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My manager is a very good manager, both professionally and personally. He has asked me to do some of his work, such as project management, which I am happy to do.

But he has also asked me to use his credentials to take a mandated exam, so that it appears that he was the one taking the exam. I have already taken the exam myself. I don't like to take it while impersonating him.

How can I tell tell him "No" to that without making him upset or angry.

Keith Thompson
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suhas
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    possible duplicate of How to handle manager asking I perform unethical behavior? – gnat Jan 06 '15 at 11:48
  • @gnat: The question which you are mentioning is about unethical behavior and it is related to project but in my case it is not about project related stuff. – suhas Jan 06 '15 at 11:52
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    "My manager is a very good manager" + "He wants me to complete his mandate exams" = does not parse. – Stephan Kolassa Jan 06 '15 at 12:11
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    Is this a company-internal exam, which everyone in your team/department are required to take, or is it an external certification exam which your company requires you to take? – Masked Man Jan 06 '15 at 13:07
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    I agree it is a duplicate but since that question is closed with migration rejected it seems improper to close this as a duplicate since the question can not get any good and relevant answers now. – IDrinkandIKnowThings Jan 06 '15 at 15:02
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    Two relevant details which you haven't given: a) is this in India, the US or where? b) what "mandated exam" is it? an external certification exam? an external academic exam? internal company exam? Does the exam body have a policy against impersonation and do they actually enforce it? Also, in general are your company and dept ethical or not? Who, if anyone, enforces that? HR? Senior management? Noone? – smci Jan 06 '15 at 15:35
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    @happy This is an company-internal exam which needs to be taken by all the employees in the department. – suhas Jan 07 '15 at 08:13
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    @StephanKolassa The reason why he asked me to complete his mandates is because he is very busy with the project and hence could not complete his exam on time. Hence he is asking me a favor to complete the exam on behalf but as a person he is very good manager. – suhas Jan 07 '15 at 08:13
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    @suhas If he is busy with his project and cannot find time for the company mandated test, he needs to raise a concern with his manager, and not approach his reporting employees to cut corners. I am afraid this doesn't make him look like a "very good manager" as you claim. – Masked Man Jan 07 '15 at 08:22
  • @Happy he just asked me a favor which I didn't like to do. Just because he asked a favor to do his personal thing doesn't make him a bad manager. All i wanted is to say no to him without bringing any damage to our relationship. – suhas Jan 07 '15 at 08:29
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    @suhas Taking a company-mandated exam is not a "personal thing". A manager who encourages his employees to flout the company policies is not a good manager. You are free to live with your misconceptions though, but rest of the corporate world won't agree with you. – Masked Man Jan 07 '15 at 08:42
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    Even though you seem not be inclined to do this: A way to expose this situation to higher authorities with solid proof and without endangering yourself may be to appear at the exam with your manager’s credentials and informing the examiners before taking the exam (or something analogous depending on how the exam is performed). – Wrzlprmft Jan 07 '15 at 12:34
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    Ask him to make the request in writing. – Raystafarian Jan 07 '15 at 13:21
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    @Suhas: Have you considered that his request to you is actually part of an ethics test? And that if you agree to do it you are failing? – NotMe Jan 07 '15 at 15:42
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    It's best to tell him no, as a few people have mentioned it could be a test of your ethics. A way you can put a positive spin on telling him no is to tell him that he'll learn more by studying for and writing the exam himself. If he still puts up a fuss you could offer to help him study but don't help beyond that. – Him_Jalpert Jan 07 '15 at 17:37
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    @all I didn't said no to him, instead I provided him the material which I used to clear that exam and looks like he understood that I'm not keen on completing his exam, he took the material and completed the exam today morning. – suhas Jan 08 '15 at 09:10
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    I don't think the question should have been rewritten to change its meaning, after answers had already been posted. Instead a new question should have been posted. – Qsigma Jan 08 '15 at 10:13
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    @suhas I am glad you eventually did the right thing, which was also one of the options in my answer. :-) This was a lesson in "How to say No without saying No." Remember it for the rest of your career, you would be needing this very often. – Masked Man Jan 09 '15 at 03:07
  • It is not only unprofessional but unethical as well. That doesn't make him as good manager as you think him to be. – Rolen Koh May 02 '17 at 04:24
  • Take the exams but clearly plagiarize your own exam. Then report him to HR for plagiarism. Collect generous settlement. Get retired. – Stian Aug 16 '17 at 11:20

