Can I finally terminate?

Ixtapa99

Do you remember "Gotta term this guy..."? A couple of months ago, an EE was driving us nuts making continous errors with data entry, calculating payroll incorrectly, using company accounts for personal reasons (which we still have not rec'd reimbursement and in fact he submitted an NSF check for these charges), etc. The majority of responses suggested to be patient and document, document, document and I thank all who responded. Well...I have been patient and things have been documented and he was written up back in June and placed on 45 day probation. Yesterday he was written up and we held a disciplinary meeting again because during his 45 day probation, the errors continued and have actually gotten worse. His probation period was extended another 30 days and he was told "his employment with the company was seriously at risk and this would be the final written warning on this matter and that "if immediate and sustained improvement was not shown, his employment with the company would be terminated". We reiterated the importance of accuracy when calculating the payroll (duh?) and he was directed to correct the payroll errors immediately making sure he double checked his work before turning it in so we could complete the payroll process for this week. This morning the boss called me in to say that the EE's supervisor documented 9 errors on the "corrected" payroll. I don't understand how anyone who was reprimanded and specifically told their job was on the line could possibly have turned in such a careless mess. Because his written warning stated that this would be his last on this matter, can I please now terminate this guy? Any advice would be extremely appreciated. xpray

Mel in CO

Yes, I think that you can finally terminate this individual. You have substantial documentation and he has been warned on multiple occasions. If you don't terminate him and place him on another extended probationary period then you are simply making empty disciplinary statements/actions all of the other times that you warned him. Plus, I think that it would be the best choice for your organization to let this individual go and find someone that can correctly compute your payroll for the organization. It doesn't sound like this individual was trying to be malicious about his/her actions in not computing payroll correctly; rather he/she simply just doesn't have the skills to do the job. It is now time for your organization that can perform the payroll job and time for this individual to move on also. Good luck.

neveradull

It is time for this employee to be given the opportunity to excel elswhere.

Lori B

Roses are red, violets are blue, when Friday is over, so are you...

Sorry, couldn't resist. I'd say you have your ducks in a row. Good luck.

Ixtapa99

Thanks for the giggle! Here's another question maybe you can help with...When this guy used the FedEx account for personal reasons, he was reminded of the policy of NOT using the company account then we requested reimbursement. He submitted a check that was returned NSF. He has not rectified this after several requests. Can we deduct this from his final pay?

Lori B

Hi

It looks like you are in Illinois, my stomping ground. In Illinois, you technically cannot deduct from final pay like that unless the ee signs a written authorization for the deduction at the time the deduction is made. Once you tell him he is term'd, he will probably tell you to jump in the lake before he will sign anything.

Perhaps you point out to him (before you terminate him), that his repayment check was returned NSF. Accordingly, it can be deducted from his next check for his "convenience." Hand him the written authorization form at that point. It can be simple, one sentence: I hereby authorize the deduction of $x from my next paycheck to reimburse the Fed Ex charges....signed, dated. If he resists, tell him to bring in cash or a money order by tomorrow morning. Plan to terminate him the next morning no matter what....

If you end up term'g him and still no pay, you could deduct from final pay anyway. Just know the risks up front. If he is saavy to the Illinois Wage Payment Act, he could run to the IDOL and file a wage claim against you for the unauthorized deduction. Most ees don't know this though, so it is never challenged. If he does figure this out though, just be prepared to pay him back the deduction before the matter ever goes to hearing and cut your losses.

Good luck!

March22Collector

You've done your part it seems. You can terminate this guy. My question to you is this: What kind of training did this employee receive? I'm curious to know if when he was written up, was he given any kind of guidance or re-training on exactly what it was he was doing wrong and how to do it correctly? Or, was he just told his work was incorrect and to go fix it? I've seen a few times an employee doing a horrible job only to be told to fix it, with absolutely no training. On the other hand, I've seen an employee turn in very sloppy work, and after some quality training pump out very good work continuously.

Don D

You surely have sufficient documentation and corrective action attempts in place to terminate, even if you were in California (couldn't resist). Questions abound. Why was this person given an additional extension of time after he performed worse during the initial probationary period? Since his role was so critical and he was entrusted with something he could not be trusted with, should he not have either been terminated or been placed in another role? Payroll screwing up on a consistent basis is pretty important in my world! I too wonder about the level of training given, the past performance issues, signals of other issues, on and on. But, in my mind, bottom line is the lady with the poetry above is correct. And regarding the unreturned company funds, go for it!!

Ixtapa99

I just saw all of the questions from yesterday...the reason he was given an extended probation was because his supervisor was holding on to all of the mistakes during the initial probation period and I didn't know he was STILL making all of the errors (I only found out because the supervisor went to the president who is my boss), and yes he did receive proper training (even with all of the changes going on) because not only do I wear this particular hat I am also considered the "Office Mgr" and I provide training for most of the office functions (don't ya just love that?) so I sat with this guy walking him through everything, created step by step procedures for his position and held his hand.

So on Monday when I spoke with my boss and realized things were not geting any better, I approached this guy's supervisor and all of a sudden he hands me all of this documentation surrounding the errors. That's when I posted the question of finally getting rid of him. Tomorrow morning, he will be terminated and the search begins for an individual that can fill this position. Wish me luck! x:D

ritaanz

In my world, it would appear that this individual was looking to be terminated so they would be eligible to collect unemployment compensation. I would be more than happy to oblige.

Don D

Now there's an IQ test!