Coworker situation, probably just venting

theycallmelinz · January 2015

TL;DR: I don't know why my posts are always novels. This is me bitching because a coworker leaves early every Friday and I'm not allowed to.

I have a coworker situation. This is the same one that sends me 'friendly' emails reminding me to do things even though she has no superiority over me. She's an hourly worker, I'm salary. When creating my schedule (bc my job is awesome and lets me do that as long as I get my 40 hours in) I was told I could not have Fridays off or even take a half-day on Fridays because my department is kind of like an emergency response team for certain situations, so if I were gone every Friday that would mean the other woman would have to be here every Friday and could never take off if she needed to. Okay cool, that makes sense.

The other woman leaves early every. single. damn. Friday, as early as 1pm. Most of the time I don't even realize she's gone until I need something, which is extremely aggravating. This morning she calls me and asks if I can attend a meeting for one of our kids at 3:00 (which really isn't part of my job since I'm a therapist and this is more case-management stuff). I tell her I can't because I'm working on a big project that our boss wants done next week and I'm trying to knock out as much of it as I can. Well, she tells me, she has to leave work before then because she will have already hit her 40 hours for the week so she can't go.

This is because she clocks in at 7:20 every morning (even though she doesn't start being productive until at least 8:30 or later) and she doesn't clock out for lunch, because I guess sitting in your office eating and chatting with other coworkers for an hour and a half still counts as working since you didn't technically leave your office. So yeah, she reaches her 40 hours easily by lunch time on Friday.

I feel like this is so unfair, but I don't want to complain to my boss because I don't want to seem whiny and I've already complained to my boss earlier this week over something else entirely, but that was also justified. I know it's more convenient for this coworker to get here early after she's taken her kids to school, but even if we both have put in 80 hours by Thursday afternoon, ONE of us has to be here until the end of the day on Friday. And it's ALWAYS me. So I'm going to get as much done on the project as I can today then leave to go to that stupid meeting, then have to come back to work if the meeting ends before 5.

Like I said, I'm just venting here because I don't want to complain to my boss. But grrrrrrrrr !@#%

ETA: TL;DR. Also, I said I was working on a project, yet I'm knotting. This is because I'm waiting for someone to fax me some info so I can continue working on said project lol

PrettyGirlLost · January 2015

theycallmelinz said:

TL;DR: I don't know why my posts are always novels. This is me bitching because a coworker leaves early every Friday and I'm not allowed to.

I have a coworker situation. This is the same one that sends me 'friendly' emails reminding me to do things even though she has no superiority over me. She's an hourly worker, I'm salary. When creating my schedule (bc my job is awesome and lets me do that as long as I get my 40 hours in) I was told I could not have Fridays off or even take a half-day on Fridays because my department is kind of like an emergency response team for certain situations, so if I were gone every Friday that would mean the other woman would have to be here every Friday and could never take off if she needed to. Okay cool, that makes sense.

The other woman leaves early every. single. damn. Friday, as early as 1pm. Most of the time I don't even realize she's gone until I need something, which is extremely aggravating. This morning she calls me and asks if I can attend a meeting for one of our kids at 3:00 (which really isn't part of my job since I'm a therapist and this is more case-management stuff). I tell her I can't because I'm working on a big project that our boss wants done next week and I'm trying to knock out as much of it as I can. Well, she tells me, she has to leave work before then because she will have already hit her 40 hours for the week so she can't go.

This is because she clocks in at 7:20 every morning (even though she doesn't start being productive until at least 8:30 or later) and she doesn't clock out for lunch, because I guess sitting in your office eating and chatting with other coworkers for an hour and a half still counts as working since you didn't technically leave your office. So yeah, she reaches her 40 hours easily by lunch time on Friday.

I feel like this is so unfair, but I don't want to complain to my boss because I don't want to seem whiny and I've already complained to my boss earlier this week over something else entirely, but that was also justified. I know it's more convenient for this coworker to get here early after she's taken her kids to school, but even if we both have put in 80 hours by Thursday afternoon, ONE of us has to be here until the end of the day on Friday. And it's ALWAYS me. So I'm going to get as much done on the project as I can today then leave to go to that stupid meeting, then have to come back to work if the meeting ends before 5.