5 Answers5

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Explain to him that this is (a) unethical and (b) a very bad idea. You likely had to sign an agreement to adhere to an honor policy in this exam, and impersonating someone else definitely violates it. Explain to your manager that if this is found out, you will both lose any credentials you obtained through this exam and that you prefer not to take this risk. (It is possible that you would be hurt worse than him in losing your credential, given that he is the manager - but I wouldn't mention this to him.)

Then start looking for a new job. Your manager is not "very good", neither professionally (as shown by his being willing to cheat on this exam) nor personally (as shown by his being willing to risk your certification). If your manager is willing to cheat to obtain a certification, what else is he cheating and lying about? Get out as soon as possible.

Stephan Kolassa
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    You should really consider this answer. Sadly there are a number of charismatic managers who look and feel like they are entirely on the up and up. Even with this appearance I've seen these sorts of people fired for company theft, use their subordinates as scape goats, and intentionally get people they perceive as "threats" to their position fired. The entire time seeming like great people. I've also seen the manager who appears indifferent day to day and find out they were fighting for my benefit behind the scenes almost daily. You have to ignore the presentation and watch for results. – Eric J Fisher Jan 06 '15 at 15:32
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    If the OP's employer has an "ethics hotline", he should consider contacting it (the call should be anonymous, my company's service is) and report this event. – alroc Jan 06 '15 at 16:03
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    Note that looking for a new job may just mean transferring within the company. This guy may, in fact, be an excellent, manager ... but if he's cutting corners here he's probably doing so elsewhere, and you don't want to get splashed when he goes under. – keshlam Jan 06 '15 at 16:20
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    +1 for the honor policy during the exam and explaining the damage done to both parties. – Brian Jan 06 '15 at 16:30
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    I would also note that if you do it and it goes fine, you will be the goto person for the next request of this type - and it might well be even more objectionable, and having done the wrong thing in the past will you be able to say no then? – BrianH Jan 06 '15 at 17:08
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    This may also violate IT security policies. Sharing credentials is often one of the first "no no's" in any security policy. But if this exam is not connected to the firm's directory service, then it may not qualify. – Brandon Jan 06 '15 at 19:51
  • RualStorge makes a good point. Not just in the workplace, but all of life it is important to remember that someone being charismatic has no bearing on them being moral. – Lawtonfogle Jan 07 '15 at 15:26
  • Although I do not disagree with this answer I do want to point out that an entirely different explanation is that the exam is actually below the level of a the manager and he considers it a waste of time. Now, I am not going to defend that notion, but all I am pointing out is that there is a huge gap between that and somebody who is doing a bad egocentric job. – David Mulder Jan 08 '15 at 14:43
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Don't impersonate your manager, even if he asks you.

But he has also asked me to use his credentials to take a mandated exam, so that it appears that he was the one taking the exam.

Your company most certainly has a policy against this kind of impersonation, which means both of you would be violating the company policy. Some companies are also known to perform "compliance auditing" by having a person of authority tempt an employee to violate a policy. If your manager is doing this as part of such an audit, then you would fail the audit.

Moreover, your company has ruled that this exam is mandatory, and letting one person take exams on behalf of multiple people reduces that rule to a farce. The company probably has a good reason for making the exam mandatory, so bypassing that can create problems later. For example, the manager could be deputed to work for a client, and they assume that he has a certain level of competency in this subject, as seen from his score in this exam.

How can I tell tell him "No" to that without making him upset or angry.

