Staff Problems, or is it me.

Staff Problems, or is it me.

Author
Discussion

Reltub

Original Poster:

198 posts

177 months

Tuesday 14th October 2014
quotequote all
Over the years probably half the people we have employed seem to think not turning in is Ok. They don't call on the day and then turn up the next day as if nothings happened. My nephew works in a shop and every one is on zero hour contracts and are used and abused IMO. They have too many staff and put them breaks for hours if to many turn up. I don't want to go down this route but I can see some of the benefits. It seems to of got worse in the last ten years, work is right down on the list of priorities.

jagracer

8,248 posts

235 months

Tuesday 14th October 2014
quotequote all
Do you pay them when they don't turn up?

IATM

3,779 posts

146 months

Tuesday 14th October 2014
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To be honest that is a general problem in the UK. Everyone is given and is told having a job is a given right and its just not.

I have worked for some big companies and the idea of being late used to stress the crap out of me as it was just plain shameful even if it was not my faulty however some of my work mates used to turn up 1 hour later. Needless to say they don't last long.

Time for you to start giving offical warnings and putting their jobs on the line.


Edited by IATM on Tuesday 14th October 13:45

JimmyConwayNW

3,056 posts

124 months

Tuesday 14th October 2014
quotequote all
It's not good enough. It's a problem that's only going to get worse.

I hate when staff say to me ' I'm having next Wednesday off because or docs/sports day/wonga loan appointment'

No you will ask and I will check its free and we have suitable cover.


jagracer

8,248 posts

235 months

Tuesday 14th October 2014
quotequote all
Do you have rules about phoning in by a certain time and then phoning again to let you know they'll be back the following day? You need to set rules and you need to enforce them otherwise people will take the piss.
We get it in our place and it really fks the rest of us up (looks like I work in the same industry so I know how difficult it is) when someone throws a sicky, it's normally on Monday mornings. One guy we had would constantly phone up on Mondays with ailments such as broken ribs and strains that would keep the rest of us off for weeks and then come back in right as rain the following day, thankfully he left a while back.



Edited by jagracer on Tuesday 14th October 12:33

DoubleSix

11,691 posts

175 months

Tuesday 14th October 2014
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Sounds like you might want to give your nephew a job. He could probably use a break....

Reltub

Original Poster:

198 posts

177 months

Tuesday 14th October 2014
quotequote all
We don't pay them. They must not need the money. If they made up for it by offering to work late or just worked hard when they are here it would not be so bad. They just seem to think that not coming in has no affect on what happens that day.

anothernameitist

1,500 posts

134 months

Tuesday 14th October 2014
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Still put a procedure in place for reporting absence.

No procedure = no discaplinary and an ET would have you!

LordHaveMurci

12,034 posts

168 months

Tuesday 14th October 2014
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Last guy we had problems with took 8.5 days absence in a 21 day working month, don't think any of the 5 months he was with us was absent free, he was frequently late too.

Our legal bods advised us not to sack him as he was claiming various illnesses that may have been classed as discrimination by an ET so we had to go through a long & bloody painful process before he saw what was coming & jumped ship. Found out afterwards that he had done the same to at least the previous two Companies he had worked for, our fault for not taking references, lesson learned the hard way.

Still not as bad as the complete bh that claimed sexual harassment after being sacked for being useless, turned out she'd done it before too furious
Luckily I had three other females in the office, all of whom sided with me.

Hackney

6,811 posts

207 months

Tuesday 14th October 2014
quotequote all
Reltub said:
Over the years probably half the people we have employed seem to think not turning in is Ok. They don't call on the day and then turn up the next day as if nothings happened. My nephew works in a shop and every one is on zero hour contracts and are used and abused IMO. They have too many staff and put them breaks for hours if to many turn up. I don't want to go down this route but I can see some of the benefits. It seems to of got worse in the last ten years, work is right down on the list of priorities.
There's a big area between staff taking the piss (your situation) and exploiting the workforce (your nephew's).
Don't go from being so lenient to the other extreme - some of your good staff would no doubt leave.

