3 days off for a funeral

cmac

Guys thank you again for your help with this. x

lrr_2

cmac wrote: »

No Irishjohn not for one second.

Irr no serious illness all colds tummy bugs that kind of thing and all 1 or 2 days apart from one 3 day incident.

Seems like she may have pulled a fast one too many times, I would agree then that 1 day off for funeral is acceptable and tell her that if it was not for all the time she had, had off previously she may have got longer however you cannot accomodate anymore.

Savvy_Sue

The other thing to consider is that you do not have to give any PAID compassionate leave. I don't know what you're offering, or whether she has any annual leave left, or when your leave year finishes, but will she want 3 days if they are not paid compassionate leave, ie that's 3 days of her annual leave gone or 3 days unpaid leave taken.

It is a tricky one because if she IS very upset, then she may not be fit to work anyway, which may cost you customers. And some customers may walk if you try to rebook them.

Errata

I'm a cynical old bat. I'd want to be seeing some proof that the funeral will be taking place before I entered any discussion about 3 days off for it.

cmac - you might need to think about adding to existing contracts how much compassionate leave is allowed and for what.

jamesb1239

Everywhere I have ever worked time off for funerals has been for a child only, any other deaths had to be arranged by using up holidays and begging others to cover and even then 1 day was the maximum allowed

olly300

If she is on her final warning give her the one day off with the option to leave an hour early on the 22nd.

I suggest you check up the right way to sack staff so if she ignores this you can sack her.

I would also:
1. See if I could get another hairdresser in on short notice or phone up and cancel/move clients as she can't be trusted, regardless if she turns up for work or not.

2. Have a review of your employment contracts and rewrite them to specifically state the amount of time you will allow staff of for deaths of family members. (Others as I said before will give you an idea for each family relationship.) You are not suppose to give people leeway with this otherwise you will end up in legal hot water, but are allowed to let them use their holiday if business allows it.

Savvy_Sue

Errata wrote: »

cmac - you might need to think about adding to existing contracts how much compassionate leave is allowed and for what.

And whether it's paid or not.

Of course it may be tricky if you've previously given paid compassionate leave. One of my colleagues had 3 weeks paid emergency leave, not long after she'd started, which is more than generous. However it could set a precedent - I'm working part-time on compassionate grounds atm, but still being paid for full-time, and I know I'd feel a bit aggrieved if I was told I could only have the one week's paid leave which is all that's in our contract!

li'l_p

I think some employers can be terribly blunt/heartless (intended or not) when it comes to deaths, and whilst I appreciate they have their business to think about, no one can anticipate when someone is going to die and these things do tend to happen at the most inopportune times.

My OH grandad died two weeks ago, and it was very unexpected. I had litterally just ordered his Christmas present the night before and I was discussing with OH an hour before we got the news that he had died. He wasn't ill and therefore it was very unexpected. OH's grandad (& Nan) was more like his Dad for the first 5 years of his life as his Mum died when he was only 18 months old, so it hit him quite hard as in some ways it was like losing a parent.

My point being that I don't like all this 1 day if it's a grandparent and 2 if its someone closer, etc, etc. I don't think that's fair as everyone has differing relationships with their relatives. Not to mention that everyone handles grief in different ways, with some people able to be quite matter of fact and get on with it whilst others can actually take it really badly. I should know, as it was interesting, as in 'in-law' to the family, to see how the whole family coped & expressed their grief in differing degrees with the recent family loss.

Plus different families have different arrangements for things like this, and the girl may be required to help out in some way with the arrangements or even just the comfort of relatives. My old boss gave me time off to go home and comfort my Mum when her foster father died. Whilst he had no obligation to do so, and it didn't particularly affect me, he knew I was close to my Mum and he knew it would mean a lot for her to have me there to comfort her, and that meant a lot to me & my Mum. Sometimes seemingly trivial things to you or I, may be neccessary for the family. I for one know that we were penalised by OH's family because we didn't go round on the night that Grandad died (I won't go into the ins and outs but it was impractial for us to go) but the family frowned on that and made it quite clear that we were the only ones that hadn't attended that night so it was clear that this was important to the family. Also, immediate relatives can often be embroiled in the technicalities of arrangements so the wider family are often called on for other duties, so she may well be required for something in that respect??? Have you thought to ask her why she needs 3 days. I assume those 'extra' days are for travel?

I suggest you grit your teeth and show your utmost sympathy to the employee. Offer as much support and assistance as you can, even if you are only offering her lip service - it will mean a great deal to her. Otherwise, I think she will probably just feel even more stressed and she may be inclined to just ask for even more time off because things are just too much for her to handle, especially at such a stressful & busy time anyway. If she knows she has your support and compassion, she will be more likely to return within the agreed timescale, and will have the 'knowledge' that she has your full support and sympathy.

WestonDave

You need to think about not only the impact of being "hard" on the person concerned, but also the impact of being soft on the other workforce. Staff aren't stupid and can often spot the wasters before the boss, and they will start to resent it if someone is taking the proverbial with the result that they have to pick up the slack.

The difficulty here is that the history of sickness is one that many employers would consider suspicious, and with the requested leave running nicely into a prolonged Christmas break (3 days Tuesday-Thursday when coupled with the Boxing Day substitute on Monday creates a full week off - flights booked somewhere?), I wouldn't want to bet on her not throwing sickies on the days she wants if you refuse.

I would stick to one day, and explain that this is due to the previous absence record, reminding them of the warning that they are on. I would however have some backup plans in place because there is a good chance you may be down 3 days next week.

paulwf

duchy wrote: »

Don't think your other staff (and maybe your customers too) won't be put off by your heartlessness and consider moving elsewhere too. I wouldn't use a hairdresser who treated their employees the way you appear to want to.

There may also be many more that won't use you again if you let them down by canceling their Christmas bookings at short notice when all other decent hairdressers will be booked. A majority of customers these days are used to dealing with large national companies that operate 24/7. What they care about is their need to get their hair done, they don't care about your company or your staff in the slightest.

Thankfully not all customers are like this, but I bet there are more that won't use you again if you cancel their appointment than there are those that would get upset by you only giving your staff 1 day funeral allowance for a grandparent.