Help dealing with a member of staff

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MrsHBeauty

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I have a therapist who has a young child in school.

When applying for the job and interview covering holidays and extra shifts would be no problem. A year has gone by with no problems. Now the therapist won't cover any extra shifts etc.

I am sick to death of petty comments being left in the diary.

The therapist is 15 years older than me. Whilst I dont feel intimidated, I do feel I should respect her as she's older than me.

What is the next step?

Any help is gladly received, I'm stressing out big time!
 
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She isn't on any benefits is she? Maybe she is scared it will effect her family tax etc. if this is the problem could she have time off instead x just a thought
 
No that's not the problem. she has had a change in her personal life and now no longer requires to work extra unlike last year.

But surely if at interview she says she is willing to cover holiday and also in her contact if states that she will cover holidays, and that I can change her hours of work at any time.

I presume it wouldn't count as gross misconduct but she is in breech if her contract.
 
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Basically I want to know is can I rota her in without asking her or give her 2 weeks notice to leave.
 
I would gentley remind her of her contract and of the fact that the origonal position required overtime. Giver her notice that you are scheduling her in the rota.
If she doesnt show up, or pulls a sickie, its misconduct (as long as you can prove she wasnt ill)
Stand firm. Its easy to be intimidated by older staff, but YOU are HER boss. Dont forget it. She is the one who needs you, not the other way round.
xxx
 
Hi perhaps when she went though the interview she thought that overtime would be fine and obviously you said it was as u mention there have been no problems for a year. But shes had a change which afects her working hours so I would have thought this needs to be discussed with you so that a good working arrangement can be put in writing to accomodate this. I agree you are her boss and the age shouldnt intimidate you but to have a good working efficent team hours etc you may need to work out a written agreement that suits you both.:eek:
 
Hi guys.
I have 3 children ,14,6 and 2 and ive worked over and above what my contracted hours state as i look after the salon when my boss is away.
With all 3 pregnancies i worked full time untill 3 weeks before due dates and yes it was bloody hard,but its give and take.
When i started working for my boss as an apprentice i didnt have children at all but still worked sometimes more than contracted as in our industry its whats normally required.
Its not a simple 9-5 job.
If ever my children are ill and i get a call from the school and i have to get them i will reschedule my clients before i leave and my boss is totally fine with it,however thats because she knows i put in the extra when needed which is alot as theres only 4 of us at the moment so we are hectic!
Its swings and roundabouts but if she agreed to extra hours and covering other staff then she should stick to it.Its totally unfair to drop you in it like that.
 
I am in a similar situation but I am the employee, for 2yrs I've bent over backwards to cover hols, now my mum has moved away and she can't look after my dog if I am working 10 hour days, or many extra hours. (I have 2 jobs) my comprimise was that I gave up some hours so she could empoy someone else (I suggested this) I live 9 miles away from the salon and maybe moving another 12 miles away so cover will be a no go (sometimes cover is just 3 hours) but I have already said if this happens I will look for another job closer.

Think if u ask what hours she can cover for future referance ggives u a starting point for the conversation to come up. Xx
 
Perhaps she's got problems at home?
When I started my college course I thought I would be okay with the hours and days, but I have a daughter with autism. We were managing okay for the first 6 months, but then she got worse very quickly and I only just managed to finish the course due to the time off I needed. I had no help at all from anyone else either.
Just saying there may be other reasons why she won't do extra hours.
 
She cant cover any holiday in school holidays because of her son.

I have 2 week in august that need covering, and one shift next friday.

To me this is unacceptable to just say no.

I understand people dont live to work - but in order to live we all need to work. I understand people have personal lives. The role in which she was employeed has not changed the employee has changed the role which she wants.

Grrr today I just wanna give up and go home and have a good cry. My other member of staff is on holiday which she rightly deserves as she works so damned hard for me. Im having a tough time at home with my husband and 3 kids, im 27 and work over 70 hours a week for nothing and ive had enough. I dont think im cut out for this at all :( My dream is to run a bussiness but I am a control freak and find it really hard not controlling things exactly how i want, sticking to rules, and not having things my way etc (aybe its something ill earn in time). I am professional in every way apart form what goes on in my head. Flip i need a tea break!
 
Yes there may be reasons - im not denying that. But the job she was employed for included overtime, this was agreed by both of us and put into a contract.