Like I said, I'm just venting here because I don't want to complain to my boss. But grrrrrrrrr !@#%

ETA: TL;DR. Also, I said I was working on a project, yet I'm knotting. This is because I'm waiting for someone to fax me some info so I can continue working on said project lol

I get the frustration, but that's what happened when you are salaried. You are expected to do those kinds of things.

Short of discussing this with your boss and getting him/her to clarify with this co worker exactly what hours she is expected to be at work and then enforcing them, there's really nothing that can be done.

Sorry! Today is National Hot Toddy Day, so you should have one once you get home.

theycallmelinz · January 2015

PrettyGirlLost said:

theycallmelinz said:

TL;DR: I don't know why my posts are always novels. This is me bitching because a coworker leaves early every Friday and I'm not allowed to.

I have a coworker situation. This is the same one that sends me 'friendly' emails reminding me to do things even though she has no superiority over me. She's an hourly worker, I'm salary. When creating my schedule (bc my job is awesome and lets me do that as long as I get my 40 hours in) I was told I could not have Fridays off or even take a half-day on Fridays because my department is kind of like an emergency response team for certain situations, so if I were gone every Friday that would mean the other woman would have to be here every Friday and could never take off if she needed to. Okay cool, that makes sense.

The other woman leaves early every. single. damn. Friday, as early as 1pm. Most of the time I don't even realize she's gone until I need something, which is extremely aggravating. This morning she calls me and asks if I can attend a meeting for one of our kids at 3:00 (which really isn't part of my job since I'm a therapist and this is more case-management stuff). I tell her I can't because I'm working on a big project that our boss wants done next week and I'm trying to knock out as much of it as I can. Well, she tells me, she has to leave work before then because she will have already hit her 40 hours for the week so she can't go.

This is because she clocks in at 7:20 every morning (even though she doesn't start being productive until at least 8:30 or later) and she doesn't clock out for lunch, because I guess sitting in your office eating and chatting with other coworkers for an hour and a half still counts as working since you didn't technically leave your office. So yeah, she reaches her 40 hours easily by lunch time on Friday.

I feel like this is so unfair, but I don't want to complain to my boss because I don't want to seem whiny and I've already complained to my boss earlier this week over something else entirely, but that was also justified. I know it's more convenient for this coworker to get here early after she's taken her kids to school, but even if we both have put in 80 hours by Thursday afternoon, ONE of us has to be here until the end of the day on Friday. And it's ALWAYS me. So I'm going to get as much done on the project as I can today then leave to go to that stupid meeting, then have to come back to work if the meeting ends before 5.

Like I said, I'm just venting here because I don't want to complain to my boss. But grrrrrrrrr !@#%

ETA: TL;DR. Also, I said I was working on a project, yet I'm knotting. This is because I'm waiting for someone to fax me some info so I can continue working on said project lol

I get the frustration, but that's what happened when you are salaried. You are expected to do those kinds of things.

Short of discussing this with your boss and getting him/her to clarify with this co worker exactly what hours she is expected to be at work and then enforcing them, there's really nothing that can be done.

Sorry! Today is National Hot Toddy Day, so you should have one once you get home.

This will definitely be happening in approximately 4 hours haha. I know you're totally right about the being salaried thing, and I don't even mind being here until 5 because that's my job. It's just annoying sometimes that I can never scoot out early on a Friday because she left at lunch time. Booooo.

kvruns · January 2015

I'm guessing your work does not allow overtime and that is why she always leaves early? It does seem weird if you can't have Friday off/leave early because that would strand her and that is exactly what she does to you ?

how similar are your jobs? There must be some overlap for your absence to affect her, and vice versa, but it seems odd the jobs are classified different (salary vs hourly)

KatieinBkln · January 2015

theycallmelinz said:

PrettyGirlLost said:

theycallmelinz said:

TL;DR: I don't know why my posts are always novels. This is me bitching because a coworker leaves early every Friday and I'm not allowed to.

