Office supplies. Can you honestly say you never took home any supplies from your job? Even a pen? I like to think of myself as a basically honest person, still I have taken my share of the small stuff. But the other day I heard someone in a huff and a puff about coworkers who take home office supplies. Including pens. Is she right?

I recently wrote about the subject from the point of view “should you report them?” There is a lot of loss associated with employees who take supplies. But this post looks at whether it’s actually wrong. And just how wrong if it does cross the line.

But it’s only office supplies…

Unless specified in your company handbook or a special contract you work under, office supplies don’t belong to you. So if you take something that doesn’t belong to you — unless given permission — technically it’s stealing. If you work in a jewelry store, can you take home that sparkly diamond ring you love? No. Of course not.

And if you work in an office, can you pack up the copier and take that home? [Read more…]

I’ve been asked what to do if a coworker steals supplies. Do you pretend you don’t see it? Do you report them? Or maybe you should just join in since you’re sure not getting paid enough.

Stealing is an interesting word when it comes to accepted behavior in an office. If I take home a pen, is that stealing or just pretty much expected and accounted for when ordering office supplies. I mean everyone does it, right?

Is it really stealing?

According to the cost reduction consulting firm, Schooley Mitchell: [Read more…]

Ah … messy coworkers. Most of us have had them. Some of us may even have been one of them at times — even if we didn’t realize it.  And to complicate things more, what people see as messy can vary. As can office policy on the matter.

So on a scale of aesthetically unpleasing all the way to attracts mice and bugs, exactly how much clutter reaches the level of too messy? Are there types of clutter that feel more acceptable than others? And when (if ever) should it even matter to us?

Why do messy coworkers bother you?

We would probably all agree that if a coworker’s mess reaches the level of invading your cubicle (as from leftover food decomposing in drawers or smelly gym shoes piling up or simply trash spilling over), that’s now your concern.

But if the mess remains within their workspace, should their sloppiness bother you? Does it matter? Are we being too judgemental? Or might messiness reflect something important worth addressing. [Read more…]

A reader writes to say that a coworker betrayed her. “He pretended to be my friend. But then he went behind my back, revealing a secret to our boss that got me in a lot of trouble.” She also says he set her up by encouraging her to take an action that he later used against her  — although she didn’t find out for many weeks.

Now trust is an important part of any workplace. And when someone betrays you — especially a supposed friend — that can knock your trust level down to zero pretty quickly.

Trusting if coworker betrays you

[Read more…]

“Boss won’t fire coworker. Why?”

Hi Ronnie Ann. I know someone who has been at this company for umpteen years. This coworker gets away with everything! Over the years this person has arrived to work late more times than not. And the person says that they just cannot make it on time no matter what. But the boss won’t fire the person? Why can they get away with so much — but the rest of us can’t.

Gets away with so much!

More than once, the company even tried changing the hours. Yet the person will still arrive late. And this person also took off three months of work when things went wrong at home. No, this person did not go out on personal leave. Instead, this person just called in sick everyday for three months.

When work slows down, this person does not have enough to do in the afternoon. And so this person just reads their paperback novel for the rest of the day. I asked, “Don’t you get in trouble?” And the response was “They like me.”

Anyone else would have been fired. Please explain how this person keeps their job? I just do not get it.

~ D

My reply to D’s email

Hi D!

Wow. I can well understand how unfair that seems! While ideally I’d want to know a few more facts, I’ll do my best to give you some answers. When a boss won’t fire someone, there are probably things you don’t know that would help fill in the dots.

Let’s look at the issues you raise one by one: [Read more…]

My coworkers break the rules!

Hi Ronnie Ann! I hope you can help me. I’m a government employee who has become really irritated at work about something that is out of my control. My coworkers break the rules all the time — and get away with it!

As for me, I’m always on time and always put in my full amount of hours. However, I have co-workers who show up at seemingly whatever times they please each morning (sometimes 9, sometimes 10:30). And they leave in the evenings before they’ve worked their full “shifts.”

No one seems to care!

But there’s no supervisor left in the office at the time to watch them. The fact that this goes on has made me lose respect for my boss, because I see that he does not enforce standard rules. And I can’t fathom how these co-workers of mine have the balls to do this!

I don’t want to stoop to their level. Plus, I simply can’t work the later hours that they do. But I constantly feel like a sucker for working 8 full hours each day.

I’d like to just ignore their comings and goings. But my office is at the end of the hallway to the exit, and I can’t help but notice it. While I’m tempted to just keep my door shut, I don’t want people to feel like they can’t come in to ask me questions that are work-related.

So my question is this: How do I not let things at work that are out of my control bother me?

Thanks,
N

And here’s my response

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Ah the blame game! It’s all around us — lately more than ever it seems. Despite far better ways to get ahead, much wasted time and energy go into playing the blame game at work.

But when we blame others for all that is wrong, we wind up dividing & isolating. And we miss the real path toward finding lasting solutions. Or securing our own work or life success!

Why people play the blame game

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One of the most painful things we go through as a child is being in a group that makes us feel like an outsider. Unwanted and different in some important way. And the same holds true as we grow up. Even at work. Hearing someone say “my coworkers don’t like me” breaks my heart.

We deserve to have people like us. And recognize those parts of us that are special — even if we are different in some way. In fact, that difference may arise from the very same source that also creates our unique talents.

What if coworkers don’t like you?

[Read more…]

It’s absolutely maddening! When a noisy coworker plays music too loud, if you’re anything like me you want to scream. Except THAT would be seen as a bad thing. But their loud music is ok?

Early on in my career I worked in a bank, where my cubicle was right next to someone who loved his music. The way we were positioned, I was the only one who heard Arthur’s music. Well, besides him. And he found my annoyance amusing. Not his problem, he told me.

Ears scream as coworker plays music?

[Read more…]