This is one of the few scenarios where you should not do what the boss asks. However, you should respond with a "positive No" by not only providing a good reason, but also offering alternatives.

Ask him why he cannot take the test, and suggest ways to help him solve that problem. If he finds the material too hard to follow (due to not having the relevant background, for example), offer to teach him or provide self-study material. If he doesn't find the time to study, offer to take up some of his less critical responsibilities for a few days. If you are not senior enough to do that yourself, suggest that he could consider assigning those to a senior team member.

Masked Man
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    The technical term for asking someone to commit a misdeed and then reprimanding them for doing so, is "entrapment" :-) The police are restricted in how they use it precisely because it's so effective at causing crime that wouldn't otherwise happen. In this case, the fact someone lets their manager tailgate doesn't reveal whether they'd let anyone else do it. But even so people should be aware in a high-security environment that (a) their manager could be sacked at any time and try to get back into the building before all their reports have been told; (b) follow the fricking rules. – Steve Jessop Jan 06 '15 at 16:32
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    @SteveJessop You do make a valid point. I posted the anecdote to point out that companies do perform such "surprise audits", not that I agree with its perceived effectiveness. Moreover, if company is secretly looking for an excuse to fire you, failing this silly test puts a trump card in their hand. No amount of arguing "I let my manager in, but I wouldn't have let a stranger in" will help, so it is better to follow the rules and be safe (as you said). Broken windows theory is also relevant. – Masked Man Jan 06 '15 at 16:40
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    On the anecdote: It reminds me of various comedy movies/shows where someone insists something like "Promise me that no matter what I say, don't do X, ok? ...ok, now do X. I told you not to that no matter what I say!!!" The only answer is in the future, if your manager asks you to do something they told you not to do, immediately karate chop them in the neck. Gotta nip these problems in the bud. – BrianH Jan 06 '15 at 17:11
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    A relative of mine was working as a marshal at an F1 event a number of years ago. He refused access to Bernie Eccelestone for the same ID badge issue and it went down very well in the debrief. tl;dr, following the rules is good for everyone, even if it isn't convenient. – Gusdor Jan 07 '15 at 11:43
  • @All This question bumped up to the front page today, and I realized that this answer I wrote some 2.5 years ago was way too pessimistic/paranoid to the current me's liking. I have redone parts of the answer to place less emphasis on the "what if he is trying to trick you" part, and focus on approaching the situation with a more positive mindset. – Masked Man May 13 '17 at 18:10
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I agree that it's HIS qualifying exams not yours and not the firm's. It is hence his own personal business.

Tell him that you can't do his exams but you'll take on other tasks so that he finds more time to study for his exams.

If he pushes on, tell him that you like him but hey, you wouldn't do it for your own brother. And your own brother wouldn't do it for you either.

If your manager retaliates, then your manager has ethical issues and you probably should consider a transfer. You wouldn't want to be looking over your shoulder and wondering what other unethical demand he'll come up with next.

Vietnhi Phuvan
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    "your manager has ethical issues and you probably should consider a transfer" -- in fact the whole organisation might be sketchy. I don't think this site is well set-up to advise people how to negotiate semi-criminal workplaces, since standards vary so much by organisation and location, and are hard to get good information on because of course crooks aren't terribly open about how they operate. So agreed, consider changing jobs unless you want to follow your manager into being a crook, in which case seek advice elsewhere! – Steve Jessop Jan 06 '15 at 16:06
  • @SteveJessop - "the whole organisation might be sketchy" IMO it's not appropriate consider such, based on the behavior of one rogue manager or call it "semi-criminal workplace" based on that, unless there are substantial indications that such a mindset is pervasive in the firm - particularly if it is a large organization. There are always "a few bad apples". – Vector Jan 07 '15 at 20:16
  • @Vector: perils of short comments, I skipped some of my working. The organisation might be sketchy. To deal with this the questioner needs to know, so should should consider that and try to figure out whether this kind of thing is normal there. If it is, then the "semi-criminal" stuff applies. We probably can't help other than to say "get out", because it's just too difficult to assess what goes if it is that kind of workplace. Just how sketchy is it, what sanctions would they take against people who object or (in the opposite direction) who go too far into criminality, etc. – Steve Jessop Jan 08 '15 at 10:10
  • @SteveJessop - NP. If such a mindset is indeed the company culture, no question a quick exit is recommended. Uggh - I have dealt with some bad environments, but never anything like that (AFAIK...) - it's creepy, regardless. – Vector Jan 08 '15 at 18:09
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Edit: Please be aware that this answer was for the original question of "Should I do my manager's work for him", which was later edited to "Should I take my manager's exam for him". Obviously this dramatically changes the context of the question.

