Just watched my foreman in Boise clock out at 2pm and tell the crew he was 'running a bank errand,' so do we snitch or mind our business? | Bad Job Confessions - Talk Freely
Just watched my foreman in Boise clock out at 2pm and tell the crew he was 'running a bank errand,' so do we snitch or mind our business?
Two summers back I was on a commercial install in Boise, laying LVT in a bank branch that was still open to customers, and around 2pm my foreman says he has to run a bank errand and just leaves. Cool, fine, except he does this every single Friday for six weeks. One afternoon the actual bank manager walks over and asks me where he keeps going, because the job is three days behind and the GC is calling her about it. I played dumb and said I just lay floors. Here is the debate I keep having with myself: half of me says we all have a boss who ducks out and you don't torpedo a guy who signs your hours, the other half says this dude was costing the whole crew overtime we never got paid for. I never said a word and the job got finished late anyway, and honestly I still don't know if staying quiet made me a good coworker or a coward. If you were the guy on that crew, do you tell the manager or keep your mouth shut and finish your rows?
The part that gets me is "he signs your hours." That is the exact reason guys stay quiet, and it works until it doesn't. If the job is three days behind and the whole crew is doing overtime they never see a dime for, that is not him ducking out, that is him stealing from every guy on that crew. I have been on both sides of this and here is what I would do: keep my mouth shut to the bank manager, but pull him aside myself and say flat out that the GC is breathing down her neck and people are noticing. Give him one chance to fix it. If Fridays keep happening after that, then it is fair game to say something, because at that point you already warned him and he chose to keep costing you guys. Staying quiet on day one is being a good coworker. Staying quiet for six weeks is just you carrying his weight for free.