Awful Coworkers

[Angelous Wang]

It's not your job to mange your co-workers, it is your mangers. So you should never confront a co-worker directly. Even if you did like confrontation it just not your place. (Unless you are good friends with them or something then by all means kick their ass to do their to stop making your life difficult).

It is your job though to report anything that hinders the productivity of your job to your manager so that he can do his job and fix it for you.

So report her ass, you don't have to point out everything in the OP, just kind of summarise that you've been doing way more work than you normally should be doing with 3 (?) man team covering the work and this has only been going on since the co-worker started. He should then deal with the problem.

And if he does not, well then I say go back to doing your normal workload (your older co-worker too), and if the work starts then not getting completed because of your lazy co-worker then your manager will be forced to do something before he starts taking heat for work not being completed.

 

[lacktheknack]

We've had a few non-workers at my grocery store. I generally just cover both mine and their workload until the manager comes down and asks why there's such a high customer-to-front-end-worker ratio. Then I say "I haven't seen in a while, so I'm covering."

Honesty really is the best policy, because the slackers either get their rear in gear shortly after, or they promptly quit.

If you don't have a manager who comes looking around, though, then you may have to go talk to him yourself, but if the coworker's laziness is ticking you off this badly, then clearly you should do SOMEthing.

 

[farscythe]

i currently work with someone like that ... talk to your floor / shift manager and tell them to keep an eye on them.

it fixed about half my problem... he's working at a much better pace now... unfortunately he's still an idiot and things like dont pull the bottom package out of the stack are not sinking in...

things like hey tv's and bottles of wine probably shouldnt be thrown around arent either.

but meh... i dont have to work as hard anymore and now i just have to wait for him to fuck up bad enough to get sacked... it could be a while (the temps we keep getting are somehow worse)

 

[Scarim Coral]

We have something similar in work except that we know who is the bad one well the worst one of us lots (I'm, pretty sure we do stab each other in the back but we all agree this co worker is the least useful)! I'm guessing that is also the reason why she has been given less hours than what she normally has. We have new cameras in the store which means I'm now act more productive at work but for her, she continue to act doing nothing given an impression that she is lazy which I guess it is somewhat ture).

 

[thejackyl]

I have a few cashiers like that, that will do nothing but stand behind their register and stare if we aren't busy.

I've been called into the office several times and wrote up once, because I was "bullying" a cashier that will frequently disappear for hours on end. All because I told her she needed to get back to work, not hang out with her boyfriend.

She also called "favoritism" because when we pulled the bags for the outlining registers, noone took her because she was annoying and useless. We are no longer allowed to take cashiers, we have to take a cart pusher (who is usually extremely busy), a floor associate (which we have 1, who cannot leave their area), or a member of management (Again, only 1, and has more important things to do than play bodyguard for an hour).

I don't know the situation, but my best friend got pulled into the office and wrote up over something my ex did. She's the same way, completely worthless, and plays the system to her advantage.

 

[Azkar Almsivi]

My dad is telling me to just ignore her. He's very non-confrontational, as well. (Where I got it from)

Don't confront her. Put in an anonymous complaint to the boss in letter form. She needs a wake up call, but if you try and do it directly things may go pear shaped quick.
As a fellow single parent I assure you she still deserves a wake up slap for her behavior.

I'm reminded of another incident a few weeks ago.

We were both tasked with taking care of the cardboard boxes that had piled up over the course of the night, however, the cardboard compactor was full. My coworker had been super grumpy and mean the whole night, and when I told her it was time to clean out the compactor (crush the cardboard into a cube and put metal bands around it for recycling, she flipped out and told me she had to go to the bathroom. Half an hour later, I had finished the job and was also finishing up the last of the cardboard when she wandered in, suspiciously happy, and asked me I was ready to help her with cleaning the compactor. I was practically fuming. And I don't get mad, like, ever...

Trust me, volatile and lazy is the worst combination. If you rock the boat directly you'll become the focus of her blame and excuses because she'll see you as a threat to her lifestyle and try and warp everything. I've had issues with people almost exactly like you describe, even to the point of one of them being a single parent. You personally will never be able to change her views with how she has been conditioned. You need to see if the boss will step in, if a wake up call from the boss fails then she is most likely a lost cause.

Having a child is not a get out of jail free card, it's a resposibility and a priviledge, even as a single parent. It's not you harming the child, it's the mother trying to take advantage of the situation and play it. She should be working hard to secure herself for her child. Not be using it as an excuse to hide away in the toilet's for 30 minutes sexting someone.

