So when is it not bad to be the office snitch?

[ZachsMacDaddy]

Comments removed.

ok ok, everyone has made some good comments. I'm staying out of it from now on. I have a feeling it's coming to a head anyways...

 

[r1ch4rd]

I'd raise your concerns with your manager, but ask him to treat anything you say in confidence. You should ask others to raise the issue with your manager too.

Go in slowly to start, no need to barge right in with the video. If your manager is feeling the pressure from a number of staff, that might be enough to spark him into action.

 

[ZachsMacDaddy]

I'd raise your concerns with your manager, but ask him to treat anything you say in confidence. You should ask others to raise the issue with your manager too.

Go in slowly to start, no need to barge right in with the video. If your manager is feeling the pressure from a number of staff, that might be enough to spark him into action.

It's been done. He took hits from 3+ people last Friday alone after this guy blew up and cursed someone out in the kitchen. 2 of us complain about him all the time.

I feel like his secretary because I take calls all morning from people who think I may know where he is since he's not at his desk. The truth is that he does not come in until 11am or later most days and then goes to a long lunch around noon. Starting yesterday he has been put on a mandatory 9:30 am arrival time, and so far he has been 15-20 minutes late both days.

My manager has acted on complaints, but the guy (problem guy) has been here 25+ years and has a strong hold on his job. I don't know how much it would take to finally get rid of him.

 

[r6girl]

The best, most professional way to handle this is to bring your concerns confidentially to your own manager or HR and let them handle it. I used to work in HR addressing issues like this and taking things into your own hands to gather "proof" is definitely not appropriate and, at the very least, calls into question your own work ethic (how much time did YOU take away from your own work to capture this video?) and professionalism (it's not YOUR job to address the issue and there's absolutely no reason to go that far to provide proof of the problem), (EDIT) not to mention the creepiness factor (if any word of this gets out, you'll be known as the employee who videotapes other employees, which is just begging for a harassment claim against you in the future even if you never videotape someone again because you've built yourself a reputation with a single act).

Just schedule a meeting with your boss and describe your concerns specifically, e.g., "I noticed Bob has been sleeping at his desk lately and it's impacting the team and the work we do in X, Y, and Z manner...."

 

[ZachsMacDaddy]

The best, most professional way to handle this is to bring your concerns confidentially to your own manager or HR and let them handle it. I used to work in HR addressing issues like this and taking things into your own hands to gather "proof" is definitely not appropriate and, at the very least, calls into question your own work ethic (how much time did YOU take away from your own work to capture this video?) and professionalism (it's not YOUR job to address the issue and there's absolutely no reason to go that far to provide proof of the problem).

Just schedule a meeting with your boss and describe your concerns specifically, e.g., "I noticed Bob has been sleeping at his desk lately and it's impacting the team and the work we do in X, Y, and Z manner...."

My boss is laid back and he knows what's going on. He knows that we've all talked about taking video and he was ok with it. Heck, he knows I took it and wants to use it, but he also knows that I have concerns about the workplace getting more hostile and is ok with me keeping it to myself.

He wants to be able to sneak in and catch him in the act, but it's hard to get in our area without making noise and he has to come over from the corporate building to get to our site.

 

[Gav2k]

Don't say sweet f a. My sister had an employee at her place that was the same. Her boss did deal with it he came back to the office. Went to punch my sister but her boss stopped him as a result her boss ended up pinned to awall and stabbed in the eye with a pen.

 

[r6girl]

My boss is laid back and he knows what's going on. He knows that we've all talked about taking video and he was ok with it. Heck, he knows I took it and wants to use it, but he also knows that I have concerns about the workplace getting more hostile and is ok with me keeping it to myself.

He wants to be able to sneak in and catch him in the act, but it's hard to get in our area without making noise and he has to come over from the corporate building to get to our site.

Your boss is okay with it and he's willing to use the videotape? Your boss would be fired in any of the companies where I've worked in HR. It's one thing to work with company security to surveil employees, but actively collaborating with subordinates to do this informally indicates a serious lack of good judgement.

 

[Little HZ]

It sounds to me like the people who need to know about this know about it, and are even taking action. If the guy has a 25-year work record, it will take careful, and time-consuming building of a paper trail to fire him.

