Co Worker Issue?

Question

I have a coworker that gets away with anything she wants. For example, today she casually strolled in to the office at 11am. WTF? We are customer service and we are supposed to be here no later than 7am.

That's not the half of it though.....she wears VERY promiscuous clothing (not professional at all). She wears no bras (to turn on herself in front of the guys), her daughter's shirts (she is 40, her daughter is 18), she talks about her rauncy sex life, and is overall lazy.

I don't understand how she continues to have a job? My boss is aware of all of this yet does nothing. We can't go to his boss, because he boss doesn't work here and he doesn't deal with problems this far down the food chain.

Something has got to give. I get so discouraged from being a good employee when I see her acting this way and yet no punishment.

What can I do? I cannot ignore it.

Answer 1

There is an old military story of a General who replaced another who apparently allowed little dicipline within his troops. The base was in a fair amount of disrepair and the General wanted the loyalty of his new troops and the clean fresh appearance of it's buildings.
He discussed the problems with his wife who thought a bit and suggested he and she paint their assigned quarters themselves knowing there were maintenance people who normally did the work.
The weekend the General and his wife painted their assigned quarters the Generals wife prepared some salads and small sandwiches, a special desert and stocked the refrigerator with cold beer and Ice Tea.
As the industrious couple worked in the hot North Carolina sun other officers and their wives noted their unusual efforts. Many visited during the day. As visitors chatted with the General's wife his "Mrs" explained their many assignments and how she felt about his military reputation which preceded him.
A few officers volunteered for obvious reasons but only stayed briefly to slosh the paint and scrape the wood.
One officer asked if it was ok if he painted his quarters during a cold beer break.
The General said the story goes "if you want something to look the way you want it sometimes you have to do it yourself."
The following weekend the General noticed a few staff officers touching up their quarters. He visited the officers and shared a cold beer and met their families.
Suddenly the Maintenance people started receiving requests for painting and restoration of the barracks and administrative offices. Enlisted Marines who were tired of waiting ordered the paint and supplies deciding to paint their office and barracks area themselves.
As is predictable the base shaped up to it's best appearance in years with others on other bases wondering why the Generals unit had changed so quickly.
It should be clear to you by now what the drift of the General's story means.
As far as working with a tardy sexy employee it seems simple...just don't do her work. If the work flow stops and productivity lowers, place the responsibility where it belongs politely and highly professionally.
Someone will catch on...bet on it... or another good idea I think is to recommend her for promotion to another branch. I can almost asure you her reputation will precede her through the underground network and who knows maybe it will become a pleasure to work in a good productive environment.
Since there seems to be some office politics here I would advise the better employee other employees become, the more your problem employee will stand out.
I would suggest that someone give the employee a bra at a time when everyone opens their gift at a gift exchange but this might be too extreme...it is a good idea however!
Good luck!

Answer 2

Well if you really have a problem with her and want to see her get fired or reprimanded here is what you need to do:
1.) Document the dates and times she comes or has come in late. You better be right, did she ask for some time off?
2.) If she tells tall sexual tales at work, document and report the incident. (s)
3.) If her clothes are out of touch with your office dress code, document it and bring it to managements attention.

You don't want to appear as a complainer. Your manager knows that she came in 4 hours late, how many other times has this happened? Did she have a reason? He knows how she dresses.
You will need to have speciffic times and dates for each incident and future incidents need to brought to managements attention.
My advice here is be carefull because you are treading in dangerous waters here!!

Answer 3

It seems that the problem is YOUR boss. Apparently he has bought into your co-worker's allure and likes it. He doesn't see the situation the same way you do.

Either go to Human Resourses or write a nice, clear letter to HIS boss and be prepared to move on to another job if things go wrong.

You're right, he's wrong but in business, right doesn't always win.

Answer 4

What is it that you are expecting to happen? If the boss sees this kind of behavior and he is letting it happen, you ignore and continue to do what you have to do and dont take it personal. If you are worried about being terminated for some of the things you do, start taking notes of what happens around there and present it if you need to for defense reasons. Otherwise, dont sweat it it will wear itself thin.

Answer 5

If your boss is already aware, all you can do is ignore her. Just keep doing a good job and making yourself a good example employee.

Answer 6

She sounds like how my sister acted at her old jobs. Notice the plural. It may take a while, but trust me, the higher ups are going to notice.

It's not fair, that kind of behavior p's me off. Its not right that people who do their jobs, like yourself, are expected to work hard when other people get paid to slack off and take advantage of dumb management.

Good luck, just keep doing your job and hopefully one day her review will come.

Answer 7

I think that you should send an e-mail to your boss and explain what is happening. If he/she is not present on a day to day basis, they still need to know what is happening. Its unfair for her to behave the way that she does and not be reprimanded for it.

Answer 8

i would speak to your boss in private. let him know you offended that he does not apply the same rules to everyone else. it decreases the work moral. i would nto make a huge deal but i would let him know u dont appreciate the unfairness.