Spin-Off: Co-Workers Get Away with What?

[JoeA]

We had the whole smoker issue for years.

We had a guy about 15 years ago bring in a Dr's note saying he was diagnosed with Diabetes and he would require a 10 minute break every hour. We had no clue what to do with that one. How do you ignore a Dr's note, even if you are almost positive it's fake? Thankfully he was a terrible worker and was always late coming in, late back from lunch so it didn't take long to address all those issues on their own and let him go.

On a smaller and just anoying scale we had a guy that would never bring lunch and when we ordered in would always decline but would then sit at the table when we all ate and would take food off of our plates?!?! It was so crazy none of us knew how to address the issue... lol

Had something kinda similar. Years ago I worked in a small office and on Fridays we would chip in and buy some beer and snacks for the afternoon.

One guy never NEVER would chip in or buy anything but would always stay and have a few of our beverages; however, he would leave to cash his check and buy a 12 pack but left it in his truck.

On one Friday I snuck out and stole the beer from his truck and told everyone I picked up some beer while I was out. When it was done I thanked him for finally buying! His face went pale!

this guy just didn't get it, and we finally started putting the beer in the Coke vending machine so he would have to pay!

 

[MataHari22]

On a smaller and just anoying scale we had a guy that would never bring lunch and when we ordered in would always decline but would then sit at the table when we all ate and would take food off of our plates?!?! It was so crazy none of us knew how to address the issue... lol

I'm pretty sure after I accidentally stabbed him with my fork 3 times in rapid succession, that would have stopped him from taking my food off my plate. Don't touch my food. I look like a sluggish little tiny sloth, but touch my food on my plate, and I will spring like a ninja.

 

[Minniesgal]

A Team Leader was sent to Australia for 2 weeks for a meeting. Rough huh? He was there for July 4th. So when he returned he was allowed to take a day off for the holiday.

This would be standard practise at my company, we get back bank holiday and weekend days we work while away from home and if we fly at the weekend we are entitled to leave to compensate. A two week business trip to Australia would mean me missing 3 consecutive weekends at home, 1 to fly out, 1 in the middle and 1 to fly back. You bet I'm taking leave when i get back.

 

[sasywtch]

I am a government worker and a smoker. I've worked in a state with no break/lunch laws and thank goodness for CA's break/lunch laws. In the 80's my supervisor showed us a report from the NE Journal of Medicine that workers who didn't leave their work areas every few hours for a few minutes showed much higher stress and disease. She made us take our breaks away from our desk and when we complained (I didn't smoke then), she showed us the article where it said that even if you break at your desk or area, you are still thinking about your work that needs to be done. My physical therapist has suggested that I walk during my two 15 minute breaks due to my achillis tendon/heel spur thing. I am at a workplace where I'm down in the parking area in 30 seconds so no problem there. I actually take shorter breaks than the non smokers as they go walking and don't normally come back in 15 minutes. I'm usually back in 10. Out of 70, I think I'm the only smoker left in our office. We have people that were on Facebook so much it is now banned from our computers, people on long personal calls, people who leave for lunch and are always 10-15 minutes late.

It is getting easier to get government employees fired. I've seen 3 in the last few years but 2 of those three were set up. The other one, I heard he turned violent on a manager. One of the 2 that I believe were set up by management, I was asked to say something that wasn't true and refused. I am positive my lead went ahead and lied. My lead was one that if a manager told her to jump off a bridge, she'd say "where?".

I sympathize with the Adult ADD and was offended by the previous comment. I think people have had issues for years and didn't know what it was. I was diagnosed lately but I am confused why headphones or something similar wasn't ordered instead of an office. A private office is extreme. I do get overwhelmed with so much stimulation going on around me but at the same time, I can do 20 things at once. (go figure??? I don't get it either). I pull out the headphones and listen to music to drown everything else out.

 

[DisneyWorldMimi]

Our company went to leased employees to get a better rate for health insurance. Our payroll was handled by an outside company and they were in effect our HR. One of our employees had gotten very sick and was short on sick leave. We had a policy that if another employee had extra sick leave, they could give it to another employee. Another employee did this for the one that was sick. The boss denied the transfer of the sick leave. So the person that was sick took it to the HR company. Our "Liaison" was supposed to come in and talk to the employee and then the boss and then see what could be worked out. She was supposed to represent the employee. She came in and took the employee into the bosses office and agreed with the bosses decision and that there was nothing she could do. She was very rude to the employee.

This boss was also rude and would harass and belittle the employees. He literally drove one woman out with his badgering and belittling. She retired and then the person that was sick had a few more incidents and decided to retire as did another person. My DH contacted the Board of Directors and told them that if they didn't do something to rein him in, then was going to sue them for employee harassment. They started and investigation (not really willingly) and found that he did in fact badger, belittle and harass the employees. Came into work one day and he wasn't supposed to be in until around lunch, but never showed. The President of the board came in at the end of the day and said that he retired effective immediately.

He was a real jerk. After this one woman that he really fell hard for went back to her ex-husband, we felt he started hating women.

