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AIBU?

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Original poster

What does it take to be completely untouchable at work?

161 replies

PithyMintFawn · 27/02/2025 12:14

I work in a big corporate and I’ve noticed there’s this one guy who seems completely immune from any expectations or consequences. He shows up to meetings when he wants, barely contributes, and yet no one complains or even acknowledges it. It’s almost like an unspoken rule - he moves between teams every few years and people just know not to involve him in projects. If he does something unprompted, everyone reacts as if he’s done something amazing.

From what I’ve gathered, HR won’t touch his case, and there seems to be some underlying reason he’s so protected. This is unlike anything I’ve seen in my career. AIBU to wonder what kind of situation would lead to someone being completely untouchable at work? Have you ever seen this happen?

OP posts:
bloodredfeaturewall · 27/02/2025 13:36

hitchcock & sully innit
strategic incompetence, i.e. they rather spend 2 hours looking in the employee handbook to avoid work that would take an hour...

daisychain01 · 27/02/2025 13:40

I'll be candid - your OP is based on conjecture and your personal perception of reality.

You don't know that HR "won't touch his case" (what "case"?) and you have admitted that it's "From what I’ve gathered"

so I can't really take the facts as give seriously, I'm afraid - nobody other than on MN and on £100K 3 at week, company car drifts around doing nothing all day and is untouchable.

Praying4Peace · 27/02/2025 13:41

Iamnotabot · 27/02/2025 12:49

It’s actually pretty difficult and time consuming to fire someone. I mean it can be done but have to go through the motions and do it properly lest you get accused of unfair dismissal. Perhaps management are either not competent enough or to lazy to do it.

Edited

This 100%. Going through the relevant processes comes at such a cost to the line manager (in terms of time and emotion) that it can be easier to work around the problem.

MyDeftDuck · 27/02/2025 13:42

Does he happen to be the Union Rep by any chance?

katmarie · 27/02/2025 13:42

I had one of these as a manager. She was vile to some people, there were complaints but they seemed to just hit a brick wall in HR. There was lots of her playing favourites in the team, eg her BFF went off on maternity leave, she arranged a huge collection, pile of gifts, ballons all over the desk, leaving party etc etc. I went off on mat leave a couple of months later (same team, same manager) and I got a card. She was useless at her job, useless at managing, was almost never at her desk, and some of us were astonished when she was kept on after a round of redundancies post covid, when some really very good managers were let go. But then it turned out she was sleeping with the company owner's son. So, untouchable.
She's still there now. She was a good part of the reason why I left, along with the way the company allowed her to behave.

theressomanytinafeysicouldbe · 27/02/2025 13:43

Maybe he doews more behind the scenes that you don't see.

Or Nepotism. Or he has something over the big boss? Could be anything.

daisychain01 · 27/02/2025 13:44

I do wonder how people can complete their end of year review with any achievements if they actually do nothing all day. And who would be prepared to put their own job on the line by falsifying the record by signing them off as having met their objectives.

Huckyfell · 27/02/2025 13:45

He will be covered by the 2010 equalities act. You sure it is a man?

GeorgeMichaelsCat · 27/02/2025 13:45

PithyMintFawn · 27/02/2025 12:14

I work in a big corporate and I’ve noticed there’s this one guy who seems completely immune from any expectations or consequences. He shows up to meetings when he wants, barely contributes, and yet no one complains or even acknowledges it. It’s almost like an unspoken rule - he moves between teams every few years and people just know not to involve him in projects. If he does something unprompted, everyone reacts as if he’s done something amazing.

From what I’ve gathered, HR won’t touch his case, and there seems to be some underlying reason he’s so protected. This is unlike anything I’ve seen in my career. AIBU to wonder what kind of situation would lead to someone being completely untouchable at work? Have you ever seen this happen?

I knew a woman like this. Someone had apparently messed up during the interview process that left the company vulnerable so she was hired and they let her get on with it. I never found out what 'it' was but assume it was bad.

MayonnaiseHairMask · 27/02/2025 13:47

In my work experience it's been because the boss made it clear to managers that this person is protected and when someone has spoken against them it backfired against the complainant so that made a lesson for everyone not to bother this person.
The person was in one place related to the boss and at another place she was having an affair with thr married boss so he kept her happy to avoid her telling his wife or bringint a case against him.

SirDanielBrackley · 27/02/2025 13:48

I have only known 2 cases like this.

One was the chairman's son (who was smart enough to resign and go elsewhere when his old dad retired).

The other (this was back in the 70s when I first went to work) had been the Managing Director's navigator in the RAF when the MD was a bomber pilot.

