Emploee Meetings

jc

We have an employee who refused to attend the weekly departmental meetings and was disciplined for non-attendance. Now he brings a note from the doctor saying that he should be excused because they cause him "stress" (he has had past heart surgery). Any suggestions for handling this latest ploy by him?

ritaanz

Hey JC welcome. I have questions, no answers. What goes on in these departmental meetings? What sort of stress is generated? If you can describe the agenda or atmosphere, we might be able to jump in and help you.

Balloonman1

Ask him if being terminated would cause him more or less stress? x:D

My $0.02 worth,
DJ The Balloonman

sonny

xclap

dchr9203

If I thought for one moment I could get away with this one, I would never have to attend another boring staff or management meeting again in my life! Good grief, the imagination of humans is limitless. Does this employee have to do anything other than attend and listen? If that's the case, I would say "Denied"; attendance is mandatory. Or better yet, say "Denied" pending second opinion of company appointed physician. A doctor's excuse, as we all know, is simply what the employee tells the doctor to write, and is worthless unless we're forced to tie it to some legally protected issue such as FMLA or ADA.

mrbill

You have the right to call employee meetings, and you have the right to demand the presence of all involved. I suspect that you have an employee who has some sport of a psychological problem. But, that should not excuse attendance at the meeting.

jc

The meetings are used to discuss various subjects (safety, production, company news, upcoming events,etc.) He thinks tne meetings are a "waste of his time" and he is looking for an excuse not to attend.

Don D

Tell him the only way he will be excused from the next meeting is if he is standing at the counter down at the unemployment insurance office. In that event, he will not be needed in the meeting.

ritaanz

In that case, I would give him a choice, the front door to ease the stress or the meeting room door. One saves his job the other will undoubtedly create a higher level of stress.

SMace

You have received excellent advice. But it sounds like you are working on the symptom and not the cure. If someone is pulling that kind of crap you got some deeper issues to deal with. Good luck.

deniseE

I agree...many meetings turn into "venting" sessions...it might be helpful to explore how the meetings are run and see if there is a way to improve. The guy still has to go...but if you can make it a better use of everyone's time..why not?

One of our depts. had problems with staff meetings breaking down into a he said/she said...finger pointing blame game every week. A new manager came in and developed an agenda shell that would be followed. All employees had to submit topics for discussion at least 24 hours in advance and had to provide a workable solution to the complaint before the item would be placed on the agenda. This did wonders for deptartment morale and ended the complaining for the sake of complaining problem.

Good luck!

HRCalico

That's awesome, Densie! Wish every employee with a problem could try and come up with a solution first. Kudos to that supervisor!