ASK HR: These senior officials are abusing company time and resources

Q. I’m a driver with an auditing multinational. Some officers of this company are contemptuous, overbearing and others outright rude. Sometimes they request for transport to attend to official business, yet in reality, they are attending to private matters while I sit in the car for several hours waiting for them. As an honest employee, I find this conduct wrong. What should I do as earlier attempts to address this matter with the management have been in vain?

I understand your predicament and empathise with you. I also wish to commend you for upholding work ethics and diligence. It’s unfortunate your seniors are not good role models, however, be careful when dealing with them since I presume they are more senior than you within the organisational hierarchy. You could be accused of insubordination, which is a ground for summary dismissal. You should therefore avoid confronting them directly.

As a multinational organisation, you must have a policy for addressing grievances and dealing with indiscipline. It is a requirement of the law for all employers to provide a fair, non-discriminatory and conducive atmosphere for all employees. Have you raised the issue with your supervisor? If not, consider doing so. You could also consider involving HR or your organisation’s ombudsman in case your supervisor does not resolve the issue. If HR is not helpful, then I suggest that you raise this issue with the next level of management for action to be taken against these officers and to stop the practice going forward. If you are a member of a union, you may also address the matter with the chief shop steward to take up the issue with management on your behalf. Should management decline to resolve it, the shop steward will escalate it to the external union officials to manage on your behalf.

The failure to address this despite your complaints is obviously a contravention of the law on the part of your employer, which needs to be dealt with, however, if you don’t belong to a union, you have the option of reporting the issue to the labour officer, who will intervene and mediate between you and the organisation whilst ensuring you do not lose your job.