sponsored by the Dutch government where we'd bring people into our organization for a period of 15 months to learn the ropes and then hopefully take that learning back to their own governments. We had one woman who claimed she had two children (think expensive education grants in an international school) and spoke English (she was French speaking). When she got here we found out she had SEVEN children and when challenged she said she'd "filled out the form in a hurry"???? She didn't speak a word of English (which was essential) and couldn't type, so we spent 15 months paying for her English lessons, how to use the computer and paying for 7 kids in an international school (about $40,000 per kid per year at the time). Then she claimed a dependent husband and was trying for a dependent mother but never provided the paperwork. So yeah, I get your frustration absolutely!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like your boss needs mentoring herself - seriously.
ReplyDeleteBy doing this favour for the mentoring programme, although it seems laudable, she's actually upsetting the rest of her staff.
I don't imagine for one minute you want to fall out with her or even tell her you are disappointed in her because I can see you have a good relationship with her.
She has admitted she doesn't know what to do; could you possibly suggest she gets advice from a trusted friend completely outside the company who might point out that her lack of action is having an adverse affect on her existing staff?
In the end if she doesn't sack him he'll just push harder and harder.
I guess for her sake (and our other employees) they know nothing of the situation. She will have likely told one of her peer managers she is close with and also likely has told/will talk to our company president about it.
DeleteI'm honestly shocked she's not firing him. It's been how many lies and mistakes with no communication now? And if he wasn't hired directly through the mentorship program, she doesn't legally owe them? He may have gotten a job through connections, that doesn't mean he can keep his job because of those connections. It is sad not only for you and the others you work with, but also for whatever other kid that missed out on a chance to get a job in their field while in college. Those jobs can be so valuable with helping you after college and beyond.
ReplyDeleteIf she was smart she would have hired an assistant that could potentially be somebody to train fully in my job over the next years, so that when I (and my boss is 1 yr older than me) retire, it can be an easy transition. This won't be for awhile, but seems smart to work towards that end goal in mind.
DeleteYou could point out to your boss that the point of the mentorship is to learn real life lessons. Perhaps this person should learn that not doing work and/or then lying about it gets you fired. That would be a gift for him to learn sooner not later.
ReplyDeleteJust a clarification on the mentorship program. It is for high school students and he went through it in high school. Apparently he was so impressive he's kept in touch with the people involved with it and they are the ones who recommended him to my boss to hire. This is not a mentorship job with our company. He is in his 3rd year of university. My company is still involved in the mentorship program, so for some reason my boss is feeling like she can't fire him.
ReplyDeleteI think your boss just feels as if she is letting someone down if she lets him go - but he is not up to the task. If she has an honest conversation with whomever, I think they will understand - or they can talk to him themselves. This is so ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteThat is exactly what I am thinking, as well.
DeleteIt sounds like your firm does not have an HR department, but do you have a labor lawyer or even an HR service for guidance? To be completely honest, it does sound like she is more anxious about a discrimination complaint than anything else, particularly if the mentorship program is primarily assists with placement of minority students.
ReplyDeleteI just finished my first payroll for my new firm and it's a huge, complicated, PITA. Included in this process were write-ups for a couple of employees not using the timekeeping program for clocking-in, clocking-out. However, my boss has explained to me that defending against a post-termination complaint (we prevailed) has caused them to take such elaborate protections. It is still tedious to go through every 2 weeks, but this is what we have to preserve our company.
I feel for your boss. I do not foresee any sort of positive outcome from allowing this situation to continue.
Janelle
We don't have in-house HR, but we do use a PEO payroll service, that includes HR. I'm also suspecting it has more to do with his minority status as much as anything. My thoughts on all that are probably better left inside my head.
DeleteThat's crazy! All your boss has to say is, "Sorry Joe, it's not working out. We'll send you your last check." He probably won't say a word, because he knows he was caught lying. Or just tell him there's not enough work to keep him on. I think it will be more stress keeping him on than the short-term, like literally minutes, stress of telling him he's fired. Why would your boss even want him still having access to the company computer/records?
ReplyDeleteEspecially as she told me last 2 times she had told him no more warnings. Like you said, sorry, this isn't working out, have to let you go.
DeleteI think you should keep letting her know when he cheats. He needs to be fired so that he knows there are consequences for illegal behavior and that minority status won’t protect him. Think of it as doing him a favor and helping her become a better boss.
ReplyDeleteShe's for sure not doing him any favors at all. He's just going to go on to his next job with the same work ethic. She's always been an amazing boss. I'm guessing her recent personal trauma, along with being sick herself last week, is having her not 100% her normal self, which is understandable.
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