Boss' repairs on company time

[BTDT]

Anyone had to work on the boss' personal equipment/truck/etc on company time? Guy I used to work with was asked to put plugs in boss' personal truck. He would take out new plug and bang it on the bumper, then install.
Truck ran like c**p. But boss never asked "him" to do anymore work on his truck.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Anyone had to work on the boss' personal equipment/truck/etc on company time? Guy I used to work with was asked to put plugs in boss' personal truck. He would take out new plug and bang it on the bumper, then install.
Truck ran like c**p. But boss never asked "him" to do anymore work on his truck.

My "boss" owns the company. I'm one of 6 people that are "tied" for #2 on the totem pole. If the boss wants me to work on his truck, it's his dime. I've "climbed the corporate ladder" so to speak, mainly because I'll do whatever the big guy needs and I don't grumble about it. Whatever I do, I always try to do the best job I'm capable of. 28 years of that and I'm able to hand pick my jobs now anyway.

It's called work ethic.

 

[1bush2hog]

"Guy I used to work with"


That pretty much says it all

When I worked for another company, the only thing that concerned me about the work I was doing was doing the best job that I could and making sure I was getting paid for it.

If your buddy was getting paid, the boss was probably the one who had to answer for it.

Now that I am self employed I have to work on the boss' stuff all the time and sometimes him don't like working for him

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Personally I would fire a guy who did that, I'd use the work rules to justify it as a legitimate dismissal "for grounds" and make sure he didn't get unemployment comp. But then I am a boss and my vehicle is a company vehicle so "the guy" would have damaged company property and that is a "fireable offense."

I also do not understand the attitude of workers who refuse to take pride in their work, do a good job at whatever is being asked, and who do not understand that every request is an OPPORTUNITY to prove their worth. The guy who does the good job on the unusual request, the guy who doesn't complain, the guy who puts out extra effort is the guy who climbs the ladder.

The "other guy" gets terminated. As well he should.

 

[frank_f15]

Personally I would fire a guy who did that, I'd use the work rules to justify it as a legitimate dismissal "for grounds" and make sure he didn't get unemployment comp. But then I am a boss and my vehicle is a company vehicle so "the guy" would have damaged company property and that is a "fireable offense."

I also do not understand the attitude of workers who refuse to take pride in their work, do a good job at whatever is being asked, and who do not understand that every request is an OPPORTUNITY to prove their worth. The guy who does the good job on the unusual request, the guy who doesn't complain, the guy who puts out extra effort is the guy who climbs the ladder.

The "other guy" gets terminated. As well he should.

Agree with you Bob! the guy was getting paid, so what ever job he was given it was to be done in a timely and as efficently manner as possible.

 

[escavader]

I got a moto I live by and try to drill into all the rookies heads at our shop " Take pride in your work its what Quality is made of"
I also tell them" Safety is job 1.Quality is job 1 confused? Do both!!'
ALAN

 

[AlanB]

Hmmm Bob, Frank, there are a couple of ways to read the original post.

I do not have any idea if I understood it correctly, but this is what I was reading.

Let's say I work for a big company (just so happens I do) and my boss, (very much not the owner of the company) tells me to pull his truck into the shop and work on his personal vehicle (not owned by the company) and just log it as work time..... Paid by the company.

We just had this come up with some city employees taking city equipment to the supervisors house and working on his driveway during "duty" hours.

So, put in another light,

Bob, I bet if your shop foreman, had one of your shop mechanics, working on the shop foreman's personal equipment on your dime, with your stuff and your equipment you would be a little less then pleased.

And to be honest, the mechanic is just in a CRAP position. He is going to catch heck no matter what he does, or where he turns. If he does it and get's caught, he is in the crud with management. If he turns in the worthless supervisor, it becomes a his word (subordinates) against a long established supervisor's (who may write his eval's) and management may or may not believe him. And at the least the other guys in the shop will not exactly trust him fully if he "rats out" the supervisor, particularly if others in the shop had been doing it in the past and get dragged into the fray.

