'My co-worker is running a yoga studio...instead of working': Professor debates telling on colleague who's making them "carry the burden"

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    Thigh - BOBUSOUVA LER COMPANY
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    Font - Should I inform my manager my co-worker is running a yoga studio during the day instead of working? I work in academics, as a professor, and we are part of a Union.
  • 03
    Font - Part of our union responsibilities are to declare any other work we are engaged in - whether through self-employment or salaried. This is a requirement of employment.
  • 04
    Font - Well, a year ago my co-worker told me she intends to open a yoga studio and quit her job. However, instead she decided to take a 4- month "sick" leave so she could get it up and running.
  • 05
    Font - She told me 3 months before her sick leave, that she was "going to be sick". It was well planned out to correspond with the opening of her studio. She took the whole semester off. My department piled some of her classes on me, and I was very stressed, especially as I was teaching a course that was brand new to the University. I thought it was temporary, so I said nothing.
  • 06
    Font - Fast forward to a year later and the yoga studio is not doing as well as she thought, so she has not quit, and because we are allowed to assess papers & do research from home, she uses that time to teach yoga classes at the studio. This is fully public information on the schedule on the website. Her name is next to mid-day classes.
  • 07
    Font - I'm ped at this point - I am essentially compensating for an individual to fraud my workplace, and having to carry the burden. I think also morally the whole situation is just wrong for how long it's gone on.
  • 08
    Font - It's against our union rules as she has not (obviously) told the University she is operating her own yoga business. She said she might "take some time off" aka sick again next semester. I have no loyalty to this individual, or interest in continually sacrificing myself to further her yoga career.
  • 09
    Font - Gathering opinions - should I let our manager know? Update: we have an ethics reporting line that a report was submitted. It will be up to them to decide whether this is in fact an ethical violation or not.
  • 10
    Font - 12-55 DOM Benjamin MStocks If you are aware of an ethical violation, which it sounds like it is, then most organizations would say yes, you have a duty to report it. However, do you have an ethics hotline or ombudsman at the University? If its that clear from the outside what she's doing there should be no reason you need to personally involve yourself as opposed to staying anonymous.
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    Font - Different_Pianist 756 OP That was my first thought - I called the union ombudsman this afternoon for some insight, and help as a middle man, but they said there's nothing they can do. It's between the manager and the employee. If the employee contacts them, they can assist, but otherwise can't do anything about it from my end. If there's a way I could anonymously let my manager know, maybe that's the way to go?
  • 12
    Font - noonayong If she's got the yoga studio schedule etc publicly available online, I'd start with screenshots and URLs. Then there's a few different ways you could play it:
  • 13
    Font - • Kinda naive/ curious - with your (shared?) manager that you noticed these advertised yoga sessions happen to clash with the classes you were asked to pick up for her - it's difficult to balance this so you wonder what the plan is for next semester? [Cue manager W Fing and starting an investigation]. • Anon report to ethics line if you can find it.
  • 14
    Font - Approach manager and voice this concern reasonably. While it's obviously not your place to know the details of a colleague's sick leave, you were concerned with some comments she already made to you (hey do you happen to have any of those in emails she sent?), and how it's impacted you/ the quality of your work/student experience etc. I don't know how tenure affects this sort of stuff, but yogaprof will likely want to reach out to her union rep pretty soon...
  • 15
    Human body - Belgwano Wrong on many levels. Time to turn her in.
  • 16
    Font - MotorFluffy7690. Campus newspapers love to investigate stuff like this. Give them a tip and tell them where to look.
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    Font - redidnot Make sure you understand your University rules. At my University we declare paid outside work but this would fall into the category of "unrelated work" as it is not reliant on the academic staff members qualifications or research for which they are employed by the university, and so it does not need to be declared. What your colleague is doing with their time while they are on "sick leave" is not the concern of you or of the University so long as the leave is appropriately docume
  • 18
    Font - according to their own standards of required documentation. even though you feel it is morally wrong there may not be anything to be done about it, and you might burn up good will or organisational trust by reporting as well as invite additional stress into your own life. If you must report, most universities have an anonymous complaints portal, and that is where you should leave your complaint. It will be referred to HR.
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    Font - Different_Pianist 756 OP We cannot work when we are on a sick leave. Our sick leave is specifically taken because we are too unwell to work - not opening and working at a yoga studio. So yes, the University explicitly has a direct interest in making sure if someone has taken sick leave they're not working.
  • 20
    Font - DreadStarX Report them. This is fraud, and extremely unethical. Not to mention, not fair to thr students or you. I'd have reported her the second she lied about being sick. 9 Reply Share Due-Respect-5658. For all we know this person has a medical condition. We're taking OP's biased word for it. Your advice is terrible. 4-1 Reply Share
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    Font - lizzers1234 What's your FTE and course load like? Usually if someone is tenured and can't teach they'd have to have a sessional cover for them at whatever pay. If you were also a tenured prof and had less than your max for course load, I could see one class being shifted but usually tenured profs get their classes first and their schedules and then the rest get theirs and any other deficit is backfilled with sessionals. If a sessional was being "overworked" or asked to pick up the slack,
  • 22
    Font - I guess I'm a bit confused on that part, in regards to her using her own time to set up a yoga studio - that seems odd too. I don't quite see why someone would leave a full tenured role to open a yoga studio but that's just me.
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    Font - Different Pianist 756 OP Yes some of her classes went to adjunct instructors - I had less than my full course load, but it was also because I was piloting a new course. So technically, they were within their right to assign me an extra class. I was not meant to teach my full course-load due to that new class, but at the last minute, that changed. I agree - it seemed a pretty risky move especially if she was not financially solvent enough to be able to leave her position.
  • 24
    Font - 9 Due-Respect-5658 Hahahaha wow. "I wasn't supposed to have to do ALL of my work and thought I was going to get away with a lighter workload, but then this b messed up my easy job" You want to attack a persons livelihood because you had to work your full actual job and not a lightened workload. Your personality needs work.
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    Font - Different_Pianist7 56 OP. No. My full course load meant I was spending every evening and weekend trying to get all of my work done for months on end. It was never lightened - I know you're not in academics whatsoever, so this is difficult to grasp. I don't drive a Lyft and my shift is done when the passenger leaves my car. Not the nature of my work :)

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