View Full Version : odd work situation - is this ethical?
My boss announced to me in August that he is moving on. He said he would let the rest of the staff and department know in October. He asked emphatically that I not breathe a word of it as we have several prestigious programs that would be harmed by his unexpected departure. It is now December and he still has not made any public announcement. I am having to basically make up stories about his whereabouts as he is spending half his time at another out of state location where his family has moved. It is really wearing on me since no one has a clue and he is carrying on this double life. What should one do in this situation?
Have you told him how you are feeling? Any man with any kind of integrity would not be doing this.
well it is really up to him. But you might want to tell him the pressure this puts you under.
You should not be lying about anything if that's what you mean by "making up stories." He is simply working at home. That's ALL you need to say, no elaboration. If he is reachable by phone there or not, is his decision. He can tell you if it is ok to tell others to call him at home. If his superiors think if is fine for him to put in so little face time, then it is fine to put in so little face time.
This may be why you got that upgraded work area. You are in on the scam.
I agree that you should not lie or "make up stories" as it will surely bite you in the rear end. Basically you really dont know everything and should refer anyone to him. An answer of "you dont know" is true. If they cannot reach him, they will decide what to do.
Be honest and factual. No gossip or "I think".
Via email, let him know that people are beginning to notice his absences and you need some direction about what he wants to happen next regarding his announcement as you thought the news would be announced by now. I like Iris Lily's suggestion: working from home.
Perhaps "making up stories" is a bit of an exaggeration. Especially when other staff don't know and I have to be careful of what I say.Suffice it to say, my standard answer is that he is traveling which is true. The hard thing is that there are many tasks left undone by his absence and I think it makes me look inept because I don't have the information to carry on if he is not here to confer with. He rarely answers email unless it suits him and he is not here to discuss the matter further. And now with the holidays he will completely disappear. It is just a bizarre situtation I find myself in because he is so highly regarded in his field.
If he doesn't respond to your letting him know how difficult it is for you, I'd talk with HR about it, if your workplace has one. Sounds really weird, and is a huge ethical & boundary violation of your professionalism. I do not get why people do such inappropriate things...
...The hard thing is that there are many tasks left undone by his absence and I think it makes me look inept because I don't have the information to carry on if he is not here to confer with. ...he is so highly regarded in his field.
Of course, that's always the real problem with absent bosses. It's crappy. You (the collective you) don't have information needed to carry on and don't have the authority to act in his place. You can only deliver this message to work colleagues waiting on a project: you are waiting for an answer or directive or permission from him. Yes, much of your work will sit.
It doesn't really matter how highly regarded he is in his field, and if truth be told, it really doesn't matter TO YOU (again, the collective you) where he is when he makes decisions you need, assuming he can communicate clearly via phone or email. The problem is that he's not making and communicating decisions that you need to carry out your work. Truth be told, there are many bosses who could run the place from far away and successfully.
If he is doing this without the knowledge and agreement of the university, he is basically defrauding them. He is pretending to still be doing the job but he is not. He is not "working from home" or "travelling on business." Sounds like he is hardly even working.
The thing about suddenly moving you to the nice office makes sense now, and also might put you in a bad light if anyone discovers his deception.
I think you need to go to HR. Normally I would say give him a heads up, but I think the chances are very high that he will threaten you or try to make you take the fall for this in some way. But your job performance is suffering here because of his deception and failure to continue to work, so it is a legitimate thing to take to HR. If they don't deal with it, I'd figure out a way to leak it to the local press. College papers love a campus scandal...
lhamo
iris lily
12-4-11, 11:32pm
.... College papers love a campus scandal...
lhamo
A tenured research god not coming in to work and that's a scandal? I'm not so sure.
Well, if this is just a professor then maybe not (unless there are classes that are supposed to be taught that they aren't showing up for). But if the person has university administrative duties and is not fulfilling them, or is a PI on major grants and is not doing the work to keep them going, and is still taking a salary while being in a totally different location (probably still looking for work, but maybe with another job already) that might be a scandal -- especially if they are asking lower level staff to cover it up, and are at a publicly funded institution. Or any institution that is facing a budget crunch.
Sounds to me like he probably thought he had another job lined up in the new location, or would secure one quickly, and that is turning out not to be the case. So he is just milking this for as long as he can/until he finds something else.
lhamo
lhamo
The boss is a master delegator so it appears from the outside that all is well. We have a small staff and somehow he has each one of us carrying the load on his basic responsibilities of teaching, administering, writing papers and books, etc. He combines business travel with whatever else it is he is doing for income so it would be hard to make him look bad. I know he knows it will eventually catch up with him so I am hopeful he will just make the announcement soon and move on. I am dreaming again of retirement...after a certain age, chasing another job loses its appeal.
iris lily
12-5-11, 11:15am
The boss is a master delegator ... somehow he has each one of us carrying the load on his basic responsibilities of teaching, administering, writing papers and books, etc. ...
Again, a research god not coming to work and delegating it all to his subordinates? I am SHOCKED! Shocked I tell you. :D
Semester break will be here soon enough. It's hard to see how he can carry this scam forward into a new semester if he's got teaching responsibilities.
Sounds to me like he probably thought he had another job lined up in the new location, or would secure one quickly, and that is turning out not to be the case. So he is just milking this for as long as he can/until he finds something else.
Almost spot on...he has the other job lined up to start next fall but it is only a year gig. Probably afraid to let this gravy train go completely. The reason he is moving at all is that his wife demanded to go back home. At least that is what he says...
crunchycon
12-5-11, 2:12pm
The boss is a master delegator so it appears from the outside that all is well. We have a small staff and somehow he has each one of us carrying the load on his basic responsibilities of teaching, administering, writing papers and books, etc. He combines business travel with whatever else it is he is doing for income so it would be hard to make him look bad. I know he knows it will eventually catch up with him so I am hopeful he will just make the announcement soon and move on. I am dreaming again of retirement...after a certain age, chasing another job loses its appeal.
With all due respect, he's not a master delegator if work is not being done due to his neglect (for lack of a better word) to provide you with direction. I work in HR; at this point, he's defrauding the organization and it's gone beyond "our little secret." You need to set up a meeting with them fairly speedily.
I wouldn't "cover" for him but I stay out of it unless asked.
Maybe university environments are different but it seems to me his own boss has a repsonsibilty to check with him personally concerning what is being done, where he is, etc. Should his boss or HR question you I would tell the truth.
In an interesting twist of fate, I learned today that the word got out about my boss through the mouth of a child this past weekend. Apparently, his next door neighbor's child told the babysitter that he missed my boss' sons since they moved away. The babysitter happened to be the sitter of one of our funders so she passed it on where it spread back here. So when said boss returns he will have some "splainin"" to do. I am trying not to walk around with a big grin on my face.
Out of the mouths of babes....
What goes around comes around.
Will be interesting to see what happens!
In an interesting twist of fate, I learned today that the word got out about my boss through the mouth of a child this past weekend. Apparently, his next door neighbor's child told the babysitter that he missed my boss' sons since they moved away. The babysitter happened to be the sitter of one of our funders so she passed it on where it spread back here. So when said boss returns he will have some "splainin"" to do. I am trying not to walk around with a big grin on my face.
Sweet. Keep us posted. I always appreciate a good comeuppance story.
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