Boss' repairs on company time

[Farmwithjunk]

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.

This just points out how the situation is a case-by-case judgment. Lots of extenuating circumstances to consider. Ex-Army like I am, mine is not to reason why.....Mine is but to do or die. The boss IS the boss. You just have to hope he'll "man up" and take responsibility for his actions if they aren't on the up and up.

No "boss" worth his salt should ever put anyone in that sort of position.

 

[CtRick]

I was that guy at a place I once worked. My supervisor had me do all sorts of stuff for him on the clock. I would run errands, detail his car, bring his car for service, clean his gutters, fix stuff for him, and so on and so on. My philosophy was that he was my boss and if his boss ever found out, he would be in deep trouble. I was getting paid anyways and it was nice to get out of the office. The only bad part was when I was on a deadline to get something done.

Rick

 

[RobJ]

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.

hehe, "Guy I used to work with..." also sounds like "I know a guy with a problem...." or "A good friend of mine....somebody you don't know..."

Yes I've done it a lot and did the best I could. When I was a mechanic it was gravy work. Usually not to hard and only made you looked better. If I screwed it up it would reflect on my ability to work on anything, including the engines I worked on!!

Now I'm in the IT world, so yes I work on peoples home computers and networks and work on them as if it were my own. Usually better better.

If the "guy" had a problem, he should be man enough to face his boss and discuss it, not screw up his truck.

JMO.
Rob

 

[AlanB]

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.

This is what is often called the Nuerneburg defense. My boss told me to do it so it was OK.

Sorry, does not work that way in life. It was wrong (assuming that it is not the instance Bob S was referring too) the Mechanic new it was wrong, and saying, "I was just following orders" does not give you a free pass. He would still be wrong and would be terminated I bet from a large company.

Now in the situation Bob S was speaking, or say I had a mechanic for my wifes lawncare business, at that point, I am paying the man to do what I asked him to do, I don't care if he thinks it is appropriate or not, my truck, my lawnmower, rake the gravel in the parking lot, paint stones polka dot colors,,,, He makes a choice of if he wants to do the work for the money I am paying him, or if he wants to go find employment elsewhere.

Now if that guy had an assistant working under him, and he told his assistant to work on the mechanics personal truck, and I (the ownere,did not know about it, with the assistant on the dime I was paying as company owner. And the assistant did the work and I found out about it. (and the assistant new it was wrong / unauthorized) I would fire them both. And it would stand up in front of the labor board.

 

[MossRoad]

If I was the owner and found out about one of my supervisors having his subordinates work on his personal stuff on my clock, I'd fire the supervisor and apologize to the subordinates for putting them in that position. They shouldn't have that kind of stuff hanging over their heads and as someone else pointed out, they are between a rock and a hard place and it isn't fair to them.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

It all comes back around to that ol' "do unto others................" thing.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

There is a difference between the ****'s and regular business. The boss is ultimately responsible in a business and to punish a worker for his or his supervisors actions is wrong and would only lead to court battles.

I do not want my employees thinking too much about if they should or shouldn't do what I tell them to do and I doubt very many others would either. If their lives are in danger or they fear they can face some criminal charges from what their boss ask them to do then they should go to the next guy up and explain the situation. If it is the owner asking for a truck to be worked on then you do it and don't complain.

 

[JSUnlimited]

Before going to the Fire Dept., my previous job was turning wrenches on afternoon shift at the local public transit authority. One evening around 5-6pm the "big" boss pulled around to the shop and asked me to put his late 60's vette on the lift and check out a "noise." Having just taken a bus off the lift, I was kind of "between jobs." We hoisted the up the vette and found a broken exhaust hanger, to which I quickly welded it up and was done.

Although I personally did not have a problem helping the guy out regardless who he was, my concern was what would have happened should the Corvette fell off the lift. Or say, my welding caused a fire and burned down the county taxpayers bus garage.

I fear more a liability issue (faulty repairs, above mentioned accidents) than I do doing "something unoffical while on the clock."

 

[PitbullMidwest]

When I was hired in 25 years ago, our Production Manager used to take employees down to the river (while on the clock) to clean up his boat for the weekend. More than one employee did a poor job so that they wouldn't be placed in that position again. At that time I was doing chrome plating and was assigned on several occasions to process various parts for his boat, I refused and had my job threatened all because I refused to steal from the company. The materials and my time belong to the company, not the boss.

There is a HUGE difference between being assigned to do personal work for the owner of a company and being assigned to do personal work for another employee regardless of his position.

 

[dieselsmoke1]

In a typical multi level organization the employee reports directly to his supervisor, however he gets his paycheck from the Company. The Company has every right to expect each employee to act in it's best interest. Crappy deal for the employee if he has a theiving boss but that's how it is.