Unfiltered Story #262228

(I work as a floor clerk in a public library while I am in school to eventually becomes a library technician. I’ve been there long enough to be considered a senior employee and my supervisors don’t need to keep watch over me anymore since I know our system very well. I don’t get a raise or anything, but I feel like I have a bit more responsibility to make sure things run smoothly, like when someone else doesn’t finish a task, or calls in sick and I can take over their shift. A few colleagues have accepted jobs in different branches, leaving just me and two people as the only clerks, so my boss hires two additional people to help us out. They are both hired as assistants, which basically means they’re a clerk with higher pay and additional janitorial duties. Right away it’s evident that one new hire, whom I’ll call “Coworker”, does not have very much work ethic: he leaves things unfinished before heading home, takes a break on a 3 hour shift (you can only have a break when you work 4 or more hours), disappears into the upstairs, or just plain wanders around without helping patrons and generally being useless. I’ve mentioned this to others and they agree that he isn’t much help and they express frustration when they have to clean up after him. He is somewhat friendly around us, but also very timid and doesn’t talk very much. I decide to just put up with it, as most of my shifts are fairly short and I don’t work with him very much; however, it becomes a growing problem that eventually starts to affect my work to the point where I’m struggling to finish my own tasks on top of his. I finally go talk to my boss after about a few months of putting up with it. I’ve never complained about anyone at a job before so I’m pretty nervous.)

Me: Hey (boss), can I speak to you for a minute?

Boss: Sure thing, what’s up? You sound serious.

Me: (deep breath) I need to talk to you about (Coworker). I’m not trying to get him in trouble or say mean things about him, but there is a really big problem and I’m at my limit.

(I pause and she motions for me to go on.)

Me: I’m having a hard time working with him. I don’t have a problem with his personality, but me and other staff have seen that he doesn’t exactly pull his own weight, and it falls to us to take care of it. He doesn’t help me clean or pick things up and I always have to finish his shelving duties.

Boss: Well, he’s still new and isn’t as fast as you.

Me: I understand that, but it’s not about me being fast. In the time it takes for him to finish one cart of books, I’ve done three and his shift is almost over so he doesn’t bother to finish it. He leaves half-finished carts all over the place, or he takes them to the back room for someone else to deal with it. He also disappears upstairs a lot, sometimes for almost an hour when we need him down here. He takes breaks on 3 hours shifts and then leaves, so I have to clean up the entire floor before we close, and since it takes so long I’m rushing and it isn’t as neat as it should be. Since he’s not downstairs, it falls to me to complete his duties before we close. I don’t want to complain, but when there are so many other things I need to take care of, it’s frustrating to have to do his work too.

Boss: He goes upstairs because he needs to empty the garbage and recycling up there.

Me: Yes, I know that is part of his job. However I do that as well and it doesn’t take me nearly as long. I also dust, vacuum, clean the bathrooms, and mop. Those tasks are also a part of his job, and yet I or one of the other clerks have to do them every week because he doesn’t. And at a lesser pay, too. But I’m not making this about pay; it’s about his work ethic and I can’t pick up after him anymore.

Boss: (sighs) I understand that you’re frustrated. A lot of the staff have come to me about (Coworker) and have expressed their feelings too. He’s been through training and passed his probationary period but now that you’re saying this, I may have to make him do more.

Me: (thinking “If everyone else has complained, why didn’t you do it sooner?”) (saying): I can’t be doing his job and mine at the same time. All I’m asking is for him to starts pulling his weight and I won’t have any issues.

Boss: Well, I’ll talk to him again and see if it changes anything. I knew I was going to have some problems when I hired him, so I’m not surprised.

(I’m slack-jawed at this. Why the **** would you hire someone if you knew you would have problems with them??? I left the conversation at that, but it didn’t end up doing any good. (Coworker)’s work didn’t improve, but thankfully me and the other clerks were able to get by and help each other out to cover his laziness. It’s not the outcome I wanted, but it was clear that talking to my boss or the higher-ups wasn’t going to do anything. I ended up quitting about a year later due to medical reasons, and amazingly he’s still working there.)