 

[Username Redacted]

Talk to her first, make her understand that her slacking off is hurting her coworkers and if she still refuses to do her job properly then talk to your boss. I'm not the one to rat out my coworkers, i have never done so, but constantly doing someone elses job for them because they just don't give a f**k would piss me off.

Do not do this. Confronting lazy and crazy is a terrible idea if you're not in a position of authority. Cannot emphasize enough to not do this. Unless you like increasing the amount of workplace drama and making your life miserable.

 

[Kevin Puszert]

Its obvious what you have to do.

You're going to have to put a hit out on her. Go downtown and ask for a guy named "Snakey", he normally only does pets and old ladies, but mention my name and he'll make an exception. You're going to need to pay him a carton of ciggs and a 1/5 of jack, but if you throw in a six pack of malt liquor he'll do your boss for free.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

Similarly, we got a new guy in the back room at my room. My coworkers agree that he's either got rocks and, a collection of gum in place of a brain or, he just simply doesn't give a fuck. Our manager...LOD...whatever the euphemism is...anyway, I know she's talked to her boss about him and I'm sure he's been given a written warning or two (verbal for sure) but at the end of the day, it's a matter of time before the seasonal rush is over and our collective headaches will be far away.

...

Not sure how Holidays effect your place of work Duck Tape Jedi but if she continues on not giving a damn than she'll likely be going away or getting fired or whatever in next to no time. Just hang in there and try not to punch the torpid human.

 

[LetalisK]

I work with several people who either sham like crazy or don't pay attention to detail and make frequent errors. However, the former doesn't really affect productivity and the latter is very simple to fix, so it doesn't feel like a huge problem. Particularly since I'm not a paragon. Just not as bad as them(God damn it, there is no rational reason I can't listen to my ipod when everything is dead and we're sitting on our hands).

 

[Bug MuIdoon]

Talk to them first. Ask them if they're O.K, tell them your problem in a rational and calm manner, do not make an argument from it - if one occurs just walk away. Jobs are shit, some people plow through, some people have trouble with it and lose them of their own accord. Some may be going through a tough time in their lives and work is the last thing they might have, especially at this time of year. Going to your boss first is an incredibly douche-bag move - especially with 'time and dates' like a previous poster suggested. Pull something like that and you'll get no respect from any of your other co-workers or bosses.

If problems continue, that's when you should consider telling your boss.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

OP, you need to treat this as what it is- a "you or me" situation. Telling her that you'll report her if she doesn't shape up may have the result of her attempting to make you look like the slacker; it's obvious that she doesn't care about how her failure to do her job harms you or anyone else, and deliberately getting you fired to protect herself may not be out-of-bounds for her.

I don't believe in the kid-glove treatment in this sort of situation. If you're old enough to work, you're an adult, and you'd better act like one.

 

[faefrost]

It's not your job to mange your co-workers, it is your mangers. So you should never confront a co-worker directly. Even if you did like confrontation it just not your place. (Unless you are good friends with them or something then by all means kick their ass to do their to stop making your life difficult).

It is your job though to report anything that hinders the productivity of your job to your manager so that he can do his job and fix it for you.

So report her ass, you don't have to point out everything in the OP, just kind of summarise that you've been doing way more work than you normally should be doing with 3 (?) man team covering the work and this has only been going on since the co-worker started. He should then deal with the problem.

And if he does not, well then I say go back to doing your normal workload (your older co-worker too), and if the work starts then not getting completed because of your lazy co-worker then your manager will be forced to do something before he starts taking heat for work not being completed.

Exactly. THIS! Heck you don't even have to make a formal report. Just have a quiet word with your supervisor asking what the deal is with the new chick. Just a polite word will put them on notice that the new girl needs closer watching. They will take care of the rest.

And no, you aren't taking food out of the mouths of her children. She is. and she is counting on guilt to help shield her.

 

[Little Woodsman]

Ok, first of all do not, do *not*, do NOT, confront this person directly. Once upon a a time that was the correct thing to do. With the way things are in the workplace now, if you confront her what will happen is she will go to your boss and claim that you either threatened her or made sexual advances to her, and you will be presumed guilty unless you can prove your innocence (which is almost impossible to do). And you do NOT want that to happen.

