Do I have the right to refuse to mentor someone?

[bitesthedust]

I have been in my office job for 2.5 years.

I entered in a very junior position in a short term contract and after getting a qualification and working hard, I was promoted (still junior but much better salary) and given a permanent contract.

Because I was doing well and just before I got the qualifications&promotion, I was asked to ‘work alongside’ aka mentor a new trainee who was frankly a nightmare and hot potato. Nobody wanted to spend (waste) time with this person. I did my best and ended up extremely frustrated and worked double. Luckily this person left for a more suitable job and that was the end of it.

Now there is another trainee that has just finished the qualification I did (albeit not very successfuly). They failed many exams time and time again, they make a ton of mistakes that quite frankly is due to lack of attention or care, they don’t follow directions very well. This person and I share one task on rota basis so I know exactly how they work and when I’m not on the rota I’m supervising what they do as they are not trusted. Their manager spend a lot of time and energy on them and relies on me to keep this task I share with them running smoothly. When I was on AL there has been complaints about the mistakes and lack of action / attention.

Now this person finally managed to get qualified so there is a possibility for a perm contract soon. However all this time they have been doing adm work as the attempts to train them in the many tasks needed for the actual job backfired and people given up and refuse to work with them. Their manager is the only one who persists but their team’s task is ‘niche’ and not as broad as this trainee’s qualification and upcoming perm contract

I heard rumours that they will try to pair me with this person to gave them exposure and training and I’m dreading it and would rather leave my job tbh. In addition to all the above, this person is super negative, always complaining, full of drama and talks too much. I don’t want the burden again.

What do I stand in relation to refuse to mentor, ‘work alongside’, help this person?? Especially since they will have the same title, salary and qualification I have?

How can I word my thoughts and feelings to my superior on a way that is clear, concise and within my boundaries?

This person had the exact same opportunities I had and did not make the most of it. I know because they always sought me for advice re: qualification, exams, work etc and since they talk too much they always revealed their lazy, unbothered, negative nature. And also they created drama with two or three people in the company. They did have some reason to do so but the way they behaved was immature, disproportionate and unprofessional.
I want to keep my distance as much as possible.

If management have any sense they will not be giving this person a perm contract.
Sounds like they need to be put on a PIP and managed out. I find it really frustrating when companies do not give managers the autonomy to do this. It just breeds mediocrity.
I would tell your line manager that the person isn’t up to the job and needs to be managed out. This is not your job to do this. I know it’s really frustrating as I have first hand experience of this too but it sounds like as the person isn’t permanent it’ll be easier to manage them out.
In the meantime, make sure that you document all the challenges that you are having with this person as that can be used as evidence to put on their PIP to ensure that the right process is followed and then can be let go. They shouldn’t have to lose you over someone who can’t do their job properly.

This is another reason why people who don’t perform and take up time of other productive team members need to be let go as it really saps team morale and it becomes blatantly obvious that they have to “carry” that person too. It baffles me how so many people can be crap and get away with it because of soft management who can’t be bothered to deal with the confrontation and just end up destroying their team productivity.