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.

As a senior manager I think you have a duty to whistle blow in this kind of circumstance.

If your manager is doing nothing wrong you can be reassured of this. If they are doing something wrong then something can be done about it.

YANBU

This is really hard OP, and its awful that a manager should be working this way unless a really good pre authorised reason such as god forbid serious illness.
Its not good to dump work on others on a regular basis, so she is clearly not a team player or communicating well.
Who funds this work? If it is a well known charity are there a board of funders etc you can report too?
If she is stealing hours/time that is serious fraud.
Who regulates the funding for her role? If you add up the cost it could be hundreds of pounds, who steals off a charity??
Absolutely sort it out, once the rot sets in it can turn toxic very quickly.
Is her off site manager guilty of the same, are they covering each other?
Charities have to be accountable how funds are allocated so be careful they are not doing this together.
Start asking for time in lieu when you all work over to cover. As you say you can take in blocks of 15 minutes, so all work over then ask to go the same days as her, so there is literally no one to cover.
I hope the service users are not suffering, enough funding gone over the years as it is without fraudsters milking it.
Do not confront her she will then claim she is working ftom home/covid etc. Be very careful.

She is a work colleague....that's it.
Is she a family member or a personal friend?
If she isn't then I would care not a jot about pulling her up for her behaviour.
She clearly doesnt care if you're workload increases.
Just remember....she is a work colleague.,that's all she is.

howcharitieswork.com/transparency-and-accountability/how-charities-are-regulated/#:~:text=The%20Charity%20Commission%20is%20the,its%20annual%20report%20and%20accounts.
You can report to charities commission but I guess you will need concrete evidence on how it is affecting the end goal. Loss of funds etc

@Angelswithflirtyfaces

howcharitieswork.com/transparency-and-accountability/how-charities-are-regulated/#:~:text=The%20Charity%20Commission%20is%20the,its%20annual%20report%20and%20accounts. You can report to charities commission but I guess you will need concrete evidence on how it is affecting the end goal. Loss of funds etc

Employee discipline is not the role of the Charity Commission.

They investigate serious concerns about charities like harming people, being used for personal profit, not doing what they say they are doing.

They also state: "In most cases you should complain to the charity first. They’ll normally want to hear about your concerns in order to fix the problem"

The colleague is doing wrong, but the correct place to report it is to a more senior manager, HR or follow their Whistle Blowing Policy.

Also interesting that you say people can be paid for unused leave - that only works for leave above the minimum which they are legally obliged to take so she shouldn’t be able to get paid back for four weeks (unless she has twice that in AL allowance!)

I would most definitely report her!
I had a similar situation recently with a colleague who would often leave 1 or 2 hours early on an evening. I mentioned it to the manager who then put a stop to it.
I get we all like to leave work early, but your free time is not more precious than mine. I'm not doing the job of 2 people without the extra pay.
I hate unfairness. People really will take the piss if you let them

I started a thread like this a couple of years ago and was mostly told I was unreasonable. In truth, people who take this piss like this cause no end of problems for the business, customers and their colleagues. But they don't care. If it was reasonable for her to be leaving early, she would put it on the time sheet. Report her.

Agree @Abouttoblow - you never know which way these threads are going to go.

Most people on this one are saying ‘report her’, but usually OPs get told to mind their own business. Even when it’s clear that the skiver’s free time off means more unpaid time for the unhappy OP.

I feel your pain, I use to work with someone and due to flexible working alongside booking our own timesheets she never worked a 37 hour week.

Had the nerve to whinge at me for going at 12 on Fridays when that was the end of core hours 😂 in the end someone grassed her in as she convinced an apprentice to fill out her timesheet with made up hours and she also wasn’t completing the work on time.

They sacked her for fraud

@MajorCarolDanvers but the manager is using the charities money for hours not worked, stealing and fraud - as in for personal profit.
People donating to this charity would be disgusted if money was being wasted in this way.
You can go to the trustees if the higher manager is not interested and you have proof.
That is why charities are regulated to stop fraud, abuse and money laundering??

I’d have to mention it in a ‘it was so busy yesterday after 3, I found it tricky to manage everything myself to be honest’ then when your manager says ‘where was Amy?’ You say ‘oh she left early, she has been taking her holidays recently by leaving early, hasn’t she?’

Then you aren’t a massive grass but she can’t carry on taking the piss. I hate people that do this !

[quote Angelswithflirtyfaces]@MajorCarolDanvers but the manager is using the charities money for hours not worked, stealing and fraud - as in for personal profit.
People donating to this charity would be disgusted if money was being wasted in this way.
You can go to the trustees if the higher manager is not interested and you have proof.
That is why charities are regulated to stop fraud, abuse and money laundering??[/quote]
I know but that's still an employment matter.
and not for the Charity Commission unless it was widespread practice, or significant fraud.

I worked with 2 people who did this. They were both fires for gross misconduct. No warning required as it has happened on multiple historical occasions. Both had very longstanding service.

Sorry fired

Bloody autocorrect!

She's abusing the toil system?

That's theft, she is stealing from her employer.

I wouldn't report her but I would speak to her about it. A direct approach is often the best way. At least give her a chance to explain and you can tell her how her absences inconvenience you.

Terrible idea! Gives her fair warning it's been noticed and she'll likely manufacture a way to get the op in trouble/discredited if she does report

@DreamerSeven idea is better

Your post on service users makes her even more despicable

Grass? How old are you all? Of course you should report someone for fiddling their timesheets!

I think you are right to report this and definitely take photos of the calendar. It's not fair to anyone that she is taking so much time off work and leaving others to pick up the slack.

I wouldn't talk to her about it first. She will just cover her tracks. Speak to your manager and leave them to deal with it.

Does she not have to ask if she can take it- or is it totally accepted that she can take it when its convenient?
I would expect someone to email their manager- i"s it ok if I take friday afternoon off as holiday ( or whatever)" and the manager should say yes or no- or hopefully "check with Endof/other colleagues to see if they're ok?" - just from good practice - otherwise how do you see in advance if you have shortages

I dobbed a colleague in for this once because I was sick of her pulling this shit and me having to pick up the slack. We were the only ones who had the same role there so it always fell to me. She kept her job but had all the extra annual leave deducted off her pay, she cried about it at work but serves her fucking right tbh. I don't mind turning a blind eye now and then, but she must have had double my annual leave at least and she's not more deserving of extra breaks than anyone. So yes, definitely report.

Is there any chance you can speak to the manager face to face?

Bad bad management. When and if you do whistle blow. It may not just be her that's called to book. It could be people who are supposed to manage her.
By the way, her absences could be agreed for any amount of reasons and confidential information on time sheets are understood by her seniors.
Tread carefully.

I would be slightly careful - are you sure she’s not taking time for a series of appointments that management know about (such as counselling or antenatal appointments?) and have agreed she can have paid time off for? I would understand from her point of view if she didn’t want details of her health passed around the office and uses the excuse of ‘I’m taking a few hours’.

However, as others have said it may well be that she’s taking the piss so you need to have a carefully worded conversation with management.

Even if she is taking time for medical appointments it is negatively affecting the remaining staff and management need to be aware of this.