Wow did this backfire on me!!!

[Laurie]

Okay the other day I mentioned to a few in chat about a new coworker who's been sleeping most every night. She doesn't just do it once, but falls asleep several times. My concern with this was as operator's we have to keep schedules running and if she falls asleep in the middle of a failed job then the schedule is obviously delayed. We work in the I/T area. I didn't know if I should say something to her or if I should go to my supervisor immediately. The consensus was tell the Supervisor. Well I didn't, instead she fell asleep for nearly 2 hours and I handled every failed job. My supervisor wanted to know why and eventually to save my skin I had to tell him she was sleeping. I also told him I had discussed this with the other 3rd shift operator and we were going to talk to her about it. SO I got in trouble for not saying anything and today on John's review (the other 3rd shift operator) he got marked down as Needs Improvement in the decision making area because he also knew about it and said nothing!

So now the sleeping operator comes back from vacation on Monday--she'll get hauled into the office and "talked" to about the sleeping. And she'll be pissed at me for saying something! GREAT! I have to work with her 3 nights a week! She'll be on my like a hawk and complain about the littlest things I'm sure--and John shouldn't have been marked down on his review for this either!

Ug! What a mess!

 

[addictedtochins]

Aw, I'm sorry

 

[eroomlorac]

Well, you were going to talk to her. I understand the supervisor's reasoning about you not mentioning it. It is a tough call to 'tattle' on someone you have to work with. But I wonder what is going to happen to the 'sleeping operator'? She is ultimately the one responsible for sleeping on the job, of course. Where in heaven's name does she sleep for 2 hours? Sitting up in her chair? We once had a phlebotomist that would sleep on the floor of an office. The lab manager got wind of it somehow, I think the person who worked in that office came in early and saw him asleep on the floor. One morning the boss came in and said to him "Scott, are you tired this morning?" I mumbled to her, "He shouldn't be, he got a good nap in." She said "I know." He was fired and the best part is, it was her nephew! LOL We would wake him up if there was some blood to be drawn but part of the phlebotomists job is to answer the phones and get specimens from the pneumatic tube system. While he slept, we had to interrupt our work to answer the phones and the tubes. It was very annoying. We did not get in any trouble at all for not reporting Scott's sleeping habits. I'm sure he thought since he was the lab manger's nephew, he was exempt. Ah, sweet justice.

I hope you don't get in any trouble. You didn't do anything wrong.

 

[Laurie]

She sleeps sitting in her chair! She has the head bob down to a pat. What amazes me is she falls asleep right in the middle of something! Looking up a job, cancelling a job, creating a document--one minute she's awake looking at it, the next she's asleep, and then several minutes later she's finishing up with hit! It rather amazes me.

 

[tunes]

That sounds a lot like narcolepsy, more than just falling asleep because she's tired. You might want to suggest she gets checked for that if this is an all the time thing.

I agree that you shouldn't have gotten in trouble. It's not your job to tattle on other employees, it's the job of the supervisory team or management to monitor their work habits.

 

[Chinniechantel]

You didn't do anything wrong Laurie, that is really crappy of your boss to do that. I hope everything gets figured out. I would sit down and talk with the girl that falls asleep before your boss tells her anything, if possible or right after. I would explain the situation and the position she put you in. If she is reasonable at all she should realize it was her fault or at least know that you were trying to stick up for her and NOT go tattle to the boss.

 

[Mt. Zion Chins]

yes definately sounds like narcolepsy - which can be VERY dangerous for all concerned. She could die because of it - She needs to be checked out. Maybe if you had another talk with your supervisor about this she would see it your way. Also mention that you believe this person has narcolepsy and for every one's benefit should be checked out by a doctor

 

[Jenn]

Laurie, I wouldn't be concerned about your coworker being upset with you. Whether or not she has a condition doesn't give her the right to not do her job, create safety issues, and put more workload on her coworkers. You probably should have gone to her first with your concerns, and then if it had continued, go to your supervisor. Maybe now she will find out why she is constantly falling asleep. My hubby has sleep apnea which doesn't allow him to get a good night's rest. He will constantly fall asleep in a sitting position while watching tv. Maybe a way to make things better for your coworker is to show concern for her sleep issues, and suggest maybe she get checked out by a doctor to make sure she is ok.

 

[eroomlorac]

Some people are just not cut out for the night shift. I know a lot of people who absolutely cannot sleep in the day. Maybe she's one of them and just desperately needs a job. I'm hoping YOU don't get in trouble, Laurie, for a co-worker who sleeps on the job. That's crazy.

 

[Melissa]

I do see where the supervisor was coming from. When you have a company with 3rd shift most of the time there is not a supervisor on.They rely on the people working the shift to make the right decisions and report to them anything that goes on while they are not there. A supervisor cant make sure they know whats going on with everything when they are not there to see whats going on. And with Laurie telling them that everything was ok they were trusting her word and probably didnt feel the need to do anything because they saw and heard no problem.

They probably thought you were keeping it a secret from them and lost some trust.

I still think, Laurie, you should've said something to CYA. She wasnt a "friend" and you had no loyalties to her. As cold and heartless as I sound, in this economy you need to look out for yourself. You said you had mentioned to her in a round about way that she shouldnt be sleeping. She is an older woman and should know better than to be sleeping at work. Especially since it was all the time rather than a 1 or 2 time thing. She's not dumb and she should've known upon wakening the first or second time her actions her wrong.

You have too good a heart Laurie. Unfortunately it didnt work out in your favor. Im sorry you got in trouble.

