staff being off work

vickitoria13

hi not sure where to put this but one of my staff keep taking time off because of other members of the family for example one is ill and she is telling me she has to care for them she is not a parent herself and her siblings are around her age and young healthy parents is she entitled to this time off or am i just being a bit mean ? my biggest problem is this is becoming very regular its nearly always when i am not in work myself so i am getting other staff members (who do have parental responsibilities and never taken any time off) who are getting really angry at how often she is off a short while ago she was off sick a lot and when we had a chat it seems to have diverted to being off for her family s sake

any advice would be great thankyou

garthdp

Find a way to Get rid! She is no good to you

vickitoria13

its a shame its looking that way now

garthdp

Then dont be a victim and start taking all the neccesary steps today
This person can be a drain on your resources and the goodwill of your other staff.i have had to o the same previously,its not nice but its best for your business and your other staff will respect you for it

good luck

paulwf

Before you do anything I would read this:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/Timeoffandholidays/DG_10026555

The rules as set out there appear to be very vague, which doesn't help you as you may be able to argue a case either way. It also mentions checking an employee handbook for company policy. If you google for it I have seen examples where companies allow up to 5 days a year special leave which seems a reasonable compromise.

Basically I think you need to take legal advice before you proceed and you may need to have a clause written into your contract/handbook. I'm in no way an HR specialist but I think this is a case where you will have to tread carefully.

For now make sure you have a system in place to log all staff absence. This can be a simple grid on a spreadsheet where a remark is put every time someone is absent. You might also need to go through the procedure of verbal/written/final warning.

I agree that this staff member needs to be let go, just make sure you cover yourself as people that abuse the system are those most likely to know their employment rights.

BTW I assume she isn't paid when she is off work?

vickitoria13

thanks for that, i guess the only thing holding me back is when at work she is brilliant and the other staff feel the same also which i think is the main reason we all get so annoyed by it! she is off today as her mum is at the hospital has suffered a migraine and tummy upset this week the call i had was to originally say she needed to leave early then 10 mins later that the whole family were going to go and sit at the hospital, obviously i dont begrudge her being with her mum when unwell i just dont understand the need to be there in a group getting in the way of doctors etc atm im wondering how best to deal with todays problem without coming across heartless or breaking any rules! then im planning on setting up a meeting to discuss her responsibilities at work and at home and explain how she is affecting our work when absent and her future as she is about to qualify and will then have an awful lot more responsibility withen her role its a shame to chuck her out as she will be a fantastic assest i just need to get her to see it .

or am i being too soft or missing something ?

vickitoria13

paulwf- thanks thats how i ended up posting on here nothing makes a clear point! i would always follow the correct procedure anyway and i do have a log of all absences (maybe she needs to see it to appriciate where im coming from!) and we do not pay for any time off other than holidays

garthdp

It does not matter how good she is at what she does, if she is not there its not being done.

You have identified a pattern over a long time ,I doubt it will change.You can try the long heart to heart sympathetic route but I doubt it will change her attitude to work which seems to come second to everything.There are many people who would be grateful for a job right now, some of whom will be just as good if not even better, dont use the better the devil you know axiom .It sometimes saddles you with deadwood.

Vomityspice

Why not in these difficult times, announce you will need to make redundancies. Select your pool, select your matrix (cleverly devised to penalise the !!!!less worker by weighting the scoring against there poor performance) and then make the member of staff redundant.

However good they may be when they are at work, it doesn't detract from the fact that they are unreliable and your other staff are picking up the problems they are causing.

If you want, have a discussion with her and point out you are concerned with her ability to perform the job role due to her non ability to turn up regularly. Point out the economic conditions and your views that redundancies are a possibility. If they don't take the hint, get rid!

vickitoria13

ok i may have made a big mistake !

just had a call from work she has told them she wont be in all day as she has too take things to her mum, now her sister is unemployed and her dad is off to stay with her mum i called her on mobile no answer, i called house and im 100% convinced her mum actually answered she said it was her sister (have spoke to both on phone and both sound different) so i told her that she was needed and asked her why her sister was unable to do these tasks, she doesnt want too was the answer! she then told me that i knew her family were close and that they will always come above her job she will always be off if one is unwell or hurt, i pointed out her job was important and i needed reliability from my staff she basiclly said tuff and she will not be in , now during the call as her 'sister' passed the phone over was very loud music and t.v background noise and she thought the fact she had a half day sick 3 weeks ago a day off last week and today off were of no issue as she wasnt off that much !

to be fair i guess i already know your answers

Googlewhacker

vickitoria13 wrote: »

ok i may have made a big mistake !

just had a call from work she has told them she wont be in all day as she has too take things to her mum, now her sister is unemployed and her dad is off to stay with her mum i called her on mobile no answer, i called house and im 100% convinced her mum actually answered she said it was her sister (have spoke to both on phone and both sound different) so i told her that she was needed and asked her why her sister was unable to do these tasks, she doesnt want too was the answer! she then told me that i knew her family were close and that they will always come above her job she will always be off if one is unwell or hurt, i pointed out her job was important and i needed reliability from my staff she basiclly said tuff and she will not be in , now during the call as her 'sister' passed the phone over was very loud music and t.v background noise and she thought the fact she had a half day sick 3 weeks ago a day off last week and today off were of no issue as she wasnt off that much !

to be fair i guess i already know your answers

How long has she been employed? If it is less than a year then it is fairly easy to dismiss her without retribution.

Also if this is dependance leave presuambly you are not paying her?

Just make sure you get legal advice on this as well though