what Would you Do About Employee?

[thaiturkey]

I also get the feeling that this is a substance abuse case.

NYboy, you haven't said whether you've sat with him alone and discussed this. The first time his wife called and the next you exchanged sms with him. If you want to give this person another chance, you have to take the upper hand. He seems to be in control rather than you at the moment.

Do you have other employees? If so, you must consider them. They have had to cover the work of this new employee who takes time off without notice or permission. How do they feel about that? What do they think about you as a boss who puts up with this?

 

[twentynine]

Fire him.

Way to many peolpe out their that want to work. His wife and child are not your responsibility.

 

[mixitup]

As someone that used to manage 45 emoployees...fired him. I would not have given him another chance on after the first day. Kinda harsh, but that behavior is indicative of what you can expect to see if you keep him, he will be more hassle than he is worth in the long run.

Sorry, I agree totally, if he's already been gone 2x out of what>10 days/7 days< doesn't matter. It's a freaking phone call. He's unreliable and will continue to do so. Sounds like the wife is not only an enabler, be she's a rescuer as well. Taking care of his problems. If he's like this now, what's he going to be like in 3 months, when it will be harder to fire him?

 

[Mattemma]

Would fire him.When my dad died I was the first told and still managed to call work to cancel then tell of the death family.There is no forgetting your obligations.The guy in a BSer,and someone else deserves the job.End of hand wrigging.Be wary some types act out.

 

[justbugged]

I was at work when my Grandmother died, and DH was at work when our daughter died. There is something about paying the rent, and eating that should make a job a priority. We did spend the remainder of those 2 day days with our families, but still knew that we needed to go back to work the next day. There is rarely a reason that a person can't at the least make the phone call to their employer themselves. The fact that his wife called thee first day, makes him sound like a looser.

I agree with today's economy there are too many other people that need a job, and that will show up every day, to bother with a guy that can't show up or even call himself. The odds are there will always be some type of drama going on for this guy, that will make sure that he won't be able to work more than part time.

So I am on the "Fire his A**" side.

 

[bakerjw]

I've seen a lot of people like him who can only make excuses and It's never their fault. He's making decent money, not great but decent, and these days there are literally tens of thousands of people willing to do a job that pays that well.

 

[OldGuy43]

Do you have other employees? If so, you must consider them. They have had to cover the work of this new employee who takes time off without notice or permission. How do they feel about that? What do they think about you as a boss who puts up with this?

There is something about paying the rent, and eating that should make a job a priority.

Both ThaiTurkey and JustBugged have made good points. I'd like to add that by allowing this goober to get away with it you're setting yourself up. Your other employees will begin to think, "Well, that guy got away with it, and I wouldn't mind a day off so..." I would have put his lazy butt out on the sidewalk the first time if for no other reason than to send a clear message.

And now, another quote from The Notebooks of OldGuy43: "Do not put trust in anyone who does not take seriously that which puts food on his table and a roof over his head!"

If you don't mind I'll offer one more pearl gleaned from 69 years of living; "Never tell anyone more than they absolutely need to know!" Had you just done what you knew to be necessary and not told your wife you would have been much better off. Firing someone is never easy, I know. Been there, done that. Telling someone else does not make it easier, and trying to explain yourself just makes it worse. The person you tell will either (a) instinctively know why you did what you did and accept it, or (b) never fully understand why you did what you did.

Hope this helps. Try not to beat yourself up. You did what you had to.

 

[NYboy]

He showed up at 8am the next day like nothing happen, I said here is pay for days you worked, good luck in life. I don't drug test so don't know if drugs or just lazy. A very good point was made about how other employees had extra work days he didn't show up.( will add extra to pay for them).Oldguy you are 100% right next time I need to let someone go no family will know .Have a new guy starting tomorrow, Thanks

 

[OldGuy43]

He showed up at 8am the next day like nothing happen, I said here is pay for days you worked, good luck in life. I don't drug test so don't know if drugs or just lazy. A very good point was made about how other employees had extra work days he didn't show up.( will add extra to pay for them).Oldguy you are 100% right next time I need to let someone go no family will know .Have a new guy starting tomorrow, Thanks

Glad I could help. As we go through life we are always forced to evaluate what has happened and adjust our future actions in light of what we have learned. Failure to do so just means that we will keep repeating the same mistakes over and over.

Hope the new employee works out for you,

Mike

P.S. I'm thinking of starting a thread, "Drugs in and Out of the Workplace". Any interest? I have some views that I'm sure will be controversial at best.

 

[thaiturkey]

He showed up at 8am the next day like nothing happen, I said here is pay for days you worked, good luck in life. I don't drug test so don't know if drugs or just lazy. A very good point was made about how other employees had extra work days he didn't show up.( will add extra to pay for them).Oldguy you are 100% right next time I need to let someone go no family will know .Have a new guy starting tomorrow, Thanks

Good luck with the new employee.

Business owners and managers learn fro experiences like yours so don't beat yourself up over it. You've gained some insight ready for the next problem.

Going back to my point about the work group, here's an old experience of mine. Out of about 250 staff, I had a dozen or so field staff who worked between them the whole of Britain. One of them was travelling very short distances from home so that he could spend some work time with his girlfriend. The office staff monitoring this sort of thing didn't pick it up but his colleagues, who worked hard, did. They became suspicious and checked the records in the office. Two of them came to tell me. Monitoring was changed so that we could watch him and he was pulled in when we had enough evidence without implicating his colleagues in the plan. He left very soon after, before I used the disciplinary procedure to sack him. That showed me just how dedicated staff feel when others aren't pulling their weight but still getting paid. I was glad that they felt able to tell me rather than have resentment festering.