Looking for another job on company time

hrwoman

We brought an IT support person aboard. She was hired perm on 7/27/04. I found fax confirmations where she sent in her applications for other jobs at work. I looked at our timeclock system and she took a 3 hour lunch yesterday and then she emailed today stating she had an emergency at home and had to leave. She said she would be back but we haven't seen her. Needless to say I am very suspicious of her behavior. Her manager is out on business but he is to return Monday. I told him we really need to discuss this. He wants to keep her since we are trying to implement Oracle in the next couple of months. However, I feel like we could easily get "screwed" and she leave right before everything goes live. Any suggestions? Thanks.

amwkim

Are you certain that the fax confirms were applications for employment? That would be the only issue I think you should address. She was using company equipment and supplies to look for other work. What she does on her lunch breaks, even though it was 3 hours, isn't of concern to you. The emergency should be legit. I would approach her with the confirms and ask her about them.

Just remember, an at will employee can leave at any time. :-)

hrwoman

Yes, I am certain the applications were for employment. It was the State of SC apps and had her name and the positions she was applying for. My concern w/ the lunch is that she is an hourly employee and lunches should only be an hour unless approved. She wasn't approved for a 3 hour lunch so I feel this is another issue that needs to be brought to her attention.

Thanks!

Crout

Typical IT worker behavior. Some of those folks just can't understand it's not 1995 anymore when companies were putting up with all kinds of nonsense in order to keep their IT people. I would confront the worker directly. Ask her what her intentions are, and remind her of what your expectations are.

marc

It might be time to protect yourself from her leaving at the worst time. Consider advertising for the position while she is still there. You might be lucky and find the right person. Then you can terminate and go forward with the better fit.

Whirlwind

It takes a lot of gall -- or stupidity -- to leave such blatant evidence of using company resources for personal business (especially job hunting-type personal business). The unapproved 3-hour lunch and unsubstantiated "emergency" are the icing on the cake. If you're lucky enough to have this woman find another job and quit, well, hold the door open for her as she departs and repeat after me: "Thank God and Greyhound she's gone."

marc

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 10-15-04 AT 03:18PM (CST)[/font][br][br]"Thank God and Greyhound she's gone."

Hey, that sounds like the title of some sort of Blues song. Ray, warm up "Lucile" - oh wait, that's BB's instrument. Can you play the blues on a trombine?

Whirlwind

I think it might be the name of an old country and western song, and although I'll defer to Ray on this one, I think you could come a hell of lot closer to playing the blues on a trombone than you could C&W.

Don D

Roy Clark - Hee Haw.

Whirlwind

Thanks, Don. That's right -- Roy Clark, a great picker for sure, recorded the song (though someone else wrote it). The actual title is "Thank God and Greyhound, You're Gone."

Don D

My now-deceased aunt, (aptly named Lucille, but we called her 'Cille) was a Greyhound agent in a tiny MS town, starting way back in the early 50s. As a little boy pestering her in the bus station, I was once told by her that Greyhound had the rights to North and South lanes and Trailways primarily ran East and West, except in a few infrastructural impossibilities.

So, the point of all that drivel is that it might well have been "Thank God And Trailways She's Gone". x:-)