I am trying to find out what as an employer is the right path of disiplinary action. an informal chat, a written warning, dismissal etc. There are many other problems which if she is to continue working for needs to be addressed, but thats a whole different ball game.

I am no ogre but I am running a bussiness at the end of the day, i do my best to accomodate everyone holidays requests, sickness etc. I have to play by the rules and so do employees and if either party doesnt then something has to be done.
 
Does it not state in her contract what the disciplinary procedure is?
I would have thought that a verbal warning has to come first, then written?
 
It says to follow the disiplanry procedure. I have that but it isnt clear about what classed as what. I think I will search the internet.

As far as im concerned unless we can agree on a way that she is able to cover some shifts then she in breach of section 4.5 of her contract and can be dismissed with notice? To me this is a really really serious matter.

Im sure it can be sorted out, ive called her and tols there are some issues id like to dicuss I will be i on wednesday to discuss them, in the mean time please read your contract.

That seems fair and we will discuss it from there, i'll do what i deem fit after chatting.
 
Look on acas website or phone them! I know if my partner cannot do overtime when required he can loose his job because it state overtime is essential when need in his contract.
 
Its a horrible situation when something like this happens but in business you have to be the boss and the friendly collegue which is really hard sometimes to get a happy medium.Its also hard not to take it personally sometimes.
You need a tea break!
I work stupid hours with 3 kids aswell and after spending a week at home with them i didnt want to come back today but it pays the bills and gives the kids treats and pays for family holidays and i really love my job,like you do no doubt but sometimes it can all get too much what the that awful thing called parental guilt :-(.
But im sure many other geeks on here feel the same way.
Chin up deep breath cup of tea and smile xx
 
As someone who took a VERY large company through grievance processes be VERY careful about what you do right now... if you do not have things written down clearly in the contract then you're in a VERY grey area and you need to speak to someone like ACAS or an employment solicitor.
Many years ago now (6-7ish) I ran a large team of engineers and had to discipline 2 of them - the looks we had to go through despite the evidence gathered, the excessive absences etc was enormous... I managed to get to the dismissal stage of one of them (who then presented me with her resignation at the dismissal meeting, I rejected it and sacked her... ) and her best friend then resigned an hour later in a hissyfit in the middle of the office to which I took the resignation letter, checked it and said thanks then asked for her to be escorted out. Both tried to put together cases for unfair dismissal and neither had a case because I took a LOT of time to make sure I had followed process... Dismissing someone is NOT easy and you need to get the appropriate legal advice if you don't have the right contract in place.
 
Thanks for the advice.

ps I didnt even manage to have the school holidays off, another thing that bugs me - booking in clients when we arent even open, and im not even scheduled to work, then texting me to say that she cant book it on the computer as it wont allow her?! - I dont understand that!
 
A staff meeting and reminder of the rules of working practice may be in order.
Our rule is unless the particular stylist agrees to working over the opening/closing hours it can not be booked in.Simple.
How many staff do you have?
Does everyone get on as im getting the vibe that maybe many things are making you unhappy.
Do you own the business and are the staff employed or self employed?
 
Don't shoot me, but my opinion is before it gets to the disciplinary stage it would help for you both to chat about the work situation and needs for both of you to have your say. You may find she has personal stuff, or not. But surely if she has been a good member of staff for a year then something changes. There will most probably be a reason, for the change.
On the other side, yes it sounds like you need more than one coffee break!!! I understand running a business, having kids, running a home etc is way more than a full time job, (i do it myself with 6 children!!) it has little rewards. However I do feel going down the disciplinary road may cause bad feeling then you may find it gets worse. You may then find you have more hours because she walks out, or you sack her.
I am by no means suggesting your not firm as her boss but I merely talking from experience. And an understanding, yet firm boss that you can discuss work related problems with is in my opinion far better. I had a very similar position with my last job, I felt I couldn't cope with the demands of my boss, as I had a very bad home life at that particular time. When my boss talked about contract and disciplinary action, I couldn't take anymore and left. They then had even more shifts to cover!!

Like I said just my opinion, not intended to offend!! :)
 
I may be wrong, but do u think she can afford the childcare costs in the school holidays? I know some of my friends are working just to pay the child care fee's in the hols.

As suggested a staff meeting and maybe an appraisal for each member of staff may help, praise those who are working hard for u, and get to bring up issues with the others. Xx
 

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