An 18-year-old picking up her 55-year-old coworker before their shift.
Model portrayal.
How to tell my coworker I don't want to give her anymore rides?
I (18F) need some advice on a workplace situation.
For context, I commute about 45 minutes one way to work, and my coworker "A" (55F) lives about 30 minutes away in the same direction. She doesn’t have a reliable vehicle or way to get to work. I know that’s not my responsibility, but I like helping out, especially because I had to rely on others for rides before I bought my current car, so I know how hard that situation is.
A woman waiting for the bus to take her to work because she doesn't have a car.
Image for illustrative purposes.
I’ve been giving A rides for about a month since she started. Our workplace uses a two-week rotation schedule. We work opposite rotations, which means there are 2 days every two weeks where I am not scheduled to work, but she is. On those off days, I have still been waking up and driving her to work.
Overall, A is fine and lovely to work with. However, yesterday I stayed late to make up time, and a night-shift coworker pulled me aside. She told me I need to stop picking A up on my off days. Apparently, A has been telling other employees that she doesn't actually need to find a ride because she knows I’ll just come pick her up, and that because she gives me money (she’s given me about $35 total for gas over the past month), it means I'll do it.
The employee bragging about her younger coworker driving her to work for all of her shifts.
Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.
Hearing those comments really upset me, as it feels like my kindness is being taken for granted. My mother (whom I live with) agrees with the night-shift coworker and thinks I should stop giving her rides on my days off.
Mom telling 18-year-old daughter to stop giving her older coworker rides home on her days off from work.
Actor performance of story events.
I slept on it, and when I came in today, I mentioned the situation to my assistant manager, who suggested I talk to the manager. When I spoke to my manager, she said she would talk to the night-shift coworker to figure out what happened. She offered to post a general message in our group chat about rides, but I politely declined because it would be obvious who it was about. My manager was understanding when I explained that I’m not sure how to handle this because I really don't want to create a hostile or awkward work environment.
How should I handle this situation moving forward?
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