[jgilder]

I work in a small office that consist of (4) women, 57, 47, 37 & 27 year old, I am the 37 year old & I am average looking as is the 57 & 47 year old women. We are stuck in an office with a 27 year old with a great figure & who uses it to her advantage. The bad part is the (2) male bosses don’t seem to mind. She is given special treatment / benefits where as the other (3) of us are not.

I was hired to take some of her work load off her desk, only to find out that the reason she wasn’t getting her job done was because she was too busy during work hours being a social butterfly.

She puts her nose in many issues that have NOTHING to do with her & before we can even talk to our bosses she has already told them what she overheard, which in most cases puts us in a very uncomfortable place.

She is responsible for providing order information to the shipping department & when she makes a mistake she twist it to our boss & makes it appear as if it was our error. The boss buys her story & scolds us. Not allowing us to explain.

There are days, including today where one or the other walks in the office & either bring her breakfast or ask if she would like them to get her something. They do this IN FRONT of the rest of us in the office. They don’t offer us anything, or even ask if we want something. There are times when any one of us are required to stay late for a project or shipping issue & we just do it, we don’t expect to get anything in return it is our job. When our 27 year old stays late (usually to complete work she couldn’t during the day while the bosses where there) she will even be allowed to come in late the next day, and as a “thank you” by our bosses for her staying late she is taken to lunch on them.

They have made mention of her clothing & how “you can’t wear that in front of me anymore” comments are made & when she wears that item again she makes sure they notice.

If anyone of us (57, 47 or 37 ladies) has a confrontation with her she runs upstairs to tell on us & of course the boss questions us.

What do you do… you can’t afford to quit, the job market in our small town is just not that great & you have children & expenses that quitting isn’t the answer. How do you handle this? My co-workers & I feel that we need to address this situation with our bosses but all fear for our jobs. How can we protect ourselves from losing our job?

[NowWhat]

The only thing you really can do is do your job to the best of your ability. Make sure that all the I's are dotted and t's are crossed. So when she does come back and try to blame you, you are covered.

Don't worry about the rest and don't worry about how she fills her days. Eventually people will see through the pretty.

Don't waste your time confronting her - you know what her response is.

Do you not have a human resources director?

[jgilder]

We are all trying to ignore it but because all of our desk's are in close quarters it is hard & they don't try to hide it. The 3 of us, do our job & keep our comments between the 3 of us, but we are not even talked to by the bosses - they will walk right past us in the morning just to say good morning to her & say nothing to us at all, which for our 57 yr old who has been with the company since it started it hits her personally. No there is no HR person, the bosses are brothers & they are the owners so they handle everything. It is very hard spending this much time in this situation. Trust me even with the "i" dotted it doesn't matter as they don't even ask us what happen they just jump on us always assuming she is right. There is no defending yourself.

[NowWhat]

Why wait to be spoken to? Just say "HI. Good Morning" It's okay.
If finding another job is not an option - then you are going to have to deal with it. Is it fair? No. But what else can you do?

When they jump on you - DEFEND yourself. Be ready! Show them the proof. They must value each of you on some level - otherwise, you would not be there!

[twinkiedooter]

I've been there with the eye candy for the boss routine before. I used to get a huge laugh at Ms. Boobs, fake overly whitened teeth and tanning bed skin. The only thing she could do right was show up in the morning - and sometimes she wouldn't even do that right. She took one boss for an arm and a leg dangling the prospect of him getting anywhere with her. He was a good 20 years older than her and he worshiped the ground she walked on and spent so many hours downstairs at her desk (which was in the same office as me) that he ended up months behind his job as the company comptroller. He then bought her a car and she was supposed to pay for it. Made one payment total and he had to tearfully reposses the car and move it into his garage at his house. She didn't last more than 9 months and moved on to the next sucker company willing to hire her. Sometimes the men aren't thinking clearly when they hire this eye candy and usually get burned by these women in short order before they move on to greener pastures. Just bide your time and stop taking the hello in the morning personally. You have a job. It is not a personality contest. The older 57 year old lady should just take this in stride as well. Mark my word after cutie pie gets all she can from the owners, she'll be out of there looking for another mark. These type of cuties rarely get fired for not doing their job. I ended up doing most of Ms. Glamour Puss' job anyway and gained a lot of experience doing it - and yes, I didn't get paid dime one extra for doing her work either.

[jgilder]

Thank you Twink I will share you thoughts with my co-workers.

[JudyKayTee]

I've been there with the eye candy for the boss routine before. I used to get a huge laugh at Ms. Boobs, fake overly whitened teeth and tanning bed skin. The only thing she could do right was show up in the morning - and sometimes she wouldn't even do that right.

And the only thing I would add is that if it APPEARS - not saying it is - that the 3 of you are ganging up on her it will be perceived to be jealousy or envy or whatever by the bosses. It's a fine line but I would not be ignoring her or talking about her in an obvious way.

I would do whatever it takes to keep your rear end covered (so to speak).

I have seen more than a few of these situations come to a crashing halt with MRS. boss comes into the office to visit - or at the first Christmas party !

[jgilder]

JudyKayTee you are right, I know if his wife or her husband came in it wouldn't be so visible. One of the brothers has a girlfriend & when she comes in the office the 27 yr. old acts guilty like the other women, she doesn't speak to him while she is there. We don't speak about the situation during working hours, but we talk outside of work to vent. Our accounting person (47 yr old) is ready to quit, because 27 yr old seems to be telling her stuff she knows nothing about. I just keep to myself not saying a whole lot of anything - You must think I am the biggest trouble maker, but I swear I'm not just never had a place to ask these sort of questions LOL. The really funny part is the 27 yr old doesn't even know how to save a word document, she has been her 2 years & doesn't know that... Now that shows you she isn't really working. I am staying under the radar & not saying a thing - her husband will catch on or like you said Mrs. Boss might. Thanks again.

[twinkiedooter]

Aw Judy, I forgot the Mrs. Boss! You are so right about that. It's amazing what a Mrs. Boss will home in on if she actually spends some time in the office. The Ms. Glamour Puss I had to work around was dumber than a rock. She coveted another position in the company due to the much higher salary and the boss happily gave her the job. She hadn't the faintest clue how to be the Safety Manager for a trucking company and made some pretty costly mistakes while she did that job. The real reason she left was due to her embarrassment of having the comptroller reposses her car in front of the whole company.

You are right also about not ganging up against her. She's in lala land and hasn't the faintest clue that everyone is laughing at her antics. I pity the poor accounting person having to listen to her.

[Fr_Chuck]

There is nothing you can do beyond put up with it, any attempt to change or bring up the matter will merely make you the target of the bosses and soon you would be replaced.

This is what happens in small companies, even larger ones, and is just a wrong activity that is very common.