What to Do When the Boss Ignores Your Creative Ideas

Q I work for a company that is always telling employees they should “take ownership, be creative and proactive” and should strive for “continuous improvement” of how we do our jobs. Yet my supervisor is set in her ways and hates any kind of change.

Whenever I suggest any kind of improvement or when I do anything at all different, she criticizes me and is upset that I am trying to change things.

How should I deal with the fact that the company policy tells me one thing, but my supervisor tells me the opposite?

--S.S., Newport Beach

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A Although many companies and managers are attempting to “empower” employees by encouraging them to be creative and take initiative, many organizations and supervisors still have a difficult time letting go of the traditional roles in which employees are told what to do and then expected to carry out the orders of their supervisors unquestioningly.

The first step is to sit down with your supervisor and point out the inconsistencies between the company’s stated philosophy and her criticism of your attempts to be creative in improving your work performance.

If your supervisor is unresponsive, you should try to discuss the situation with her supervisor. Perhaps you can be transferred to another department with a supervisor who will allow you more freedom to be creative and innovative.

If this is not possible, you may want to explore employment elsewhere.

--Ron Riggio, director

Kravis Leadership Institute

Claremont McKenna College

Using Device in Automobile to Track Employee’s Whereabouts Q I am a salesperson for an insurance agency and use my own auto in the job. Now my boss is telling me he wants to install a tracking system in my auto that can monitor my location at all times. There is no way to turn the system off, so I feel this will be an invasion of my privacy since this also will be on when I am not at work.

Is this against the law? Would it be legal if they give me a company car with a tracking system?

This was not in my employment agreement when I joined the company four years ago.

--T.L., Pomona

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A An employer has the right to monitor the whereabouts of its employees when they are on duty, and an increasing number of employers of outside salespeople are using tracking devices for this purpose.

Do you know for sure whether your employer will be using the tracking system to monitor your whereabouts when you are off duty? An employer’s use of such a system to monitor employees when they are not working would probably constitute an invasion of privacy as well as be an expensive waste of resources.

You should explore with your employer whether the system will be monitored during off-duty hours or whether the device in your automobile can be disabled when you are not on duty. Perhaps the installation of a simple switch would solve the problem.

Your employer would have a stronger argument for tracking the whereabouts of a company-owned car during your off-duty hours, particularly if such a condition was imposed at the time you were given the car.

--James J. McDonald Jr.

Attorney, Fisher & Phillips

Labor law instructor, UC Irvine

Company 401(k) Plan Is Usually a Better Choice for Retirement Savings Q My son and wife belong to company-sponsored retirement plans at their respective places of employment. My understanding is that they are not eligible to establish a tax-deferred individual retirement account since their income from wages exceeds $50,000. Short of seeking new employment, can either of them do anything to become eligible for an IRA in which their $2,000 annual contribution will be deductible?

--R.A., Newport Beach

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A They would be eligible to deduct their contributions to an IRA if neither is covered by an employer’s tax-qualified retirement plan. For example, if they are participants in a Section 401(k) plan, they could simply elect not to participate in the plan.

However, many employer-sponsored plans do not give employees the option of not participating. Furthermore, it only makes sense for an individual to opt out of an employer’s tax-qualified retirement plan to maintain a tax-deductible IRA if (1) the individual makes pretax contributions of $2,000 or less to the plan each year, and (2) the employer does not make any contributions to the plan.

Unless both of those factors are satisfied, the individual is almost always better off participating in the employer’s retirement plan rather than making tax-deductible contributions to an IRA.

--Kirk F. Maldonado

Employee benefits attorney

Riordan & McKinzie

If you have a question about an on-the-job situation, please mail it to Shop Talk, Los Angeles Times, P.O. Box 2008, Costa Mesa, CA 92626; dictate it to (714) 966-7873; or e-mail it to shoptalk@latimes.com. Include your initials and hometown. The Shop Talk column is designed to answer questions of general interest. It should not be construed as legal advice.