I have a coworker situation. This is the same one that sends me 'friendly' emails reminding me to do things even though she has no superiority over me. She's an hourly worker, I'm salary. When creating my schedule (bc my job is awesome and lets me do that as long as I get my 40 hours in) I was told I could not have Fridays off or even take a half-day on Fridays because my department is kind of like an emergency response team for certain situations, so if I were gone every Friday that would mean the other woman would have to be here every Friday and could never take off if she needed to. Okay cool, that makes sense.

The other woman leaves early every. single. damn. Friday, as early as 1pm. Most of the time I don't even realize she's gone until I need something, which is extremely aggravating. This morning she calls me and asks if I can attend a meeting for one of our kids at 3:00 (which really isn't part of my job since I'm a therapist and this is more case-management stuff). I tell her I can't because I'm working on a big project that our boss wants done next week and I'm trying to knock out as much of it as I can. Well, she tells me, she has to leave work before then because she will have already hit her 40 hours for the week so she can't go.

This is because she clocks in at 7:20 every morning (even though she doesn't start being productive until at least 8:30 or later) and she doesn't clock out for lunch, because I guess sitting in your office eating and chatting with other coworkers for an hour and a half still counts as working since you didn't technically leave your office. So yeah, she reaches her 40 hours easily by lunch time on Friday.

I feel like this is so unfair, but I don't want to complain to my boss because I don't want to seem whiny and I've already complained to my boss earlier this week over something else entirely, but that was also justified. I know it's more convenient for this coworker to get here early after she's taken her kids to school, but even if we both have put in 80 hours by Thursday afternoon, ONE of us has to be here until the end of the day on Friday. And it's ALWAYS me. So I'm going to get as much done on the project as I can today then leave to go to that stupid meeting, then have to come back to work if the meeting ends before 5.

Like I said, I'm just venting here because I don't want to complain to my boss. But grrrrrrrrr !@#%

ETA: TL;DR. Also, I said I was working on a project, yet I'm knotting. This is because I'm waiting for someone to fax me some info so I can continue working on said project lol

I get the frustration, but that's what happened when you are salaried. You are expected to do those kinds of things.

Short of discussing this with your boss and getting him/her to clarify with this co worker exactly what hours she is expected to be at work and then enforcing them, there's really nothing that can be done.

Sorry! Today is National Hot Toddy Day, so you should have one once you get home.

This will definitely be happening in approximately 4 hours haha. I know you're totally right about the being salaried thing, and I don't even mind being here until 5 because that's my job. It's just annoying sometimes that I can never scoot out early on a Friday because she left at lunch time. Booooo.

I guess you could do a little research and see what might happen if you were to ask to be switched to hourly. Even if you get the same overall wage, it might not work out in your favor since oftentimes hourly employees don't get the same benefits as salaried employees (e.g., vacation time that is not allocated as X hours of PTO, but rather as X days, which I greatly prefer).

If both you and your colleague were hourly, what would your bosses do? Probably, they would take more control over the actual schedule, enforce lunch hours (which in most states are actually legally required--everywhere I ever worked as an hourly employee I was required to take a 30-minute unpaid break any time I worked more than 6 hours), and require that one of you stay till 5 on Friday, organizing a schedule about it as necessary.

But what strikes me as a bigger problem here is that the two of you seem to be in different departments/have different roles, but there's a fair amount of overlap in your work. I could not "fill in" for my colleagues' meetings even if I wanted to, for example (I don't have their skills, and it's not even allowed). So maybe, if you are going to approach your boss about anything, you could approach him/her about this, the fact that even though your two roles are different (down to the actual type of employee you are!), there is a fair amount of overlap in your work, which doesn't always shake out evenly because of your colleague's limits on her weekly hours.

