look the other way or dob in?

Tygermoth

After having a strict department ‘overlord’ who has been promoted and we now have a lovely new manager who is more amenable and pro staff.

He has managed to successfully prove and demonstrate that flexible working is great for us and great for the company. All good and the team are absolutely loving it. It makes everyone’s lives so much easier and productive. It’s all very new and fragile as the ‘overlord’ is really not keen.

However here lies the rub. My co-worker took a flex shift and came in at 10 and due to leave at 1800 last night. I was caught up in town and as was driving home I got stuck at the red light in front of the building. I could have sworn I saw her leaving 20 mins before the end of her shift time. We don’t log in or out and the lines switch off at 1700 so if you work a late its basically on a honour system.

If I report this I KNOW the overlord will pull flexible working faster than the speed of light and this will really upset everyone. Add to this that no one will be able to prove one way of another if the Lass left early and she will argue she didn’t….. so the person that ‘dobbed’ her in will be in the firing line for killing flexworking. However if I don’t say something I this lass will continue to take the mickey. I have been asked to help with her work load today which would have been cleared…. If she had stayed till 1800!

What I would like to do is have a quiet word and have a rule in place that an email needs to be sent to the T/L on checking out at 1800 to protect everyone’s flexi working (or something similar). But if I even bring it up I know the T/L will want to know why suddenly I want to make changes.. he’s not stupid and if I use the ‘clarity and accountability to the rest of the business’ excuse he is going to see right through it and bang that’s the end of flexiworking.

Just to add to the issue the Lass in question has just broken down at her desk and has been swept up and away by HR to have a chat. So do I cut her some slack as she seems to have things going on at the moment?

Any ideas?

emsywoo123

Tygermoth wrote: »

I could have sworn I saw her leaving 20 mins before the end of her shift time.

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Just to add to the issue the Lass in question has just broken down at her desk and has been swept up and away by HR to have a chat. So do I cut her some slack as she seems to have things going on at the moment?

If you had said "and I saw her leave early" then that would be more concrete than the way you have phrased it. You cannot be 100% sure it was her with what you have said.

Coupled with the last part, I would keep schtum for now.

DCFC79

I also agree with keep quiet for now, your not even sure you saw her when you did.

SandC

I would keep schtum also, likely as not the reason she left early, if you saw correct, was connected to the reason that she's broken down at work today - personal issues of some sort.

I think it's worth cutting some slack right now.

suki1964

You mind your own business is what you do

RuthnJasper

Keep quiet. It's up to the colleague if she wants to risk flouting the rules and getting caught.

I was once unfortunate enough to have full-blown, proper 'flu and was confined to bed in misery. Someone "swore blind" to my boss at the time that they'd seen me at the theatre one evening.

It caused all sorts of problems and ended with the boss having to formally apologise to me.

As Emsy says, you can't say for definite that it was her - and even if it was, she may have been summoned away for a personal emergency. For the sake of an hour or so, leave it be.

Flyonthewall

Tygermoth wrote: »

I could have sworn I saw her leaving 20 mins before the end of her shift time.

Did you actually see her walking out the door to the building? Would anyone else have been leaving the same time who you may have mistaken them for? A cleaner, maybe?

However if I don’t say something I this lass will continue to take the mickey. I have been asked to help with her work load today which would have been cleared…. If she had stayed till 1800!

It could have been a one off. Is it possible that she finished the work early? Is it possible that instead of taking a 15/20 minute break at some point that she worked through it so she'd be able to leave earlier?

Just to add to the issue the Lass in question has just broken down at her desk and has been swept up and away by HR to have a chat. So do I cut her some slack as she seems to have things going on at the moment?

Sounds as though she's having a bad time. Perhaps she left last night due to an emergency. It could be an on-going issue, it could be that something happened last night.

Any ideas?

You've only seen it happen once and your first comment on it doesn't sound 100% certain it was her, it would ruin it for everyone, she's obviously going through something and there could have been a genuine reason for her leaving early. So do nothing.

You could make a private note of the date and time if you wanted in case some serious issue comes up regarding it or it's something you witness happening over and over again. For a one off time though it seems silly it ruin it all, especially when everyone seems so happy and there could be more to it.

nearlyrich

I would say concentrate on your own time keeping, people who take the wotsit are usually caught up with eventually. I have worked with slackers over the years and it's galling but usually they are caught out with implications for their employment or advancement.

Ozzuk

It is a little ironic that you complain about an 'overlord' yet are happy to assume a role of supervisor.

Maybe she had personal reasons to leave, maybe she worked through lunch, maybe she's making time back. Maybe it's not your job to worry about it.

Don't give yourself the stress of managing others if it isn't part of your role, focus on what you are doing. If she continually abuses the system (if she is) then she'll eventually be found out.

TELLIT01

The OP clearly doesn't have a detailed understanding of what went on that day. The person he thinks he saw leaving may have been given permission to leave and somebody else covered the final 20 minutes. Maybe the 'overlord' had an attack of compassion and agreed to close up 20 minutes early.
As a general rule, unless you are certain of your facts, it is better to keep out of things which don't have a direct bearing on you. Others have already mentioned the irony of complaining about an overbearing boss and then trying to apply the letter of the law!

kaflinkle

What would you gain by informing your manager of this?

If you tell, will it benefit yourself?
If you tell, will it benefit anyone else?

As far as I can make out, the answer to these questions seem to be no, so why do it.

A good rule of thumb in the workplace is to worry about your own performance, not anyone else.