If you found yourself in this situation....

[jadegrniiz]

What would you do?

A relatively new Admin in our office called in sick yesterday.

Unrelated to the Admin, a Board Committee meeting was being held offsite, at the offices of a board member. The boss of the sick admin was called at the last minute to attend this committee meeting, in addition to several other staff members who regularly attend this meeting (including Executive Director!).

After the meeting was over, and everyone was walking through the lobby to leave..... there sat sick admin, wearing her Sunday best, resume in hand and waiting for an interview.

What would you do? Keep in mind this Admin knows nothing about our Board, who's on it and when/where the meetings are held.

My answer? Short of melting thru the floor, I don't have a clue!

Jadegrniiz
Peer Moderator

[bethalize]

Keep out of it!

Having said that, did anyone else recognise her, or was it just you?

I suppose the ethical thing would be to report her to HR, but it does smell of sneaking. But then she lied. And, if you count taking getting paid for extra holiday, she stole as well.

Urggh. I don't know. But I'm sympathising with you.

Bethalize
Peer Moderator

[jadegrniiz]

I guess I should have clarified - I wasn't AT the meeting. It was just the office buzz of the day, and I wondered what everyone would do if they found themselves in the position of the sick admin.

And yes, everyone there who knew her saw her sitting there.

Jadegrniiz
Peer Moderator

[jahdra]

First of all, I would hope that wouldn't happen to me because:
1. I never call in sick if I'm not sick; I say that I won't be in or that I have an appointment. Because we have personal time and no seperate sick & vacation leave, this is acceptable (for mental health days.)
2. I always, always do thorough internal research on the company I will be interviewing with, making sure that they aren't a client, or if they are, who works with the client and whether they're likely to be out at the client that day.
3. If I knew that they were a client or a target and I would be likely to run into someone from my current firm there, I would request an early/late interview, either before or after working hours. If the company I'm interviewing with doesn't want to cooperate, then I don't want to work there, anyway. This is where phone screens come in handy! If they really want to see you, they will understand that you want to keep it quiet.

Frankly, I think this will be a huge black mark against her because it's proved that she's disloyal, dishonest and none too bright, either. And since you're in the non-profit sector, I doubt she's going to find another job in non-profit. If I were her boss, I would terminate her immediately, probably for gross insubordination, since you can't fire people for being stupid. If, on the other hand, she is very, very young, I might give her some leeway, but I would still write her up and let her know that if it happens again, she'll be terminated. I don't know what Florida's unemployment rules are, but in California, you can't collect benefits for being terminated for that kind of offense.

[mlm668]

Boy, some of you are being pretty harsh on this gal.  She is only doing what we all have known is sometimes the best/only solution when you want to leave a job.  If she is relatively new, she may not have accrued any personal leave and had no choice but to lie about being sick.  And being "relatively new" it comes across to me that she isn't happy with something in her job and has made the choice to look elsewhere to secure a new job before she gives notice (smart move in this economy).

As to her lack of knowledge about the other company's connection with the non-profit:  She may very well know that they do business together.  It may be how she learned of the job opening.  However, she may not have known about the meeting.  You did say that her boss and others were called at the last minute.  Being as her boss is involved in these meetings, she probably expected him to be elsewhere that day.  Last minute schedule changes happen all the time.

If it were me, I would go to my boss the next day and briefly explain why I am looking and assure them until I found a position that better suited my needs/goals I would continue to give 100% and that I would give them adequate notice should I secure another position.  Unless the boss is a complete jerk, he should understand.

Not all company's can give after hour interviews.  These folks have lives too.  I prefer early morning or late afternoon interviews, but in this market, you have to go with what is available or lose out all together.  And look around, loyalty of employers to employees is almost non-existent.  With that kind of atmosphere, company's can't expect but so much loyalty from the very employees they more often than not see as expendable.

Just my $0.02

Michelle

[bethalize]

Michelle makes a fair point. I suppose it depends on whether you have any responsibility in this, Jade, or if you're asking on behalf of someone.

Bethalize
Peer Moderator

[countrigal]

Personally, I wouldn't have used the "I'm sick" excuse for being off, and then if I was caught it would be a matter of going behind closed doors with my boss and explaining what was going on, assuring him/her that I'd stay until appropriate notice was given, etc.

As this person did use the "I'm sick" excuse, then she's going to have to deal with this in her own way, and that will depend on her relationship with her boss.  But I wouldn't want to be in her shoes, 'cause I'm sure she's feeling pretty bad right now having been cuaght in a lie.

If I were in your shoes, I'd act like nothing happened and I knew nothing of it.  Maintain a professional relationship with her, don't gossip about it, and continue as if it never did happen, which I'm sure you're already planning on doing.  What a touchy situation to catch yourself in, and with her new to the company.  Maybe next time she'll ask for personal time or something else to go to this on.  (And if, as one poster pointed out, she didn't have any leave but sick leave to be off work with, then when she explains to bossie, he/she should be understanding of that.  But why take the whole day?)

CountriGal
Peer Moderator

[jadegrniiz]

Honestly, I have nothing to do with it at all...  I was just kinda curious as to what everyone else would do in this situation. Everyone in the office is whispering about it (which I'm sure doesn't help her any).

I, too, would not have called in sick. We have Personal time that is used for a variety of reasons - from holidays to vacation and sick kids. Whatever the reason, the time comes out of the same "bank" of time off.  So it wouldn't have mattered really what the reason was.

I think what is most interesting is that this admin mans a satellite office by herself - usually, she is alone in the office all day, with a few staff members coming and going. Knowing that the interview was a hop skip and jump from the office, I would have made it my lunch break to interview, as opposed to wasting a whole day. But then again, I deal with board members and know which board member works where, and I would know what office to avoid. This poor girl didn't know any of that.

Sadly, I'm sure she's miserable in her job because she is so isolated. Her boss is totally unorganized, and she's probably bored to tears. Even worse, now she's probably got herself nearly fired.... and she won't get that job anyway.

Oh well!   Glad it's not me!

Jadegrniiz
Peer Moderator

[elkiedee]

If you have any basis for having a quiet chat with her, as the gossip is already all round the office, I would tell her what a stupid mistake she's made, and encourage her to schedule interviews more carefully or ask for leave. Maybe it was difficult for her to get leave because she didn't know far enough in advance, she wasn't sure her boss would agree (particularly as she works on her own) etc. Keep it on the basis of a friendly warning.

I think it's very harsh to suggest she should be sacked for "insubordination" for one mistake.

Luci

[jadegrniiz]

Well, she got canned yesterday. What a shame. But at least she learned a valuable lesson.



Jadegrniiz
Peer Moderator