Staff Leaving Work Early

GreenGran78

Why are you covering for her by doing the work she leaves? Tell her that you will no longer do it, and let her explain the backlog to the boss.

Exactly this!!!

Why are you covering for her by doing the work she leaves? Tell her that you will no longer do it, and let her explain the backlog to the boss.

Zoejory. Many abusers are very careful to only punch their victim in places where the bruises don't show.

bBck in the 1960s I had a holiday job in Harrods, when I joined there was a major trial going on of a windowdresser at the company, who had defrauded them of at least £100,000 probably more. In modern terms, £10M I would think.

There are cheats, thieves and skivers with big and small companies, private and public and in charities, schools and hospitals. Every organisation has them, just waiting to be in a position where they can exploit weaknesses in the system.

Newquay

I worked in the public sector years ago and the chief clerk ran the local football club from the office! He even had a photo in the local press obviously taken at his office desk. He’d walk down the office with papers folded over in his hand to photocopy-so we wouldn’t see what he was carrying. Local folk were coming in and out all the time on football business!
At Christmas when gifts were brought in for all staff he would take bottles of booze home and leave the odd box of biscuits. He was absolutely idle. Some auditors came once, I knew one of them and mentioned it carefully and he just nodded-everyone knew what was going on but did nothing!!
He even stole the paraffin heaters we were supplied with during the 3 day week!

I know of people in the private sector who embezzled money, cheated on their tax, did shoddy work and refused to refund customers etc etc etc
Does that mean the entire private sector is dishonest and greedy?

There are skivers everywhere. I do not think skiving is particular to any specific type of employment.

What it is, however, is a sign of poor management. If skiving is taking place, managers should know it and deal with it, but too often dodge the issue because they are afraid to stand up to someone who may be awkward and difficult. Male managers, too often are afraid to have confrontations with female staff. There is nothing new about this, it has been so as far back as I can remember - and that goes back to the 1960s.

Not totally mine either Nannaros. I worked 38 years full time for a Local Authority and in my later years it was stressful and I put in more hours than needed and made the fatal mistake of asking IT to link my home PC so I could access my work emails. I do agree though that there are workers and skivers in all walks of life - I had staff who were happy to do the minimum and spend time gossiping and staff who were like me put the hours in. It's frustrating as you are no better thought of at the end of the day but I was brought up to be a worker .

I've worked in the private sector, the voluntary sector and now public sector. For an uncompromising attitude to timekeeping, public sector was far stricter than the others. Private sector was small businesses, if we had a slow day then we would be told we could leave half an hour early. Could pop out to the shops for 10 mins occasionally. We would stay late if required, 20 mins unpaid, for eg. Just more flexibility. Voluntary sector I worked in, I loved the job & did my hours, but others didn't & no-one bothered. In my current job there's never a slow afternoon, and even if I needed to pop to the chemist for tampons or paracetemol, I would have to get permission from my line manager & check back in with them on return & tI would take the time out of my lunchbreak probably. Working from home the apps I work on will show managers exactly what work I've done, with times.Hospital appointments we have to make up the time for (except antenatal which is a statutory right). I think this is fair enough, but I dislike the "public sector skivers" myth for obvious reasons.
If a manager was being paid for 6 hours a week they hadn't worked, and this had been happening for over a year, I personally would have to say something. If someone was taking £100 a week out of the till, you would probably feel you had to speak out - it's the same thing! Via Union reps or "speaking out" reps is a really good suggestion.If there is an explanation, your team could be given this in general terms without divulging any confidential information but as this hasn't been done, no wonder you assume it's unauthorised absence.

I worked in the public sector years ago and the chief clerk ran the local football club from the office! He even had a photo in the local press obviously taken at his office desk. He’d walk down the office with papers folded over in his hand to photocopy-so we wouldn’t see what he was carrying. Local folk were coming in and out all the time on football business!
At Christmas when gifts were brought in for all staff he would take bottles of booze home and leave the odd box of biscuits. He was absolutely idle. Some auditors came once, I knew one of them and mentioned it carefully and he just nodded-everyone knew what was going on but did nothing!!
He even stole the paraffin heaters we were supplied with during the 3 day week!

Even if the Manager has a private agreement with her senior manager that she can work reduced hours due to a personal issue , that does not mean that a presumption can be made that other staff will just cover the shortfall with no questions asked.

Complaints to senior management should focus on the extra burden that is currently being placed on staff and how this is going to be resolved, rather than a specific complaint about the Manager's working pattern.

I would just work out my last year, and hope that the person taking my place has the courage to take this up with management.

Quietly and privately keep a day to day list of this colleague's worktime pattern. For instance -
Monday started 9 am left 4 pm lunch 30 mins
Tuesday 9 am left 4.30 pm " 30 "

Etc, etc.

You could speak to your manage and only produce it if he/she says you have no evidence.

