Walking Soap Opera - Help!
Parabeagle
3,085 Posts
I could use some advice. We have an employee (nonexempt accounting clerk) who is carrying more than her share of personal drama and tragedy, much of it of her own making. Unfortunately, it is affecting her ability to do her job through increased (read virtually constant) tardiness. In the past six months, this employee has exhausted all of her vacation, ETO (earned time off), personal day and sick days and gone into an "unpaid" status for any time away from work (so far, a total of 23 days has been missed -- in the last six months).
Reasons for the tardiness and absenteeism all revolve around her (a) troublemaker son who keeps getting suspended from school for knocking somebody's head in; (b) her estranged husband who keeps threatening to come after her (despite a restraining order, she keeps letting him back into her house); (c) her daughter who is constantly having some sort of trouble (be it automobile, boyfriend, etc.); personal illnesses (colds, flu, etc.). She has been told by our local court system (with which she is keenly familiar thanks to her husband and son) that she needs to do something about her situation and has been directed to counselors, social services agencies, but for whatever reason she is not following up.
I don't want to be insensitive about the situation but we are running a place of business and not a social services agency. One of the keys to her ability to do her job is the ability to be here (and no, we tried flexible work hours and telecommuting -- those are not options in this case).
The employee's supervisor is quite sympathetic to her plight but is exceedingly frustrated. She expects all her other employees to toe the line when it comes to attendance and punctuality and she cannot get this employee to get with the program. She is hesitant to discipline her because of the circumstances surrounding her tardiness/absenteeism and the fact that she is our only minority employee (and keeps reminding the supervisor of that fact).
Personally, if it were any other employee she probably would have been terminated some time ago. I am thinking of recommending to the supervisor that we sit her down, express our empathy with her situation and point out that it's affecting her attendance which in turn is affecting her ability to do the job. Then I suggest that she take some time off (a week or so leave of absence -- unpaid) to address her needs, attack the problems (she knows where the resources are) and then come back to work.
I don't know of any other way to handle it. I'm hoping that giving her the uninterrupted time off will actually force her hand and nudge her toward taking care of her needs. Am I on the right track or is there, perhaps, a better way to approach this? I'm all ears! Any and all suggestions welcome!
Thanks.
Eric
Reasons for the tardiness and absenteeism all revolve around her (a) troublemaker son who keeps getting suspended from school for knocking somebody's head in; (b) her estranged husband who keeps threatening to come after her (despite a restraining order, she keeps letting him back into her house); (c) her daughter who is constantly having some sort of trouble (be it automobile, boyfriend, etc.); personal illnesses (colds, flu, etc.). She has been told by our local court system (with which she is keenly familiar thanks to her husband and son) that she needs to do something about her situation and has been directed to counselors, social services agencies, but for whatever reason she is not following up.
I don't want to be insensitive about the situation but we are running a place of business and not a social services agency. One of the keys to her ability to do her job is the ability to be here (and no, we tried flexible work hours and telecommuting -- those are not options in this case).
The employee's supervisor is quite sympathetic to her plight but is exceedingly frustrated. She expects all her other employees to toe the line when it comes to attendance and punctuality and she cannot get this employee to get with the program. She is hesitant to discipline her because of the circumstances surrounding her tardiness/absenteeism and the fact that she is our only minority employee (and keeps reminding the supervisor of that fact).
Personally, if it were any other employee she probably would have been terminated some time ago. I am thinking of recommending to the supervisor that we sit her down, express our empathy with her situation and point out that it's affecting her attendance which in turn is affecting her ability to do the job. Then I suggest that she take some time off (a week or so leave of absence -- unpaid) to address her needs, attack the problems (she knows where the resources are) and then come back to work.
I don't know of any other way to handle it. I'm hoping that giving her the uninterrupted time off will actually force her hand and nudge her toward taking care of her needs. Am I on the right track or is there, perhaps, a better way to approach this? I'm all ears! Any and all suggestions welcome!
Thanks.
Eric
Comments
Seriously -- This employee should be disciplined and treated like anyone else. The only excusable reasons for tardiness at this point would be some type of covered FMLA excuse. Who cares about the reasons? Her tardiness is impacting the department (and you can bet that the next time one of the other employees is late, you will hear about how this employee has been allowed to slide by).
If she has not been written up, it should be done immediately. She should be given a clear, direct and final written warning -- no more being late -- and if you are late here is the consequence: termination.
If you have already gone through writing her up, then termination is the next step.
Good Luck!!
Make it clear and take appropiate action if you expect other employees to respect you and the company.
REGARDLESS.
EMPATHY NOTWITHSTANDING.
ALTHOUGH HR PEOPLE HAVE EMOTIONS, THEY CANNOT ADMINISTER POLICIES EMOTIONALLY.
x:o
Once you are through this issue you must be absolutely consistent in administering your attendance policy. Once broken, trust is really hard to rebuild.
I would, by the way, give the final warning. These are our expectations and the next occasion will result in termination.
She's had the equivalent of 1 month off (out of 6). Another week is not going to solve her problems.
The manager has just informed me, in fact, that she "knows what I have to do, but just can't do it."
So now I'm dealing with a reluctant manager.
Is it Friday yet???
In short, we spend a lot of money hiring and training these "human resources" and prefer this approach rather than having me spend the lion's share of my time managing a revolving door.
However, having said all that, I agree that this particular situation is probably not salvageable.
Thanks.
Every day you allow this to continue will add to the frustration of the problem employee's coworkers. Trying to "salvage" someone is an admirable act, but at some point you have to remember that your responsibility is the health of the whole organism, not just the diseased part.
If the manager can't manage that is a different issue that needs to, no must be addressed. But for now this employee needs to be sat down, today, and asked if she wants to continue employment and know what the expectations are. Hopefully she will resign but if not, terminate her the next time she is late or misses.
My $0.02 worth.
DJ The Balloonman