The event floored Diana, who’d never imagined that she would see anything like it occurring in her workplace. At first, she even tried to explain it away in her head, thinking that she must have misunderstood something. But when one of her co-workers intimated with an eye-roll and disgusting shake of her head that she had seen the same thing, Diana knew that her first instinct had been right. One of her co-workers had altered a record to disguise the co-worker’s deliberately secreting valuable personal property, clearly with the intent to steal the property. The dishonest co-worker hadn’t even tried too hard to conceal her misconduct, apparently believing that others who might have noticed wouldn’t object. Diana had no immediate clue what to do other than to promptly report it.
Misconduct
How you deal with misconduct going on around you in the workplace can be important, even critical, to your job success. Misconduct, especially actions that are either dishonest, immoral, damaging to the employer’s reputation, or endangering, is generally a serious workplace concern. Most employers will take misconduct seriously by promptly imposing job discipline up to suspension and termination. Job discipline of any kind can severely adversely impact one’s job security, standing, reputation, promotion, and prospects. You don’t want to commit misconduct, get caught in misconduct, or overlook a co-worker’s misconduct in a way that imputes that misconduct to you as a co-conspirator or unreliable reporter. If you see any degree of misconduct going on in your workplace, take it seriously. Consider carefully the response you need to make to ensure that you minimize or eliminate the risk that it will adversely affect your employment and job success.
Examples
Understand what workplace misconduct is. Workplace misconduct generally involves a knowing, deliberate, or intentional violation on the job of law, rule, or regulation, including job rules, that subject the employer or another to some risk of loss or harm. Examples include intoxicated or impaired work, theft, conversion, or embezzlement at work, violence or threats of violence in the workplace, arson, trespassing, misuse of employer property, misuse of computer systems including unauthorized access to or alteration of employer files or viewing of inappropriate materials, deliberately misrepresenting hours worked or work completed related to compensation, and disobeying supervisor or employer directives disrupting the workplace. While these examples may be the more common ones, workers can commit many other forms of misconduct, some of them peculiar to the field or sector of the work. Patient abuse or neglect among healthcare workers, and teacher abuse of or sexual relations with students, would be examples. Each field or sector has both general and specific concerns over various forms of misconduct.
Performance
Keep in mind that misconduct differs from the quality or quantity of performance. Unsatisfactory job performance, such as doing too little work, doing work of too low a quality, or making frequent errors with work, is a different concern. Unsatisfactory job performance implicates a worker’s skill, while misconduct implicates a worker’s character and honesty. Generally, employers treat misconduct under a disciplinary procedure, while employers may treat unsatisfactory job performance under a corrective action plan. Put simply, misconduct can be much more serious than unsatisfactory performance. The latter may warrant additional training or resources, or a shift in job responsibilities. Employers may construe misconduct, on the other hand, as revealing an incorrigible character defect, treated only by job termination, demotion, or restriction on job access and privileges. If you see co-workers performing their work unsatisfactorily, your better course may be to leave that issue to supervisors. But if you see co-workers committing misconduct, consider whether you have a duty to take prompt action to report the misconduct, to protect your employer, co-workers, and the employer’s customers, clients, or patients.
Detection
Whenever considering your own misconduct or discovering the misconduct of others, don’t live by a detection ethic. Do not consider, in your actions or inaction, whether your employer will detect your misconduct or the misconduct of others. Assume instead that your employer already knows or will soon discover everything, and act accordingly. Chances are that word will indeed get around, but you do not in any case want to rely on chances. Instead, stand at all times on integrity. Do nothing just because you think you may or surely will get away with it. You might not get away with it, and that kind of dishonest stance will consume your soul. Likewise, if you see another employee committing misconduct, bring it immediately to that employee’s attention that you saw it and must report it if the employee does not do so on the employee’s own. The employee may be able to explain to you why the conduct was in fact innocent or, if not, may promptly cease the misconduct and make appropriate amends with the employer or anyone else affected. If not, then go through with your prompt reporting to the responsible supervisor, even if you think the employer probably won’t or surely won’t discover it. Doing so is the only way to live in peace, while ensuring your integrity and good reputation.
Subordinates
You have a special role in preventing, stopping, and reporting the misconduct of subordinate employees, meaning those whom you supervise or over whom you have some direction or control. Failing to correct or report a subordinate employee may implicate you in the misconduct. The subordinate may construe your silence as consent or affirmation. So, too, may your supervisors or managers, when they later discover that you observed but failed to report the misconduct. Thus, stop and correct subordinate employees as soon as you see them planning or engaging in misconduct. Report to your supervisor or unit manager any subordinate misconduct you discover has already occurred. And follow up with your employer’s personnel department or other superior officials if you do not see the misconduct promptly stopped and corrected. You may find this sort of whistleblowing to be uncomfortable, especially at first. But don’t let a culture of misconduct drag you down with it, by implicating you in subordinate wrongs.
