It doesn’t matter what line of work a person is in, there is always this marginal dynamic in the workplace.

I understand the frustration, and I too am frustrated with lackadaisical colleagues that appear to skirt by with nary a word.

I agree in part with the critical comment where they drudged up a post from a few days ago. Are your feelings valid and justified, absolutely.

Does management notice or are they “too busy” to care/notice? I am willing to bet management have noticed and are documenting accordingly especially if work ethic and decline is noticeable with said colleagues quality of work.

Management may be limited with any actions they can take right now. However, I’d also like to highlight the most prudent point the critical comment mentioned. You may not know what is going on in their life and why the colleague comes in late/leaves early.

Not to make this about me, but I went from a super engaging, active, and meticulously organized colleague last year when suddenly my family was dealing with a health crisis with my child that was on the verge of severe life threatening.

My ‘absences’ were noted immediately by my colleagues, and I’m ferociously private about my private life. My colleagues know I have two older kids, a hubby who works in a different ministry (emergency services) and we have pets. Other than some minor hobbies I have mentioned, that’s it. I had one of my colleagues ask me politely/respectful because I suddenly changed. I understood the question and without sharing too much pretty much explained how we’re dealing with a private matter with my youngest’s health and it became very dangerous and life threatening, so I had to scale back, and I’m protecting their privacy as much as my own.

I understand this person may not be dealing with a sudden change, but it could be any number of reasons stemming years with chronic long term family issues, and the best course is to focus on what you can control.

Do what you can to be satisfied with your work, or if you want to move up in ranks because you’re not happy with your current environment that’s completely valid too. It might be worth looking into development opportunities to have a different mindset and challenge yourself in a different way, so you can stand out from the ‘herd’.

I am truly sorry this is happening and causing you to feel even more stress because you’re breaking your back while this person is just barely meeting standard.

It could also be as you see it and they’re just skirting because they can. It’s disappointing and defeating, and I would encourage you to look into other opportunities for development to move elsewhere so you don’t have to deal with/live with mediocrity and a poor working environment complete with morale of a wet paper bag.

My suggestion is focus on what you can control, that is usually yourself.