Problem with "co-worker". Advice welcome.

[Eddie Bronze]

Jayems,

All single family homes for us. We do the big shacks in the back on the west side of 85th. "Willows of Wentworth" they call it.

[Sylvanfan]

Ask the boss to have this guy off any time he goes away. By the sounds of it he's distracting you when the boss isn't around and he's not doing anything himself. Perhaps you have to sell the idea that when you have to watch this guy it detracts from your work and that you can't get any production out of him either. So you're better off not having him around if no one is there to keep him inline. No company wants to get rid of any employee in this labour market. So your best bet might be to propose a workable solution.

Good luck though, I know what it's like to have a co-worker like that around and it sucks. I also know what it's like to have to quit a job when it's not the guys you work for who are the problem. That itself is a stressfull ordeal as well.

[I_am_Beast]

dude, do you guys have to clock in?

If so everytime he "goofs off" clock him out, he works clock in. Do that all day the boss is going to look at his timecard and say WTF why so many times per day.

Or just keep a memo pad and jot down the times each day start - finish each time he slacks off. When the boss arrives just say here is the employee "time" list of the time spent on/off the job.

Honestly if your the boss, when your boss leaves, and he respects you like that, fire his ass.....he's not doing any work anyways so it's not like you have to do extra work to cover his ass, cause your already doing it.

If thats too much work, just tell the guy your now docking time off his hours each day for being a slack ass, if he doesn't like it get back to work, he gives you flack tell him to leave and don't come back till your boss is back and he can talk to him about it.

he leaves just post a help wanted sign in the forum you'll get a response.

[I_am_Beast]

Originally Posted by Eddie Bronze

Jayems,

All single family homes for us. We do the big shacks in the back on the west side of 85th. "Willows of Wentworth" they call it.

dayum thats our next planned move, once our new house is done being built, so we can sell it and move there...

honestly, i have my own business you get stuck i can take a day off and come help....just stand up what u believe in...everything else will work itself out. If your boss is as great as you make him out to be, he'll understand, if he doesn't we'll you posted about quitting cause of this slacker so whats the difference, you'll be picked up in 2 seconds by another crew

[Eddie Bronze]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

Ask the boss to have this guy off any time he goes away. By the sounds of it he's distracting you when the boss isn't around and he's not doing anything himself. Perhaps you have to sell the idea that when you have to watch this guy it detracts from your work and that you can't get any production out of him either. So you're better off not having him around if no one is there to keep him inline. No company wants to get rid of any employee in this labour market. So your best bet might be to propose a workable solution.

I was thinking about that and with the boss having his brother running a seperate crew, I think that's the only reasonable option. I know now the reason he got moved from that crew to ours is because his brother couldn't babysit him, either. But of the two options, he would have to be able to do a better job than me, because I'm at my wits end after one day. And it does detract from my work. I had to tell him four different times to build the Attic access. I almost lost my mind.

[Eddie Bronze]

Originally Posted by I_am_Beast

dude, do you guys have to clock in?

The boss lets us keep our own hours. The little ########## has more than me every cheque. I can't logically think of a reason why he continues to let this take place.

[Jayems]

Originally Posted by Eddie Bronze

The boss lets us keep our own hours. The little ########## has more than me every cheque. I can't logically think of a reason why he continues to let this take place.

ahhhh... i have that problem too. Im an honest guy and keep honest hours, but others screw my boss around...

I just cant bring myself to rat.

[Eddie Bronze]

Originally Posted by Jayems

I just cant bring myself to rat.

I've already pointed it out and the boss is aware of it. I'm going to make a point of letting him know about his "hours worked" while he's gone and strongly recommend, at the very least, no bonuses on this house even if it means I don't get one either.

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by Eddie Bronze

I'm going to let him take care of himself. He's purchasing a Suzuki Hayabusa with absolutely no experience driving a motorcycle. I've seen the stunts he pulls in a car. If he tries the same crap on that bike, he'll be dead anyway.

