This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager.
It’s the Friday open thread!
The comment section on this post is open for discussion with other readers on any work-related questions that you want to talk about (that includes school). If you want an answer from me, emailing me is still your best bet*, but this is a chance to take your questions to other readers.
* If you submitted a question to me recently, please do not repost it here, as it may be in my queue to answer.
This post, is there a way to find out if someone secretly has two full-time jobs? , was originally published by Alison Green on Ask a Manager.
A reader writes:
Is there any way to find out if someone is working a second full-time remote job on the side?
A good friend is facing a problem with one of his employees. Members of his team are convinced that a poor performing colleague, let’s call her Ariel, has a second full-time job.
She joined the fully remote team late last year. Her colleagues have observed a pattern of her frequently looking at a second laptop (the company did not provide her with this equipment) while on video calls, dropping on and off camera constantly, and appearing to be speaking while on mute despite being alone, and she denies all of this behavior asked about it. She also generally fails to remember the most basic of information about where team documents live. Her manager is working on documenting the issues and putting together a PIP for Ariel.
Ariel also does not list her role at the company on her LinkedIn or mention the company (despite being fairly active on the platform).
For context, this is at a pretty well-known company in the Bay Area with all the perks, benefits, and six-figure compensation package that comes with it. I totally empathize with those who are forced to work multiple full-time jobs to make ends meet when our minimum wage is abysmal and unsustainable most places nationwide!
I’m curious if there’s any guidance or steps my friend could or should take to address the odd behavior outside the PIP, especially when his other employees are raising their concerns and speculation about her possibly having a second full-time job.
I can’t think of any way you could prove someone had another full-time job unless they put it on their LinkedIn or other social media (which would be incredibly short-sighted of them) or if you found them listed as an employee (like on another company’s website or in a press release announcing their hire).
But you also don’t really need to. If Ariel isn’t attentive during meetings, doesn’t retain information, and isn’t generally isn’t doing a good job, those are all things her manager can and should should address forthrightly. You mentioned that your friend is working on documenting the issues and putting together an improvement plan, which is good — but ideally that would be something he does today, with a relatively short timeline for improvement. It shouldn’t be something that drags out over months.
He can also address problems right in the moment as they occur. If Ariel keeps looking at something else during video calls, he can say, “Ariel, it looks like you’re distracted — can we have your full attention?” (This is a little obnoxious and schoolmarmish and I wouldn’t recommend it normally; people are allowed to be distracted sometimes! It’s specific to what’s going on here.) If she keeps dropping on and off camera or speaking on mute when no one else is there, he can call her right after the meeting and say, “You kept dropping off camera and speaking on mute — what’s going on?” and/or “Is there something else going on during our work hours that’s taking your attention?” By calling her on it every time, he can make it really uncomfortable for her to keep doing it. (And if it turns out there’s another, less nefarious reason for it, this gives her an opportunity to explain that.)
He could also just … ask, directly. Not necessarily “Are you working a second job?” but there’s no reason not to say, “I get the sense that your attention is divided during the work day, and it’s affecting your work. What’s going on?”
And of course, if her work isn’t good, he needs to be regularly addressing that with her, asking about the issues, being highly engaged in reviewing her work and giving feedback and coaching, and deciding sooner rather than later whether it makes sense to keep her in the job or not.
I get that it would be easier if he could just prove she’s simultaneously working another job, since his company probably would consider it an immediate firing offense and he wouldn’t have to go through whatever progressive stages of discipline they’ll otherwise require. But by managing her really actively he can probably resolve this pretty quickly regardless.
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