Q
Hi there Auntie Pearl, I smaak your no-nonsense attitude, so please share your pearls of wisdom with me… I need some fire to get me opgewerk.
My friend and I work together, but she is slapgat and often sommer takes a sick day.
This mos has nothing to do with me, but still my boss always gives me lip about it.
He tunes me things like “your friend is letting us down again”.
Auntie, and then he gives me her work to do as well.
Dis mos nie fair nie. Why should I suffer for her being lazy?
But I also don’t want her to think that I am a bad friend or disloyal?
What must I do?
From Tammy.
A
My dear, you need to know there is a difference between being a colleague and being a friend.
When you clock in for work, then you are at work.
And that is not the time or place for buddy-buddy.
Of course you can still be friendly at the office, in fact it is encouraged to have a good attitude at work, but the job always comes first.
If she is slapgat and skipping work and not doing her part, it’s not supposed to be your problem, it is the boss’ problem.
So meisie, it’s time to be an adult and act professionally.
Ask your boss for a meeting, and then you tell him that even though she is your friend outside the workplace, you are just as gatvol of her behavior as he is.
Tell him when he pushes her work onto you, you can’t do your job to the best of your ability. And that’s mos what he wants, for you to be a good employee.
Ask your boss to have a chat with your friend as well.
Forget about being disloyal.
Being friends will not mean much when both of you are out of a job!