Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Cheating at work and management reaction

97 replies

ApollO88 · 26/01/2016 15:55

Sorry if this gets long winded

So today I find next to the work printer a photocopy of an exam that I sat for an internal training course at work. It's got the handwriting of a colleague all over it with notes and answers from different pages made on it. It looks as though she has been copying my work. I take the document to my manager who brushes it aside and compares us to his teenage daughters squabbling over the make up mirror in the bathroom.

Aibu to report him for his reaction and my colleague for her cheating?!

I am right royally pissed off with the cheating. I have worked hard in my training courses and not only is she stupid enough to cheat but she's stupid enough to leave the evidence laying around!

And I cannot believe my managers reaction to what should be treated very seriously! It's professional cheating! I have never had an issue with this colleague before so compare us to squabbling teenagers is just ridiculous!

OP posts:
JohnLuther · 26/01/2016 16:38

I think the OP would know if it was her test and not a practice one or whatever Hmm

BoomBoomsCousin · 26/01/2016 16:38

Why do you think it's serious ApollO88?

Original poster
ApollO88 · 26/01/2016 16:43

Because it's an external company that they are paying to come in and deliver a course that she has now jeopardised my participation in by copying me and cheating. It opens up questions about the work that I have spent 4 months working on at my managers request. Has she done this before? Has she copied me word for word? Are they now going to disqualify us both as they won't be able to prove who the cheat is

OP posts:
Stillunexpected · 26/01/2016 16:44

What kind of qualification are you getting from this course? If it is a recognised one from an external awarding body then I think you are correct to be annoyed that someone is cheating the system. On the other hand, if the course is something which has been pulled together for your company and at the end you will receive a certificate from the training company stating that you are qualified in the procedures of Company XYZ then perhaps it is not so serious. Either way however, it shows her morals in a dubious light.

You are not very clear about the testing procedure though. You said you and your colleagues keep the tests in a book on your desk so you can work through them when you have time in the day - what are you working through, the tests? So they are more like internal checks for you to ascertain if you have understood a particular module or are they actual sit-in-a-controlled,-timed-environment tests?

ImperialBlether · 26/01/2016 16:45

I think your manager's response was awful. If he'd come across you squabbling about nothing then I can see he would be irritated (though he wouldn't compare two men your age to his teenage daughters) but you were making a valid complaint about cheating in an exam and he responded very badly.

I don't understand about the test - will the candidates have an identical paper tomorrow?

Stillunexpected · 26/01/2016 16:46

Are they now going to disqualify us both as they won't be able to prove who the cheat is - I think you are getting a bit hysterical now. If you have already done the test, she hasn't and the copy is your test with your handwriting and name on top and her notes in the margins, it is pretty clear who the cheat is, isn't it?

kaitlinktm · 26/01/2016 16:47

If she takes the tests the day after you, surely they will know she is the one who is cheating.

Original poster
ApollO88 · 26/01/2016 16:48

Sorry to be clear. The workbook contains the coursework. That we work through as and when we can. The tests are sat when the company come in once a month. The test papers are scanned by them and we store the originals with the rest of our coursework. Which now that people have pointed out is strange as it does give the staff who haven't yet sat the paper access to the answers. I guess no one ever expected anyone in our office to stoop that level?! I know I personally won't be leaving mine out anymore!

OP posts:
5Foot5 · 26/01/2016 16:50

But weird that you all keep your test papers around others thT haven't completed it yet

Presumably because they didn't expect anyone to be so dishonest and unprofessional as to rummage through someone else's papers in order to cheat.

I think you are right to be annoyed, especially if there is any likelihood that your overall performance on this course might subsequently have an influence on performance reviews or promotions.

Also if a manager implied I was behaving like a teenager for reporting something I felt was a significant issue I would be annoyed. Perhaps ask for a private meeting and ask if this course is something that the company actually takes seriously. If not then why are they wasting your time in making you take it. If they do think it is important then how can he justify his flippant attitude to your colleague's dishonesty?

BoomBoomsCousin · 26/01/2016 16:50

Why do you think they'll disqualify you? You haven't mentioned anything about them giving you rules about not sharing answers and their examination practices are those of an agency that wants as many people to pass with flying colors as possible, not an agency that is concerned with the integrity of the qualification.

museumum · 26/01/2016 16:51

I can't believe so many people think this is totally ok.

I would be pissed off if a colleague copied my course work without asking. And in fact if they did ask I wouldnt' agree. I'm not going to work on CPD and let somebody else who hasn't done the work get credit.

When a promotion comes up and you both go for it how will they know who actually worked for the qualification and learned the material and who cheated?

