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AIBU?

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AIBU to formally tell HR I think new employee is too slow and potentially a liar?

276 replies

simbale · 19/04/2026 07:14

I work closely with a new employee. They joined from another company and it was known that they didn’t really have the right experience for the job, but hoping they can learn fast.

This employee is a nice person, but they are just so slow. We have tight deadlines and she never wants to tell me an exact time she will finish something if I ask “when will X be done?”. She just says “hopefully by tomorrow” rather than “by 11am tomorrow”.

Recently I had to work really late to finish a work product because my boss was chasing me for it, but the new employee had sat on it because she didn’t know how to do it and was “busy”.

I recently found out that she has been telling another manager of my level that she couldn’t take on more work for him because she is super busy with my work. She told me the exact same thing the same day, that she couldn’t take on more work for me because she was super busy with his work.

I don’t know it, but it sounds like she is playing one off against the other to avoid work. AIBU to put this in formal feedback with HR?

I obviously don’t know for sure, and she seems very eager to learn when I have time to train her.

OP posts:
Allisnotlost1 · Yesterday 15:34

pollymere · Yesterday 10:18

You need to be giving her time managed deadlines for work. I had a colleague on the same level as me who made me miss deadlines. When I started saying I needed something by x, it meant I could demonstrate she wasn't making deadlines. Give as much warning as possible and give 12 hours lead time! If you need it by end of day tomorrow then "first thing tomorrow" is the latest time you should offer.

Spend five minutes each morning with them prioritising what needs to be done and check in what work they have for the other person. This way you are covering your own butt about their workload to make sure it's reasonable and achievable. If you are doing all of this and they are claiming they have too much work to do you'll then be able to talk to HR about it.

I’d be cautious about creating artificial deadlines for a colleague, or junior over whom you don’t have authority, and then taking that to HR. Might fly in some workplaces but makes you look a bit toxic, which is ultimately worse for career progression than finding a way to manage teamwork.

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