Instead the thing to do is to talk with some of your other co-workers. Ask rather than tell, and don't mention the name of the person who is the problem. Phrase things like "Does it seem to you like someone on the shift isn't doing their fair share?" If (when) your co-workers agree with you that there is a problem ask if they would be willing to go with you to talk to your manager about it. If three or four of you go together to speak to the manager s/he will have to take the situation seriously.

I have been in the position of being the person who had the title "manager" but unfortunately had no authority to hire/fire/discipline any of the people I was in charge of on a night crew. When the crew I was in charge of had a very similar problem it went on for months, because no matter how many times I reported the situation to the people who *could* do anything about it, they ignored it as long as the work was getting done. It was my problem for a few months, then when the store needed someone really responsible in receiving I was transferred there, and it became someone else's headache for a while. And continued to get worse. No matter how often the person in charge of the crew reported it to management, nothing was ever done and the jproblem continued to escalate. The situation finally resolved when one manager was in really early before the crew left, and fired the offending individual *not* for simply not doing the work (for a period of almost two years at this point) but for making a smart remark. Go figure.
I've had other similar situations more times than I care to think about.

It speaks very well of you that you are concerned for what might happen to her child/children if she loses her job but you have to look at it this way. If she continues to get away with not doing the work, other people will begin to think "Why should I bust my rear end when so-and-so gets away with doing nothing?" and begin to act the same way. And before you know it, no-one is doing anything. And the store can't function. And the store closes. Then no-one has a job there. This is why stores have managers, to take care of tough decisions like this.

I also note that you said she transferred to nights from the day shift. It's likely that she was causing problems there too, and the transfer was a way for management to get complaints from the day crew to stop w/o having to do the stressful thing of firing someone. But it's not a solution, it's sweeping something under the rug. There's also the fact that she won't learn anything unless/until she has serious consequences for her behavior.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

I'd say report them. You don't seem to have attachment to this person or other reason why you should cover for her. Once her actions or inactions start eating into your time, you're completely justified in reporting it. Your manager would certainly like to know if productivity is being affected. If you do for whatever reason want to spare her the stress, talk to her yourself or with other coworkers, but if you don't want to or things don't change, mention her conduct to your supervisor. Assuming they're competent and communication occurs (which is not the case in my workplace), it should be resolved reasonably quickly, and likely not with firing her if this is the first time it's raised.

EDIT: Then again, a number of other posters have expressed some pretty serious sentiments concerning you talking to her directly. Just go to the supervisor. Better they hear it from you.

 

[solemnwar]

Three Ds: Document, document, document.

Write down dates and times and occurrences, get your fellow coworkers to help you with this. Then you (hell, all of you) can present this to your superiors and the lazy shit will have nothing to fall back on, because you'll have documented everything.

I agree with the sentiment on not talking to her. She knows what she's fucking doing, she'll just make life worse for you. That's what these type of people are like.

 

[The Night Angel]

IF she's not doing her job, something should be done. Maybe you could talk to her first, but you have to tell someone.

This pretty much sums it up, I know you replied saying you are non confrontational, so I would say go to your boss. Another option is to ask a more confrontational person on the same shift to talk to her, but I don't believe in asking people to do something I wouldn't be comfortable doing mysef.

 

[Username Redacted]

For all of the people who're suggesting confronting the offending party prior to or instead of management I would appreciate it, in the event that you ever find yourself in a similar situation, if you could handle the situation as such and then report back here about how spectacularly it blew up in your face (i.e. nothing gets done, you get reprimanded, you get fired instead, etc.).

 

[Gigano]

Well, if management is competent, with an interest in how the people it's employed, work together, it'll already know. And if it is not competent, and has little interest in how the people it's employed work together, then reporting to it is at best futile, and will at worst lead to firing of the immediately identifiable voice of disharmony.

I for one would not report a coworker. It undermines the trust and cooperation necessary between me and my (other) colleagues, and it's a responsibility my boss, not I, is being paid to shoulder. Not to mention that, at some point, I'll make a mistake as well, and might wish to explain it myself rather than being told upon before I've had any chance to correct it and decide upon a strategy to avoid repeating it.

 

[DuctTapeJedi]

Not to mention that, at some point, I'll make a mistake as well, and might wish to explain it myself rather than being told upon before I've had any chance to correct it and decide upon a strategy to avoid repeating it.

Not to sound argumentative, but how does a person not already know that showing up two hours late, and ditching in the middle of a shift is wrong?