OK, these things always happen to me. As far as the ethical side, I could do nothing and sleep well. On the other hand, I could do nothing and sleep well. I would love advice from anyone on the board.
All the staff have been told verbally and in writing that the computers are the property of the office and anything that is put on the computer or downloaded is the property of the office and can be viewed at any time. They have also been told that they can use Outlook of O365 for business purposes only and may not, at any time, use web mail such as Gmail or Yahoo, etc. This is due to company email is more secure and all email needs to be archived for numerous purposes including HIPAA.
I have told them that from time to time I will send emails to them for communication purposes or policies that will be documented in the office manual.
There are times when an email I sent to everyone contains information that may not be suitable for one or more staff members to read. This rarely occurs.
A few days ago, I sent an email to the staff, after which I reconsidered and felt it would cause problems with employee morale, and it would be better talked about in an email. I then deleted the emails from each person's inbox. OK, so there is the ethical issue.
For reasons which are beyond me, the staff love to set up their emails so that it shows two lines of the email and there is a reading pane to the right. In going into one email account to delete the errant email, I couldn't help but see an email thread where one of my employees was asking for advanced bonus money. The questions specifically asked if the employee could receive her bonus for this month early as well as next month's and then she would forego next month's bonus. I give bonuses to each employee at Christmas, but it is a one-time thing, and I decide the amount based on performance.
I wasn't sure how to handle this, but since it was approved by my practice consultant, I asked her what the payment arrangements were for this particular employee. She stated hourly pay, overtime, vacation time, stipends and bonuses. The first four I knew. I was not aware of any bonuses. So, I sent an email back to her stating this and asked if she could give more information about the bonuses. She told me it was the Christmas bonus. Which was odd. I, of course, couldn't bring up the email conversation I had seen.
It then occurred that Payroll emailed and informed the employee that she had received all of the hours for the week, but she had received a standalone email from my consultant advising payroll to send a NET check for $1,000. She asked the employee was this over and above her normal pay. The employee stated that is correct. (OK, again, ethically I probably shouldn't have read this, but at this point when PayChex and my accounting firm and my practice consultant (business manager -- not in house office manager) and my staff member, all of whom I pay, were talking about bonuses that my payroll company clearly seemed to question, I felt entitled. Why is she receiving bonuses? Who is making these decisions? Why am I not aware? Is this a one-time bonus or is she receiving them all the time? I blame myself for not paying more attention to how my employees get paid, but as an aside -- even though I know what the stipend is for -- I would rather this employee to have her hourly wage and stipend rolled into one hourly amount, while overtime and vacation time would apply as it does for everyone. The annual bonus would be given per usual by me.
OK, so taking the ethical part first, was I wrong to even go there even when I saw this inadvertently? But, let's forget that for a minute and ask what people would do given this information. Keeping in mind that my practice consultant blatantly lied about the bonus.
1. I suppose I could confront the employee and ask the same question. What is her pay structure? If she brings up the bonuses, it makes it easy for me to ask what they are for.
2. Should I ask my practice consultant (this is someone who contracts to do all the business things, is very good at what she does -- and in some ways considers herself my equal).
3. Should I contact PayChex, letting them know I am the owner, pay everyone including them, and I would like to know how many of these bonuses have been given.
4. Should I contact my accounting firm?
5. Should I bite the bullet and just email everyone, not bring up the subject, but state that given that one day my consultant will retire and I think it is in my best interest to know more about the ins and outs of the financial side of the business. And, therefore, I would like to be copied on all emails to and from PayChex and accounting and to be given a statement of employee payment and salaries?
6. Should I contact my practice attorney who deals only with me and ask for advice.
The bottom line is while I may have and others may agree that I have come across this information in possibly an unethical way, how do I just let it go and not worry about it continuing? I suppose an analogy would be if the same happened, and I was reading an ongoing system of an employee and business manager taking money off the books. But, PayChex is clearly not involved in this, and everything they do goes to my CPA.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks.