I STRONGLY recommend that you back off and let the people whose job it is to supervise this guy do their job. To the extent that you have to take time away from your job to do problem guy's job, ask your supervisor how to handle this, document his/her response, and follow his/her recommendations, documenting how often you have to interrupt your job to do problem guy's job.

Leave the videos to someone else!!!

 

[maflynn]

I would not be taping my co-workers nor would I be ratting them out. I mind my own business and let their business take care of itself.

What would your other co-workers say or think about you taping him for evidence - that you'd do that to them. No its not your responsibility to be the office cop. It could come back and haunt you.

Let him live his life and if he gets in trouble at work for sleeping/lack of productivity that's his own doing, he doesn't need any helping him dig his own grave. If he doesn't get in trouble, so what, worry about your own productivity

 

[question fear]

It sounds to me like the people who need to know about this know about it, and are even taking action. If the guy has a 25-year work record, it will take careful, and time-consuming building of a paper trail to fire him.

I STRONGLY recommend that you back off and let the people whose job it is to supervise this guy do their job. To the extent that you have to take time away from your job to do problem guy's job, ask your supervisor how to handle this, document his/her response, and follow his/her recommendations, documenting how often you have to interrupt your job to do problem guy's job.

Leave the videos to someone else!!!

Agreed. I've dealt with firing people who have incredible amounts of time at a company, it takes a while to get the paper trail together. It's all about covering the company's ass.

If there's someone above your boss, cc them on emails you send your boss explaining the situation. That's your best paper trail, far better than videotaping.

 

[charlesbronsen]

I would not be taping my co-workers nor would I be ratting them out. I mind my own business and let their business take care of itself.

What would your other co-workers say or think about you taping him for evidence - that you'd do that to them. No its not your responsibility to be the office cop. It could come back and haunt you.

Let him live his life and if he gets in trouble at work for sleeping/lack of productivity that's his own doing, he doesn't need any helping him dig his own grave. If he doesn't get in trouble, so what, worry about your own productivity

+1 nobody likes a tattle teller

 

[zoomungus]

its defo an SEP (somebody elses problem) like your super's, he gets paid to deal with it, you dont!

 

[ZachsMacDaddy]

After hearing more just now about other complaints about him, I'm just going to sit back and let nature run its course.

Based on the number of complaints I have heard, I think there's enough going on that I don't need to worry about getting involved any more.

 

[zoomungus]

After hearing more just now about other complaints about him, I'm just going to sit back and let nature run its course.

Based on the number of complaints I have heard, I think there's enough going on that I don't need to worry about getting involved any more.

Has no body told this guy he's messing with gold digging ho?

 

[andiwm2003]

the problem is known. stay out of it and leave it to your boss and HR to sort it out. document that you reported it repeatedly and that you worked harder to compensate for the weird guys lack of productivity.

at the same time make sure you're not connected to this case in any way.

do not join discussions about the guy, do not videotape, do not badmouth him. it makes you look unproffessional.

also people tend to throw you in one box with the guy even when you are the one complaining about him. people just generalize and you will be guilty by association even if it's not true. that's just how it is.

i have seen stuff like this happening and on average everybody who is connected to the case (in good and bad ways) gets on top of the next layoff list. it's not fair but i've seen it happening.

 

[ZachsMacDaddy]

Has no body told this guy he's messing with gold digging ho?

Oh, he's been told. He's got his blinders on because a pretty 25yr old sits on his lap and distracts him while she fleeces him.

 

[Macky-Mac]

So your boss knows about it? It's time to let him deal with it which is part of his job.

Going over your boss's head to complain to higher authorities is only going to cause you problems with your boss.

 

[barkomatic]

So now some of us who work with him and are affected by his growing lack of productivity are growing tired of him taking advantage of our employer and getting away with doing just about nothing at work.

You've already taken the appropriate action and now I'd stay out of this-- unless another event occurs that interferes with you own ability to perform your job or your feelings of safety. There may be circumstances surrounding this situation that you are unaware of. Everyone knows about this that needs to know and its up to your manager and HR to make decisions now. They may not make the correct decisions in your opinion but its theirs to make.

Getting caught up in drama--interesting as it may be--very often ends up hurting you.