Coworker is begging to get fired?

Question

What would you do if you have a co-worker that hates his job, that does nothing but complain, gives bad customer support and generally looking to get fired so he can collect unemployment.
The worse part of it is my supervisors keep telling us that they will look into it but probably don't care or don't want to find a replacement for him. He is upseting everyone at work and creating a bad influence, I want to say something but they said that I just need to get along with him. I love this job and don't want to quit but I'm getting to the point of dreading coming into work when he is here......... help please!!!!!!

Oh yeah i forgot, he was a supervisor in his last position which has elevated him to god-like status here, and whenever the bosses' are around he acts normal like nothing is wrong!

Answer 1

Sounds like you have a solid work ethic and care about quality.. Good for you, good for your employer. Sounds also like you are frustrated with someone who appears to be bilking the system and job you care about.

Your choices as it appears you have observed are:

1. Change the Coworker
2. Change your Supervisor's Understanding of the issue
3. Change yourself.

I am a firm believer that all things happen for a reason. Standing up for your values and speaking your truth might be liberating and create the right environment for change. I would not elect option 3 if this was a job I loved, until I had really done all in my power to speak my truth and give my best to the situation at hand.

If the person is complaining to you all the time, share your observations. Perhaps they had not considered how destructive of malicious their behaviour was being perceived.

If they are naturally destructive or malicious, and attempts to reason are impossible, try sharing ideas with management-- emphasize your caring about the job, all the team being successful, and the implications of this person's behavior.

At the end of the day we are accountable to being as fair, supportive and productive as possible in exchange for the income we receive. Someone who fails to do that, is soon finding themselves unemployed, whether that failure is from malicious intent and wanting to be unemployed, inconsiderate unawareness, or just plain discomfort with addressing conflict.

Answer 2

What you're experiencing is called a hostile work environment and there is a law in place against it in the US (I'm assuming this is taking place in the US, but if it's not, check you local laws and see what can be done). This quote from an unknown author is a very good explanation of it: "The "Hostile Environment" occurs when the conduct has the effect of unreasonably interfering with a person's work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment. Furthermore, this conduct can be that of a supervisor, coworker, or agency contractor. "
There are a few things you can do.
1) Contact a lawyer
2) Tell your boss (or bosses boss- go however high you need to to get heard) that you are experiencing a hostile work environment due to the behavior of this person (describe the behavior in detail- it also helps if you can show how this behavior has negatively impacted the companies profit margin) and follow procedure for filing a formal complaint if you haven't already. Be sure to document and date everything you do in regards to this.

You can even say that is such a problem that you have contacted a lawyer and are considering taking legal action- but I wouldn't suggest it unless it is apparent that you aren't being taken seriously or that they haven't conducted an official investigation and have no intention of doing so.
Good luck!

Answer 3

Check with the Department of Labor for your State. Just because someone gets fired does not mean they automaticly get unemployment. If he does something to hurt his employer, they can fight him over it.

I'd complain to hr. The man is creating a hostile work environment. That should not be tolerated. Maybe they can do something like not have you work near him or something like that. Try and get a few others to say the same thing so it won't look just like you that is not the team player.

In the mean time, you have to learn to control your self around him. He is pushing your buttons and you are acting out they way he wants you too. Let him do what he wants, but refuse to let it upset you. Let him pick on someone else. When he does something that makes you go off of the edge habitually - try and think how you could best respond to this in the future in a manner that would keep you calm, happy and not drawn in to any conflicts.

Answer 4

First of all if he gets fired, most likely he cannot collect unemployment. It doesn't work like that anymore. That's why your company is taking so long to get rid of him. They can't just fire him for little reasons. They have to take the time to compile a list of things so when thr unemployment office wants to know wtf? You company will have their "ducks in a row" so to speak.

The best thing you can do is ignore him. That's all you can do. Unfortunately, there will be people like that in every place you ever work and you will have to learn to deal with it. I think the best thing to do is not to associate with this person and completely ignore him. Create a group of co-workers who feel the same as you do as support in ignoring him and kind of "making-fun" of him (just making light of the situation, not being mean to him) - this way you look at the "brighter side."

I hope this helps. Don't let him run YOU out of YOUR job, that certainly is not the answer, because the next job will likely have a loser working there too! :)

Answer 5

It's a lot of work to fire or hire someone and supervisors who don't like being supervisors would see their employer, their employer's customers and other employees get hurt rather than do their jobs.

Ignore your co-worker—completely—unless that person's work interferes with yours. In the latter case, make notes of everything this co-worker does that makes it difficult for you to serve customers and send specific examples to your supervisor—with dates and times of the incidents and the impact on the customer.

If you know other people who might want that job, tell you supervisor about this hardworking and reliable potential employee who would like a job similar to yours and hand over her or his resume. But think twice about whether you want to continue to repoort to that kind of management or subject a friend to it.

Good luck!

Answer 6

Good question. This is why from a management point of view, I wonder why they keep employees with bad attitudes. This is exactly the problem, the bad attitude effects the attitudes of the employees that actually like their job.

One thing you could try, not that I've personally seen this work, but you could suggest to him that if he is so unhappy maybe he should search for another job.

What I do sometimes when people complain too much, is remind them how long they've been there. "Hey...you've been here (number) years, you must like something about working here.

Anyway, don't quit a job you LIKE because of someone else. It took me until I was 25, and I went through a lot of jobs before I found one I like, and stayed with.

Going to work is a lot easier when you like your job. If you like it, and he claims to hate it, hopefully you can just outlast him, if nothing else works.

Answer 7

Report the situation to someone who is above your supervisors. The person(s) above the supervisor will care more and resolve the issue. If he is making everyone miserable and misrepresenting the company he will be fired and unemployment only last for so long.

Answer 8

If he does not love his job, just let him know that the best thing to do would be to have the co. lay him off with unspecified reasons. He will still be eligible to receive unemployment and his record will not reflect a firing or termination, which nixes benefits. He should just be truthful to management and find a way to leave in a manner not hazardous to the rest of the employees.

Answer 9

Go to your HR department, it's causing a horrible work environment for you.
Either that or go to your supervisors' supervisor and explain it to them.
What they can do is cut back the person's hours to one day a week or completely take them off the schedule without firing them. If the person is forced to quit because of lack of hours, they can't get unemployment,.

Answer 10

You love your job he hates his... On that note you have nothing in common. Stay out of his way.. If he comes into your space then remove yourself. If your boss isn't caring then he is wrong for that.. You would think that he would want productive people to be working for him.. But then again my supervisor isn't the best either when it comes to letting people that needs to go you know go.... But hey I like my job too.