One of My Co-Workers Is Too “Scared” to Do a Crucial Part of Her Job

Good Job Guess who’s picking up the slack? Photo illustration by Slate. Photos by Unsplash and MangoStar_Studio/Getty Images Plus. Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily. Good Job is Slate’s advice column on work. Have a workplace problem big or small? Send it to Laura Helmuth and Doree Shafrir here. (It’s anonymous!) Dear Good Job, I, along with my co-worker “Brooke,” work in a sub-department in a warehouse for a large manufacturing company. We handle the shipping of certain parts. My summer hours (and normal work hours) are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. During the school year, I flex my hours, with management approval, to 5:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. so I can leave and pick up my kids from school. Brooke started at the beginning of summer, so she wasn’t aware, despite it being brought up in casual conversation, that my schedule would change once school starts. I thought it was somewhat odd, especially after she had been here for a while, that she didn’t want to go into the big warehouse or out on the factory floor to get parts that we didn’t have stocked in our own little parts warehouse. We would go together, and I guessed she was unfamiliar with the layout and where what she needed was located, so she was asking me to help her. After I started this schedule two weeks ago, I found out she knows the layout/locations just fine, but being a 22-year-old woman, she feels “unsafe” out on the factory floor with all the guys “looking” at her and “hitting” on her. Yes, it is male-dominated (approximately 75 percent men/25 percent women) out on the factory floor, but other than the other workers saying, “Hi” or asking if we need help finding something, nothing inappropriate has happened when I/we have been out there. I asked her if she has specific instances of anything happening, and if so, the company has strong policies for dealing with this type of behavior, and to contact human resources. She said, “No, nothing,” but she can “feel” them looking at her and doesn’t like it when men come up to her asking if she needs help. If I were a guy, and knowing she was relatively new, I would assume I was being nice asking if she (a co-worker) needed help, and wasn’t being a “creep.” Last Monday, we had a meeting with the warehouse manager (our boss), and he asked me to please change back to the “normal” work schedule to alleviate Brooke’s concerns about going out onto the factory floor alone after I leave in the early afternoon. I suggested that Brooke change to my hours and the problem would be solved. Brooke said there was absolutely no way she would be getting up at 4:15 a.m. to come to work. Our boss told her, “Your choice: come to work at 5:30 a.m., or learn to go out onto the factory floor by yourself.” After the meeting, Brooke has been somewhat “cold” to me, and she hasn’t filled any orders that need to have parts from outside our little warehouse pulled. On one hand, I am OK with this as I get to “go for a walk” and talk to other co-workers to break up my day. On the other hand, her refusal to do her job is also unfair to me, as my metric for orders filled per hour has hit the skids as I am spending more time gathering the parts. Does Brooke have a valid concern, or does she just “need to get over it”? —Co-Worker Is Scared to Do Part of Her Job (she/her) Dear Co-Worker Is Scared to Do Part of Her Job, It can be intimidating to walk into a predominantly male space, like a muscle gym or an auto repair shop. And I’m sure Brooke, like most women, has been cat-called and harassed, probably from about the age of 12 on. She’s right to be vigilant, but she’s wrong to let her concerns disrupt her or your work. You and your boss heard her out, explained that company policies protect her from disrespectful behavior, and gave her flexibility about how to fulfill her responsibilities. Refusing to go to the warehouse burdens you and slows down the company’s customer service. You could just go to the boss and say that your metrics are down because you have to retrieve extra parts. It’s his responsibility to monitor whether his direct reports are doing their jobs. But it sounds like you want to help Brooke before you try this nuclear option. Tell Brooke you understand her concerns, but you’ve been with the company for X years and know that the guys in the warehouse are good people, or at least have to behave like decent people while they’re on the clock. Tell her your personal metrics are suffering and you can’t continue covering for her. Offer to introduce her to some of the warehouse workers, so they start to seem like people rather than a menacing crowd. If you know some trustworthy and kind people in the warehouse, male or female, ask if they’d help Brooke out when she comes in on her own. It’ll be good for Brooke to gain some confidence, build relationships with her co-workers across the company, and flourish in her job. —Laura More Advice From Slate About a year and a half ago, I started a small side gig baking and decorating cakes and cupcakes. I’ve always loved baking and I made a small, decorated cake for my sister’s baby shower. A few people loved it and asked me if I’d be willing to make them one for an event or another for a small fee. I figured it would be a fun way to make some extra spending money on top of my income from my full-time job. However, it’s absolutely blown up. Advice Workplace Jobs