GruntledOne · 26/01/2016 16:53

I think Twitterqueen's posts are absurd, to be honest. These are not notes, nor are they past exam questions the colleague has copied, they are the questions for the exam she is about to take (so she can mug up the answers to those questions) plus, as I understand it, OP's answers to those questions. It isn't something trivial, it's blatant cheating which should be taken seriously, not least because it casts doubt on the colleague's honesty in other contexts.

LagunaBubbles · 26/01/2016 16:54

Are they now going to disqualify us both as they won't be able to prove who the cheat is

If she does hers after you then I think it will be clear who has been cheating!

I dont get your reaction Twitterqueen, OP suspects that her work has been copied and this may affect her - how is that petulant? Confused

SantasLittleMonkeyButler · 26/01/2016 16:58

If I've understood you properly, of course it's cheating Confused.

I assume you are each supposed to be tested on your own abilities? Photocopying your completed and marked work, when it's the exact same paper she will sit tomorrow, is giving her all of the answers surely?

Yours had already been marked, yes? Then she would only have copied the correct answers. The person marking wouldn't know, as the right answers are what they're looking for.

I think it's your company's policy of keeping marked papers sat on a shelf in full view that probably needs amending TBH. Unless the company don't actually care how candidates get the right answers so long as they do. Their motivation may just be to get everyone to pass.

BoomBoomsCousin · 26/01/2016 16:58

I don't think it's OK that her colleague cheated, I just don't think she should expect her work to do much about it. General qualifications are semi-good tools for filtering people when you're hiring. Accredited professional qualifications have a lot of merit in very technical jobs. But most in work trading doesn't need an exam to be useful, we;re just used to it. When it comes to promotion they will surely be looking at the quality of the work the two colleagues do. Having a piece of paper saying you can pass a test is not the same as being good at a job.

BoomBoomsCousin · 26/01/2016 16:59

*In work training, not trading!

ImperialBlether · 26/01/2016 17:06

I think TwitterQueen is a bit of a keyboard warrior. She doesn't read what the OP is saying but makes forceful responses.

Warmworm · 26/01/2016 17:08

Wow, I think it's clearly cheating and I'd expect my manager to let the colleague know it's not acceptable behaviour. Your manager sounds extremely patronising, and I'd struggle to let that go too.

PuppyMonkey · 26/01/2016 17:10

I think some pps are thinking she's just nabbed the exam paper (which would be quite Hmm anyway) and don't get that she's also nabbed your answers. Maybe?

I think you reporting it to the exam people TODAY would ensure you couldn't be accused of cheating.

Twitterqueen · 26/01/2016 17:12

Er Imperial I have read the OP. and all the other posts too.
And Gruntled my posts are not absurd - they are simply presenting a different viewpoint

We don't actually know exactly what has happened. And if the manager was dismissive doesn't that perhaps indicate that this really isn't worth making such a fuss about?

IMO the OP acted very immaturely and could have handled the situation a lot better.

MrsGideon · 26/01/2016 17:15

she handled the situation immaturely? What by NOT flipping out and having a hissy fit, and instead talking calmly to management about a serious issue?

MrsGideon · 26/01/2016 17:16

I really hope you don't work in HR!

ImperialBlether · 26/01/2016 17:16

How did she act immaturely? She found her own exam paper on the photocopier and reported it to her manager as it was clear a colleague was cheating. What is immature about that?

GruntledOne · 26/01/2016 17:17

But what on earth is immature about reporting an instance of cheating to a manager, Twitterqueen? It really would be absurd, when she knows someone has been cheating, to pretend it didn't happen and go off and tell her manager that she'd got it wrong when clearly she didn't.

ImperialBlether · 26/01/2016 17:20

In fact, TwitterQueen, your post (below) quite bizarre:

You are behaving like a petulant teenager as far as I can tell. Is this a professional, industry accredited qualification? If so, the exam procedures need to be tightened. Or is in internal training course for upskilling that is applicable only to your company?

If you report your manager - for what? and to whom? I suspect all you will achieve is to make yourself extremely unpopular.

The grown up thing to do is to go to your colleague - pleasantly, sincerely and calmly and say something like "did I spot my notes on the photocopier earlier? Did you find them useful? Let me know if you spotted anything. I think you're taking the test tomorrow? Good luck with that.

And then go to manager and laugh it off, again saying something like "I got completely the wrong end of the stick earlier! Forget all about it - we've sorted it out now."

So you think she should ask the cheating, stealing colleague whether she wants even more help? And tell the manager she'd got the wrong end of the stick? Are you crazy?