Supervisor's affair
denjen
93 Posts
Rumors tell me that a supervisor has an on going affair with one of his workers. The worker has quit to take a lower paying job. She told a coworker she quit to keep her supervisor from getting in trouble. I asked the supervisor if he has put the company at risk with an inappropriate relationship. He denied any wrong doing. Yet his marriage is dissoloving. The former employee's car is in the parking lot everyday. (She lives out of town and I think the supervisor is using it for transportation).
What is appropriate discipline? Pull him from a supervisor position? Suspend him so he can lay around with his new girlfriend. Fire him for misconduct? Nothing, because he denied any relationship.
I can't find anything in our handbook to suggest a supervisor is in violation.
What is appropriate discipline? Pull him from a supervisor position? Suspend him so he can lay around with his new girlfriend. Fire him for misconduct? Nothing, because he denied any relationship.
I can't find anything in our handbook to suggest a supervisor is in violation.
Comments
As for trying to validate, you've confronted the supervisor, and the supervisor has denied any conduct that jeopardizes your company. The state of his marriage should not be your company's concern, unless having a seemingly happy marriage is a prerequisite for his job.
Love affairs in the workplace can be awkward and a source for gossip, but unless there is favorable treatment in the form of a tangible job benefit for the paramore or unfavorable treatment for everyone else, PDAs between the lovers that are offensive to workers, or a history of ongoing love affairs by a supervisor with his/her workers, you really don't have a whole lot.
Do you have a policy that restricts the type of car the supervisor drives to work? Don't mean to sound caddy, but I have to ask why it would matter what he drives to work and who would actually scope out the parking lot to find out. Find that person more work to do. Sounds to me like the real issue might be a grapevine gossip chain.
Unless there's something I'm missing, I don't see a big issue here.
best wishes.
Margaret Morford
The HR Edge
615-371-8200
[email]mmorford@thehredge.net[/email]
[url]http://www.thehredge.net[/url]
Margaret Morford
theHRedge
615-371-8200
[email]mmorford@mleesmith.com[/email]
[url]http://www.thehredge.net[/url]
The plant manager is actually wanting to fire him. We are growing quickly now and want to stop any of these misconducts from reoccurring. I can't believe we didn't have this in the handbook. OR That it has to be in the handbook or people think it is okay to do.
I appreciate you bringing it to my attention. I'll try to keep my emotions in check.
Going forward, I would add a policy to your handbook ASAP and inform the employees.
Its possible that the supervisor should be disciplined but that would depend on the nature of the relationship, how it started, who initiated what, prior similar behavior, etc.
At minimum, you could advise the supervisor of how the "appearance of impropriety" needs to be considered. Affairs and relationships are morale busters and should be taken seriously. Just proceed with caution.
I can understand your frustration especially when you're a growing company and you need to count on those around you. A lack of trust certainly doesn't form the foundation for a strong team (assuming the allegations are true) as it makes you wonder what else he may lie about. If he's driving her car, it wouldn't appear that he's trying very hard to hide it either.
I may have missed it as wasn't sure how this came to your attention - was it brought up as a concern by an employee?
A few things to consider hanging onto for the next 180 days would be: (1) a copy of the exit interview with her, (2) notes on the conversation had with him and (3) a copy of your sexual harassment policy along with (4) the signed copies from the two of them (which you hopefully have from everyone) indicating they were aware of the reporting mechanisms in place.
Good luck to you. Please let us know how it turns out.
It came to my attention by the plant manager as soon as he heard the rumors. I asked a few coworkers at a social gathering away from work. Their response was "Do you really want to know?" (That is a whole different topic.) Out of the six, they all had first hand comments from both in the affair. The only people he and she were keeping it from was HR and his supervisor. He has lost my trust.
Next 180 days: 1) He had her leave before telling me that she quit. I wasn't able to do an exit interview that way. I generally do when able. 2) There will definitely be a conversation with him once we figure out the ramifications of his relationship. 3) We did a refresher course and everyone signed a new harassment policy. (so that's two for four).
I'm curious what types of discipline others have used in this situation. We have had several coworker attractions. Some have gone onto marry, some have gone their separate ways. This is the first (that I know of) where a direct supervisor has crossed the line.
I would get my policies in place right away and loudly publish them. Make sure that all employees, especially supervisors, understand that you frown on this type of behavior and will act if you ever have any proof that it occurred. Make a point to reinforce your position on the matter as the occassion arises.
As far as the supervisor being untrustworthy goes, I would be grateful to find it out now. You could have found it out under much more difficult circumstances. If he lied once, he will lie again. Look for your opportunity to catch him in the act and then respond appropriately.
Good luck!
Nae
I also agree that your options for this situation are limited and that your best bet is to implement a nonfraternization policy, get it published, and get everyone trained on it. You'll be in a better position if this happens again.
As for your options after policy implementation, they are whatever your organization chooses to include in the policy. You can have something as firm as a zero-tolerance policy or something as forgiving as allowing one or the other to transfer to a different department to eliminate the direct report aspect.
Take a breath for yourself and relax a little. Otherwise, you'll be carrying this one home with you at the end of the day. A better option is to be kinder to yourself and your family.
best wishes
In response to your question about romance in the workplace, fortunately most have been co-workers or peers working in different parts of the company. On the one occasion (they are now married) that there was a direct reporting relationship, we met with the two parties individually and asked about it. In this particular case, they confirmed the facts. The manager was placed on disciplinary notice and management responsibilities were reassigned. The employee chose to move to another area of the company. We met with the employee to confirm that this was the employee's choice and that the employee wasn't pressured into taking a different role.
In addition to the restriction for having significant others/spouses not reporting in to one another, we also don't allow family members to do so. It can get interesting at times as we have 50-60% of our new hires coming in as referrals - many of which are relatives.
*As to whether he's telling the truth, one closing comment would be to add that folks that think they're pulling one over on you generally slip up (as others too have mentioned) again. There was an interesting article on this after Elliott Spitzer's recent slip-up that discussed politicians and why they make some stupid decisions especially for people that are in the limelight. Their ego thinks that they're somehow above the law and that they won't get caught (even with all the examples to show them otherwise....)
P.S. - Just because the former employee left suddenly doesn't mean you can't do an exit interview. I always provide a brief, written 'exit survey' with the final check. That way, the former employee can feel "free-er" to be honest without fear of reprisal.
I think sending her the exit interview is a good idea. It can only protect us moving forward if she does answer.
Thank you for all of the input.
I ask them to envision how it would play out in front of a jury and judge who are going to ask about facts not opinions and will want to see documentation of the policies that prohibit this with the consequences clearly spelled out.
If the PM continues to push for this, would ask how much umbrella coverage he personally carries as supervisor's sometimes forget or may not be aware of the personal liability they have.
Our policy requires that a supervisor cannot supervise an employee with whom there is a romantic relationship. It is the supervisor's responsibility to divulge the relationship. We then make every effort to place one of them in another position within the company. If this cannot be accomplished, one or both have to resign.
We discourage employee romantic relationships basically because of sexual harassment issues, but we are realistic that they do occur and cannot be prevented totally.