Not Having His Day Means Neither Is Anyone Else

(At our reception, we work with a team; not everyone is working every day. We have a decent system, like a log, so people know what happened the day before. One of the team members, [Coworker], never uses the log and doesn’t do most of his responsibilities. He once left an accidental spill unattended for hours, instead of calling for cleaners or cleaning it up himself — regular cleaning mopped it up for us in the evening. We mentioned this to him and our manager, but there is little change. Because we are understaffed, management can’t let him go. One morning, I enter the building for opening up. The door is unlocked. The blinds are up. The heater –which should never be left unattended — is still blazing. Important documents are spread out over the table, right in the open. A few minutes after cleaning things up and checking the log — no entry — management comes in.)

Me: “Excuse me, [Manager], who was on duty yesterday?”

Manager: “[Coworker], why?”

(I manage to hold back a “Why am I not surprised?” and tell him how I found things. The manager sighs.)

Manager: “He already mentioned yesterday he wasn’t having his day. When I noticed [chore] hadn’t been done yet, I asked him if he needed help. I hadn’t seen him yet and boy, he looked awful. He got beaten up due to mistaken identity and he said he wasn’t feeling good. But even so, he should’ve done his standard chores.”

Me: “Or asked for help? Or mentioning it beforehand?”

Manager: “I’ll talk about it to him… again.”

(I know we are understaffed, but this is seriously not working. I’ve requested if he can be transferred to another department, with fewer responsibilities. You simply can’t leave an office unlocked, with a fire hazard burning!)