EVIL HR LADY
DILEMMA OF THE MONTH
How Do I Deal With a Trash-Talking Employee ?
BY Suzanne Lucas
ILLUSTRATION : JOHN CHASE
I recently got a two-minute-long voicemail from an employee . I ’ m 99 percent sure it was a pocket dial and he didn ’ t know I could hear what he was saying . He and another employee were talking about work and trashing me . How do I address this ?
Remember when you were a child and sometimes over dinner your dad or mom would complain about their incompetent boss ? Well , congratulations ! You are now that incompetent boss .
I don ’ t say that because I believe you ’ re incompetent . You may be the most awesome boss ever . But you are the boss , and unless you and your employees are both perfect , your employees will complain about you . It ’ s what they do .
And on the legal side of things , because his conversation was with another employee and they were discussing working conditions ( that is , the boss ), that falls under the National Labor Relations Act protections as concerted activity . Most of the time , we hear about that when managers try to prevent people from talking about salary , but it applies to any working condition .
So you can ’ t punish your employee for trashing you , but what can you do ? Here are your options .
Ignore it . Just don ’ t say anything . Maybe your employee didn ’ t figure out he accidentally left a long voicemail telling you how much he hates you . And if he did figure it out , this allows him to stew in his own juices , being nervous that you ’ ll fire him at any time . Natural consequences .
While this is an option , it ’ s not one I recommend . Difficult conversations are challenging , but ignoring a situation like this won ’ t solve the problem , and you want to solve the problem . So let ’ s go with the second option .
20 comstocksmag . com | June 2021