An employee is cheating the company. What would you do?

Question

This guy at work, I guess, thinks he is exempt from following company rules. Any reports he gets that he doesn't want to do or thinks are too hard he sends back to our manager (which we aren't suppose to do). When hours were cut he was the only one in the my region that didn't volunteer to give up a few hours. Yet everyone else did including myself and I have been at the comapny much longer than this guy. All of us have bills to pay and didn't want to lose any hours either. I also have more responsibility than he does. Now I have found out that he doesn't clock out when he goes to lunch. He leaves his desk and leaves the building for an hour. My asst manager just realized this but has yet to mention it to him. He said he would speak to our manager when he returns to work next week. A supervisor, who is my friend, told me the dude could be terminated for this. Supposedly he hasn't been clocking out for a while. I think this is wrong and my friend said I should take it to HR.

This guy also plays on the internet for 30 minutes or more just to make sure he gets his hours for the week instead of doing more reports. I understand people get bored and yeah we all suf the net, but he deliberatly mooches off the clock. Several people have told me to take all this up with HR or the operation mngr. I don't want to cause drama. However, taking an hour ,unch break every day on the clock is wrong. I usually mind my own business and don't care to rock the boat but I'm not friends with this guy. He is best friends with our boss and our boss has yet to punish him for anything else he has done wrong and seems to show favoritism towards him. What would you do?

Answer 1

To start with I will give you some background - I have worked as a HR (Human Resources) Manager for over 25 years and have dealt with hundreds of similar issues.

First thing to do is check out your company employee manual or employee handbook to see what it tells you about the grievance process and what you need to do. Most companies have handbooks so check out the rules first and abide by them.

That said - with a situation like this you get 5 choices:

1. Say nothing and do nothing. Your job is safe, your boss is happy, you hope the universe will take care of the slack guy and you get to go home feeling like crap every night. This is the safe option - but nothing will change.

2. Say something to the bloke slacking off. You can tell him you have noticed he hasn't been clocking off and is surfing the net and unless he changes his ways you will take it further. Good points are you say what you want to say, give him a chance to fix things without making waves up the line. Bad points are you need to be confident enough to do it and it is up to him to take action.

3. Make an informal complaint to your friendly HR person. You can try and talk it through with HR who will need to then investigate the issue. They will talk with the managers and assistant managers and will try and get facts and evidence for a case. If you don't make a formal complaint it can be very tricky to investigate properly if the boss is friends with the person so nothing may happen (just a heads up there).

4. Make a formal complaint to HR - this is the nuke em take no prisoners strategy. It gets the biggest action, makes the biggest waves and the most likely to break through the friends with the boss problem. It also takes a lot of guts to do. Talk with HR about the implications for this sort of approach on your life and career.

5. Leave. To be totally honest if your hours are being cut back and you are unhappy with management, then find a job better suited to your needs and values (they do exist!).

Oh ... and if your company doesn't have an employee manual, they can have a look at what should be included in one here
http://www.squidoo.com/employeemanual/

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Answer 2

Well, you've mentioned this with a supervisor... it seems that your manager is abetting this by accepting back reports the "cheater". Yeah, I'd send an email to HR.

I'm just curious if this "cheater" has an "IN" with the company: Family, friendship, or such... ALSO curious as to the SIZE of the company.

I went thru a similar issue back in 2001... a gal at the SMALL (30 employees) telephone company where I worked, CONSTANTLY passed off work-orders she didn't "like"... spent every "free" moment searching the web, and never clocked out for her 60 minute lunch (the rest of us had 30 minutes). Amusingly, SHE was the fiance of the President's brother and had the wool-pulled-over managements eyes...

When 50% of the staff was laid off that summer, she was one of the few who stayed even though she had the LEAST time there... Of course, she FLOUNDERED when those of us who DID the work were laid off... she QUIT two weeks after the lay-off.

I was hired back to cover all the work... as a consultant at 250% of my previous pay !!

Answer 3

well as a city worker i have seen more corruption than most workforce people and can't understand how this is? i mean we are all in need of money and a secure job but i hate it too when other people are cheating the system and it hurts a person like me who is happy to have a nice job. i used to tell other co workers about the ones that were cheating and all it did was made my job harder so if your boss already knows and isn't doing a thing about just go your own way and maybe try going to lunch a few times without clocking out too and see what your boss says.

Answer 4

See that is a good question and I think that the answer is tricky. I think that it is wrong for the guy to be cheating the company and it would be the responsibility of the employees to report fraud if they know about it. But when it comes to intentions that is where it gets tricky if you turn this guy in because you don't like his work ethic or him personally but wouldn't turn in a co worker that you got along with that would be doing the right thing for the wrong reason. If you were the type that would turn in a co worker just because the principle of the issue regardless of your feelings about them then it is the right thing to do.

Answer 5

Handle this gingerly. You do not want to sound like a whiney employee. I would be more concerned if what he did directed affected your work performance. But since you are all wrapped up with this and are on a mission.. make sure you stand by your words. Take it to the immediate supervisor first..and so on.

Answer 6

WOW.

the manager already knows too, because he's sending work he doesn't feel like doing back

but the assit mgnr knows which is good. And he is waiting for the mgnr to get back next week.

So I would wait until next week and see if anything changes. It is up to the assist, mgnr and the mgnr to take care of this guy. but i suspect, if the mgnr is already letting the guy get away with sending his work back, that he will get away with the clock punching too.

so keep an eye on this guy, and log down when he's leaving and comming back, and the dates, so next week, if nothing is done, you can take it to hr. and put in the date you spoke with assist mgnr too.

good luck.

Answer 7

report it to HR simply put you are your employers ali and without your help they would be being cheated not saing anything is like watching this guy take money from a regiser and not saying anything. But before you report have evidence not just hearsay.

Answer 8

Without going in detail not advisable to jump to conclusion.

There is a one word in english...empathy.

You know the meaning of it.

Best way is to talk straight to the guy.

To stay beyond duty hours is a indication of inefficiency.

So no fun in taking a proud for that.

Learn Kaizen and cut down the time.

By over staying probably.. why probably.. for sure you people are wasting your energy and companys resources.

Also you do not have any right to spend any time of your family members.

Answer 9

The case is being built. When the company asked people to back off on their hours and everyone but one does it, the one stands out like a sore thumb. They are giving him the rope that he is gladly hanging himself with. I think you need to just sit back and watch so you don't get caught in any fall out.

Answer 10

Do his actions make more work for you directly? If not, leave it alone. To each his own; it's better not to nark on people. If he doesn't get fired then finds it was you who squealed, you have an enemy. Anyway, why does it bother you that he gets over? Sounds like your own issues rather than his that irritate you. I think if you truly have a problem though, you should speak to Him, not his superior.