Trouble Maker

The first Thursday of every month, Dr K has our staff meeting during our lunch hour. So, during my lunch hour at the bank today I had to run over to the dental office so that I can attend their staff meeting. For those of you who haven't been following my blogs, I work part time (Financial Controller/HR) at the dental office and full time (Senior Teller) at the bank. I missed last month's meeting since I had to cover the floor at the bank coz we were short on staff. I made sure I could attend today's meeting because I had some beef to clear up with my colleagues.

I was really upset with an incident that happened on Thursday last week. Thursdays are usually my long work day since I will be at the dental office from 6:00am - 8:45am then I will be at the bank from 9:00am - 6:00pm so I was a little cranky to begin with. One of our part time Hygienist (lets call her "L") was on vacation so we had a temp came over to help cover her shift. It was just before 8:00am so I was well into my work when the temp Hygienist (we call her "C") knocked on my office door wanting to talk to me. "C" had temped for us several times before and I like working with her. Of course I welcomed her into my office and told her to take a seat. And is what transpired....

C: "Someone just told me that L is upset because I make more than she does."
Me: "Who told you that?"
C: "I don't want to name names but I feel bad that L is upset about it. I don't want her to be upset because I like working here and I don't want her not want me to cover for her when she needs time off."
Me: "Please don't worry, I will deal with this today."

I walked up to the front desk. "A", our other part time hygienist and "M", our office manager was there.

Me: "Did either one of you tell C that L is upset because she's making more than her?"
A: "I don't even know what L is making, and of course C makes more because her rate is set by the temp agency and she has more experience." "A" used to temp so she knows how the temp agency set the rate and what she said was true.
M: "I wouldn't say anything like that since we are not suppose to discuss our pay with anyone but you (that would be me) or Dr K."

While I was talking with "A" & "M", one of our dental assistants, "S" came up to the front desk so I asked her the same question I asked "A" & "M". I immediately knew it was her coz I could see the little wheel turning in her head trying to decide whether to tell me the truth or not. She finally acknowledged that she was the one who told "C" what "L" had said.

Me: "What did "L" said to you?"
S: "She just came up to me 2 days ago in the sterilization room and said that C is making more than her and she seemed very upset by it. I also told her that I don't want to know about it because it is none of my business." The 2nd sentence I know is not true just because I know how she is.
Me: "Thank you for letting L know that she shouldn't be talking to you about her pay but why did you tell C what L had said to you? What is the purpose of that conversation?"

"S" was a little taken aback when I said that to her. She finally apologize for repeating what L had said to her to C. I went back to C and told her that I spoke with S about what happened. I apologize to her on behalf of our office and told her not to feel bad because we all do like working with her and wants her to come back...

So, in the staff meeting today, I let everyone have it. I was so pissed off because they should know better. For one thing, they were all given the policy manual when they were hired and they signed the back of the manual stating that they have read and understood the manual. Even if it was not in the policy manual, it is common sense that you don't discuss your pay with your colleagues!!!

The other thing that got me so po'ed was that "S" told "C" what "L" had said to her. What good does that do? It will just create animosity in the office. But then at the same time, I was not surprise that she did that because she's just that kind of person who like to see people get upset with each other. There are just times when I feel like knocking on her head and see if there is any brain in there......