Seeking advice from HR professionals

14 Comments

1. KimplanetstlNovember 20,2024 at 6:06PM UTC

   HR has no oversight because he's not an employee. He's an independent contractor. That has a list of requirements, such as he's independent with respect to when and how he does his work. If he's underperforming, he should be let go. He's no different than any other contractor for services, such as the IT guy, painter, or carpenter. If HR is responsible and he's forced to adhere to office rules and oversight, then he's not an independent contractor, and the company would be forced to hire him. Then he would get vacation, sick time, health insurance, be covered for unemployment, and any other benefits. You're not exactly his direct supervisor; it's more like you're overseeing the project he is hired to complete. Then he moves on when the job is completed.

2. AnonymousNovember 20,2024 at 6:24PM UTC

   While unfortunate, I'm not sure you're going to win this battle. Sounds like your boss has given you NO authority to get rid of this contractor (who is his friend) and he's already undermining you, and has been consistent with that in many instances.

   As someone else said here, HR has no role in this contractor relationship. Nothing about this situation will change. Your boss has delivered this message to you many ways, many times over.

   Either write this contractor off, understand that he's untouchable, and have others pick up his workload. Or come to terms with this being your new normal and make a decision to seek employment elsewhere.

3. AnonymousNovember 20,2024 at 6:31PM UTC

   I am afraid you are wrong in your assumptions here. As a contractor he is considered a vendor. He is NOT an employee and you cannot in any way manage his work, direct his work or tell him when to work, unless it is in his contract which is owned by the person who signed this, likely your manager. HR has zero to do with this and usually has zero view into the contracts themselves. Likely it lives with your manager, finance, and or legal or all of the above. If you don't have the support to terminate his contract and he is not getting the work done, and you cannot view the T&C (terms and conditions) of what he was hired to do - there should be an SOW- statement of work-with or without deliverables and timelines, then you are stuck. IMHO if you are a Director and cannot get your arms around this and don't have internal support then it's truly time to think about whether this company is for you. As a vendor/contractor he is a hired gun and if he is not doing what he was hired to do then you should definitely see if you can terminate the contract using the termination clause therein. Good luck.

4. AnonymousNovember 20,2024 at 7:06PM UTC

   Strange and even unethical behavior but if your boss is comfortable with the lack of professionalism i would document everything and give oversight back to your boss due to the current understanding the contractor holds as fact. I would do this in writing and copy HR just to document the whole arrangement.

   Under no circumstance would I move forward with this person under my management

5. Kimberley Ferretti HammettNovember 20,2024 at 7:57PM UTC

   Yep.. There is a large misconception that HR rules over an organization. HR is a department specialized in handling employee matters, and though they have some authority, even in matters with true full time employees, it is dependent on the executive leadership. HR can recommend termination, but generally, it's the leaders decision.

   What HR CAN do in this situation is support you as an employee who is operating in a stressful work environment. If you work/deadlines/goals is dependent on this contractors work which is not meeting standards, that would unfairly put stress on you. They can attempt to mitigate the issue with your boss or report it to your boss' boss and recommend action, or even report it to legal that can review the contract and recommend action. Results aren't guaranteed, though. If your boss has done this before and higher level leadership is aware and apathetic to it, they may not enforce anything.

   Good luck. If I were your HR I wouldn't be able to force anyone to terminate anyone but I'd sure as heck fight for you.

6. AnonymousNovember 20,2024 at 8:30PM UTC

   Ask for a meeting with HR, your boss' boss, and the owner of the company. If he is not doing the job, he is in contempt of the contract. The person that manages from high above is the company owner, not some boss' boss' boss. If this is a big company, get Legal to look at the contract, and if this person is not fulfilling what they promised, end it. The contractor sure is full of himself. He is using his connection to make money but he doesn't fulfill on his deliverables. Or it may be time you find a new role in a company that has better boundaries and better ethical standards.

7. Leslie WoodNovember 20,2024 at 8:33PM UTC

   As several individuals have shared below, your HR department has no oversight here because he is not an employee. While he is somewhat on track with his statements, if his work is subpar and he's not meeting deadlines, end his contract. Contract workers must still fulfill the duties of their contract. Yes be may be able to work from 2am-12n if he likes, but if a deadline is this Friday, he doesn't get to decide if he'll meet that or not.

   Send an email to your manager, tell him this contractor is not meeting expectations and ask him to send you his contract by XX date. I would also ask for the contracts of anyone else working on your projects. If he doesn't have respond, you'll need to decide if you want to escalate this above his head. He and higher up leadership should be responsive, as this is draining money from a budget, so I hope you are successful. Good luck!

8. Sharmil McKeeNovember 21,2024 at 4:32PM UTC

   The guy is a vendor, not an employee. I would talk to the vendor management department, but my guess is that you don't have one. It sounds like the contract owner is your boss. If you are unhappy with the way the guy is performing under the terms of the contract, talk to the contract owner. It's not really your call and you are not the contractor's supervisor. If I were you, I would step completely out of the situation. Direct the contractor to send whatever reports or work to your boss as the contract owner and keep it moving. And by the way, the guy is NOT staff. Don't refer to him that way. Don't include him in staff meetings, group staff emails, etc. His email signature should indicate that he is a contractor. His name shouldn't be on the organization chart. His name shouldn't be on the website. His access to the company's files should be limited. Good luck.

9. Hold on Lee LouNovember 21,2024 at 7:02PM UTC

   He is correct that a contract employee isn't scheduled or required to be anywhere at a specific time. If you are providing work space and equipment and mandating a schedule, that person is misclassified and should be an employee. Contract workers are independent vendors who produce a product for you on their own terms. They pay all of their own employment taxes and social security - they're their own small business, and you/your company can choose to work with them or not. That may be the only recourse you have - "Your work is not meeting our standards, so we are going to go a different direction. Once this contract is complete, we will go our separate ways."

   However, you do need to know the terms of any contracts if this person is under your purview. Do you have the power to decide if he's a good fit? Just because he's not your employee doesn't mean he shouldn't get feedback on the quality of his work and reinforcement of expectations. It should be "the deadline for this is in 6 weeks," rather than, "you need to work on this 8 hours/day for 6 weeks."

   You should stop thinking of him as a staff member - however if he comes into your office and uses your computers/equipment, he should be reclassified as an employee.

10. Lori DrapeauNovember 25,2024 at 3:04PM UTC

    Another alternative to consider is since you are in charge of the work being provided to him, find an alternate contractor, whom you choose and hire, to complete that work.

    Having the details of his contract would be helpful, and you should ask him directly for a copy, but I’ve never heard of “guaranteed” work as a contractor. So if it’s been expressed to him that he is not always meeting expectations, he should not be surprised to see his assigned work fade.

11. AnonymousNovember 28,2024 at 2:51PM UTC

    Sounds like a setup. here is how I handled it:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dWuTzWfTas

12. AnonymousNovember 29,2024 at 4:02AM UTC

    ?? I didn’t glean the meaning of this clip relating to the op situation?

13. AnonymousNovember 29,2024 at 10:24PM UTC

    record and record then record some more all conversations CYA

14. AnonymousNovember 29,2024 at 4:07AM UTC

    Seens your legal department and contracts management departments should be consulted on how to handle. One boss shouldn't be theconly one who enacted the contract with this vendor. Best of luck sorting it out.