Every workplace has that one coworker who’s somehow always monitoring everyone else’s performance except their own.

One boss oversaw a small housekeeping crew where a longtime employee has taken it upon herself to critique, correct, and gossip about coworkers, insisting everyone else is slacking off.

That same employee routinely finishes her rooms hours early, then quietly disappears to avoid extra work, all while cutting corners that have led to actual resident complaints. The irony was hard to miss.

Direct conversations about staying in her lane haven’t stuck, so when the criticism kept coming, the boss knew she’d have to try a different approach.

Keep reading for the full story.

My Employee Keeps Throwing Stones from a Very Messy Glass House

I manage a small EVS/housekeeping crew in a nursing home.

One employee, who is older than me, has recently started criticizing coworkers.

She’s started to really overstep the boundaries of the workplace.

Questioning how they clean their rooms, telling them what they should be doing, and discussing their performance with other staff.

She has also acted as though it is her job to check or correct their work. This is not the first coworker she has done this to.

She claims she constantly has to clean up after housekeepers who “don’t want to do their jobs.”

But other employees have given this manager some interesting insight.

Meanwhile, employees report that she often finishes her own rooms up to three hours early and then spends long periods sitting in the activities office or dining room, apparently trying to stay out of sight.

There have also been concerns that she rushes rooms, wet-mops without properly sweeping, leaves tasks unfinished, and has received resident complaints herself.

Her constant criticism is creating resentment and causing everyone to point out her own shortcomings.

This manager has already tried to get ahead of the behavior, but the employee remained stuck in her ways.

I have already told her that concerns must be brought privately to me. She is not responsible for supervising, correcting, or discussing coworkers’ performance. I am the manager.

Despite that, she continued speaking negatively about another employee, and the employee heard it.

Honestly, I want to snap and tell her to worry about her own work, but I know I cannot handle it that way.

This employee is really making this boss earn every cent of her paycheck.

What did Reddit have to say?

There’s a way to be honest while still maintaining your professionalism.

This user thinks this situation could be a clear use case for a PIP.

Part of being the boss means maintaining an authoritative presence around your employees.

If you enjoyed this post, check out this story about an employee who decided to push back against time micromanagement.

A formal write-up may be long overdue here.

Nothing undermines a workplace faster than someone appointing themselves quality control while quietly cutting their own corners. That contradiction doesn’t go unnoticed for long.

The fact is that criticizing coworkers for supposedly not caring about their jobs loses all credibility the moment it comes from someone finishing three hours early and hiding out to avoid extra tasks.

If direct, gentle conversations haven’t stuck, it may be time to start having the more difficult conversation: does this employee still deserve their job?

No one ever said that being the boss was easy.