How should I deal with this staff member

[charly]

Hi i'd just like to ask you how to deal with this issue or issues...

firstly She had booked in her sister for eyelash fills which she was doing. family members get a discount i.e i cover my costs but make no profit.
I was away on the day of question but received a text from her saying she'd done another treatment instead on her sister and how much would it be and could i deduct this from her wages. i didn't get this text till much later in the day so didn't reply to it. Since then it has been noted that she had in fact done this treatment on her friend not family member as in her text therfore asking for a discount for family but doing a normal non discount client. she has been with me for 4 years so she knows this rule. i am not sure what to do, she has lied to me in order to get a discount for her friend which she is well aware i do not do. how should i deal with this is this, fraud- stealing, gross misconduct?
how should I progress.

Also how do you deal with staff that have keys letting themselves in to your shop after trade hours without permission, yes same girl?

there are other incidents i.e requesting to leave early and move clients over to other staff for me only to find out this was so she could do a private client at home her father dropped of her nail kit at the shop infront of a shop full of clients telling them all she was of to do a private client. I was not at the shop this day either. my day off! but my mum was and another staff member was witness to this...what do I do?
Thank you, I need to get a handle on this as she's only been back from maternity for 3 weeks

 

[ftnw]

Hi i'd just like to ask you how to deal with this issue or issues...

firstly She had booked in her sister for eyelash fills which she was doing. family members get a discount i.e i cover my costs but make no profit.
I was away on the day of question but received a text from her saying she'd done another treatment instead on her sister and how much would it be and could i deduct this from her wages. i didn't get this text till much later in the day so didn't reply to it. Since then it has been noted that she had in fact done this treatment on her friend not family member as in her text therfore asking for a discount for family but doing a normal non discount client. she has been with me for 4 years so she knows this rule. i am not sure what to do, she has lied to me in order to get a discount for her friend which she is well aware i do not do. how should i deal with this is this, fraud- stealing, gross misconduct?
how should I progress.

Also how do you deal with staff that have keys letting themselves in to your shop after trade hours without permission, yes same girl?

there are other incidents i.e requesting to leave early and move clients over to other staff for me only to find out this was so she could do a private client at home her father dropped of her nail kit at the shop infront of a shop full of clients telling them all she was of to do a private client. I was not at the shop this day either. my day off! but my mum was and another staff member was witness to this...what do I do?
Thank you, I need to get a handle on this as she's only been back from maternity for 3 weeks

Do you have in your contact that she can't do private clients as that would be gross misconduct.

You cannot just fire her, however you need to sit down and talk to her and tell her she is getting a Verbal (which is also a written warning) and that you will be monitering her from now on.

Tell her positives about her too, which i hope there is and that you do value her. However some issues need addressing which isn't professional behaviour.

Do you really want to lose this staff member. Good staff are hard to find.

If you have other members of staff can you not have a staff meeting and maybe re-do your business manual or shops Code of Conduct and Policies and Procedures that should form part of there contracts anyway. This will reinstate what she should already know without upsetting her.

HTH x

 

[charly]

I have just had a staff meeting for the benefit of her return to work she has worked for me for 4 years but not without problems. I feel like she has a disrespect for me as her boss. She has just taken a sub from the till without permission. Let herself in the shop at 9 at night without permission.

 

[RBT]

Really all this should be in her contract, key holding, discounts etc also procedures, i can email you one of my contracts if it helps
Regards to the use of keys out of hours, there is an alarm which has seperate codes so you can see who opened/closed at certain times.

 

[wonderwoman]

I think shes proberly been undermining you the entire time. We've all experienced the polite as pie girl, whoes really not very nice. Be frank and honest with her, ask her if shes alright family wise, commitment issues with work or requiring extra hours of work or any assistance, ie her new born. Let her know shes a valued member of you team, but feel that you owe it to other staff to let them build themselves up, if she cant cope with the standards/requlations/rules you have set.

In regards to keys.....tricky, unless shes purposly stolen etc. Maybe she thinks she is the boss on your days off, that things are run differently, that she can do what she likes. id take the keys back and say im changing the locks, due to trespassers, and see if she owns up.

