Don't Let a Co-Worker's Shoddy Work Make You Look Bad

Hi Lily, I just started a new job. My more established colleague and I are expected to task-share, delegating our projects to each other when one of us is busy and the other isn't. To facilitate this, our boss holds weekly meetings with us to reallocate tasks (our projects are given to us by outside supervisors who are on his management team, not by him.) Unfortunately, it seems that my colleague doesn't make deadlines and does shoddy work. Thus, I am always assigned the projects, things are always slow for her, and she is assigned some of my tasks to complete. I'm still responsible for reporting to those who originally assigned the project, who are understandably upset that I am then turning in late and shoddy work to them! I hate to tattle to my boss about this coworker, as she's been here two years and does at least nominally complete the tasks-- but it's making me look really bad, and it's frustrating to have to continually apologize for work that isn't mine. Any suggestions? Thanks!

If your boss is going to reassign tasks to even out the workload, then he or she should make the person who turns in the final product accountable for its quality and timeliness. It is simply not fair to hold you responsible for a project that, although originally assigned to you, was delegated to your less busy colleague.

If your colleague's work really is as bad as you say, than she may have survived for the past two years only by piggybacking on the work of more competent counterparts. Meanwhile, your boss might legitimately think that project reallocation is the most efficient means completing assignments. However, I also suspect that this arrangement allows him to conveniently avoid dealing with your colleague's performance issues by pretending that that the work of his two employees is about equal in quality. I understand why you would hate to tattle, but tattle you must.

The only scenario under which it would be remotely fair for you to be held accountable for your colleague's work is if it truly is a team effort. In other words, you are not just redistributing projects based upon who is busy and who is slow, but rather collaborating on projects together. You could serve as the "team lead" on projects that are reassigned to your colleague, which would give you some apparent authority to make strategy calls and sign off on the final product. Under this type of arrangement, it would still be possible for your colleague to ride your coattails, but you at least would have the opportunity to influence the outcome and ensure timely completion.

For you type-A overachievers out there, this is the difference between getting a failing grade because one of your high school classmates was allowed to submit a shoddy term paper in your name and staying up all night to finish your biology class frog dissection report because your teammates have blown it off. Neither situation is ideal, but in the latter case you at least have a chance of passing.

You should first suggest to your boss that he tell the members of his management team when a project has been reassigned. He might balk at this as it would mean exposing your colleague's shortcomings and possibly attracting unwanted scrutiny. If so, you could also tell your boss that you would not mind having help from your colleague when she is slow, but that you would appreciate the opportunity to collaborate with her along the way and review and edit the work before it is turned in. In any event, you cannot afford the damage to your professional reputation that will surely result if you say nothing.

Lily Garcia has offered employment law and human resources advice to companies of all sizes for more than 10 years. To submit a question, e-mail HRadvice@washingtonpost.com. We reserve the right to edit submitted questions for length and clarity and cannot guarantee that all questions will be answered.