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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to grass this colleague up?...sorry, long!

107 replies

Whatafuzzfoot · 02/04/2012 14:46

ok, so I started a new job 8 weeks ago today and another new guy started about 2 days after me.
Working hours for both of us were stated as 9-5.30.
It is a very small office (9 of us including me and said guy, but only 5 of us work together in the upstairs office)
It's a very relaxed laid back working environment. 2 bosses that share the business equally. I report into one of the bosses, he reports into the other (2 separate areas of the business)
Both bosses are mostly out of the office at meetings or working from home so we are mainly left to get on by ourselves.
There should be no issues with this as we both have plenty of work to get on with, know what we are doing etc and we could call our bosses if we needed anything.
The first few days was fine, but 2 weeks in he started taking the piss a bit.
He doesnt drive so his wife has to drop him off and pick him up, but they live 5 mins drive from the office.
Every day he slopes in at 9.10-9.20 and calls his wife to pick him up anytime between 5-5.30
He also doesnt have a mobile phone so uses the office phone several times a day to call his wife/family/book weekend activities etc (His wife also calls the office to speak to him at least twice a day)
He smokes quite alot and goes out for a cigarette break several times a day, roughly one fag break every 1.5 hours (not sure if that's normal as I have never smoked so dont know what is considered acceptable!)
He sits next to me so i can see exactly what he's doing on his screen all the time - and 9 times out of 10 he is on facebook, looking through pictures or writing private messages to people.
using FB in office hours is not exactly frowned upon though, as we do a lot of business through it, and my role genuinely requires me to be on it a fair bit. (As well as MN Grin )
However, he works for a different part of the business, (our sister company I suppose you would call it) and there is no reason to be on FB at all for his role.

The other person in our upstairs office has noticed this too, but she already had a bust up about him stealing her sales (they are both commission based) so I think she is reluctant to say anything for fear of making things any more awkward

When his boss is in, he does his job (basically calling companies from our database and trying to sell things over the phone) but because his computer is turned the other way, I can see he is still on FB as he knows his boss can't see

So, what I'm asking really is AIBU to 'grass' this guy in?
I know it's not really my place and its not that I'm pissed off that I am genuinely working and arriving and leaving on time, its more that I'm angry that he is taking the piss out of this small family run business that the 2 bosses have worked hard to build from scratch.

So, should I say something? I don't want to come across a snitch or make my boss think I'm a twat but he's winding me up big style with his piss taking
TIA

OP posts:
SwedishEdith · 02/04/2012 20:31

Depends what he's achieving. And that's between his boss and him.

ImperialBlether · 02/04/2012 20:26

Most sales people work longer hours, not shorter. It's hard to justify not doing a full day's work, don't you think?

SwedishEdith · 02/04/2012 20:14

Sales jobs are about sales aren't they, not presenteeism?

ImperialBlether · 02/04/2012 20:05

Babylann, this seems to be what this guy is doing. Do you think the other employees have a duty to do something about it?

babylann · 02/04/2012 19:56

RE the smoking thing, in previous jobs I've generally had an official smoking break once every 2.5-3 hours. At weekends or in my spare time, I would smoke once an hour. I guess if the boss wasn't in, I would have smoked more often. But I was a lot younger when I worked and didn't have a family to take care of, so jobs meant very little to me back then and I always followed my dad's motto, "If you can get away with doing very little and still get paid, then why not?"

babylann · 02/04/2012 19:55

YANBU but I wouldn't say anything. If he's as bad as you say, it will come out eventually. Doesn't matter whether he works when they're around but stops when they're not, as eventually numbers and targets etc consistently won't be met and at that point they'll do something about it and you don't have to be the bad guy.

fedupofnamechanging · 02/04/2012 19:52

I'm really torn, OP. Your bosses should be able to trust someone to do the job they are paid for, without having to check up on them all the time.

I'd leave it for now and see how things pan out - he might be able to do his job well and do what he is doing. In the end, it's results that count, not the number of hours actually spent in the office.

If he's pissed off other staff members, then you may not need to bring it up at all - they will.

McHappyPants2012 · 02/04/2012 19:39

it is the mangers business and anyone with good business sense would keep there team on task.

In my work FB and other social site have been barred and there is a policy about internet use at work ( it is not allowed)

you can only smoke in offical break times.

get caught doing these it is a written warning too many of these could lead to you losing your job.

OP is there a policy at work for these, or is it as long a sale targets are made then internet access is allowed

ButteryBiscuitBase · 02/04/2012 19:29

No it doesn't but its likely that someone will! People might not like being monitored but they might need to so employees like the man in question don't take the piss!

Xmasbaby11 · 02/04/2012 19:28

It's not your place, and a lot of your criticisms are very petty.

