Crummy day

It's almost 7:30 on a Saturday night and I am going to bed as soon as I finish writing this. I was supposed to be out enjoying an evening with Angela at her brother's birthday party but I am too exhausted to go. There's nothing like working a 9-hour day on a Saturday. I am also going into work tomorrow (yes, on a Sunday) because I want to get some things done and out of the way before I start my next client. I'm afraid that my in-charge on this upcoming client may not make it through tax season with a job.

You see, we are required to work a minimum of 58 hours during tax season - 11 hours M-Th, 8 on Friday and a required 6 hours on Saturday. He has apparently negotiated (or maybe he demanded it - I don't know) with the partners to leave by noon, but he's not coming in until around 8, so he's only working about 4 hours. I heard today (as I've been out at a client for the past 3 weeks) that he's been arriving at work much later than he should be (anytime from 8-10) but is still leaving at 6:30 every night. He's been talked to by the partners on several occasions about not getting his timesheet in on a timely basis. I've told the partner on this job that I was afraid that he was billing time to this client when he hasn't been doing any work. And he apparently didn't show up on Thursday OR Friday saying that his entire family is sick and that he needed to stay home to take care of them. People around the office are pissed that he's not carrying his load, and I'm terrified that I'm going to have to cover his ass (i.e. - do his work as well as mine) to get our client done on time.

Now I can be sympathetic if he's having trouble at home (he's 28, his wife's 26, they have 4 children aged 6 and under). But this crap has been going on since the end of last tax season. If he and his wife are having troubles I'm sorry, but he needs to leave that at home. And if he's using his family as an excuse, which I wouldn't put past him, he should be ashamed - the familial choices he has made should not affect his work ethic and professionalism. Some of us have already sacrificed ourselves so he could be with his family (I went to Detroit for this client because even though he's the in-charge and it's his responsibility he said he wouldn't go). If he wants a job in public accounting he needs to put in the time just like the rest of us do.

I talked with my manager on the job and he's about as pissed as I am. The manager said that we would both have to step up and take over some of his work, whether the in-charge liked it or not, because we are on a strict deadline. I heard from a reliable source that one of the partners was ready to fire him after not showing up Thursday and Friday but the partner didn't want to burden me and a couple of others with his work too. They've cut him some slack before because he's been at the firm for over six years, but I honestly think that he would have been gone earlier if we hadn't had so many people leave the firm this summer. He's been taking advantage of the partners' generosity and riding on the belief that they wouldn't fire someone as "valuable" as him.

I hate not knowing what to expect with this. On one hand, any time he can put into the job - even if it's not full time - is beneficial to my schedule. On the other hand, I wish he'd just leave so I know what is expected of me and what needs to be done. If he does get fired or if he quits I would become the in-charge. I can do the job and I'm not afraid of the responsibility. I just can't stand not knowing what my role is here. I don't want to step on his toes but I don't want to rely on him either. If he was fired my life would be so much easier - even with the added work load. Instead I feel like I have to keep an eye on him in addition to everything else I am already scheduled to do this tax season. Going into work tomorrow is strictly a preventative measure on my part in case he doesn't make it. Whatever happens, I have a feeling that this is going to be the worst tax season yet.