This Employee Wishes He Invented Time Travel

Attendance and tardiness can be a costly issue, as we’ve previously mentioned, not only for an employer, but for an employee as well. In this recent incident, an employee was able to bill the government for 4 months of work he never did, and his boss never even noticed! Was this a case of poor attendance or just poor performance, or both?

According to The Washington Post, a federal patent examiner claimed 18 weeks of work he never did, and his telecommuting boss never even noticed. The examiner was caught only after an anonymous letter was sent to his boss claiming the examiner hardly ever showed up and the work he did do was “garbage.” It was also reported that the examiner had a record of poor performance, having received nine oral and written warnings in 2012 alone. A full investigation, by the acting inspector general, was launched into the employee’s lack of work, and the facts were startling.

The patent office had received numerous complaints from inventors and their attorneys that the examiner never returned phone calls or e-mails, and he also received credit for work before it was even submitted. The examiner was paid $25,500 in 2014 for 730 hours he didn’t work, and the patent office acknowledged that they gave the employee “the benefit of the doubt … and likely gave him credit for many hours that he did not work.”

Numerous e-mail communications were documented from the examiner and when                 cross-referenced with his time clock stamps, they show he would come into work for a few hours and then leave. Most of the time, he’d communicate with other workers about leaving during work to go hit golf balls, play pool, or drink at the local bar. When investigators tried to match up his time sheet to the work he did, they couldn’t find any evidence that work was even done!

So, where was his boss during all this, you ask? Well, his boss worked from home at least 30 hours a week and had told investigators that when he was in the office, he’d go by the examiner’s office occasionally and nothing would seem to be wrong.

What is the fate of this examiner? His union rep told him if he quit, none of this would be documented on his record. So, 2 hours before he was scheduled to meet with the investigators, he upped and quit! Most employers are nervous about their telecommuters not working while at home, but maybe they should be concerned with all employees! Just because the light is on, it doesn’t necessarily mean anyone is home!