But I don't even really advocate that. What I advocate is letting her fail. If she cannot manage her time in such a way that she is available for a meeting on Friday afternoon (which she presumably scheduled) then don't fill in. Let her miss it, and see what her/your boss says. It would at the very least draw the boss's attention to the fact that there is a big ol' Friday Gap in the schedule, and it might prompt him/her to talk to your colleague about managing her time in a fashion that allows her to get the necessary work done, not just put in the necessary hours. God knows it wouldn't make sense for a sales rep to punch in hours before their clients are in their offices, so it certainly doesn't make sense for her to punch in so early that she misses meetings with hers.

pinkcow13 · January 2015

KatieinBkln said:

theycallmelinz said:

PrettyGirlLost said:

theycallmelinz said:

TL;DR: I don't know why my posts are always novels. This is me bitching because a coworker leaves early every Friday and I'm not allowed to.

I have a coworker situation. This is the same one that sends me 'friendly' emails reminding me to do things even though she has no superiority over me. She's an hourly worker, I'm salary. When creating my schedule (bc my job is awesome and lets me do that as long as I get my 40 hours in) I was told I could not have Fridays off or even take a half-day on Fridays because my department is kind of like an emergency response team for certain situations, so if I were gone every Friday that would mean the other woman would have to be here every Friday and could never take off if she needed to. Okay cool, that makes sense.

The other woman leaves early every. single. damn. Friday, as early as 1pm. Most of the time I don't even realize she's gone until I need something, which is extremely aggravating. This morning she calls me and asks if I can attend a meeting for one of our kids at 3:00 (which really isn't part of my job since I'm a therapist and this is more case-management stuff). I tell her I can't because I'm working on a big project that our boss wants done next week and I'm trying to knock out as much of it as I can. Well, she tells me, she has to leave work before then because she will have already hit her 40 hours for the week so she can't go.

This is because she clocks in at 7:20 every morning (even though she doesn't start being productive until at least 8:30 or later) and she doesn't clock out for lunch, because I guess sitting in your office eating and chatting with other coworkers for an hour and a half still counts as working since you didn't technically leave your office. So yeah, she reaches her 40 hours easily by lunch time on Friday.

I feel like this is so unfair, but I don't want to complain to my boss because I don't want to seem whiny and I've already complained to my boss earlier this week over something else entirely, but that was also justified. I know it's more convenient for this coworker to get here early after she's taken her kids to school, but even if we both have put in 80 hours by Thursday afternoon, ONE of us has to be here until the end of the day on Friday. And it's ALWAYS me. So I'm going to get as much done on the project as I can today then leave to go to that stupid meeting, then have to come back to work if the meeting ends before 5.

Like I said, I'm just venting here because I don't want to complain to my boss. But grrrrrrrrr !@#%

ETA: TL;DR. Also, I said I was working on a project, yet I'm knotting. This is because I'm waiting for someone to fax me some info so I can continue working on said project lol

I get the frustration, but that's what happened when you are salaried. You are expected to do those kinds of things.

Short of discussing this with your boss and getting him/her to clarify with this co worker exactly what hours she is expected to be at work and then enforcing them, there's really nothing that can be done.

Sorry! Today is National Hot Toddy Day, so you should have one once you get home.

This will definitely be happening in approximately 4 hours haha. I know you're totally right about the being salaried thing, and I don't even mind being here until 5 because that's my job. It's just annoying sometimes that I can never scoot out early on a Friday because she left at lunch time. Booooo.

I guess you could do a little research and see what might happen if you were to ask to be switched to hourly. Even if you get the same overall wage, it might not work out in your favor since oftentimes hourly employees don't get the same benefits as salaried employees (e.g., vacation time that is not allocated as X hours of PTO, but rather as X days, which I greatly prefer).

If both you and your colleague were hourly, what would your bosses do? Probably, they would take more control over the actual schedule, enforce lunch hours (which in most states are actually legally required--everywhere I ever worked as an hourly employee I was required to take a 30-minute unpaid break any time I worked more than 6 hours), and require that one of you stay till 5 on Friday, organizing a schedule about it as necessary.