Colleagues
You may also have a role in addressing misconduct by your colleagues, referring to co-workers at your same level, whom you neither direct nor answer to under their direction. You may not be responsible for guiding or correcting your colleagues. Indeed, presuming to do so may cause strained relationships and even your own correction and discipline, for your overstepping appropriate bounds. But if colleagues commit misconduct, and you are aware of their wrongs without stopping, correcting, and reporting them, then your colleagues, supervisor, and other company officials may construe your silence and inaction as your affirmation of the wrongs and participation in them by conspiracy. You must stand apart from misconduct. The primary reliable way to do so is to promptly object to the misconduct, addressing the colleague committing it. Request that your colleague cease and correct the misconduct, and report your colleague if the misconduct persists or has already affected an employer interest. You may strain colleague relationships, but you may also save your job and save the employer from substantial loss. You might also, in the end, see your due reward.
Supervisors
You may also have a role in addressing misconduct by your supervisor. You are not directly responsible for your supervisor’s misconduct. But if your supervisor directs you to engage in conduct that you know to be wrong, along with your supervisor or sanctioned by your supervisor, then you, too, will be responsible for the wrong. The defense that your supervisor directed you to commit a wrong is generally valid only on questionable matters of judgment, not for obvious wrongs. Don’t become a part of a supervisor’s misconduct, even if your whole unit goes along. Instead, refuse to participate, and report the misconduct to the unit manager, personnel department, or another responsible higher official. If you do not see the misconduct corrected, keep going up the chain of command with your reports until you see a satisfactory response. See the discussion concerning whistleblowing, in a prior chapter.
Procedures
Employers of any significant size generally have some procedure for investigating misconduct allegations and disciplining employees committing misconduct. Your employer may, through its personnel department, even have a formal complaint procedure enabling you to alert company officials to suspected violations of law, rule, or regulation. Try to discern and follow those procedures when reporting misconduct. If your employer does not have formal procedures, report to your supervisor and up the chain of command until you see the appropriate response. Cooperate with any employer investigation. Save any evidence, including electronic records, relating to the alleged misconduct. If you are the subject of misconduct allegations, be sure first that you understand the charge and the evidence supporting it. Then, gather, organize, and present your defense evidence, including anything that exonerates you or mitigates the potential penalty. Consider retaining qualified attorney representation, if you believe that your job, reputation, and career are on the line.
Defamation
One risk you face in reporting suspected misconduct is that those whom you accuse may maintain that your report was false and defamatory, adversely affecting their employment. To avoid defamation claims and liability, do not spread rumors or gossip of misconduct among your co-workers. Instead, as repeatedly described above, address your concerns first to the one whom you believe committed the misconduct, if you can do so safely, and then report your concerns only to those higher officials within the company who have the need and right to know of the allegations, to investigate them and stop and correct any actual misconduct. Generally, you have protection from defamation liability when reporting your reasonable suspicions of misconduct, held by you in good faith, to company officials responsible for investigating and addressing misconduct. Don’t spread rumors around. Instead, go right to the source and then to the appropriate investigators within your company. Otherwise, keep your concerns confidential. Don’t ruin a co-worker’s reputation with unfounded assertions of misconduct, spreadly loosely around among co-workers.
Reflection
Are you aware of any significant misconduct going on at your workplace that could harm you or your employer, co-workers, or customers or clients? If so, consider taking immediate steps as described above, depending on your relationship to the involved employee or employees as a supervisor, colleague, or subordinate. What misconduct have you observed in your employment in the past? What misconduct do you believe is most likely to occur in your work presently? What risks do you face that someone else will falsely blame you for misconduct that they committed or mistakenly blame you for misconduct that they observed? Can you mitigate those risks in some way? To whom would you report within your employment if you observed misconduct by a subordinate, colleague, or supervisor?
Key Points
Avoid committing any form of misconduct around your job.
Be aware of the kinds of misconduct that you might observe.
Promptly discourage misconduct you see others preparing to commit.
Promptly report misconduct you see others committing.
Don’t allow your silence to imply that you participated in misconduct.
Follow proper company procedures for reporting misconduct.
Avoid defaming others by spreading misconduct allegations.