MayonnaiseHairMask · 27/02/2025 13:48

A third case was because the employee knew of massive fraud going on so had a secret on the boss.

Hypercatalectic · 27/02/2025 13:48

Where I work there's an utterly incompetent man, a team 'leader' who has managed to demote himself and his team in the eyes of the rest of the company during his period of employment (2.5 years). He pushed out a couple of high performers in his team (felt threatened?) and has absolutely no respect from anyone at the company, high or low.

He's basically being kept to throw under the bus in a few months when something doesn't happen. He'll be the fall guy, and he's so incompetent and out of his depth that he can't see it coming. He won't get a good payoff either. If he wasn't such a highly paid and conceited arse I'd almost feel sorry for him.

Ddakji · 27/02/2025 13:50

A penis and/or a relation in high places.

Schoolchoicesucks · 27/02/2025 13:52

Hypercatalectic · 27/02/2025 13:48

Where I work there's an utterly incompetent man, a team 'leader' who has managed to demote himself and his team in the eyes of the rest of the company during his period of employment (2.5 years). He pushed out a couple of high performers in his team (felt threatened?) and has absolutely no respect from anyone at the company, high or low.

He's basically being kept to throw under the bus in a few months when something doesn't happen. He'll be the fall guy, and he's so incompetent and out of his depth that he can't see it coming. He won't get a good payoff either. If he wasn't such a highly paid and conceited arse I'd almost feel sorry for him.

There's one of these at my place. Don't understand how he hasn't already gone but sadly expect it is wishful thinking that he will be the fall guy. He'll have another someone ready to push under the bus before he is thrown there.

HelpMeGetThrough · 27/02/2025 13:54

Will be:

  1. Shagging someone with a lot of power.
  2. Family member on the board.
  3. Photo of the CEO with a marrow up his arse. 🤷‍♀️
Boodahh · 27/02/2025 13:57

You need to hack into the hr database and find out.
I've known ppl like this and while they didn't get sacked, they did get made redundant sharpish when redundancies were being rolled out.

Cakeandusername · 27/02/2025 13:59

I think some is down to sheer brass neck and no one challenges them. I recall a former colleague who did 10-4 (I assumed he had negotiated different hours - he got away with it for months. No apologies for being late just confidence so no one challenged.
Overworked line managers and complex policies. It’s easier to do nothing than face hours of work trying to sort it and involve HR when stakes are high - you’ll possibly be accused of bullying/racism etc.

AnSolas · 27/02/2025 14:01

daisychain01 · 27/02/2025 13:44

I do wonder how people can complete their end of year review with any achievements if they actually do nothing all day. And who would be prepared to put their own job on the line by falsifying the record by signing them off as having met their objectives.

People like that dont end up on projects or have trackable workflow. They will do the minimum people will organise around them rather than await their participation. So their objectives end up being turn up and little more.

This allows the manager to ignore them because they were not going to work as a team player anyway. The manager is stuck as they cant fire so the manager can only hope they swap teams.
The other option is promote them away from the managers management line

whatonearthisgoingonnow · 27/02/2025 14:04

There's usually at least one in every workplace.

Assuming this person isn't in a middle management role (which means they got there by ass kissing, looking older than they are, and being a useful scapegoat or go-between for upper management), he's just been there too long and it's too hard to fire him because he doesn't really do anything that bad and they're worried about getting sued.

Tryonemoretime · 27/02/2025 14:06

He's an undercover MI5 spy, needing an ordinary job to throw the Russkies off his scent......Tread carefully around him - he may be armed.

MayonnaiseHairMask · 27/02/2025 14:07

I just remembered another work colleague years ago, she had brought a discrimination case I don't know the details or how far it got but basically the managers pretty much left her to do (or not do) whatever because they didn't want the hassle and were basically waiting for a natural and legal end to her working there. She wanted to stay on because the job was close to her home and I assume because she had a hold on them, if she went somewhere new she'd have no leverage that's if she got hired at all as we know how discriminatory job hunting and sacking in work trials can be like. She was in her 50s with health issues.

fussychica · 27/02/2025 14:08

Knowing where the bodies are buried.

Crikeyalmighty · 27/02/2025 14:09

@Marylou2 yes I would say this- or has something personal or business on someone high up

DoughnutDayDreamer · 27/02/2025 14:12

This happened at a job I was at around 10 years ago.

Employee got away with barely doing any work. Being rude etc.

I think because they'd been there so long & it had never been dealt with, when someone tried to deal with the situation the employee pushed back, said they were being bullied. If their performance was an issue, why had they been there without issue etc for nearly 20 years.