Besides being a lazy jerk, he also lacks any sense. Could be interesting to watch.

[FireFly]

Originally Posted by Eddie Bronze

I've already pointed it out and the boss is aware of it. I'm going to make a point of letting him know about his "hours worked" while he's gone and strongly recommend, at the very least, no bonuses on this house even if it means I don't get one either.

If for every hour you work, you have to spend 10 minutes freaking out on this guy in order to get 10 minutes of work out of him, it's not worth it. You're wasting your time, and he's wasting the companies. If i were you I would tell him that you plan on telling the boss how many man hours he's actually put in and to pay you accordingly. If he wants to waste his entire day for two hours of pay, he's free to do it. If he doesn't want to waste his time, he shouldnt' waste the company's either. So he can either put in a full day, or just leave.

[Eddie Bronze]

Originally Posted by FireFly

If for every hour you work, you have to spend 10 minutes freaking out on this guy in order to get 10 minutes of work out of him, it's not worth it. You're wasting your time, and he's wasting the companies. If i were you I would tell him that you plan on telling the boss how many man hours he's actually put in and to pay you accordingly. If he wants to waste his entire day for two hours of pay, he's free to do it. If he doesn't want to waste his time, he shouldnt' waste the company's either. So he can either put in a full day, or just leave.

I agree completely and plan on letting the boss know he should be docking hours from what the "drumheller dummy" tells him he has.
The point of telling him to go home is likely to be reached tomorrow. The other guy is taking tomorrow off so it's just him and I. If I catch him slacking or on that phone, an aluminum ladder is likely headed his way. I'm so tempted to not even show up in the morning. Taste of his own medicine?

[Shazam]

Don't worry about him. He's got you wrapped around your little finger, and he knows it. He knows that you get upset whenever he starts to goof around, and he says things to you that annoy you.

His lack of work ethic will catch up to him eventually. Currently, your boss feels that with the tight labour market, he can't afford to lose anybody no matter how much of a loser he thinks they are. But once the market loosens up, he'll be the first to go. That's why he gets the bigger cheques - your boss thinks that once he's let go, he'll have a hard time finding a new job. Strange but true; this is how managers think.

Stop worrying about him. Stop reacting to him. All it does is make you look bad. If you feel you somehow have to make him productive, don't bother. Don't give him any tasks. Just let him mope around - if that's what he truly wants to do, then very well.

He has his opinions about the city. That's fine. Just because it doesn't jibe with your views doesn't mean that you need to get worked up about it. From his point of view, you're the one that looks kooky for liking something that he doesn't. Let him have his say - everybody's gotta flap their lips while at work.

I'll give you some perspective. I've worked with persons like the one you've described. Experience has taught me that they eventually get what's due to them. And as far as "bad" employees go, this guy's pretty low on the totem pole. I've worked with some fairly sociopathic people. I was on the team at WestJet with the guy that "broke into" Air Canada's website. Now he wasn't too fond of me, so he decided to give me the software that he used to screen scrape AC's website. I immediately gave the CD to my manager and then emailed him a web site link to a guide to ethical behaviour in the workplace. I figured he did this so that he could blame me if something went wrong. I quit the day after, tired of the lunatic's actions.

[Vulcan]

Tell him there are no cell phones allowed on the job except the boss's, which is for safety.

[MacDougalbry]

Originally Posted by Eddie Bronze

Jayems,

All single family homes for us. We do the big shacks in the back on the west side of 85th. "Willows of Wentworth" they call it.

I take it you are not working for Alan Ridge but for the other Willows builder.

Do you have supervisory authority over this guy while the boss is away? If so, maybe start by sending him home for the day and telling him he won't get paid for the day. If not, you have to have a talk with your boss to get that authority. In either case, your boss has to let this guy know that you are "the man" when he is away. If he won't do that for you, and he is putting you in the unfair situation of putting you in a shorthanded situation without giving you more time in your budget to complete the job, then maybe you've got to take a walk up the ravine to Wentworth Estates and talk to one of the 5 builders there. (I am sure Beattie or Landmark could use a framer with your skill as they are out of their league in that development.) I am halfway down the ravine, so you can grab a beer on the way down.

