FWIW, I think you made the right choice.
Taking the high road … it’s a good way to start off 2005!
NinjaChick wrote
It is your boss who pays you. As much as it is in any other enterprise. Your boss is entrusted to produce the best results he can, and is given various resources to accomplish that. Unless you’ve done something dishonest to receive this kindness from him, like sleep with him or blackmail him, there’s no dilemma here.
As a long-time manager myself, I’ve given plenty of employees free days off that weren’t accounted for from their vacation or PTO time. They deserved it, and they got it. And if anyone would’ve questioned it, I’d have been happy to defend my reasons.
There’s no moral issue here. By virtue of his role, your boss is entitled to give this to you.
Another long time manager / business owner checking in …
I agree 100% with what Bill H. said … in a good company with good people like him (or me). The rest of the world ain’t necessarily so, as HelloKitty’s story shows us.
If your supervisor is exceeding his authority, that’s an issue between him and his supervisor. You’re not expected to know the limits of his discretion. You should be able to take his word for it.
If for some reason you do know for certain that this is beyond his authority, well then you’d be better off to turn it down. If a problem arose over this later, you’d be culpable for a knowing violation of the policy/rules.
Those are the generalities of business. Now the specifics of this case.
Can you trust this person? If his boss raises a fuss, will he point to your signature on the timecard and deny ever telling you to take the day off with pay, or will he say, “I did that” and offer to resign or reimburse the agency or whatever is necessary to protect you from harm?
In general, businesses are very fussy about timecard fraud, while they may be pretty lax about salaried workers versus sick time, PTO, or vacation days. Given that most salaried workers put in 5+ unpaid overtime hours a week anyhow, the laxity is hardly the great deal it at first appears.
If you were salaried and wanted an extra day off as informal comp time for informal overtime in previous weeks, no reasonable business, higher-up manager or court would find a thing wrong with that. OTOH, most would have a problem with the same thing in an hourly employee. By definition, the relationship between worker & supervisor is straight hour worked = straight hour paid. Extra work = extra pay, less work = less pay. Fiddling that equation is a no-no.
For me, the risk/reward ratio just isn’t there for $40. In the current zero-tolerance mindset so prevalent throughout Corporate America, you can destroy your career before it begins.
This is not Corporate America. This is a Government funded program with strict rules. Also we are talking about a non-exempt employee here. The manager’s heart seems to be in the right place but this really is an ethical dilemma and I think Ninja Chick made the right decision.
Haj
No, I don’t think her boss is the one that pays her.
If I’m understanding this correctly, and NinjaChick, set me straight if I am mistaken, she turns in her time cards to the school, and not her boss. Her check is cut from a grant from the Federal Gov’t, and not cut from his payroll.
So in essence, he is giving her money, although she may deserve it, that isn’t his to give.
I should have said ‘tried to give’.
Good decision in declining the offer NinjaChick.
I also see hajario, beat me to the punch.