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John Burton Franke James Marty Seldman Glueck Bezoza Rick Brandon Arnie Herz Timothy Johnson erika andersen

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Franke James is Editor/Founder of Office-Politics.com and Inventor of the Office-Politics® Game.

Peter R. Garber has worked as an HR professional for over 25 years and is the author of many business books including: Winning the Rat Race at Work and 100 Ways to Get on the Wrong Side of your Boss.

Dina Beach Lynch, is an Ombudsman, Author and former attorney. An award-winning mediator, Dina served as the Corporate Ombudsman for the 7th largest bank in the US helping over 48,000 employees to resolve workplace issues.

Dr. Rick Brandon is CEO of Brandon Partners. He has consulted and trained tens of thousands at corporations worldwide, including Fortune 500 companies across a variety of industries.

Dr. Marty Seldman is one of America's most experienced executive coaches. His 35-year career includes expertise in executive coaching, group dynamics, cross-cultural studies, clinical psychology, and training.

Arnie Herz, is a lawyer, mediator, speaker, author and consultant nationally recognized for his practical and inspired approach to conflict resolution and client counseling.

Dr. John Burton LL.B. M.B.A. M.Div. Ph.D. is an ethicist, mediator, lawyer and theologian. John is currently located in Prince Rupert, B.C., Canada, working with Canada's aboriginal communities.

I found out that my colleague is cheating the company over time claims...

Arnie Herz, Author of Legal Sanity, and Attorney at Law, responds to the Office-Politics letter below.

July 2005

Dear Office-Politics,

I found out that my colleague is cheating the company over time claims, (for a long period of time) In another words, they stay late but never perform any work. How to make my boss realize this situation and at the same time not to get myself into trouble? Thank you very much.

Cautious Whistleblower


Dear Cautious Whistleblower,

It is good you care enough about your employer, and wise to avoid adverse consequences for yourself. My gut reaction is to send an anonymous letter alerting your boss to the situation. Do you feel that such a letter would be traced back to you? If not, then the risk of exposure to you is minimized and you have done a good deed by letting the company know of the wrongdoing.

Now it is possible that you have an affirmative obligation to directly bring this to the attention of your employer. It depends on your role within the company, the terms of your employment relationship, and the laws of the place you work. For example, if the year is 2001 and you are an officer of Enron aware of egregious wrongdoing, an anonymous letter may not fulfill your obligations to the company. If you have any doubts, you may want to consult with an attorney to find out the best way to proceed given the particulars of your case.

Thanks for writing to Office-Politics.

Arnie Herz

Arnie Herz, Esq.
Author, LegalSanity
Attorney at Law


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The Ethics Letters that appears as a feature of this Website is an educational and discussion oriented column designed to help the reader better understand ethical issues. The matters discussed in the letter are reviewed in a summary/abbreviated way and are only meant to foster thinking on the part of the reader. If a person decides to adopt or implement suggestions, they do so at their own risk. No representation or warranty is provided in relation to suggestions or the contents of the letter. Neither the authors of the letter, Franke James, John W. Burton, Rick Brandon, Marty Seldman, Arnie Herz or the owners of this Website accept any liability whatsoever for any opinions expressed in the letter or for errors and omissions. Submission of letters to the Office-Politics Forum grants the Publisher, Nerdheaven Ltd. the right to reproduce, republish, repurpose and excerpt the submission in any and all other media, without compensation or contacting the author. Copyright Nerdheaven Ltd. 2002-2005