 

[tunes]

If she is narcoleptic, she may not even know she's sleeping, hence the reason she drops off in mid-task, then immediately starts back in again when she "wakes up." She won't even realize that she's dropped off, or if she does, she may think she just nodded her head then shook herself awake. "Normal" people do not constantly fall asleep mid-task, then snap out of it and take off right where they were as if nothing had happened. That's a sign that something isn't right. Working nights for a narcoleptic must be Godawful. It's about the only time they would get normal, uninterrupted deep sleep that would rejuvinate their bodies. It would be like walking in a constant haze.

I had a friend in my mid 20's who was narcoleptic. You would be talking to her and her head would drop to her chest in the middle of a conversation, then a couple seconds to a minute later, she'd "wake up" and pick up the conversation where she left off, even though we had already moved on. It took some getting used to. There is no cure for narcolepsy and no meds to treat it.

Laurie, you really ought to suggest to her that she get checked for it. If that isn't what it is, then she fully deserves to get hung out to dry for constantly falling asleep. But if it something more serious, then she may not even be aware of what she's doing and a heads up could save hers or someone else's life (i.e., if she happens to nod off while driving).

 

[Jenn]

My hubby's mom is nacoleptic and constantly will fall asleep during a conversation. She had her driver's licence taken away a couple of years ago because she fell asleep while driving and ran a red light. She was lucky she was driving through town and was not going fast. She hit another car and no one was hurt. Narcolepsy is very dangerous and your coworker needs to be aware of what is going on so she can get some help. It's better for everyone that this has come out.

 

[Laurie]

While it may sound a lot like narcolepsy what I've learned of it is when you nod off you don't do it for a long period of time. She will nod off and on for a two hour period. With narcolepsy I always believe it affects you throughout your entire day. She seems fine when first starting the night but around that golden hour--2 to 3 am when your body tempature is at it's lowest that's when it seems to start. She starts falling asleep from them up until 6am. Once she is awake after nodding off for a few hours she seems very refreshed--I didn't think narcolepsy was like that.
In any case I will not be speaking to her about it, as my supervisor has told me he will be discussing this with her. I can certainly mention something to him about the possibility of narcolepsy. We have had other operators that slept quite a bit during 3rd shift, as Carol mentioned not everyone is cut out for it. I feel bad John was marked down on his review for not saying anything to our supervisor about it. We always had the rule on 3rd, what happens on 3rd stays on 3rd, and obviously it's come back to bite us in the butt.

 

[AnimalsR4Me]

You're absolutely right, not everyone is cut out for night shift, and it is a very difficult shift to get used to, as everyone who is on 3rd shift can attest to. Your body is not meant to work in that way. I admit that I have nodded off at work a couple times sitting in a computer chair at the nurses station, which isn't entirely dangerous, but still isn't appropriate as a CNA, the other aids fortunately are my close friends, and will cover for about 10 minutes and then she'll shake me and be like "wake up!" and then I'm usually able to finish the rest of my shift without a problem. I realize it's not appropirate to fall asleep on the job, but I also understand why it happens, but an every day thing is inexcusable. The sucky part is that everyone involved is getting in trouble over this,but I have a feeling that we would all be getting in trouble at my job in this situation as well, even though we have a "speak to your co worker not your supervisor about the problem" policy. That's the way our facility works. No matter which way you do something, whether you speak to the supervisor, or you speak to the co worker, you seem to always have "made the wrong decision" It just really sucks that the two of you are getting in trouble. I would wait until after the supervisor speaks to her, and let her simmer for a day or two, and then the next time you see her, explain the situation, and explain that you weren't trying to tattle on her, but you were forced to.

 

[Riven]

If she confronts you tell her that the supervisor asked you and you weren't going to risk the job you work so hard to keep, not to mention stay awake for, for her.

 

[Laurie]

Last night at work I had an email from Dave--my supervisor, asking me to compile an email about how often Nancy is sleeping and how it is affecting her work and training. He did not send one to John. So basically he's going to go at her with my email. Great. And John mentioned to me the other night one day last week when I had my head back on my chair John motioned to him as if to say look, she's sleeping. I often put my head back in my chair at the very end of the day as my neck begins to hurt from the constant sitting. So I can already see this comiing--she will say I am sleeping at work as well. John said if Dave asks me if you I will tell him no. I can just see this whole thing getting to be a huge mess. On the plus side, one time a former 3rd shift operator was found sleeping by the Boss! She snuck in one morning at 4:30am and found him with his hood pulled up over his head, and all the lights off. An hour later she heard his alarm going off! Yeah Ronny was that kind of guy LOL! Anyway Ronny was merely written up.
I'm prepared to defend myself should she start to attack me. When I have been tired and only when I'm not alone I have taken a rest while on my break. I do have proof for an hour and a half that for that time all job failures and issues were done by me. They were done by me because she was sleeping.
She has no proof, because there isn't any, that there were times I handled absolutely nothing for over an hour because I was sleeping.
I know this is the wrong thing to say, but I just felt my skin crawl when we hired her because her name is Nancy! The last job I worked at had the most whiney, babyish Nancy I've ever known and she was a full grown adult--mother and grandmother. I guess for me I'm doomed by the name!

Sorry any Nancy's out there! especially our hedgie nancy is she reads this!

 

[Melissa]

If yo are worried about her coming to you about it, For the email in case he makes it look like you went to him first put "as per your request" and print a copy for yourself so he cabt say you tattled.

 

[BooBoo*TheKiddo*]

When you reply to his email does it not automatically show his email?

Sorry this is happening Laurie, its a messed up situation.

 

[Jeanette]

I'm curious to hear how this turned out.

 

[Mt. Zion Chins]

what a mess - sounds like your supervisor isn't supervisor material. That is not how a supervisor should act