A friend of mine is in a major predicament at work. He might get fired.

Question

He works for a small company (husband and wife owned and managed). He's the only employee. He's young and like many workers young and old, he surfs the internet at work. He always has for the nearly 2 years he's been there. He had a review recently and he got a nice raise and good words spoken of him. Then one day the wife boss checked the history on his web browser and found that he'd been on facebook a lot. She said he'd be watched very closely and the trust had been broken. He apologized, offered to work late without pay and has been an exemplary employee for a month afterward. The she boss continues to insult and nitpick his work and his character. The husband is indifferent but doesn't seem to think my friend's behavior is a big deal. She's really making things hard. The friend doesn't want to quit without getting another job first. Is there anything he can do to tame this shrew?

Answer 1

Tell him to clear his browser first of all good grief!  Then let him know that his is under a microscope for a bit and best behave real good.  Do not kiss her butt for nothing just do the best job that you can, they are not going to fire him they need him more then he needs them.

Answer 2

He should:

1. tell her that her constant nagging and complaining is making it difficult to do his job, and

2. ask her what he could have done to imrove his job performance BEFORE she looked at his browser history.

Answer 3

She is the boss and she sounds like she is not going to accept his apologies and things will not improve much for your friend at work.  He should first of all try and work things out with her by talking to her and if that doesn't work he needs to look for another job and once he has one then resign from the current job.

Answer 4

Too late. I would have fired him.  A job is a responsibility, not a play pen and he will probably not get easy employment because of his irresponsible behavior and job review.She can't trust him and too often employees make promises and then try to sneak around the boss.He may regain the trust, but that won't be easy.  

Answer 5

She's probably trying to get him to quit, so he wont file for unemployment.

I would say ..

I made an error in judgement.  Ive tried to atone for it by working extra, and have ceased doing what you asked. So, I dont understand why youre nitpicking at me.  

He's in an awkward position, but have him remember that its difficult hiring and training a new person too.  

They are not paying him to surf the internet.

I know a lot of people do it, but thats not what theyre being paid for...and it doesnt make it right.

She mightve lost her trust in him

Maybe a man-man with the husband is a good idea.

Answer 6

Wow just b/c he was on facebook the lady boss is going crazy..I understand that he should have been doing his job and surfing the web is not part of the job description...but honestly there is such a thing as "give the kid another chance" I mean i would understand her anger if he was checking out p**n or something but its only harmless facebook lol

If possible maybe talk to the Husband boss about see if he can clear out the situation. But meanwhile he should def search for a job and start applying else-where just in case if things don't get any better at his present job.

Answer 7

Why is his boss a shrew? He is being paid to do work, not play on the internet. He is lucky to still have a job. If he does his work properly and stays off the internet, hopefully overtime the situation will improve. If he finds it to be unbearable then he can look for another job - but if he continues to use company time for personal things, he may find himself in the same situation again.

Best Regards,

Holly