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Lady Tells Boss Coworker Isn’t Doing Her Job, He Insults Her Instead, Says Snitching Is Disgusting
Lady Tells Boss Coworker Isn’t Doing Her Job, He Insults Her Instead, Says Snitching Is Disgusting
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Lady Tells Boss Coworker Isn’t Doing Her Job, He Insults Her Instead, Says Snitching Is Disgusting

Interview With Expert

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If you’ve ever heard of the phrase ‘snitches get stitches,’ you probably believe it’s not okay to rat someone out. Even if someone isn’t working well, doing something bad, or being a bully, most folks would rather turn a blind eye than be called a snitch. But what if there’s no other option left? 

This happened to a cleaning lady who decided to complain about her lazy coworker. Unfortunately, her boss did not take kindly to her ‘snitching’ and threw a curveball that she definitely did not expect.

More info: Mumsnet

RELATED:

    Woman works up the courage, after 6 months, to complain about lazy cleaning lady’s actions, receives a rude message from boss calling her a ‘tattle tale’

    Image credits: Drazen Zigic (not the actual photo)

    The poster explained that she and her coworker cleaned a restaurant and that they had no supervisors, which is why the other woman slacked off at work and left things messy

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    Image credits: Tim Douglas (not the actual photo)

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    The restaurant management kept complaining about the mess, they blamed and threatened to fire both workers, which was unfair because the poster had been doing her job well

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    Image credits: master1305 (not the actual photo)

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    After trying and failing multiple times to confront the lazy coworker, the woman complained to her boss, but he got mad at her and called her an “annoying snitch”

    Image credits: Queenoftheuniverseandgalaxy

    The woman was shocked by his response and wondered whether the boss was related to the other woman and if that was why he refused to do anything about her behavior

    We spend nearly a third of our lives at work, which is why it helps if we actually enjoy what we’re doing. It’s so clear that the post’s author was unhappy at her job because of her good-for-nothing coworker. Despite raising her concerns with the woman and giving her the benefit of the doubt, the lazy cleaning lady did not make a single change.

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    Surveys have shown that 70% of employees believe having work friends is very important for their happiness on the job. Unfortunately for the OP, she seemed to have more of a work enemy. After 6 months of being blamed for her coworker’s messes, she finally decided to tell her boss about it. But her idea backfired when the man responded with the rudest message possible. He called her out for snitching and told her he didn’t want her to blame the other woman.

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    What can someone even do if their boss doesn’t take their concerns seriously and shouts at them for speaking up? To help figure this out, Bored Panda contacted Kristin Hiemstra, the founder and CEO of AlightSuccess, an empowerment coaching platform focused on career and personal development. Hiemstra is also an adjunct lecturer in management, innovation, and entrepreneurship at NCSU Poole College of Management, with expertise in creating organizational culture, employee engagement, and emotional intelligence.

    Kristin shared her take on the woman’s message and her employer’s response. She said: “as with anything, the first step is to reflect, why does her boss have that opinion of her and is it warranted? Secondly, cleaning jobs as well as many service jobs are notoriously difficult to fill. Her boss likely does not have anyone to replace the coworker with so it is in his best interest to keep the lazy coworker, even when she is doing minimal work. In his mind, a bad worker is better than no worker.”

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    “Legally, she doesn’t have much of a case but this is a huge red flag about this individual’s management style. Clearly he is the type of person who blames and attacks others in order to deflect taking responsibility,” she added. It was obvious from the boss’s message that he had no plans to confront the other cleaning lady and expected the poster to pick up the slack.

    Image credits: Drazen Zigic (not the actual photo)

    Most folks don’t have the guts to do what the OP did. A study found that only 10% of employees speak up about underperforming coworkers; most choose to stay silent. This woman had the courage to hold the other cleaning lady accountable, and what’s more, she waited 6 months to do it. The poster had tried everything, right from bringing up the issue with her coworker directly to telling her boss. Nothing seemed to work.

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    That’s why we asked Coach Kristin if there was any other way the worker could have made her complaint known. She said, “the best way to handle a situation like this is to create an opportunity for the boss to discover the colleague’s shortcomings themselves so that you don’t have to say anything. If that is not an option, then set up an appointment to meet with the manager, explain what is happening and how you have tried to address the situation on your own, and then see what the boss does.”

    She also shared that she “had a client who was tasked with working with the supervisor’s nephew. The nephew had a terrible work ethic and didn’t do any work, leaving the man to do two jobs. When my client complained, he was told there was nothing to be done since it was a family hire. My client went and found another job and the company manager was shocked he left and then very sorry once he realized the level of incompetence he had forced the man to deal with. My client couldn’t figure out how the manager didn’t know that was going to happen.”

