SPOUSE SPYING ON EE IS THIS WRONG?
HENRY
21 Posts
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.
Comments
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
"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!