: Knowing when to Tattle on a Coworker
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(417 Words)
It can be difficult to decide when to “tattle” on a co-worker. There are many factors that will go into this decision and the threshold for doing so will depend on the person. The following are tips for knowing when it is time.
When your work is suffering
Oftentimes one worker’s behavior affects everyone else’s. You can look bad even when you are doing absolutely nothing wrong. For instance, let’s say you are all part of a copywriting department. As a department you are required to complete X amount of projects. Let’s say that instead of working, one person is instead taking personal phone calls, enjoying long breaks and surfing the Internet. The entire department then looks bad. In this case you might want to talk to your superiors about this person. It is not fair that you will have this reflected on you. You might be passed up on promotions, miss raises or even lose your job because they do not think that you are doing the right workload when instead you might be doing more than your fair share. It is not fair that you should suffer, thus this would be a reasonable time to share the issues with the boss.
When you feel threatened
You do not deserve to be threatened at work. Not only is it against the rules at most companies, but oftentimes it is against the law. This can be in the case that someone is physically threatening you such as if they threaten to “beat you up.” Another scenario is if it is a case of sexual harassment such as if they are making forward advances or saying sexual comments even when you have tried to discourage them. Of course if they actually do something such as hurt you then you might want to say something right away.
When it is something illegal that you can get tied to
If your co-worker is doing something illegal and you feel that it could end up reflecting on you, then you might want to say something. For instance, if your co-worker is doing drugs, and these substances are in the office, then it could end up affecting you. Also, when people do something wrong and get caught, they will often look for a scapegoat. Think about whether they could possibly try to nail you this way.
There are times when it is best to tattle on your co-worker no matter how bad you feel. The above points highlight some of these times.
Updated On: 08/12/2010 Published On: 08/12/2010 Article ViewerClose
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