 

[Disney Doll]

The secretary in charge of the area where I had my office was always showing up late, going home early and taking long lunches off property without clocking out. We knew she got away with everything because she was quite "chummy" with the boss. They would spend a lot of time together in her office with the door locked and the blinds on the windows down.

She was also allowed to approve her own payroll time even though the company requirement was that only salaried personnel could do so, which she was not. She also would go to the salon we had on premises and get her hair and nails done and have it comped to our boss. She thought she could do whatever she wanted and told me she had the boss in her back pocket. I went on vacation and when I came back, the combo code to get in our offices had been changed. This combo was never changed unless someone had been terminated. Turns out the secretary was terminated for stealing money out of a supervisor's purse in their office. She had done it previously and unbeknownst to her, a surveillance camera was installed to catch her in the act. She had stolen over $500 out of purses. When it was time to clean out her office, another supervisor and I were assigned the task. We found so much liquor hidden all over the office. We also found some condoms in her desk drawer.

She may have had the boss somewhere, but it wasn't in her back pocket.

 

[Christine]

. In the 80's my supervisor showed us a report from the NE Journal of Medicine that workers who didn't leave their work areas every few hours for a few minutes showed much higher stress and disease. She made us take our breaks away from our desk and when we complained (I didn't smoke then), she showed us the article where it said that even if you break at your desk or area, you are still thinking about your work that needs to be done. My physical therapist has suggested that I walk during my two 15 minute breaks due to my achillis tendon/heel spur thing. I am at a workplace where I'm down in the parking area in 30 seconds so no problem there. I actually take shorter breaks than the non smokers as they go walking and don't normally come back in 15 minutes. I'm usually back in 10. Out of 70, I think I'm the only smoker left in our office. We have people that were on Facebook so much it is now banned from our computers, people on long personal calls, people who leave for lunch and are always 10-15 minutes late.

FWIW, your 80s supervisor was correct. And even though we don't have breaks, we are encouraged to get up from our desks once an hour, stretch, take a quick spin around the floor (which is huge) and come back. These are quick breaks meant to refresh and recharge. I've even told my people that I don't mind them taking "internet" breaks every so often to do something personal or decompress from the grind of the tasks they do. For some, taking a quick look at their Facebook page, reading a cooking blog, etc, for a couple of minutes helps.

Also, even though I don't allow smoke breaks, most of that has to do with how our building is set up. If we were in a small business where you just took a few steps out the front door, went out and smoked, I'd be okay with that.

 

[Squirlz]

This would be standard practise at my company, we get back bank holiday and weekend days we work while away from home and if we fly at the weekend we are entitled to leave to compensate. A two week business trip to Australia would mean me missing 3 consecutive weekends at home, 1 to fly out, 1 in the middle and 1 to fly back. You bet I'm taking leave when i get back.

It wasn't where I worked. It's frightening to see how many people are unable to comprehend that just maybe things can be different in different places!

 

[VandVsmama]

There's a guy in my department at work who, a couple of years ago, had a habit of showing up to work between 11am-12pm every day. At the latest, his day was supposed to start at 9am. One of our coworkers started jokingly bugging him about it, saying to the guy, "Hey So-and-So, you working drug dealer hours again today?" It wasn't until SEVERAL people in the department complained to the manager about it that the manager said something to the employee. He still regularly shows up late..."late" is 9:30 am now instead of lunch time.

The thing is...this guy is a really nice person. But he's like a house plant or a barnacle at work. Just sits there and waits for the tide to come in so he can collect his paycheck. Getting him to do anything requires so much babysitting and butt wiping that I feel like I'm his mother or something.

 

[RedAngie]

I'm pretty sure after I accidentally stabbed him with my fork 3 times in rapid succession, that would have stopped him from taking my food off my plate. Don't touch my food. I look like a sluggish little tiny sloth, but touch my food on my plate, and I will spring like a ninja.

There was this one woman who did just the opposite. If she didn't want to finish the food she took, she would just start scraping her leftovers onto other peoples' plates. "Here, I can't finish this." When people balked, she said it was a sin to waste food. Once she tried putting her leftovers back into the serving dishes on the buffet table.

 

[MataHari22]

There was this one woman who did just the opposite. If she didn't want to finish the food she took, she would just start scraping her leftovers onto other peoples' plates. "Here, I can't finish this." When people balked, she said it was a sin to waste food. Once she tried putting her leftovers back into the serving dishes on the buffet table.

Oh. Heck. No! I have issues with people touching and handling my food. I don't like buffets for reasons like that. I've also been food safety certified 3x and between that, and my crap immune system due to serious illness, well.... forget that, I'm paranoid! I don't like wasting food either, so right off the bat, I try not to take what I cannot eat. I just went through that the other day, trying to get the restaurant NOT to give me the items I could not eat. Eating out for me, is extremely rare, but I was out all day, and about starved to death. I was not going to make it home, I could tell my blood sugar was tanking and low. I asked them just not to give me the items I could not eat. They were getting annoyed because I was paying for it, and they could not charge me less money for it. Meanwhile, I never asked that, or even asked for a substitution or anything. I just wanted to pay full price, and have them leave the items off. You would think I was asking them to rewrite Einstein's Theory of Relativity. They wanted me to take it, and throw it out.
I used to be the GM of a restaurant, this is not a big deal, just leave off the items! Besides, I was helping their P&L, by paying more, and taking less. Weenies.