I'd be interested to know more about the situation when the two colleagues approached a senior manager,
it's not uncommon that many people don't want to raise a grievance formally, which in effect can make things harder for a manager wanting to take action....if they want something done, then perhaps raising it formally is the only way it will happen.
Another option is for everyone to act together and perhaps speak with her or her direct manager?
I'd favour speaking to her but ensuring it didn't get heated / confrontational and that you could evidence the issues being raised.

If it bothers everybody that much and it's a small team then I would propose that a letter is drafted, signed by everybody and handed to senior management. It would be difficult to ignore something signed by everyone concerned.

TillyTrotter

Aside from the confidential nature of someone who may be going to hospital visits, caring for a next of kin, or going to a solicitor’s for example when going through a divorce,
it is bad for the morale of the rest of the staff not to be told anything at all about why one member is regularly doing short shifts.
They may not be receiving full pay of course, and may not feel guilty about it, but the “not knowing” is the thing that causes unrest with everyone.
Not sure if I would rock the boat if, like you, I could see my retirement date.

but they are entitled to their privacy whatever the reason.

Not all public sector are on the gravy train - I was a school secretary for some years. Paid by the HOUR - 8.45 to 3.30, worked, 8.15 to 4.15 - actually necessary in order to mesh with teaching staff. No breaks (snatch snack while working at staff and parents in and out at lunchtime). The authority would not pay any school clerical staff for longer hours although they knew we never worked to their times - if they had paid longer we would have become eligible for the pension scheme...

If I were you , I’d start doing the same myself until she notices . Just come in half an hour later and when she queries it say that you went for a coffee with your daughter .
Do this twice a week with different excuses and I’m sure that she will get the message . Maybe start this a couple of months before you retire and there will be no comeback on you !

I work in the public sector and it's changed dramatically over the last 10 years. Yes, it used to be a walk in the park, but now everyone is so accountable and everything is target driven.

If there's proof she's not doing her work then Unions is the way to go.

Aside from the confidential nature of someone who may be going to hospital visits, caring for a next of kin, or going to a solicitor’s for example when going through a divorce,
it is bad for the morale of the rest of the staff not to be told anything at all about why one member is regularly doing short shifts.
They may not be receiving full pay of course, and may not feel guilty about it, but the “not knowing” is the thing that causes unrest with everyone.
Not sure if I would rock the boat if, like you, I could see my retirement date.

JadeOlivia

The thing is, it' s unfair to the other staff and there is this sense of injustice in the office. The senior manager could simply have told you that there was an "agreement "because of her personal situation ...though would that go on for years ? Management shouldn' t ignore what has been said ...why don' t you ALL start doing it and see if anyone says anything ?What are written rules for medical appointments, what proof do you have to provide ?

No the manager could not as this would be breaching confidentiality. If I was the manager in question and there was a genuine reason all I could have said is something like "thank you for your comment. I am aware of the situation" if the other staff members are getting behind with their own work because of what they are picking up then they need to raise this....not whatever is going on with the manager but their own issues with their own workload. If the manager and their manager are in cahoots then it needs taking higher but as someone who lis leaving i wouldn't do it unless you get an exit interview...if you do then you might mention it then.

If this person who is just leaving the office willy-nilly is leaving her work to be covered by others, why don't you all get together and agree that none of you will do her work and leave it right there on her desk for her to do tomorrow.
Personally, I would a little passive aggressively leave her a (typed) note saying that you're all far too busy to do her work as well as your own, so maybe she might like to consider finishing her work next time before she decides she's not going to put her hours in!

The thing is, it' s unfair to the other staff and there is this sense of injustice in the office. The senior manager could simply have told you that there was an "agreement "because of her personal situation ...though would that go on for years ? Management shouldn' t ignore what has been said ...why don' t you ALL start doing it and see if anyone says anything ?What are written rules for medical appointments, what proof do you have to provide ?

I've had experience of this also working in the public sector. It is very demoralising and irritating for the rest of the staff who have to stick to the rules. There was one woman who used to announce loudly "right I've had enough today" and then she stood up and put her jacket on and left 2 hours early!! Managers turned a blind eye. Others came in late and left early. Nothing said. They definately were not working their full hours and did not have any reason to be allowed to do this. This is the fault of management who are too cowardly and spineless to challenge their behaviour. If you speak out you will be made to feel that you are in the wrong. If you only have a short time till you retire I would leave it and let them all get on with it. Your post has brought it all back to me - the way it made you feel at work and it's not nice and not fair.

I don't think it should be ignored as others presumably have to take up the slack in some way. The best outcome would be if this person's line manager took it seriously and started watching and making a note of some of these occasions.
You could take it in turns to find "something you need advice about" when this person has presumably gone away unauthorised and ask another manager about it instead. It could be an opportunity to highlight what's happening without raising a formal grievance.
They could then speak to the person about it and , if there was no health/compelling issue for allowing it, make it more formal with an improvement plan or a process for signing in and out for all levels of staff.
If the immediate line manager or the one above that won't take it seriously, you could go straight to HR . Outcome not guaranteed right enough, so those not retiring would potentially need to be prepared for whatever fallout/nastiness could result. Many HR departments are great, but it can be difficult proving something like this, especially after the person knows it's being looked into.