can someone else's irresponsability hurt me in the workplace?

Question

I recommended a girl a know for a position at my job. She got it and worked for 2 weeks, but decided she wasn't ready for it and had no time. She just stopped going to work without calling in at all, she let me know through her boyfriend that she wasn't going to come back and that she was quitting, and through a text message asked if i could tell my boss she doesn't plan to come back. I think its irresponsible that she's not giving any notice of leaving, but also that she couldn't even call me to tell me of her intentions. I don't know what to do, I don't want to tell my boss she's gone (its not my responsibility) and im also scared that it will hurt how my manager views me personally. What should i do?

Answer 1

You need to tell your friend that you cannot legally tell your boss she is quitting. Your boss cannot legally accept that information from you, it has to come directly from the person who is resigning. (This is to protect people: if it was legal to accept a second-hand quit notice from someone, then anyone could tell their boss that someone else had decided to quit, and the boss could initiate termination paperwork for them. But if the person later denied that they had said they were quitting, there could be some real legal issues.)

Most likely your boss has decided to initiate termination proceedings against this person for non-performance. So you don't need to worry about what you do with regards to telling the boss the person has quit: you cannot and should not do that.

Your main responsibility is, first, to apologize to your boss for recommending someone who turned out to be such a flake. As someone else suggested, tell your boss that you believed that she would do better than she did, and that you're sorry things turned out as they did.

Second, recognize now that when you recommend someone for a job, you are staking your own reputation on on how well they perform. Unless you know the person well enough to take that responsibility in making the recommendation, then don't recommend them! I've had people who were casual acquaintances give me their resumes and ask me to pass it along, and if I have any doubts at all about them, I refuse. Just an "I'm sorry, I can't do that." and if they persist, I give them the phone number for the company employment office.

If I recommend someone, it has to be someone I know will make me look good. Otherwise I won't get involved in recommending them.

Answer 2

Tell your boss the girl is quitting, and apologise for mis-judging her, say you're taken by surprise too... then take it as a learning experience and never recommend anyone when you aren't absolutely, totally, completely, fully, etc, etc sure of them. Your boss might be a bit ticked off about your recommendation but if you make it clear she took you by surprise too, then he'll probably be okay with it... you did your best, thinking you could help both your friend and your boss by getting her this job, and the largest part of the blame by far should be put on her.

Answer 3

This is what happens when you do a friend a favor. I would meet this head-on and tell your boss the truth, unfortunately, sometimes things of this nature will have an effect on your job. If you are honest with your boss it may go a long way in showing that you have the company at heart and not your friend.

Answer 4

So it doesn't look as if you're trying to hide from the situation, be honest with your boss, and also let her know how surprised you are by this person's behavior. The boss may realize you had no control over this person's behavior but unfortunately, she will probably be hesitant to hire any of your referrals in the future. That's too bad, because some companies offer cash bonuses for good referrals.