Discovered info on shared calendar

[dandy_warhol]

We use Outlook in our office. Our PD is trying to get the entire department to use this feature so we can function more efficiently. This morning our PD used two employee calendars as a demonstration on how to use the calendar feature. At this demonstration I noticed that the one featured calendar belongs to our Historic Preservation Planner. Our HPP is currently working on his PhD and writing his dissertation. A few months ago our HPP mentioned he would be coming in earlier/staying later so that he could work on his dissertation while in the office in order to have some quiet time. I agreed but asked that he only work on it outside the normal work hours so that work time would be used for work. He agreed.

At today's meeting while the group was viewing his calendar, I noticed that he had blocked off a significant amount of time, during normal work hours, to work on his dissertation - a violation of our agreement.

How should I handle this? Confront him? Pretend I didn't see it?

side note - I have my own unfounded issues with this guy, of which I am aware, so I tend to be hyper-aware of my response/interaction with him. I don't want to get on his case just because I don't like him.

[mike gurnee]

Go to his work station. Tell him very matter-of-factly what happened. Say that this was not part of your agreement, he got caught, and that it should not happen again. Then walk away. Going to his station allows you to end the conversation. The very brief chat should make him a bit paranoid.

[luckless pedestrian]

I agree with Mike -

[nrschmid]

He was sloppy. I would call him out on it, too.

[Veloise]

And document it.

[date] Original discussion outlining your comments
[date] Discovered calendar time blocked out
[date] Workstation fireside chat

Write it up as a memo, and send it to him and to HR. And your department head.

HTH

[Maister]

His aim should be to follow your instructions and honor the agreement, failing that his objective must be to deceive you; he failed on both accounts and needs to be called out on it. Do it in writing.

[dandy_warhol]

I checked with my boss to make sure there was no alternative agreement - there wasn't. I called him into my office - explained what I discovered and asked him to clarify. Apparently he's been accumulating (in his head) flex time and then saving it until Friday afternoons when he redeems it in exchange for work on his dissertation.

I reminded him of our agreement then also reminded him of the proper process and use of flex time. I will be documenting.

Thanks for helping me listen to my gut instincts.

[Suburb Repairman]

Sounds like you handled it appropriately.

Also, it sounds like your employee needs to get a little more tech-savvy about checking the "private" box for the times he has blocked out to work on a dissertation.