But what strikes me as a bigger problem here is that the two of you seem to be in different departments/have different roles, but there's a fair amount of overlap in your work. I could not "fill in" for my colleagues' meetings even if I wanted to, for example (I don't have their skills, and it's not even allowed). So maybe, if you are going to approach your boss about anything, you could approach him/her about this, the fact that even though your two roles are different (down to the actual type of employee you are!), there is a fair amount of overlap in your work, which doesn't always shake out evenly because of your colleagues limits on her weekly hours.

But I don't even really advocate that. What I advocate is letting her fail. If she cannot manage her time in such a way that she is available for a meeting on Friday afternoon (which she presumably scheduled) then don't fill in. Let her miss it, and see what her/your boss says. It would at the very least draw the boss's attention to the fact that there is a big ol' Friday Gap in the schedule, and it might prompt him/her to talk to your colleague about managing her time in a fashion that allows her to get the necessary work done, not just put in the necessary hours. God knows it wouldn't make sense for a sales rep to punch in hours before their clients are in their offices, so it certainly doesn't make sense for her to punch in so early that she misses meetings with hers.

I don't know if it is different in my industry or company, but I thought Salaried employees tend to have greater responsibilities and be higher up in the ladder than hourly employees? At my job, hourly employees get paid overtime. I used to be hourly. Salaried employees don't (I am now salaried), and anything above 40 hours is not overtime. It is part of the job and responsibilities. The salaries are much higher as a result, and the work more complex. Again, I don;t know if that's just how it works at my company.

PrettyGirlLost · January 2015

theycallmelinz said:

PrettyGirlLost said:

theycallmelinz said:

TL;DR: I don't know why my posts are always novels. This is me bitching because a coworker leaves early every Friday and I'm not allowed to.

I have a coworker situation. This is the same one that sends me 'friendly' emails reminding me to do things even though she has no superiority over me. She's an hourly worker, I'm salary. When creating my schedule (bc my job is awesome and lets me do that as long as I get my 40 hours in) I was told I could not have Fridays off or even take a half-day on Fridays because my department is kind of like an emergency response team for certain situations, so if I were gone every Friday that would mean the other woman would have to be here every Friday and could never take off if she needed to. Okay cool, that makes sense.

The other woman leaves early every. single. damn. Friday, as early as 1pm. Most of the time I don't even realize she's gone until I need something, which is extremely aggravating. This morning she calls me and asks if I can attend a meeting for one of our kids at 3:00 (which really isn't part of my job since I'm a therapist and this is more case-management stuff). I tell her I can't because I'm working on a big project that our boss wants done next week and I'm trying to knock out as much of it as I can. Well, she tells me, she has to leave work before then because she will have already hit her 40 hours for the week so she can't go.

This is because she clocks in at 7:20 every morning (even though she doesn't start being productive until at least 8:30 or later) and she doesn't clock out for lunch, because I guess sitting in your office eating and chatting with other coworkers for an hour and a half still counts as working since you didn't technically leave your office. So yeah, she reaches her 40 hours easily by lunch time on Friday.

I feel like this is so unfair, but I don't want to complain to my boss because I don't want to seem whiny and I've already complained to my boss earlier this week over something else entirely, but that was also justified. I know it's more convenient for this coworker to get here early after she's taken her kids to school, but even if we both have put in 80 hours by Thursday afternoon, ONE of us has to be here until the end of the day on Friday. And it's ALWAYS me. So I'm going to get as much done on the project as I can today then leave to go to that stupid meeting, then have to come back to work if the meeting ends before 5.

Like I said, I'm just venting here because I don't want to complain to my boss. But grrrrrrrrr !@#%

ETA: TL;DR. Also, I said I was working on a project, yet I'm knotting. This is because I'm waiting for someone to fax me some info so I can continue working on said project lol

I get the frustration, but that's what happened when you are salaried. You are expected to do those kinds of things.

