AIBU reporting colleague

[endofmytether4]

My colleague is in a senior position to me. In our office we don't have a clock in/out system and we have no onsite management.

Part of her job is to fill in a timesheet on behalf of everybody in the department.

Over the last year or so she has never worked a full week and marks on the calendar that she has a couple of hours holiday leave to take maybe twice- three times a week. I was suspicious for a while because although she doesn't take full weeks off, it seemed like she had a lot more leave than anyone else.

Her leaving early means a lot more work for me as we get busier towards the end of the day and if she took a full day off, someone would cover her role but not if its just a couple of hours.

Last week when she left early I checked the timesheets and she hasn't declared any of these hours. She has almost four weeks of leave left and we have been offered payment for any days left at the end of the year (April- April) so I'm assuming she's going to cash it in.

Our manager has no way of knowing she's doing this unless someone explicitly tells her.

YABU- she might have a reason she needs to leave early so much/she might need the holidays and the extra money.
YANBU- she is abusing the system and making work life more difficult for the people who have to pick up her slack.

Her actions are having a direct impact on you and your customers, and for that reason I think it needs to be addressed. Would you feel comfortable asking her directly? If not, then I would ask the manager about help for covering her early departures.

@Suzi888

Hmm I don’t know. What if the manager knows? Is it part of your job to check HER time sheets?

YANBU though, it is unfair.

It's all on one document for the whole team on a weekly basis. It's an excel spreadsheet where hours worked are recorded but you have access to amend your own column if special leave is agreed with your manager.

I wouldn't report her. I'd talk directly with her about the impact her leaving early/taking time off all the time is having on you. If you can't resolve it by talking it through with her, and if her behaviour is genuinely negatively impacting your own work, I'd go to my line manager.

Frankly it's nobody's business but your colleague's and her manager's about why she's leaving early. The discrepancy could very well be all above board because the manager has advised "just pop it as holidays on the board and as worked on the spreadsheet" to give them privacy.

However, what is your business and your other colleagues is that the early finishing means that your workload has increased, including unpaid overtime that your feel morally obliged to do because of the service users that you have a responsibility for.

I would definitely approach from this angle alone with your manager and just say it's becoming really difficult as a team to keep up with the extra responsibility and check what the long terms plans are because sustaining extra workload doesn't look realistic (increase of sickness absence through work related stress is a high possibility depending on the personal circumstances of those picking up the extra).

What happens to the paper calendar on the wall. Is it kept or are weekly/monthly pages ripped off and binned ?

Can you photograph the calendar each week as evidence of the holiday she's declared to colleagues but then not disclosed to management ?

@littlegreenalien

What happens to the paper calendar on the wall. Is it kept or are weekly/monthly pages ripped off and binned ?

Can you photograph the calendar each week as evidence of the holiday she's declared to colleagues but then not disclosed to management ?

It's kept but I'm going to photograph each page anyway. Monthly pages so very clear how often she has holidays.

Speaking to my manager about my workload due to her leave will highlight the issue regardless of whether she has a reason for leaving (though that would be documented on the timesheet if agreed with management). If its all above board, management still has to look at the pressure its putting on other staff.

@girlmom21

Stop staying behind to catch up her work. At the end of each day give your manager an update of the outstanding work with a reason why.

@girlmom21 - I really would do this. But also back it up with evidence. Agreed with not staying behind to catch up her work. I rarely do this. If I do its exceptional and I make a point of saying so.

A few years back I used to work in a busy office and the other PA regularly went for twice/three times weekly lunch booze sessions going on way into afternoon and sometimes not even back after 5! I had to pick up the slack and she didn't work Fridays! She was listening to him whinge on about his issues/problems and mostly personal so was sort an unpaid therapist and he didn't mind. I did though as I had to do her work!

I eventually realised through lots of things/issues at work - that if I wanted to leave a bit early say 4pm on Fridays then as long as I told a white lie about it (boss wasn't there and none of other office dobbed me in) then in theory it was fair and I just did it. I did most of the other work, ran the office, worked 9-5.30 pretty much every day and did dogsbody stuff like pick up milk, teabags etc until I ordered most of tea/coffee from stationery company. When I left (after boss begged me not to leave and offered me a payrise) they realised (I was being quite badly unpaid and I did ask and expected payrises) how much work I did, essentially the same as at least one other person or a part time person but my colleague was almost part time how she worked but got paid full time and on a good wage too!

If I ever told my boss she wasn't doing the work he either didn't believe me or brushed it under the carpet. However, if I was on leave or off sick and the outstanding work didn't get done if she didn't pull her weight then he'd want to know the reason why!

@Joystir59

I wouldn't report her. I'd talk directly with her about the impact her leaving early/taking time off all the time is having on you. If you can't resolve it by talking it through with her, and if her behaviour is genuinely negatively impacting your own work, I'd go to my line manager.