Short answer: Don't.

He's your manager, his job is to get the project done. Part of that will likely include delegating some of "his" tasks to others, where necessary, in order to keep his time free enough to do the managing.

Unless he's asking you to take on managerial roles (in which case you could quite rightly ask for a promotion if you're doing that job) or something clearly outside your own role, he likely isn't doing anything wrong.

Don't ask whether you're doing "his" work or "your" work - ask if what you're being asked to do fits your role. The important factor isn't whether he was asked to do it personally and is now delegating, the important thing is whether it's suitable for you to complete.

Jon Story
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    It is not about the project work and hence I'm not ready to do that work.He is asking me to complete his mandate exams which I'm not ready to do. – suhas Jan 06 '15 at 11:40
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    If he's asking you to take an exam for him, that's a VERY different question to the one you asked – Jon Story Jan 06 '15 at 11:45
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    But its his work to complete his mandate, But he is asking me to do it. – suhas Jan 06 '15 at 11:47
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    Unfortunately, your answer is out of alignment with the question due to the new info provided by the OP. It's a bummer but you need to restructure your answer. Otherwise, it won't survive moderator review. – Vietnhi Phuvan Jan 06 '15 at 12:36
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    The unfortunate part is that I get negative reputation due to answering the original question correctly :( I'll be deleting this momentarily though – Jon Story Jan 06 '15 at 17:23
  • Or - you could edit the question so that its original sense is included, and edit your answer to indicate which part of the question you answered. After all, you answer is quite right: subordinates do well to encourage their managers to delegate. Meanwhile, this answer could even apply to the "take his exams for him" version of the question, if the OP takes the exam in their own name, and does not impersonate the boss. – Qsigma Jan 08 '15 at 10:08
  • @suhas - Engaging in fraudulent and potentially illegal behavior because your manager asked you to is not with the bounds of your job responsibility. The question is not who's work it is, but the nature of the "work" you're being asked to do. In this case it's not "work", it's unethical and probably criminal behavior. – Vector Jan 08 '15 at 18:16
  • @Qsigma You are quite right in general, but in this case, OP had already taken the exam in this own name. His manager was asking him to take them exam again, this time in the manager's name. – Masked Man Jan 09 '15 at 03:09
  • As mentioned several times, this is an answer to the original (more general, not talking about the exam) edit of the question: I was intending to remove it but I don't like to remove upvoted answers in general, so I've left it with the comments intact: presumably somebody is finding it useful, despite there being more relevant answers to this particular question – Jon Story Jan 09 '15 at 09:25
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Focusing on the approach to take; you need to be aware that there are already stopping points. In the past I have been asked to do something which is against policy or of dubious legality/morals. I have taken the approach that I show the legal situation which prevents me (The paragraph in the Terms of Service or the Employee handbook). I then ask for full written legal protection before I can precede. The employee handbook probably states you are not allowed to logon using someone else's details.

You are not being confrontational, just pointing out facts. I've never once been given the legal protection and therefore have not had to do anything unethical.

Plus you should have a HR person/department which has to act in an anonymous fashion. They could get him to take the test in their work area as part of a random screening.

Phil Hannent
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