ImperialBlether · 02/04/2012 19:27

What does that matter, that it's not a caring profession? They were clearly able to trust their staff before this bloke came along to take the piss out of them. That's a fantastic feeling, that you are being trusted to do a good job. Most of us would hate to be monitored and would prefer to be trusted. It doesn't mean you can take advantage like that.

ButteryBiscuitBase · 02/04/2012 19:25

But the man is not working in a caring profession or in charge of the care or wefare of children/adults/animals so its not really the same thing.

If everyone ran their businesses on good will and trust they would inevitably have employees who took the piss. They should be keeping check on things, its their job as a manager.

ImperialBlether · 02/04/2012 19:19

I'd like to know how this translates to other jobs.

If a helper in school saw that year 1 teacher was on FB all the time whilst her children did whatever they wanted, would you say it was none of her business?

If an A level teacher told her students, including your son, not to bother with homework or meeting deadlines, would you say that was up to her and her boss, who's ignorant of the fact, or would you report her?

LeBOF · 02/04/2012 19:18

(I wasn't being entirely serious)

ImperialBlether · 02/04/2012 19:16

So because the managers haven't noticed, they deserve to have the piss taken out of them?

ImperialBlether · 02/04/2012 19:16

Buttery, are you saying the managers are wrong to trust the workers and should organise themselves as supervisors, rather than bring in extra business? That's a strange way of looking at it.

ButteryBiscuitBase · 02/04/2012 19:15

But surely if the bosses can't see what's going on under their noses that's a flaw in their managerial skill? its THEIR job to make sure he is doing HIS job. Its great that your so loyal and I'm sure they value you for it and it will be noticed and rewarded.

ImperialBlether · 02/04/2012 19:15

LeBof, how long do you think the business would survive if everyone did the least possible amount of work? Wouldn't you have any loyalty to your employer?

Original poster
Whatafuzzfoot · 02/04/2012 19:11

Thanks imperial I'm glad at least one person can see the impact on the business which is my concern.
I don't give a shiny shit about him personally, obviously I wouldn't want him to get sacked or anything but the reason it is bothering me and the reason I was considering 'grassing him up' for want of a better phrase is because it actually offends me that he is taking the piss out of two people who have worked hard their whole life and built up a good business from their living room whilst on mat leave. I have a lot of respect for them personally and for what they have done. It is still a new company that we are trying to build up and cannot afford to lose business. I was brought in to promote the company within the industry and he was hired to bring business in via the other branch of the company. So although he is not directly affecting my work, he is damaging the business as a whole.
Not that it matters as I don't feel I can say anything to my boss now anyway.

OP posts:
Coconutty · 02/04/2012 19:11

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

LeBOF · 02/04/2012 19:04

You are clearly missing a trick if it's possible to skive that much unnoticed. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, that's my advice.

ButteryBiscuitBase · 02/04/2012 19:03

Well the managers should be more office based then to keep an eye on things! If the opportunities there to take advantage then its likely somebody will!

ImperialBlether · 02/04/2012 18:56

I'm horrified by all these responses telling the OP to 'keep her beak out' etc.

This is a small family business. Just one salary has a huge impact on a small business. The managers are out of the office for much of the time - how exactly can they see for themselves that someone's skiving?

Of course it's in the OP's interests that the business thrives. Why the hell should a small family concern pay someone to waste time? Why should the OP just wait for the inevitable closure of the business if everyone's messing about?

It's early days for this man. There would be nothing wrong and everything right in saying to your manager, OP, that he/she might need to tell his/her partner to check that this man is actually doing his job properly. If she doesn't, someone should.

If someone else leaves and another newcomer joins the company, sees the guy arsing about on FB all day and behaves in the same way, is that acceptable? It doesn't take long for a working culture to change.

I think the OP owes her bosses loyalty. She's not suggesting he gets fired, just that if he is paid to do a job, someone should make sure he does it.

ButteryBiscuitBase · 02/04/2012 18:17

If he gets sacked can I have his job!?

Seriously though leave well alone, the truth will come out. Are colleagues on his own team taking on his work because he is lazy? I'm sure if they are they will bring it up with the manager? If its not affecting your day to day work other than annoying you its not worth the hassle. Plus you might get a reputation as a snitch and in my experience you could alienate yourself from colleagues.

It wouldn't be unreasonable to grass him up but what would you gain?

ButteryBiscuitBase · 02/04/2012 18:16

If he gets sacked can I have his job!?

Seriously though leave well alone, the truth will come out. Are colleagues on his own team taking on his work because he is lazy? I'm sure if they are they will bring it up with the manager? If its not affecting your day to day work other than annoying you its not worth the hassle. Plus you might get a reputation as a snitch and in my experience you could alienate yourself from colleagues.