Tell boss or not?

Question

I am in a tricky situation. I am the accountant/assistant to the president for a small company. i was told by another employee that he would be resigning in a week or so. My boss expects me to let him know what is going on here since he is not around much(he does outside sales). My moral dilemma is do i tell my boss? The employee that is leaving plays a vital part in the company and when he leaves, a lot of the workload will shift over to me. I already have plenty of work. If I tell my boss, what if he confronts the employee? What if he just fires him after he finds out? If I don't tell him, he will ask me if I knew which may harm my chances of being promoted into spot of the employee who is quitting. Then I ask myself if this is a setup from the quitting employee to see if I will tell my boss. Although he seems really serious. My loyalty is supposed to be to the company and the company's best interests. Can you all just let me know what you would do? Thanks in advance..

Answer 1

If you tell on the resigning employee and it gets out, no one will trust you any more. If you don't tell and your boss finds out you knew, he won't trust you any more.

Seems like a real catch-22.

Here's what I'd do. I'd go back to the resigning employee and say "You mentioned to me that you were resigning. Was this in confidence? As you know, my position requires me to let my boss know of matters which are relevant to the company's business. Given YOUR position, I'd say that an imminent resignation is material. I haven't said anything yet, but as you've told me, I presume you understand the position I'm in."

At this point, he might say "Please don't say anything. I really need a few days." If so, say "I respect this. However, I do need to ensure that no one else knows you've told me. If this is really our secret, I'll keep it. However, if others know or if you let my boss know that you told me, I cannot keep this under my hat. Understand?"

Answer 2

I would let the employee know that while I appreciate his confidence, I am an employee of the company and as such, I have an obligation to protect the company's interests, that his departure will have a big effect on the company, and that he needs to speak to our boss by x date, or you will be obligated to let the boss know.

Answer 3

i don't think that you should tell your boss even if you felt like you wanted to or you felt like you must.

look at it this way. if you told your boss, and he gets fired, you lose a friend. you might or might not get the promotion that you wanted. and IF you do get promoted, then this guy's workload is yours.

and if he left, and you didn't tell, your boss might employ a new employee. if a new guy comes in, he will be first trained. and you might get promoted into the guy's spot.

if you tell your boss, and he apparently didn't leave, you will be known to your office as the one spreading rumour.

it is him who wanted to leave. not you.
let he tells your boss what he wanted to do and not you.

Answer 4

You have already made up your mind. Just read your question.