A secretary worked for a vice president of an insurance company for six years. While her work was adequate, it was not exceptional. The vice president was responsible for signing the secretary’s time sheets, and he had full authority to hire and fire his secretary. As a rule, the secretary filled out her own time sheets for the vice president to sign, which he normally did without specifically reviewing them. One day, however, the vice president was contacted by a representative of the Human Resources Department, who inquired whether the vice president had authorized the large amount of overtime his secretary had included on her time sheets. The overtime amounted to more than $5,000 in pay. The vice president had not authorized the overtime, and in fact, doubted whether the secretary even worked the overtime. When confronted by the vice president, the secretary admitted that she had not in fact worked the overtime but put down the overtime on her time sheets because she had severe financial problems and needed the money.
Repercussions
The company had paid out $5,000 in overtime that was not actually worked. The secretary could be terminated for falsifying the time sheets, but another secretary would have to be hired and trained.
Questions
- As the HR Manager, which option below would you choose?
- Fire the secretary.
- Provide the option for the secretary to resign and not be required to pay the money back.
- Place the secretary on strict probation and sign a promissory note to repay the company the $5,000.
- Describe the option you would choose and explain why. What other considerations should be discussed?