Short of discussing this with your boss and getting him/her to clarify with this co worker exactly what hours she is expected to be at work and then enforcing them, there's really nothing that can be done.

Sorry! Today is National Hot Toddy Day, so you should have one once you get home.

This will definitely be happening in approximately 4 hours haha. I know you're totally right about the being salaried thing, and I don't even mind being here until 5 because that's my job. It's just annoying sometimes that I can never scoot out early on a Friday because she left at lunch time. Booooo.

Oh I totally empathize with you, I do. It sucks ><

kvruns · January 2015

pinkcow13 said:

I don't know if it is different in my industry or company, but I thought Salaried employees tend to have greater responsibilities and be higher up in the ladder than hourly employees? At my job, hourly employees get paid overtime. I used to be hourly. Salaried employees don't (I am now salaried), and anything above 40 hours is not overtime. It is part of the job and responsibilities. The salaries are much higher as a result, and the work more complex. Again, I don;t know if that's just how it works at my company.

The issue is "exempt" vs "nonexempt" although typically we just hear salary/hourly to cover those same words. A job has to involve certain duties to classify someone as exempt (salary) and therefore not require payment of overtime. There's a lot going on with audits and claims being filed by people who are classified as exempt but really should be nonexempt and thus receiving overtime pay for hours over 40.

Easy classification for a job to be exempt include executive, management/supervisor roles, learned professions (lawyer, doctor, teacher, etc), and then the more controversial one is administrative work which has to met certain criteria to be exempt:

(a) office or nonmanual work, which is
(b) directly related to management or general business operations of the employer or the employer's customers, and
(c) a primary component of which involves the exercise of independent judgment and discretion about
(d) matters of significance

Hugely subjective, which is why many are classified incorrectly and lawsuits have been coming up. This is my first job being nonexempt, and it was weird at first and almost felt like I was downgrading, but really I get paid overtime so it works out in the end although there are downsides. Our company has an HR consulting wing so we are pretty conservative with classifying employees and I've done some research to help clients figure out employee classification too. It isn't an easy thing to do.

mrsk616 · January 2015

we have one that doesnt understand a day off is a day off and is meant to be spent as far away as possible from the dealership. clocks in before her shift etc.

lovegood90 · January 2015

Honestly, just because she's hourly and you're salaried doesn't mean it's fair that you can NEVER take a Friday off when you want to. If it's true that one of the two of you must be there at all times, she can't just decide to leave work that early every week, wtf?

I agree with the PP who said that if you have other things to work on and can't cover for her, that's her problem to deal with. If she knows she has a meeting at 3pm on a Friday it's on her if she still decides to come in at 7am on a Thursday, thus going over her hours before then. Just because she's not responsible with time management doesn't mean you should suffer for it IMO.

PrettyGirlLost · January 2015

kvruns said:

pinkcow13 said:

I don't know if it is different in my industry or company, but I thought Salaried employees tend to have greater responsibilities and be higher up in the ladder than hourly employees? At my job, hourly employees get paid overtime. I used to be hourly. Salaried employees don't (I am now salaried), and anything above 40 hours is not overtime. It is part of the job and responsibilities. The salaries are much higher as a result, and the work more complex. Again, I don;t know if that's just how it works at my company.

The issue is "exempt" vs "nonexempt" although typically we just hear salary/hourly to cover those same words. A job has to involve certain duties to classify someone as exempt (salary) and therefore not require payment of overtime. There's a lot going on with audits and claims being filed by people who are classified as exempt but really should be nonexempt and thus receiving overtime pay for hours over 40.
Easy classification for a job to be exempt include executive, management/supervisor roles, learned professions (lawyer, doctor, teacher, etc), and then the more controversial one is administrative work which has to met certain criteria to be exempt:
(a) office or nonmanual work, which is
(b) directly related to management or general business operations of the employer or the employer's customers, and
(c) a primary component of which involves the exercise of independent judgment and discretion about
(d) matters of significance

Hugely subjective, which is why many are classified incorrectly and lawsuits have been coming up. This is my first job being nonexempt, and it was weird at first and almost felt like I was downgrading, but really I get paid overtime so it works out in the end although there are downsides. Our company has an HR consulting wing so we are pretty conservative with classifying employees and I've done some research to help clients figure out employee classification too. It isn't an easy thing to do.