As scooby doo villains always say "i would've of gotten away with it too" hehe! .....exactly whats shes been doing...do open you eyes that maybe you may be too trusting on her and the fact that it's seen as an open conversation in front of her dad and your mum just shows, this is more frequent than you know. Good luck xoxo

 

[dandelionpoppy]

Get proper evidence of her "borrowing" from the till and letting herself in at night.
These 2 incidents are the ones I would consider most troubling; what was she doing in there at that time? Seems a bit odd, particularly with a new baby!
When you've got the evidence hold a formal meeting with her.

 

[unas escarlata]

Oh dear, I really feel for you, I've had a few similar scenarios and dealt with them through my lawyers so I am speaking from experience. I owned a local franchise of a worldwide business and we had to ensure all of our procedures were watertight and fell totally within the line of employment legislation and disciplinary procedures.

You are correct in using the term gross misconduct. For the purposes of employment legislation, gross misconduct is including, but not limited to

"1 theft, fraud, deliberate falsification of records
2 fighting, assault on another person
3 deliberate damage to organisational property
4 serious incapability through alcohol or being under the influence of illegal drugs
5 serious negligence which causes unacceptable loss, damage or injury
6 serious act of insubordination
7 unauthorised entry to computer records"

1. theft - she is performing reduced cost treatments on someone who is not eligible.
2. deliberate falsification of records - by telling you it was her sister
3. insubordination (wilfully disobeying an authority) - going against your rules
If you have a clause in your contracts about not doing private customers there's number 4...and you have no idea just how many of these she has!

Without wishing to sound harsh, you need to knock this on the head as if she gets away with it, other staff may feel aggrieved, or worse, may think they can get away with it. I am sorry to say that it seems that she has no respect for you and your business. There are certain rules you must obey in order to do this properly and avoid this person taking action against you. If I were you, I would suspend her on full pay pending the outcome of an investigation. The less time she has on your premises, the less time she has to look at client records with a view to taking more of your customers.

Take a look at this website employment manual, it really is very helpful
DAS

Just as a word of warning, if you are planning on changing the contract terms and conditions this has to be done by consultation - a formal procedure, not just a staff meeting.

 

[RBT]

Get proper evidence of her "borrowing" from the till and letting herself in at night.
These 2 incidents are the ones I would consider most troubling; what was she doing in there at that time? Seems a bit odd, particularly with a new baby!
When you've got the evidence hold a formal meeting with her.

Totally Agree!

 

[charly]

I think wonderwoman your right, it's not so much the act itself but that she hasn't asked just done nor has she said "oh I had to pop back to the shop cause I forgot....last night I hope that was okay or I took a sub cause I needed .... Thank you" nothing not anything I actually feel let down and disappointed and taken for a mug.

 

[nietta]

Personally id sit down with her, bring up absolutely everything, and say that because shes been with you so long you willgive her one last chance- say a probationary couple of months. But thats just me. If she stepped out of line once, even just being a few minutes late, she'd be out the door. Obviously take the keys off her and any responsibility apart from her actual treatments x

 

[Josie*]

It sounds to me like she has overstepped the mark completely. Within 3 weeks she has taken money from YOUR till, knocked off early to work elsewhere and blatantly lied and given a friend discount she wasn't entitled too. In my experience as an employer this situation is unlikely to get any better especially as you already say you feel she is taking you for a mug.
I think you need to go with the previous post nietta but be prepared to follow through with firing her.
In my experience if she is a bad egg the warning will set in motion her moving on just watch your client records!
Sorry to be pessimistic but this doesn't sound like a good employee no matter how good she is
Good luck xx

 

[Blue Rose]

As she's been with you for so long you really need to speak to someone like ACAS or DAS if you want to discipline her or get rid of her, especially given the fact she's just come back from maternity. You wouldn't want her claiming unfair dismissal because of bambino...

