SPOUSE SPYING ON EE IS THIS WRONG?

HENRY

WE HAVE AN ASST MGR WHO IS USING THE COMPANY AS HER COVER UP FOR HER WHEREABOUTS AFTER HOURS, HER HUSBAND HAS CALLED AND QUESTIONED EMPLOYEES IN REGARDS TO WHAT TIME SHE LEFT WORK OR IF SHE WORKED THAT PARTICULAR DAY OR NOT. WE PLAN TO WRITE UP THE ASST MGR BECAUSE WE FEEL THAT HER HUSBAND HAS NO RIGHT TO BE QUESTIONING OUR EMPLOYEES AS TO IF HIS WIFE IS WORKING OR NOT, OR WHAT TIME SHE LEFT. I NEED YOUR ADVICE/HELP IN WRITING THIS ASST MGR UP, WHAT WOULD ANY OF YOU RECOMMEND I DO. WE PLAN ON WRITING HER UP AS VIOLATING THE CODE OF ETHICS.

marc

If there was no evidence or reason to think this is a battered wife or that she is in some sort of physical danger, I would two things. First, there is no reason not to relay information about when she left work or similar information - especially if her spouse is listed as her emergency contact.

Second, I would then tell her that the company does not want to be in the middle of any personal "situation." At some point, the volume and tone of the phone calls can be burdensome. Drawing that line is up to each company, but you generally know when it happens. I don't know if I would proceed to a write-up yet, depends on how bad this has become.

mwild31

Hi Henry - could you not use caps in the future, unless you are emphasizing a point, not only is it pretty hard to read when a post is all caps, but it comes across as "shouting" on the board. Thanks x:-)

So, you have an assistant manager who's letting her personal life interfere with her professional one. I would meet with her and, if you're intent on writing her up, then I would say exactly what I just said above = personal life is interfering with professional life & the disruptions are impacting the workflow of co-workers and state some examples & times of phone calls. The corrective action: the calls need to stop or further disciplinary action up to and including discharge. I would tell her that the rest of the ee's will be instructed to disregard any and all phone calls from the husband, unless it's an emergency - in which case the ee will either state that the assist. mgr is not in or gets her on the phone right away (or you could just have the ee's direct all phone calls from the husband to mgmt - if they are around). I wonder if you can contact the police about the harassing calls and have some kind of restraining order put in place...?

Finally, you said something in your first sentence that's interesting. You said, "...we have an asst mgr who is using the company as her cover up..." Do you know all of the facts surrounding the asst mgr & her husband & why they are both doing what they are doing - or are you making a judgment call? We are all human, so if it's a judgment call - fine, but unless we know everything about someone's personal life - as HR professionals, we should try to stick only to the facts as it relates to business & ee's performance that impacts that business. Good luck!

SamanthaQ

Maybe I am off base here, but I have a hard time punishing an employee for someonelse's issues. It sounds like the employee isn't there when he calls. In this situation we never give out that type of information to someone on the phone. We would refer him to this persons supervisor and then the supervisor would tell him that we don't disclose that information and not to call asking again.

Do you know of or have proof she has been lying other than what this man has "told" your staff? It sounds to me like he is lying to try to get the information out of your staff.

HR Diva

I agree with SamanthaQ. I wouldn't want to punish someone for someone else's behavior. (No one knows what the home life is like and it could just be a controlling husband. The Asst. Manager would not be able to stop hm from calling, even if she wanted to.)

And if the spouse called, I would respond the same as well, that we don't disclose that information and to not call asking again.

ray a

Just exactly what company policy, procedure or rule has this ee violated? How is *she* being unethical? You said this is occurring *after hours*, or not on company time which limits how you can get involved. Do you even know what she is doing when off the clock? From what you have said, the husband is the one being the pest with all the phone calls. As other posters have said, you don't know, or have not shared with us, the rest of the story. From what you have divulged, I can see no reason for any disciplinary action against the ee.

Crout

So your Ethics Code contains a rule stating that a spouse cannot call your place of work? Or does it say that employees are not allowed to go anywhere but home after work? That's some code.

Craig D

i don't think you should do anything without the whole story, and than I am not sure if you should do anything at that point except maybe informing the ee that her husband keeps calling to check on her. And by the way are we sure it is her husband?

System

I wouldn't write her up. I would have a conference with her completely avoiding any personal issues between her and her husband. She's obviously lying about her '20' after normal working hours. She can lie to her husband if she wants, regardless of what we think of her. That's not a violation of any company policy (supposedly). I think a civil, polite conference is all you need to do to handle it. Tell her you don't want her claiming to be at work when she's not and that you don't want her husband calling to check her work schedule. The chat might solve the problem and get you out of the middle. If not, then you should consider something else. But you're way to early to write her up.

dchr9203

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 12-16-04 AT 04:46PM (CST)[/font][br][br]Why would you write up the employee for something she has no control over? She is not responsible for her husband calling you; he and he alone is responsible for that. I would inform the employee of the calls, that you/your staff will no longer be accepting them, and ask her to notify her husband of your position. Wouldn't hurt to add that while you respect her privacy, you are concerned that the situation could impact her reputation and continued career success with your organization.

Don D

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 12-17-04 AT 03:13PM (CST)[/font][br][br]***Never mind Henry. Good luck.***

HRinNH

I'm not saying that it's right, but is it against your company policy that she lie to her husband about her after-hours whereabouts?

Sounds like the husband has a control issue and should seek counseling. Maybe she's afraid to go home because he's a monster.

Shouldn't an employer's loyalty lie with their employee? I would have a private chat with her that was non-threatening or too personal. Just let her know that her husband's calls are becoming too frequent and beginning to cause some commotion within the office.

Write her up for her husband's problem? Not a wise thing in my mind. Advise your employees to forward all calls to her supervisor and give out no information.

ritaanz

Henry, you cannot be serious. Violating the code of ethics? Why not write her up for misrepresenting herself as a work-aholic? Just as unreasonable.

"WE PLAN TO WRITE UP THE ASST MGR BECAUSE WE FEEL THAT HER HUSBAND HAS NO RIGHT TO BE QUESTIONING OUR EMPLOYEES AS TO IF HIS WIFE IS WORKING OR NOT"

Just sit her down and tell her about the calls. Let her decide on what course of action she should take. If she is unable to deal with it, she should tell you and then you just refuse to give any information out.

Bingo!