THE SCENARIO: A member of my three-person team refuses to travel, even though that was a condition of his hire. The job requires us to attend several trade shows a year, and his refusal means that my other coworker and I must pick up the slack. We don’t mind the travel, but we feel as though we’re shouldering an additional burden without additional compensation. Where’s the line?
You have a good case for being upset about picking up the slack for your coworker, but additional compensation is not the issue here. You’re doing the job you were hired to do, and you’re being paid what you were promised. He’s not doing the job he was hired to do, yet he’s still getting paid for it as if he was.
What’s happening here is one of those things that can poison a small team: workload inequity. No one feels comfortable working hard when a coworker is hardly working. It’s great that you and your other colleague don’t mind traveling, but we all know that work travel involves a lot more than the typical eight-hour day. While the non-traveler is back in the office, your dealing with all the hassles of hustling away from home.
This is an issue worth addressing with a supervisor, because a rift has occurred in your team and that will hurt morale and productivity. Ask for a meeting with your supervisor, but don’t go in expecting anything but an opportunity to air your complaint. A good supervisor will immediately understand what this kind of issue can do to a small team, and should take steps to address the problem.
If the non-traveler is productive in the other aspects of his job, then your supervisor might consider moving him to a non-travel team. If that’s not an option, then your team must find a way to remove this workload inequity while allowing the non-traveler to stay on board. There are loads of reasons people don’t want to travel (family commitments, fear of flying), but he must be aware of the fact that his absence on the road is hurting you and should be prepared to compensate in another way.
This is a situation where airing your complaints to a boss is therapeutic. The “burden” you’ve been carrying is this feeling that your coworker is getting away with something. Sharing this burden with your boss will help ease your conscience, and will hopefully help bring about something to rectify the situation. And the next time you travel, you’ll be able to leave behind some of that extra baggage.
Have a workplace-ethics dilemma? Ask it here, or email wherestheline@gmail.com