[Eddie Bronze]

Originally Posted by MacDougalbry

I take it you are not working for Alan Ridge but for the other Willows builder.

Do you have supervisory authority over this guy while the boss is away? If so, maybe start by sending him home for the day and telling him he won't get paid for the day.

I almost told him to do that today. If he pulls any crap tomorrow, he won't be welcome back on the job site until someone else is in charge again.

I do work for the other builder, Greenboro. Alanridge went belly-up and lost (or sold) most of the remainder of their lots in the Willows. They haven't been able to get trades because word of their demise spread so rapidly. Currently they only have two homes on the go in the Willows. One seems to be getting a little done to it at a time, but very slowly. The other, much to our surprise, is actually being framed right now. Apparently, since filing for bankruptcy, they are now trying to make a come back.

[MacDougalbry]

Originally Posted by Eddie Bronze

I do work for the other builder, Greenboro. Alanridge went belly-up and lost (or sold) most of the remainder of their lots in the Willows. They haven't been able to get trades because word of their demise spread so rapidly. Currently they only have two homes on the go in the Willows. One seems to be getting a little done to it at a time, but very slowly. The other, much to our surprise, is actually being framed right now. Apparently, since filing for bankruptcy, they are now trying to make a come back.

My understanding of the Alan Ridge situation is that they didn't actually file for bankruptcy or go belly up. They simply cancelled all contracts that hadn't gone to ground yet, and completed the ones that they had started. Of course, as soon as that happened, employees and trades saw the writing on the wall, hence the slow progress. People got their deposits back, but I have heard stories of people who sold their homes last summer who are now forced to buy a home in a market that is 50% more expensive. Jager owns Alan Ridge, so maybe Jager will re-enter the luxury home market under a new name.

[MacDougalbry]

p.s. That's one of the coolest developments in the city and I really like the homes in there... nice work!

[Otto-matic]

This sounds like a episode of King of the Hill, When Mr.Strickland hires this goofball and he bothers Hank to no return. Except there isnt Male to Male sexual harassment

HANK: This guy Rich has been making a lot of jokes.
MS. BORGINNIS: Jokes? What kind of jokes? Knock-knock? Ding-dong? What are we talking about here?
HANK: Uh... jokes that use vulgarity. You know, jokes about morning nature functions. Plus I can't say the word "meat" without someone giggling. And yesterday, someone took my employee of the month picture and drew a beard on it. But not where you think.


HANK: I talked to this lawyer, and she thinks we have a case for male-on-male sexual harassment.
ENRIQUE: Sexual harassment?!
HANK: It's an umbrella term.

But I would complain about him, get that slackers ass canned

[Eddie Bronze]

Originally Posted by MacDougalbry

My understanding of the Alan Ridge situation is that they didn't actually file for bankruptcy or go belly up. They simply cancelled all contracts that hadn't gone to ground yet, and completed the ones that they had started. Of course, as soon as that happened, employees and trades saw the writing on the wall, hence the slow progress. People got their deposits back, but I have heard stories of people who sold their homes last summer who are now forced to buy a home in a market that is 50% more expensive. Jager owns Alan Ridge, so maybe Jager will re-enter the luxury home market under a new name.

You're probably right, MacDougalbry. I'm really too far detached from that company. We've never framed for them so I really shouldn't be speaking on specifics. Everything I've heard is just rumors. But they were in a mess, no doubt.

[Flame On]

Sounds like your boss probably is thrilled with you too. Sound like a dream employee and guess what, those are not a dime a dozen at the moment in Calgary and especially in construction from what I understand.
Perhaps the ole "it's either him or me" angle will help tip your boss to the course of action you want.