Do you work in HR?

kvruns · January 2015

@prettygirllost I work in compliance for a full-service employee benefits and HR consulting firm. I don't do as much on the HR side but have the "know enough to be dangerous" thing going because I've done some FLSA research about this for clients

PrettyGirlLost · January 2015

kvruns said:

@prettygirllost I work in compliance for a full-service employee benefits and HR consulting firm. I don't do as much on the HR side but have the "know enough to be dangerous" thing going because I've done some FLSA research about this for clients

I thought your post was very interesting, and thanks for sharing the info!

theycallmelinz · January 2015

Our job uses the exempt/non-exempt thing, but I can't remember which one I am lol. I think I get paid more than her because I have more certifications, but I can't be sure because she's been here for several years and I get paid so little she could make more than I do. I'm not sure how much this would be effected if I were to switch to hourly, or even if I'm allowed to do that. And no, we aren't allowed to get overtime.

As far as overlap, we both work with the court-ordered kids. My job is to provide therapy, her job is to provide case management (check on school attendance/grades, help link them with resources, etc.). I'm certified in case management so I can do these things, it's just not my first priority for my job.

I did kind of passive-aggressively tell on her to my boss. I responded to my boss's email to us about the meeting saying that I would go since she left work early, but would take my phone in case another situation comes up while I'm out. Immature maybe, but at least if my boss didn't already know she took off early, she does now. And I didn't have to come across as a disgruntled employee over it.

I just feel like this is so inconsiderate of her because she KNOWS one of us has to be here, and if I ever have to take a day off I let her know and usually talk to her in advance to make sure she doesn't have anything that conflicts with it. But she takes off early every Friday, no big deal. I guess since I know this I should never plan anything on a Friday. Also, I've told her and my boss lots of times that I'm taking the week of July 4th off for our HM because my FI gets that week off with pay. She's literally asked me like 4 times if I'm gonna be gone the WHOLE week because she wants to be off too and she 'guesses she's going to just have to call in sick on some of those days.' Uh yeah, I guess so. Because she got to take off a week and a half for Christmas since I worked.

huskypuppy14 · January 2015

She doesn't sound very professional at all.

It's not fair to you, and you should tell someone more higher up than you. It's not tattling if it's directly impacting you.

PrettyGirlLost · January 2015

huskypuppy14 said:

She doesn't sound very professional at all.
It's not fair to you, and you should tell someone more higher up than you. It's not tattling if it's directly impacting you.

Yeah, she sounds like she's abusing the system. Grrrrrrrrrrr.

KatieinBkln · January 2015

theycallmelinz said:

Our job uses the exempt/non-exempt thing, but I can't remember which one I am lol. I think I get paid more than her because I have more certifications, but I can't be sure because she's been here for several years and I get paid so little she could make more than I do. I'm not sure how much this would be effected if I were to switch to hourly, or even if I'm allowed to do that. And no, we aren't allowed to get overtime.

As far as overlap, we both work with the court-ordered kids. My job is to provide therapy, her job is to provide case management (check on school attendance/grades, help link them with resources, etc.). I'm certified in case management so I can do these things, it's just not my first priority for my job.

I did kind of passive-aggressively tell on her to my boss. I responded to my boss's email to us about the meeting saying that I would go since she left work early, but would take my phone in case another situation comes up while I'm out. Immature maybe, but at least if my boss didn't already know she took off early, she does now. And I didn't have to come across as a disgruntled employee over it.

