Appointments during working day

[WellyElla]

Hello

I am after a bit of advice. We have a small business and have an apprentice who has been with us a couple of months. I received a text from him on Saturday to 'tell' me he had a dental appointment on Monday (mid afternoon) that he had kept forgetting to tell me about. I told him that due to the business needs, unless it is an emergency appointment, I require more notice. Also the day he had booked he is at college all morning so it would mean him being at work for 1hour (pointless really) prior to his appointment, then probably another hour after his appointment.

Due to this I told him he needs to re book for another day and it needs to be the first or last appointment of the day otherwise I will not authorise it. He then texts me late last night (seems that's how the youth of today communicate!) with a bit of a sob story saying that he has re booked for the next Monday at the same time and needs his dental check up because he has wisdom teeth coming through - hmmm, not sure that happened overnight though!

Now his contract states "Please make Dental and Doctor's appointments either at the beginning or end of the day and make the Director aware etc etc".

So, would you think I would be being unreasonable if I tell him it is not authorised as I a) need more notice (unless an emergency appointment), and b) it needs to be end or beginning of day?

Thanks all.

 

[Charlie B ACS]

You can't just change his contract, and nforce it, without him agreeing to it.

Whilst the timing on this occasion is poor, when he books his next appointment, he can ask for a late or early slot.

At my Dentists you book 6 months in advance, they have very few of the "Prime" slots left if you have to re-arrange.

Lastly, he may text you in the evening, but why don't you speak to him the next morning, don't let him dictate to you how to communicate!

 

[Newchodge]

Every working person wants the first and last slots. They need booking a long time in advance, as Charlie has said.

Also, given he is an apprentice, he should not be making such a huge contribution to your business that his absence is excessively detrimental.

In your position I would tell him that he cannot have dental appointments (or medical) on the same day as he is at college, unless they are timed for the immediate finish of his college time, or unless it is an emergency.

I would also require him to produce evidence of the appointment!

 

[The Byre]

Several things stand out here -

1. I personally do not accept texts from anybody and it is our company policy to not have any business contact with anybody via texting. The same goes for social networks. You can twerk and face-off until you are blue in the face, but nobody will twerk back at you! Either you pick up the phone, or you speak to the person involved face-to-face. Failing that, you can use an email or our internal messaging system when appropriate and when it involves details that need to be stored.

He used a text, simply because he knew he could. Like most youngsters, he was procrastinating in the worst possible way.

2. He's just an apprentice! Let him go to the dentist, but point out that he needs to toe the line in future. Employers laying down the law needlessly leads only to a bad atmosphere.

3. Getting young men to go to a dentist is like getting a young man to actually go to a dentist. Chances are that it is already relatively urgent, as he will have left it to the very last minute. Let him go to the dentist!

 

[WellyElla]

Thanks all. Maybe I didn't make it clear but that is what is in his contract, not something I have changed.

Do you know if there is a legal stance to non payment of wages for the hour of so he is away from site without prior authorisation ie in this circumstance?

 

[Charlie B ACS]

I can't advise on the legal stance, but to dock an hours pay would just sour the employer/ employee relationship.

A "Don't do it again" should be plenty on this occasion.

 

[Silky]

^^^ What he said. Why sour relations for the sake of one appointment? Make the rules clear for future but is it really worth making such an issue of it this time? Or is this one of many of issues?

 

[Ann Gibson]

Hi There its not uncommon for younger employees to communicate by text for everything.
I would make a final exception and then meet with him to say all appointments must be made outside of Company time. You may want to look at your existing policies and notification of emergencies wording in same.
There should be no or very little room for exception in the wording as they are there "to guide" the employee and to provide the business with an acceptable framework on how the employee employer relationship should progress (or not)
As for changing his contract, this should be done after consultation whether or not he is an apprentice.
Let me know how it goes.

 

[fairdealworld]

There are several strands to this issue.

How to communicate. Well if there is a company policy you may be stuck with it. As the owner of a very small business I've no problem with communication by text and in many ways find it quite handy. I prefer email but accept that is a very personal preference related to being a very fast touch typist, text from my point of view involves more effort but it is okay. Advantages:

few young people will deny receiving a text, they may pick up email only at intervals, but because text is their preferred method of communication they are always on as it were when it comes to texts;

as a shopkeeper I actually find it easier to have staff text me than phone me. So often a phone call comes while you are serving a customer or receiving a delivery or driving (I never use a mobile while driving not even hands free) a text can be read a few minutes later when it is convenient and the same applies to when you send the reply;

after a couple of years of having an apprentice and a couple of other young short term volunteer helpers I've got used to their tendency to text me out of hours about this or that but it does have the advantage that the young person has set the precedent and just occasionally it is really handy to be able to text them out of hours too! Oddly this doesn't seem to be resented at all, in fact quite the reverse.

When people can make dental/medical appointments. I think you may have to accept such things during working hours especially if the apprentice works Monday to Friday though not during college hours. If your business operates six days a week or seven days a week and the apprentice has a day off which falls within Monday to Friday then it may be reasonable to say they must make their appointments for that weekday from now on except in respect of emergency treatment.

The necessity to notify you in well in advance of non-emergency appointments: my apprentice has developed over two years into my trusted right hand person in the business but she still has problems over this notification of routine appointments. She tells me but she tells me too late for planning purposes. I'm working on it but with hindsight I should have had something written into her contract of employment on this issue, but you live and you learn and the employer learns along with the apprentice. I get the impression that, while you may not be able to take your child out of school to go on holiday, kids are constantly out of school for dentist appointments, doctor appointments, orthodontic (sp?) appointments and the like. It takes time for young workers to understand that part of entering the adult world is well beforehand with such issues.

 

[andygambles]

As the father of three teenagers one of which is currently doing an apprenticeship I can say this lad probably doesn't see there being any problem.

They always do things last minute and don't think there is anything wrong with leaving tell you until the day before. He also won't be used to the fact that he now has responsibilities and has never really thought about how his actions affect others.

He is an apprentice and this is an important learning time for him. You need to tell him that this is not acceptable as employees all have to try to book appointments at suitable times. Maybe even suggest he works an extra hour to pay the time back. That is how the real world works.

My son thought nothing of making us wait in the car for 30 minutes whenever we would go and pick him up from wherever until one day I drove off after waiting 5 minutes and he had to walk 3 miles home.