 

[charly]

Thank you all, once again this site and community has helped me. Dealing with employees comes with so many pitfalls that sometimes staff get away with too much because your afraid and don't know how to deal with it. But yes I can feel my other staff are a little bewildered by whats happenedwhat's happend and I need to act fast and sort it out. She is due in on Thursday so I shall spend the next few days gathering all the facts to these events and present them to her. I will speak with acas to be sure I am dealing with it correctly.
Thank you for your support and knowledge. It stops now!

 

[handbagqueen]

It is hard to deal with staff problems , but i have learned the hard way myself , I have new staff members and now i nip everything in the bud straight away, no matter what.I think staff get too comfortable after a period of time and will test the boundries. My advice is have a sit down asap , and start by saying these issues have come to my attention , it helps if you have dates, times etc.. and see what she has to say for herself let her know it is not acceptable, you could get her to sign something (if she has no contract already) like these are the salon rules and list out all that you have mentioned, the leaving early to treat another client is crazy !!! I would be furious :Scared:
When it comes to staff having keys , its a tricky one as it is usually necessary if you have different days off, locking up later etc , but I would insist that there is no after hour entry to the salon no matter what , would your insurance cover it?? you dont know what they could be doing there.
Weigh every thing up and see is this girl worth hanging on to and if not get rid !!!! Its hard enough for business owners in this climate without the extra stress of all this. Good luck and keep us posted

 

[charly]

I have spoken to acas- well what woolly advice!!! They really didn't help me.
So I phone peninsula an employment law company that are employer focused...fantastic proper answers. So upshot taking a sub without permission gross misconduct!! All the other issues are at my discretion And how I feel about them relationship breakdown, lack of trust and respect towards me and the shop etc...well I am disappointed And feel seriously let down, so he said suspend full pay pending investigation. I had scheduled in to see her tomorrow (she has not been in today So was unaware of the meeting) but before I had a chance to let her know- she called in sick!!!! Ha Ha!!
Meeting now planned for Tuesday.

 

[unas escarlata]

Good.

Keep strong and keep us posted, you're doing EXACTLY the right thing.

x

 

[charly]

Following yesterday and her sick call I found out she's been to hospital- her sisters went in today to be induced! I've had her mother in the phone abusing my staff and demanding I phone Hollie and they want a copy of her contract saying what right have I do de employe Hollie as she's been here for 4 years,
All I've asked for is an informal chat!
This is out of control!!! Roll on Friday

 

[Baggybear]

Following yesterday and her sick call I found out she's been to hospital- her sisters went in today to be induced! I've had her mother in the phone abusing my staff and demanding I phone Hollie and they want a copy of her contract saying what right have I do de employe Hollie as she's been here for 4 years,
All I've asked for is an informal chat!
This is out of control!!! Roll on Friday

Do you think she maybe has access to this site and has read this thread so knows your possibly going to end her employment because of all the issues?

 

[wonderwoman]

she must know your on this. However, its and informal chat, and she knows she done wrong....if your reading(lil miss sweet as pie) you know what you did!!!!! Getting her mum on the phone, what an idiot, in the 4 years shes worked for you, thats the respect you get??!

However regardless what you ask on a forum, you needed advice, and you've done nothing wrong to expose her in any way. All you're asking for is honesty.

I would advise you to ensure that you dont mention this to other staff members, as this is proberly how shes found out, stick to you guns till you see her, and air out all greviences, her mother calling on her behalf, is unacceptable with her abuse, diggin a hole for her daughter. Im so annoyed on you're behalf! Good luck xoxo

 

[charly]

This is my first real staff issue and in the first instance I wanted to sound bite you all especially those of u who have salons as I needed to know if my feelings on this matter were just and that the incidents were serious as I am a very easy going boss and fair. I think it unlikely she's on here but not impossible, the issues I have discussed are true and factual and as a result of all advise given to me I have sort guidance on the legal implications should I wish to make this a formal disciplinary. At this time I wish only to follow the correct procedures Which may or may not result in further action. It is my aim to be fair and honest whilst protecting my business and my staff. Nothing has been decided until the proper channels have been explored.
I hate confrontation and upsetting anyone and believe me this is distressing for me too hence the moral support
From those with previous experience. I hope if there is contact today we can at least arrange to meet without the need for any more bad behaviour ?
Thanks girls I'll let u know.