my employee puts on a show of being busy, but they shouldn’t be

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager.

A reader writes:

I manage an employee who’s in a job that I used to do myself, so I have a pretty good idea of the work required and the amount of time it takes.

This person does a good job on the tasks and is competent and well liked. However, they put on a big show of being busy, often announcing that they will be working late, coming in on the weekend, cancelling vacation days, and working when sick. I admire their commitment to the job, but that level of time and emotional commitment is simply not required and, to be honest, I find the complaints about staying late really annoying, particularly as it’s not required to complete the actual tasks.

I’ve encouraged them to take days off, hand off tasks to me if they need to be out, go home at the end of the day, and not come in on the weekends. Is there anything else I can do? Or should I just decide it’s none of my business if this person has no desire for a personal life or leisure time and listening to them complain is just something I need to get used to?

I answer this question — and two others — over at Inc. today, where I’m revisiting letters that have been buried in the archives here from years ago (and sometimes updating/expanding my answers to them). You can read it here.

Other questions I’m answering there today include:

• My boss wants me to hire his daughter
• Candidates research me and bring up their findings awkwardly