Am I responsible for the things my boss has me do?
I work for a small business, at the highest his revenue was around $1 mil. Well, there are some things done here in this office that I do not agree with, but are the way he's done it for years. When his employees have to pay him back, for gas, work phone, or whatever to get them more money I equal it out to their hourly pay and subtract hours from their weeks work. And quite often the company credit cards are used for golf clubs, club memberships, and trips. And if it is not a "company" card, the company pays it anyway. My company buys their groceries and gas and liquor and dinner's out. Which, yes, it does bother me that I get turned down for a raise b/c the company doesn't have enough money right now, but it will, he promises, for the 2nd time. We had to lay some of our guys off this past winter and they went on unemployment. But when we had even little work to do, I paid them, per his request, for "tools"/"admin help" to stay on unempl. Would I be held responsible if he got audited?
Answers:
If you participated you could be held responsible for the criminal acts as well. If you don't have great records showing his involvement, you could end up holding the bag on your own.
I don't think you would be held responsible (unless he lied and said it was all you), but you would certainly be called as a witness.
If it were me, I would beat the cops to the punch and report him (as I'm looking for another job), because he is breaking the law -- several of them, and when he does get caught, he might turn it on you and say it was your fault. You can only say "I was told to do that" so many times before you get into some trouble, you know?
You could. Just because he told you to do it does not mean you are free of blame. They tried that at Nuremberg and it didn't work. Granted that case is a lot more extreme then yours, but you get the idea.
No, he is the boss and tells you what to do. Anything wrong with the audit will be pointed straight at him because he is the man in charge. However, I think it's time for a new job. It seems as if this company is going downhill and you don't want to be there for the end.
ALL COMPANY'S DO THIS ITS WHITE COLLAR CRIME. IF HE GET'S TURNED IN BY SOMEONE HIGHER HE GOES DOWN AND HE WILL TAKE YOU DOWN TOO.
The answers post by the user, for information only, FreeLawAnswer.com does not guarantee the right.
Answer question:
More Law Questions and Answers: