"Missing" Documents

LindaS

Yesterday I wrote about the ee who brought the dog into our plant. Well, things just keep getting more interesting with this person...

Last night he was given the disciplinary actions for both the dog and quality. He refused to sign them although we made sure a union rep. was there. This morning when I reported to work I did not find the paperwork in my mailbox (it's a locked mailbox on the outside of my office door)as I expected. I checked around and nobody had the paperwork either. Later this morning I spoke with the supervisor who gave him the write ups and asked her where she put them. She responded that she placed them in my mailbox. After double checking with other managers the information is nowhere to be found and we also discovered that if you pull on the side of my mailbox, you can get your hand inside.

I'm sure you're thinking the same as I am regarding what happened to that documentation. We have several problems in dealing with it: 1) this employee is on vacation today, 2) this ee starts a 3-week voluntary layoff on Monday and 3) As far as I know nobody saw him take it.

I don't think there is anything we can do but I wanted to ask you guys if you felt the same way.

Whatever

One of the frustrations of the job is when you know who, what, where, how and when and you can't do a thing about it. This is one of those times. However, it also sounds that when this ee returns from layoff, it will not be for a long period of time. In the meantime, get a new mailbox (and if you're feeling nasty put a picture of cute dog on it).

LindaS

I like your answer. As a person who has four big dogs, I might just do that!

Don D

Since you do have a union, nothing short of recreating the document will work. Go ahead and regenerate the same document from your computer (or wherever), call the supervisor together with the same union rep who witnessed the original conference, explain the details and ask each of them to sign the new document. Do this right away, like today. Upon return of the ee, explain it to him (as if he doesn't know it already, in the presence of both of those people and tell him the document is a replacement for the one that has disappeared. Don't ask him if he wants to rethink signing it....handle it just as it ended earlier with him refusing to sign (that is of no consequence). A typed full accounting accompanying the new document to the file will suffice for any arbitrator who might enter the scenario later and your discipline will not have been thwarted. P.S. In our case, copies of the document go to the ee, the supervisor, the union and the HR Department. Did all the copies disappear too?

LindaS

We have only one original and copies are made after it is signed. The employee elected not to receive one, the union steward is new as is the supervisor so they union rep had not yet received his copy. The ONLY record of the write-ups are missing. I spoke with the union rep this afternoon and verified everything the supervisor told me. I wrote up a statement regarding the situation and that the ee had received the warnings in a timely manner. I also included an explanation on the bottom explaining why the paperwork is being handled the way it is. I handed it to the union rep. who read and signed it and promptly gave a copy to the union.

My thoughts on this are NOT to say anything to the ee, he is off today and for at least the next three weeks. By the time he returns it will be old news and he will think he "got away" with it and hopefully he will be more careless next time. I know it sounds sneaky and underhanded but the list of problems with this ee are long and varied. I am basically waiting for him to "hang himself".

Don D

It may be problematic for you down the road if the arbitrator asks the ee if he DID receive a copy and then asks you if you did in fact give him a copy and explain the situation to the ee and the arbitrator that ee neither received a copy nor an explanation of the situation. This is a stretch, I know, but it could result in a convoluted decision. In the future, I would not let any ee decide whether or not he gets a copy of a warning or reprimand.

I think though that your memo that you have now created, with signatures, should answer any and all questions going forward.

Terry

Announce that you had the mailbox fingerprinted and are waiting for the result!

System

Ohhhhh, you are a devious little devil, aren't you? I like it!!!!