No way is this a good idea. It's causing professional issues and should be approached professionally ie through the line manager. If there is a good reason for it (like a medical one she doesn't want to disclose to colleagues) asking her about it would put her in a very uncomfortable spot. It's impacting the OP and her colleagues' workload and this is the aspect of it the line manager needs to address. How they do it is up to them.

DEF report! 100%. This can't go on indefinitely

I would be wary. Could this be medically related? A colleague had treatment for cancer which meant often leaving the office at odd hours. She worked very hard, but it might have looked the same as this.

@littlegreenalien

What happens to the paper calendar on the wall. Is it kept or are weekly/monthly pages ripped off and binned ?

Can you photograph the calendar each week as evidence of the holiday she's declared to colleagues but then not disclosed to management ?

Yes, that's what I suggested. Take photographic evidence for a few weeks, then compare it to the time sheet.

Here's a plan. Quietly photograph the paper copy on the wall when there's no one else around every week for, say, three months. Print up a copy of the Excel document every week too if you can. When you have consistent evidence that the two don't match, type up a note explaining that the figures don't match. Put the lot in an envelope and quietly bung it on her manager's desk or mail.

This is a public sector organisation, I think, so she's not only making life difficult for other staff but she's also defrauding the public purse.

@Brainwave89

I would be wary. Could this be medically related? A colleague had treatment for cancer which meant often leaving the office at odd hours. She worked very hard, but it might have looked the same as this.

If it was it should go through our manager and she'd have it marked as special leave.

It's rarely planned in advance, she usually declares in the morning she's taking a few hours in the afternoon.

@Brainwave89

I would be wary. Could this be medically related? A colleague had treatment for cancer which meant often leaving the office at odd hours. She worked very hard, but it might have looked the same as this.

In which case the manager would know already and it's a non issue.

I would report it. Give the manager the information so they can make their own decision of how to handle it.

Are you prepared for how awkward it will be after you do this? I only ask because it often surprises me that posters on here do something they know will annoy their colleagues, then they're surprised that their colleagues are annoyed.

That's outrageous OP, especially when she knows it'll be the vulnerable end users that lose out.

I'd take photos of the paper calendar where she records the holiday she's taking as evidence, and then ask for a conversation with your manager and explain that all of this regular holiday is putting too much strain on the rest of the team and impacting on your ability to deliver your service.

I would like to think that when they see the impact of her behaviour on end users, they'll react pretty quick.

@Isseywith3witchycats

what she is doing is actually fraud declaring shes worked hours she isnt doing and if there was a fire in the building and she has slid off home early the fire brigade would waste time looking for someone who isnt there so yes i would report it to management

This. Unlikely to happen,but if it did, firefighters would be searching for an absent person.

No you can't go on like this. It doesn't help anyone.

@DreamerSeven

I’d raise it with your manager in a “as Barbara is regularly taking a couple of hours a week of leave, it’s putting additional stress on my workload. Are there any plans to backfill her hours so we have adequate cover? You can see from the calendar how often this is occurring” That way you’re raising it from the point of view of how it’s affecting you rather than accusing her of anything.

Yes, this.

@LorelaiDeservedBetter

Are you prepared for how awkward it will be after you do this? I only ask because it often surprises me that posters on here do something they know will annoy their colleagues, then they're surprised that their colleagues are annoyed.

Things are pretty tense as it is. It's been going on for over a year.

@DreamerSeven

I’d raise it with your manager in a “as Barbara is regularly taking a couple of hours a week of leave, it’s putting additional stress on my workload. Are there any plans to backfill her hours so we have adequate cover? You can see from the calendar how often this is occurring” That way you’re raising it from the point of view of how it’s affecting you rather than accusing her of anything.

100% this, what a brilliant post @DreamerSeven

I agree with others - talk to manager about the pressure you feel when she is out of the office but don't make any negative comments about her. Manager will work things out for him or herself.

I work in retail in a little shop, the manager would go into work at 8, the shop didn't open till 9, she said its because she gets a lift in with her husband as he starts earlier, then she would go home at lunch time on Saturdays sometimes the busiest day, and she often went went home a hour or two earlier in the week if we were quiet, the perks of being the manager.

If she is doing what you think she is then she's defrauding the charity as well as causing extra work and stress for her colleagues so definitely say something, but even if say there is some above board reason for it then at least you'd be flagging up that your department needs support.

I would do as Dreamseven suggested, to include photographs of the calendar and also CC to admin/hr

YANBU - there may well be a good reason why she's doing this and she may already have agreement from management. In which case management can just ignore your report. Equally she may be taking the absolute Michael in which case reporting allows management to look into it further, so what's to lose from saying something?