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    I think we all can sympathize with the OP. It’s incredibly unfair to do your job well but be blamed for another person’s laziness. It would be amazing if the cleaning lady could find another job, but that’s easier said than done. The only option left would be to go above the boss’s head and reach out to his superiors (if he has any). What do you think the woman should do?

    Let us know in the comments, and tell us if you’ve ever dealt with incompetent coworkers like this.

    People were annoyed at the woman’s boss and told her she should find another job immediately

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    Image credits: freepik (not the actual photo)

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    Poll Question

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    Beverly Noronha

    Beverly Noronha

    Writer, BoredPanda staff

    Read more »

    You can call me Bev! I'm a world-class reader, a quirky writer, and a gardener who paints. If you’re looking for information about tattoos, Bulbasaur, and books, then I'm the NPC you must approach.

    Read less »
    Beverly Noronha

    Beverly Noronha

    Writer, BoredPanda staff

    You can call me Bev! I'm a world-class reader, a quirky writer, and a gardener who paints. If you’re looking for information about tattoos, Bulbasaur, and books, then I'm the NPC you must approach.

    What do you think ?
    AKA AKA
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    quit if you can. it isnt worth working for 2

    notlikeyou1971
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    'First' better start looking for another job. Obviously they are either friends or this is nepotism or they are sleeping together. They are letting the lazy person get away with doing very little because of this and will continue to make you basically a slave while she sits on her a*s the whole time. This is unfair work conditions and a toxic work environment. They are taking advantage of you. Unless you want to continue to put up this forever I'd start looking.

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    Alexandra
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    No Union, I assume? This is exactly why we have them, to put a stop to employers who think they can insult their employees like that. Sure, even with unions there are still employers who behave like this, but they are made to pay for it and it often involves substantial sums of money for the employee so that they can find another job without having to worry about their next meal and retaining their right to unemployment benefits.

    Janelle Collard
    Community Member
    Premium
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    5 bucks says lazy coworker is f***ing the manager. :)

    Tabitha
    Community Member
    1 year ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    If the manager is totally DARVOing OP about the lazy coworker, then yep, boss and lazy coworker are definitely banging.

    Load More Replies...
    C.O. Shea
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    He's probably sleeping with her.

    Vinnie
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    It's pretty self-serving to be more concerned about complaints than about someone not doing their job. That's a way to avoid dealing with problems. And what's with the term "snitching"?? Does management think they're running a criminal gang??? Except that criminal gangs tend to reward silence.

    Violet Radar
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I had a similar thing happen. My lazy coworker spends about 5 hours a day on her phone then gets her work done at home in overtime (time and a half pay). I couldn't take it and complained. HR made it clear they did not want to hear it. "She has a lot of family issues, so she has to be on her phone a lot." What?? She's on instagram, not spending 5 hours a day solving family problems. I'm currently looking for another job. This company also doesn't do reviews, so she'll never hear about it. HR said if she's not getting her work done, they will hear about it and address it then. But she's getting it done, in overtime.

    AKA AKA
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    quit if you can. it isnt worth working for 2

    notlikeyou1971
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    'First' better start looking for another job. Obviously they are either friends or this is nepotism or they are sleeping together. They are letting the lazy person get away with doing very little because of this and will continue to make you basically a slave while she sits on her a*s the whole time. This is unfair work conditions and a toxic work environment. They are taking advantage of you. Unless you want to continue to put up this forever I'd start looking.

    ADVERTISEMENT
    Alexandra
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    No Union, I assume? This is exactly why we have them, to put a stop to employers who think they can insult their employees like that. Sure, even with unions there are still employers who behave like this, but they are made to pay for it and it often involves substantial sums of money for the employee so that they can find another job without having to worry about their next meal and retaining their right to unemployment benefits.

    Janelle Collard
    Community Member
    Premium
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    5 bucks says lazy coworker is f***ing the manager. :)

    Tabitha
    Community Member
    1 year ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    If the manager is totally DARVOing OP about the lazy coworker, then yep, boss and lazy coworker are definitely banging.

    Load More Replies...
    C.O. Shea
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    He's probably sleeping with her.

    Vinnie
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    It's pretty self-serving to be more concerned about complaints than about someone not doing their job. That's a way to avoid dealing with problems. And what's with the term "snitching"?? Does management think they're running a criminal gang??? Except that criminal gangs tend to reward silence.

    Violet Radar
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I had a similar thing happen. My lazy coworker spends about 5 hours a day on her phone then gets her work done at home in overtime (time and a half pay). I couldn't take it and complained. HR made it clear they did not want to hear it. "She has a lot of family issues, so she has to be on her phone a lot." What?? She's on instagram, not spending 5 hours a day solving family problems. I'm currently looking for another job. This company also doesn't do reviews, so she'll never hear about it. HR said if she's not getting her work done, they will hear about it and address it then. But she's getting it done, in overtime.

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