 

[tvguy]

I'd like your job, but I'd insist on normal business hours, no weekends, holidays, or 3am starts.

I have weekends off normally. That what you get in this business for coming in a 3 am, weekends off.

 

[Minniesgal]

It wasn't where I worked. It's frightening to see how many people are unable to comprehend that just maybe things can be different in different places!

I'm not unable to comprehend anything and realise not all companies have similar policies.

However I will always think it reasonable to allow an employee to take some leave/recuperation time after an extended trip far away.

 

[Squirlz]

I'm not unable to comprehend anything and realise not all companies have similar policies.

However I will always think it reasonable to allow an employee to take some leave/recuperation time after an extended trip far away.

I'll tell you aother story then. They sent me to Paris for 2 weeks. I decided to fly home on Sunday instead of Monday as scheduled. So I wasn't originally scheduled to be at work on Monday. I went in after sleeping in a little bit, arriving around 10 AM. First thing I'm asked "Why are you late?"

 

[puffkin]

We have a new manager in our office, (same department but manages a different group). We are in a coporate and salaried environment, all professions in accounting/finance disciplines.

She never show up until 10 (at the earliest). She leaves at 4:45 ever day and 3 on Fridays. She has taken 3 sick days since she started (2.5 months ago) and another 4 for her son. On 3 separate occasions when the controller isn't here she has "worked" from home yet she wasn't logged on. She takes at least an hour lunch every day away from her desk running errands. And if that wasn't bad enough, she is also a smoker. However she doesn't go stand out at the smoking area like all the others, but instead gets in her car and drives around for 20 minutes. She heats up ramen noodles at least 4 times a day (long walk to the lunch room). And her office is right next to mine and I can hear every phone call to her parents/boyfriend/friends, etc. Hours a day. EVERYONE in the office has noticed, including her 2 direct reports.

My favorite trick she has started doing is to leave her light on when she leaves and she brought in an extra coat to leave on the hook behind the door. So when someone stops by since her light is on they see her laptop gone and coat there and assume she must be in a meeting somewhere. Nice.

 

[Christine]

We have a new manager in our office, (same department but manages a different group). We are in a coporate and salaried environment, all professions in accounting/finance disciplines.

She never show up until 10 (at the earliest). She leaves at 4:45 ever day and 3 on Fridays. She has taken 3 sick days since she started (2.5 months ago) and another 4 for her son. On 3 separate occasions when the controller isn't here she has "worked" from home yet she wasn't logged on. She takes at least an hour lunch every day away from her desk running errands. And if that wasn't bad enough, she is also a smoker. However she doesn't go stand out at the smoking area like all the others, but instead gets in her car and drives around for 20 minutes. She heats up ramen noodles at least 4 times a day (long walk to the lunch room). And her office is right next to mine and I can hear every phone call to her parents/boyfriend/friends, etc. Hours a day. EVERYONE in the office has noticed, including her 2 direct reports.

My favorite trick she has started doing is to leave her light on when she leaves and she brought in an extra coat to leave on the hook behind the door. So when someone stops by since her light is on they see her laptop gone and coat there and assume she must be in a meeting somewhere. Nice.

And this is tolerated? Is this the private sector?

 

[puffkin]

And this is tolerated? Is this the private sector?

Yes, private. Its a weird situation where the executive team that hired her is reorganizing so her current boss is transitioning to another division and doesn't seem to care. She checked off the box that she filled this position and now she is moving onto her new role. Plus it is a newly created position, so the feeling was it would take her a few months to feel her way out. She looks GREAT on paper. I do think the incoming executive team has noticed, but I think it is a case of everyone is new in their positions and doesn't want to take a stand....yet.
ITs actual kind of comical in a way, it does provide us all with plenty of entertainment and quite a few office pools

 

[suzanna1066@comcast.]

Reading through this thread makes me so grateful that I work at a place that cares about what people accomplish rather than policing everyone like they're children. People that don't add value to the team can easily be managed out without this nonsense. Some of the work environments described sound toxic.

 

[DawnM]

UGH! I have my share of stories from my past work experience (I haven't worked in 10 years), but right now I keep thinking, "I am a hard worker, get to work on time, and do my job! And I am trying to get someone to hire me!"

 

[Sabeking]

My DH owned a business that had delivery trucks. They did not have gps tracking systems on their trucks at that time; so they could not track their whereabouts. However, they had an idea of how long it would take the driver to finish the route. They were hourly employees and it always took this one guy much longer to do his route. So of course he was getting paid for his time on the road. After a period of time and conversations with said employee they decided to see what was going on. My DH sent a manager to ride out and check on this man's status throughout the day. After three days of observation they found out the guy was going home for about 3 hours of the day and hanging out. The last day of observing the manager knocked on the door and the employee came to the door, hair disheveled , wrinkly clothes....etc...he was napping for a couple hours everyday!!Needless to say, that was the end of him.