Spouse of EE Calling office
Ronda in CO
6 Posts
We have an EE in our field office whose wife has called several times to the office. She is very abusive on the phone to the office assistants and has cursed at them and called them horrible names. We have explained to the EE that this can't continue, but he says he can't control her. How would you handle this situation?
Ronda
Ronda
Comments
I am not on the same phone system as our field office, which will not enable me to have the calls forwarded. We did have one of the supervisors take a call from her and she cussed at him as well.
When we first advised the EE that we couldn't allow his wife to call and disrupt the workplace, he told us to call the cops! Doesn't sound like a good relationship - to say the least! I'm beginning to be concerned that this could escalate into a violent scene.
We have discussed calling the police to file a complaint. Prior to doing this, I would contact her.
I would also check your policy on employee's recieving personal phone calls. Her behavior is the issue here but it wouldnt hurt to know refresh yourself on your current policies.
When she calls, she is not calling to talk to our EE. She is calling to complain about something he had to do or some minor thing. The last call was regarding his paycheck. Our EE couldn't get to the office to pick his check up, since he was working in the field that day. The office assistant who lives close to where he was working suggested she meet him and deliver the check. (This never actually occurred!) The check was left at the office and he picked it up the next day. However, somehow the wife found out and suspected there was some hanky-panky going on between the office asst and her husband - this started the ball rolling on the last call! The office has received at least 2 calls regarding this incident!
Anyway, I really like your suggestion and will probably follow that course of action. Thanks.
Other than that, if the EE has a problem with the work that he is doing for you (as what is sounds like the EE's spouse has issues with), the EE needs to take it up with his manager. You might want the manager to pull the EE in and talk with the EE about the job just to make sure everything truly is OK.
In the end, I don't know if a letter from the company asking her to stop calling is going to help. It make her more riled up then she already is. You may have to get the police involved.
I had a situation where an ex-EE was calling one of my managers during business hours and leaving vulgar messages on her v-mail. The Manager and I have had many discussions about why the ex-EE is targeting her, but in the end she ended up going to the police to get a restraining order on the ex-EE. Ever since, all phone calls have stopped. I don't know if the 'company' as a whole can get something like that from the police/court system.
Good luck! I feel for you and this issue. It is a hard one to deal with.
If the employee gets angry, "oh, well",there are other career options. Your other employees should not take abuse for his apparently bad marriage.
Paychecks should only be picked up by employees or someone who has written authorization from the employee. I would also never be drawn into a conversation with anyone concerning my employee's schedule, work duties, etc. The spouse has no right to any employment information.
Good luck. These are always nasty.
If the harrassment continues, we will contact the police to see what our options would be in this case. We would terminate the EE if everything else fails.
I appreciate all your suggestions.
I'll be back!!