Firstly put a procedure in place.
If sick, phone by 8:30. No call, then discipline eg verbal warning for first offence.

Reltub

Original Poster:

198 posts

177 months

Tuesday 14th October 2014
quotequote all
The bad ones don't even last a month, we have let them go because they are unsuitable. I've been to a ET before for not following procedure, cost us £2500 for them to get a pittance.

tight fart

2,868 posts

272 months

Thursday 16th October 2014
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I tell them that it's good to know how easy it is to cope when thery are not there, and ask them what they do all day when they are there, it's good to know in case redundancies come up.

tight fart

2,868 posts

272 months

Thursday 16th October 2014
quotequote all
I tell them that it's good to know how easy it is to cope when thery are not there, and ask them what they do all day when they are there, it's good to know in case redundancies come up.

andy-xr

13,204 posts

203 months

Thursday 16th October 2014
quotequote all
Reltub said:
We don't pay them. They must not need the money. If they made up for it by offering to work late or just worked hard when they are here it would not be so bad. They just seem to think that not coming in has no affect on what happens that day.
To them, it doesnt.

This was highlighted to me yesterday, my g/f came home from work ill. Went in for the morning, came home at lunch.

This is the first job she's had with sick leave unpaid, so she felt less like asking for permission to leave, because why would she need permission if they're not willing to cover sick pay. She'd thought about taking work home but figured if she's not being paid to do it, it can wait til the day she's back in.

I think if you offer sick pay and employ people who dont take the piss, you'll find a better, more productive workforce

MadMullah

5,265 posts

192 months

Thursday 16th October 2014
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its not just you its all over.

alot of people just dont value the fact of having a job. its a privilege that they're working for us - that is how they see it. as an employer we should accommodate them not vice versa.

we had one girl working for us and the amount of times her nan had to go to hospital the night before... and the solider still didnt pop her clogs! *LOL* this was despite her facebook status's and pictures all pointing to a night out the day before...


fridaypassion

8,504 posts

227 months

Friday 17th October 2014
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3 strikes and your out. People that just dont show with no reason are pretty easy to replace.

jagracer

8,248 posts

235 months

Friday 17th October 2014
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fridaypassion said:
3 strikes and your out. People that just dont show with no reason are pretty easy to replace.
Not necessarily the case in the OPs industry. I'm assuming it's his drivers that are pissing him about and although he's in the NW, down south due to the latest EU wheeze drivers aren't so easy to come by and most don't want to get into waste disposal as it's generally a dirty smelly job and looked down upon by most people. There is also the fact that it can be quite difficult to sack people for sickness.

rog007

5,748 posts

223 months

Saturday 18th October 2014
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Proper policies, good leaders and holding to account. With these in place, your problems will reduce (but not be wholly eliminated). If one or more is missing, you can't run a business that has employees effectively.

Reltub

Original Poster:

198 posts

177 months

Saturday 18th October 2014
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We've had a few people who were/are paid when sick and from this experience they generally stay sick longer. I think that driving in the waste game is quite a good job, 8 til 5, home every night, option of overtime (with us anyway), staying out in the truck is not for me. The local bin men get paid five days pay for a bank holiday, and a full days pay even if they finish what's been asked of them that day by 10am. Then if they do more than what was asked they are on over time. I am looking at different management techniques to see what results we get. I've tried lots of things over the years but new thing to me is the feeling that job comes 5th or 6th on the priority list. 20 years ago I think it was 2nd or 3rd.

Quattromaster

2,904 posts

203 months

Saturday 18th October 2014
quotequote all
JimmyConwayNW said:
I hate when staff say to me ' I'm having next Wednesday off because or docs/sports day/wonga loan appointment'
I thought it was just me, when I worked for people I always used to ask, my lot seem to just tell.

I've got one at the moment who says I can't tell him what time to start in the morning, usual start time is 7.45-8am, the last 2 weeks he has been 825-8.45 am. He is adamant I can't dictate what time he starts work.

Bless.