Q–I have worked at four different companies over the past 20 years and have never seen a situation like this one: A woman in our four-person department has been up to 45 minutes late every day for the past two years. Then she eats breakfast at her desk (pancakes, sausage and hash browns, which stink up the office. She sells a line of cosmetics during work hours, disappearing for 30 to 45 minutes at a time to make deliveries. Her personal phone calls are legendary–two to three hours daily. If she doesn’t complete the work, one of the rest of us has to do it. Despite all this, she always fills out her timecard for a full eight hours, and it’s always approved. And, she received the same percentage raise that I did.
The irritation, stress and anger she has caused is beyond repair. We have spoken to people in upper management, who are aware of all the details, but who choose to look the other way because they’re scared she will file a discrimination lawsuit. What can we do?
A–Management’s inaction due to fear of a lawsuit is ludicrous, since long-term documenting of her bad behavior would defend the company against a false discrimination charge. But their inability to act says a lot about the type of “leaders” they are.
The three of you really don’t have much of a choice. You could adapt an “I don’t care” attitude and mimic your colleague’s work habits in hopes of convincing management that it shouldn’t allow such favoritism, but that could lead to you being fired. So, since management doesn’t seem to take any of you seriously enough to listen to you, I suggest you begin a job search Today.
Q–I have had two telephone interviews for a job in a small city in Florida. I will be going there soon for an in-person interview. During the first phone interview, the human resources manager told me the job paid $30,000 a year. Would I be out-of-line if I ask if there is room to negotiate?
A–Before you begin a job search, have a salary range in mind that you are willing to accept. You also need to know the salary range in your particular field, and the salary comparisons between where you live and those in Florida. You don’t want to appear uninformed by asking for $50,000 when the going salary for that job in Florida is $30,000, but you may not want to readily accept the first amount offered. Do your homework so you’ll know what you’re worth before you go on your interview.
Q–The smokers in our office take about five cigarette breaks a day. I’m not a smoker, so I take only my two allotted 15-minute breaks. In the past four months, four executives have quit because they were told to keep track of how much time employees were taking for lunch and for breaks; how long it took them to do their work; and how much time they spent making business calls. The company performs a credit and background check before you can be hired, and then you’re treated as if you are not trustworthy. I don’t understand.
A–Interesting. You think that watching the number of breaks people take during the day is petty, but you keep track of the number of breaks your coworkers take. It’s doubtful the four execs who quit did so because of the work they were asked to do. More likely, upper management was doing the same thing to its middle managers that they were being asked to do to the rest of the employees.
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Problems on the job? Write to Lindsey Novak, At Work, Financial Department, 4th Floor, Chicago Tribune, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago 60611, or, via e-mail: AtWorkbyLN@aol.com. No phone calls, please.
