Pardon the question that I have, but this is I believe the only place I’ll find good solid advice at this time. Please keep in mind while reading the question below, that the result of my actions can have an effect on others at work as well as my own well being.
I have been working for a large construction contractor for the last 6 months. This isn’t just a job for me, it’s really a dream come true due to the benefits, and I believe God placed me where I am for more than one reason. Let me explain why: I spent the first 12 years of my adult life abusing alcohol and drugs, addicted to everything sinful after being raised in a Bible believing church, and finally through the help of a Bible based halfway house, I was able to kick the bad habits and even found myself preaching the Gospel to troubled young men like myself. That was over 4 years ago, I maintained 100% sobriety since, and am hoping to fix a whole lot more with the help of my new-ish job (under 6 months since hired).
Considering a large percentage of construction workers have addiction problems, I figured I couldn’t have found a better place to share my experiences and how I personally conquered my addictions. Although my church attendance has been spotted lately, I still find myself reading the Bible and praying regularly, I’ve even found those around me asking for advice, and I’m speaking of people that typically wouldn’t take advice from a new guy on the job. I can’t say I’ve been the best representative of Christ, but I’m doing the best I can given the circumstances (let’s just say my journeyman I was placed with has the number of the beast, in house address numbers, on his work cart).
I’m going to try to simplify this the best I can as there are many factors. I found myself helping the foreman move some materials towards the middle of the day, the day before Thanksgiving. He had stated that the general contractor wanted everyone off the job at 2pm and he wasn’t all that excited about sticking around anyways given the holiday weekend. He stated that he had spoken with one of our coworkers, whom had said he didn’t see why we couldn’t just put the full 10 hours on our timesheets given it wasn’t our fault we were being kicked off the job. He just kind of blankly stared at me after informing me of his conversation, and I suggested that if I was in his position I wouldn’t do it as it could not only put his job at risk, but those around him as well (we are responsible for inputting our own hours on an app at the end of the day). He stated that he’d make sure we all put down the same hours, and I responded with a short story about a guy that I used to work with that always wanted to go home early with a full days pay, and his response was “there’s always that one guy.”
At lunchtime, myself and about 4 other coworkers met at the common area where we eat. As I put away my tools, his exact words were: “Go home Mike, we’re all leaving. Just, you know, put down 8 hours.” He sure did look uneasy when he told me how many hours to put down, but I just said okay and hurried out the door as most anyone would the day before a holiday. Let me finish by saying we started at 7, worked until 12ish, and were told to get off the job by 2pm by the general contractor, which would put us at 7 hours max if we skipped lunch.
After reading this, most anyone could assume that if our supervisor found out we were kicked off site at 2pm, it sure would be obvious we were stealing time. Without this job, I’d probably end up homeless, my son wouldn’t receive the much needed benefits he is about to get in 2 weeks when my probationary period is up, and I’d have a hard time explaining why I was fired to potential employers. For all I know, the foreman discussed this with the supervisor, but that part wasn’t discussed with me.
Any suggestions on what to do? I’ve considered putting down 6 hours, which is roughly what we worked that day, but I find myself somewhat disgruntled at the fact that I rely on these hours to pay my bills and getting kicked off the job early is a big no in my opinion, and at the same time my personal honesty policy is kicking in, but I don’t want to indirectly blow the whistle on my coworkers. I’ve spoken with my father that’s been in the business for 30+ years and he simply stated he’s surprised that we didn’t record the full 10 hours as that is what his guys would’ve done. Any suggestions?
I have been working for a large construction contractor for the last 6 months. This isn’t just a job for me, it’s really a dream come true due to the benefits, and I believe God placed me where I am for more than one reason. Let me explain why: I spent the first 12 years of my adult life abusing alcohol and drugs, addicted to everything sinful after being raised in a Bible believing church, and finally through the help of a Bible based halfway house, I was able to kick the bad habits and even found myself preaching the Gospel to troubled young men like myself. That was over 4 years ago, I maintained 100% sobriety since, and am hoping to fix a whole lot more with the help of my new-ish job (under 6 months since hired).
Considering a large percentage of construction workers have addiction problems, I figured I couldn’t have found a better place to share my experiences and how I personally conquered my addictions. Although my church attendance has been spotted lately, I still find myself reading the Bible and praying regularly, I’ve even found those around me asking for advice, and I’m speaking of people that typically wouldn’t take advice from a new guy on the job. I can’t say I’ve been the best representative of Christ, but I’m doing the best I can given the circumstances (let’s just say my journeyman I was placed with has the number of the beast, in house address numbers, on his work cart).
I’m going to try to simplify this the best I can as there are many factors. I found myself helping the foreman move some materials towards the middle of the day, the day before Thanksgiving. He had stated that the general contractor wanted everyone off the job at 2pm and he wasn’t all that excited about sticking around anyways given the holiday weekend. He stated that he had spoken with one of our coworkers, whom had said he didn’t see why we couldn’t just put the full 10 hours on our timesheets given it wasn’t our fault we were being kicked off the job. He just kind of blankly stared at me after informing me of his conversation, and I suggested that if I was in his position I wouldn’t do it as it could not only put his job at risk, but those around him as well (we are responsible for inputting our own hours on an app at the end of the day). He stated that he’d make sure we all put down the same hours, and I responded with a short story about a guy that I used to work with that always wanted to go home early with a full days pay, and his response was “there’s always that one guy.”
At lunchtime, myself and about 4 other coworkers met at the common area where we eat. As I put away my tools, his exact words were: “Go home Mike, we’re all leaving. Just, you know, put down 8 hours.” He sure did look uneasy when he told me how many hours to put down, but I just said okay and hurried out the door as most anyone would the day before a holiday. Let me finish by saying we started at 7, worked until 12ish, and were told to get off the job by 2pm by the general contractor, which would put us at 7 hours max if we skipped lunch.
After reading this, most anyone could assume that if our supervisor found out we were kicked off site at 2pm, it sure would be obvious we were stealing time. Without this job, I’d probably end up homeless, my son wouldn’t receive the much needed benefits he is about to get in 2 weeks when my probationary period is up, and I’d have a hard time explaining why I was fired to potential employers. For all I know, the foreman discussed this with the supervisor, but that part wasn’t discussed with me.
Any suggestions on what to do? I’ve considered putting down 6 hours, which is roughly what we worked that day, but I find myself somewhat disgruntled at the fact that I rely on these hours to pay my bills and getting kicked off the job early is a big no in my opinion, and at the same time my personal honesty policy is kicking in, but I don’t want to indirectly blow the whistle on my coworkers. I’ve spoken with my father that’s been in the business for 30+ years and he simply stated he’s surprised that we didn’t record the full 10 hours as that is what his guys would’ve done. Any suggestions?