I just feel like this is so inconsiderate of her because she KNOWS one of us has to be here, and if I ever have to take a day off I let her know and usually talk to her in advance to make sure she doesn't have anything that conflicts with it. But she takes off early every Friday, no big deal. I guess since I know this I should never plan anything on a Friday. Also, I've told her and my boss lots of times that I'm taking the week of July 4th off for our HM because my FI gets that week off with pay. She's literally asked me like 4 times if I'm gonna be gone the WHOLE week because she wants to be off too and she 'guesses she's going to just have to call in sick on some of those days.' Uh yeah, I guess so. Because she got to take off a week and a half for Christmas since I worked.

Hold up, you're more qualified than she is AND you get less vacation? Fuck that noise, and bean dip the shit out of her when she tries to talk to you about anything involving "woe is her" or "hey I need you to do my work for me."

"Oh, I wish I could, but it just isn't possible. Sorry!"

"Yep, I'll be gone the whole week."

When you DO want to take a Friday (not every Friday, as that is of course not allowed), clear it with your boss, and your boss only. "Hey boss, I have a [thing] two weeks from now on Friday, is it okay if I duck out at 1?" Then it's on him to say "Ok, just clear it with Colleague" or just plain "Ok." Don't worry about whether she'll be there; her schedule is not your concern. Yours is. Boss said you could leave, and if you give her ample warning (so she can responsibly plan her hours) then you are in. The. Clear. If she effs up and has to take unsanctioned overtime or screws over a client, that is her problem, not yours. Don't even spend mental energy on it.

anjemon · January 2015

I agree with the PP's. She's really using the system to her advantage. When I work hourly (and I am now) there's a general understanding that while leaving a little early on Fridays is okay sometimes, you are supposed to be in the office for 8 hours every day. 5 hours is not 8. That's considered time off. If you need to take time off, you request it. Some jobs let you work that time before hand so you can still get paid for 40 hours, but you need to let your boss know you won't be in the office during those work hours. That's time you needed to be covered by other people. Also, it's really not that hard to just clock out when you've worked 8 hours. Her coming early should not mean she needs to work more than 8 hours in the day, she just needs to stop working earlier. And if that's not possible because of her job, she needs to stop coming in early. But that's up to your boss to decide.

Unfortunately, I think you really only have two options.You can express your concern to your boss about having to cover her work because she wasn't available. It's making it harder for you to get your stuff done and she wasn't able to cover her responsibilities. This might lead to her getting talked to about her hours. Or getting overtime approved in some cases. It's stirring the pot a little but also sticking up for yourself. The other option is to not say anything and keep dealing with it. Which is sucky. But eventually someone will notice she's been gaming the system and they hopefully will stop it. Unless you think your supervisor is okay with the situation.

Either way, I say you follow the PP's advice and take some Friday time off if you need it. You weren't allowed to make that your schedule, but you are still allowed to take time if needed. But don't check with your coworker, as long as your boss approves your'e good. Don't back down about taking any vacation you've asked for and has been approved. She can deal with working real hours for once.

princessleia22 · January 2015

Now, if she leaves early and you leave to go to this meeting, that doesn't seem to correlate with the "somebody has to be in office at all times" issue. It still leaves the office unattended. If she knows she has a meeting to attend on Friday afternoon, maybe she needs to coordinate her schedule better and work less earlier in the week to make sure she can attend that meeting that she should be attending.

theycallmelinz · January 2015

You guys are awesome. Reading all of this definitely made me feel better. As far as one of us being in the office, it's not so much that we have to be in the office as much as it is one of us has to be 'working'. So even though I wasn't at the office, I was at the meeting so I was still working and I was available if they needed something.

I don't ask her if I can take off, I always just ask my boss and then if she okay's it, I tell my coworker that I won't be there on a certain day as long as she doesn't already have an issue with it. But I really shouldn't even do that because she sure as hell doesn't.

Also, she told me she was leaving at noon. I was getting ready to walk out for the meeting at 3 and I saw her leave. Meaning she probably just clocked out at noon, but stayed later to get some work done. Well that's fucking awesome, but I had stuff that needed to get done too. Ugh, I'm SO annoyed. Thank God it's Friday and wine exists.

Coworker situation, probably just venting

Re: Coworker situation, probably just venting

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