Since the start of my employment (about 3 months ago) there’s been some really weird behavior in terms of extreme micro-management by my direct manager.
-My manager logs into my computer after hours and during my lunch breaks and sends emails from my work account to clients and partners.
-He forwards work from my computer to himself and then presents this work as his own.
-Deletes emails and documents off of my computer when he deems it unimportant or something that doesn’t pertain to me.
There are a lot more things being done by my manager that are examples of crazy micromanaging but the above ones are the most concerning because I feel that this puts me in a compromised place where I could be blamed if something goes wrong because the “paper trail” will appear to come back to me.
When I brought my concerns to him about this, he just said he was only seeking to help me do my job more effectively by reviewing what I was actively working on. He made it seem like he was doing me a favor. I brought up wanting to learn how to handle the workload independently and also concerns about repercussions on me if he does something incorrectly in my name. He fired back at me with a huge attitude saying that this was his operation and I had no say in the way things were run.
I’ve talked to the 2 other people on my team and they both confirmed that the manager regularly logged onto the teams computers and rifled through their work. I asked if any of it had been brought to the owners attention. They said yes, but that the owner thought it was fair and just part of the job. (It’s also worth noting that the manager is the owners younger brother). Even so, I still wanted to say my part to the owner. So as soon as he got in I went to his office and brought up my concerns. It was just as my 2 coworkers said, the owner saw nothing wrong with the behavior and said that I would just have to deal with this workflow.
Is this even legal? I know that the computer, emails, and work product are all property of the company. But can someone really go into my computer, impersonate me in emails to clients, and have access to regularly change/delete my work?
Note: I work in the US. It’s a small local company with about 20 employee who all work in-office (no remote).
The 3 other teams in the workplace are managed by really great managers (who are not family of the owner) and do not go through any of their teams computers so this is not a company thing. I can’t transfer to another team because their work is different than what I specialize in.
I’m new to the industry with only the limited experience I have here so it isn’t feasible for me to apply out to another company yet.