Baker can't stand working with disabled coworker, gets a wake up. AITA? UPDATED
'I hate working with my intellectually disabled coworker'
I am a baker at a busy place and one of my coworkers is intellectually disabled. This girl cannot keep up with anything. I have had to start batches over because she doesn’t do things when they are supposed to get done.
I ask her to do something that should take a min maximum and thirty minutes later it’s not done and too late to do it now because the pastries are too cold.
She seems to just meander from task to task doing jack all when there are a million things to get done that are part of her job. I am constantly picking up slack when she is working with me, essentially doing the job of 1.5 people.
Because of this, there have been numerous instances where a batch has had to get thrown out because it was in the proofer too long because I was busy doing her job. She is just so slow.
Yesterday someone ordered donut holes but I hadn’t done them yet, so I quickly threw them in the fryer, glazed them, and asked her to bag them up while I finish the rest of the customer's order.
When I looked at her she was STILL bagging the donut holes, putting them in the bag one at a time. I’m at my wits end.
Just now I had to throw out a bunch of donuts because she didn’t toss them in a cinnamon and sugar mix while they were warm(a VERY quick and easy task) and when I asked her to toss the new batch I watched her struggle to put on the plastic gloves then take a few seconds to stare at the plastic glove she dropped on the floor.
I then watched her slowly walk the glove over to the trash can, miss the trash can, stare at a the glove for a couple seconds again, finally pick it up and put it in the trash, slowly walk over to the donuts, pick two up and rub them together (???).
She then dropped them in the cinnamon and sugar mix one at a time. It’s gotten to the point that when I open the door to let her into the shop I get mad as soon as I see her face.
I feel like a horrible person, but she’s driving me nuts so I kind of don’t care if it makes me ableist at this point. I don’t want her to get fired because that may be discrimination, but she CANT handle the tasks at this place. I’ve given her pointers multiple times on how to be more efficient, but to no prevail.
Here were the top rated comments from readers:
You need to ask your boss to work a shift or two with the two of you so they can see what is going on and make an appropriate decision on her employment.
The OP responded in the comments:
I think the owners are aware that it’s an issue already. One time the one of them came in and saw a bunch of dishes in the sink, dirty floors, and dishes still stacked on the rack and they asked me, “was ____ here this morning?” And when I said yes they asked me “what did she do all morning just sit and watch you bake?” And I just kinda shrugged.
Also, I feel like I should specify this- as of maybe an hour ago, I was under the impression that this was likely the only job this disabled girl was able to land. I was reluctant to tell the owners about her poor performance because I didn’t want her to get fired.
While she does her job poorly, she is very sweet and now that she has been there for a while myself and the other coworkers have grown quite attached to her. Back then I covered for her because I was still holding out hope that she would get the hang of it.
Now I know that they are likely getting her wages federally subsidized and she is not in danger of ending up on the street if I am honest about her performance, I will take this issue up with the owners.
The people in my comments section telling me I need to “use my words next time like an adult” or “let her fail” need to develop some empathy. Jesus Christ I hope none of y’all have kids with disabilities.
Former job coach for people with disabilities here- there’s government funded programs that help people with disabilities maintain employment and can have job coaches come in to work with someone on increasing pace, building a routine, and other things like that.
I recommended talking to your manager about your concerns and see if they can help her connect with your states Vocational Rehabilitation program.
Have you considered letting her fail? Stop doing the work of her as well. Your employer put this on you it's not your fault. It's their problem they hired this person not yours.
The OP responded in the comments again:
I don’t want her to get fired because she is really nice and is otherwise a good coworker. I just keep holding out hope that she gets things figured out. She’s been here since February.
Three days later, the OP returned with an update for people following this story.
'I hate working with my intellectually disabled coworker- UPDATE'
A little while back I made a post about how I hated working with my intellectually disabled coworker. The gist of it is that whenever she worked with me I would end up doing a lot more work than normal just to keep the bakery going, and I would end up frustrated and annoyed.
What I left out was the fact that this coworker is incredibly kind and good natured, and while she doesn’t do her job well she is a great person that myself and my other coworkers like having around. We have grown incredibly fond of her, so I do not want to have her fired as frustrating as she is.
At the time of making the original post, I had very little knowledge about disability services and what that entails. A plethora of individuals with disability knowledge came out of the woodwork and informed me of a few things:
1: My boss is likely getting a tax break for having her work here and is getting a portion of her income federally subsidized
2: she should have access to vocational programs to help her develop job skills
3: based on my description of her working, my boss has totally mismanaged her.
I was under the impression that if I spoke up about how poorly she was doing at work, this sweet disabled girl would lose her source of income and end up homeless, hence why I have been spending the last five months or so burning myself out and getting frustrated to pick up her slack instead of telling my boss about her performance.
For some reason, a lot of people couldn’t seem to grasp this, and were incredibly condescending and unhelpful by saying things like “just let her fail” or “communicate like an adult”. Aside from those comments, there were a lot of helpful ones that assured me that I will be able to talk to my boss about this and probably get her into a better position in the bakery. So I did.
Today was her first shift back since I talked to my boss about the manner. She came in later than usual, did the dishes, swept and mopped the floors, chatted with us a bit until the afternoon rush happened, grabbed a donut, and left.
That was it. No food had to get thrown out, there was nothing put out late, everything went smoothly, and she is still making money and socializing with us. Thank you all for your support and info.
Here were the top rated comments from readers after this latest update:
Aww that's a nice update.
No disrespect to the disabled woman but I think the employers underestimated how skilled these jobs actually are.
The people who are criticising this person have zero actual, real life daily experience with an intellectually disabled person and it shows.
It is frustrating, it is making you go down a guilt spiral because on one hand you are frustrated when something goes inevitably wrong, but on the other hand, they as simply doing the best they can with their limitations and you know that and you recognise that.
And there is also the added worry of the special needs person being taken advantage of, or ending up homeless and even dead, if not sex trafficked.
The actual stress of having a family member being dependant on you to not starve and die or being attacked is actually enough of a reason for you to get priority in some gov job applications, as you are basically living and working for 2 people, with the stress and social isolation too.
I’ll take a lukewarm update. We’re heading in the right direction.