Personally, I think the mechanic handled it about as well as could be done. Took himself out of the Foreman's line of fire, Foreman is not going to ask him to do anything again, he did not "rat out" anyone (whatever your perception of that is, and just using the term as it is commonly accepted) and it is not like the foreman will go complain to management that the mechanic did a poor job of servicing his personal truck on company time. And sounds like he did not even use any consumables, so hopefully he signed out early and did not open himself up to any theft charges if it all goes awry.

Then again, maybe I just read it all wrong.

 

[bugstruck]

Hmmm Bob, Frank, there are a couple of ways to read the original post.

I do not have any idea if I understood it correctly, but this is what I was reading.

Let's say I work for a big company (just so happens I do) and my boss, (very much not the owner of the company) tells me to pull his truck into the shop and work on his personal vehicle (not owned by the company) and just log it as work time..... Paid by the company.

We just had this come up with some city employees taking city equipment to the supervisors house and working on his driveway during "duty" hours.

So, put in another light,

Bob, I bet if your shop foreman, had one of your shop mechanics, working on the shop foreman's personal equipment on your dime, with your stuff and your equipment you would be a little less then pleased.

And to be honest, the mechanic is just in a CRAP position. He is going to catch heck no matter what he does, or where he turns. If he does it and get's caught, he is in the crud with management. If he turns in the worthless supervisor, it becomes a his word (subordinates) against a long established supervisor's (who may write his eval's) and management may or may not believe him. And at the least the other guys in the shop will not exactly trust him fully if he "rats out" the supervisor, particularly if others in the shop had been doing it in the past and get dragged into the fray.

Personally, I think the mechanic handled it about as well as could be done. Took himself out of the Foreman's line of fire, Foreman is not going to ask him to do anything again, he did not "rat out" anyone (whatever your perception of that is, and just using the term as it is commonly accepted) and it is not like the foreman will go complain to management that the mechanic did a poor job of servicing his personal truck on company time. And sounds like he did not even use any consumables, so hopefully he signed out early and did not open himself up to any theft charges if it all goes awry.

Then again, maybe I just read it all wrong.

I read it the same way. Assuming the vehicle is not Company owned.....If the Boss is the Owner of a sole proprietorship or solely controlled private Corp. or LLC...it may appear OK. Although even that it is technically a tax law violation unless the Owner pays him direct and outside of Company hours (again assuming personal vehicle). If he (Boss) is the CEO or President of a publicly traded company it's as flagrant as if he were just the guy's supervisor. So under no circumstance will that pass the corporate or business ethics test if it's a personally owned vehicle. The boss (whatever position including Owner) is at fault for making the request in every circumstance I can imagine unless he clocks the employee out... again if that's a personal vehicle. The guy would be stupid to comply and I wouldn't want him working for me. He blew it when he picked up the wrench. So he's not off the hook either but he's not in violation of any law or tax code. Tough ain't I

If it's a company vehicle disregard all of the above.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Regardless of who owns the company or the vehicle the worker was asked by his boss to do a job. He should have done that job to the best of his ability. It is not up to him to punish or dictate company policy to his boss. If his boss has to answer to another boss then it is up to the big boss to punish who he deems wrong and I doubt it would be the worker.

It seems a lot of employees take matters into their own hands now. I have to deal with this quite often but it seems it is hard to get employees to keep their mouth shut and do the task assigned to them. I would have fired that mechanic and possibly more if there was any damage to the truck either caused directly by him or by something he did.

 

[MossRoad]

If the boss owns the company that's fine with me. I get a fair day's pay for a fair day's work.

If, however, the boss is just one step above peon like me, and he wants me to work on his personal stuff on company time, he is basically stealing from the company and trying to make me an accomplice. It's no different than taking sick days when you're not sick or pocketing a hand tool. Theft in one form or another is still theft.

Also, the boss, subordinate relationship is compromised by these kind of situations. The subordinate is put in a position under pressure. Same thing with teacher/student, doctor/patient kind of relationships. Taking advantage of someone's subordinate position for your personal gain is just plain wrong.