Is this normal?

[locutus]

I have 3 staff, 2 fulltime and 1 parttime.

At least once a month, I am having to cover staff shifts, because they can't work it for whatever reason.

Reasons are they are sick
Have problems at homes
Kids not feeling well
Family member illness
Personal day, etc. I even had 1 staff member (not with me anymore) who took a personal day because she had broken up with her boyfriend. No notice of course.

It's mainly one member of staff that has been increasing unreliable lately due to illness and family problems - he has a baby and toddler at home (his wife is on maternity leave). Every time there is a minor problem with the kids, or with the wife, he wants to leave early, or can't come in. He's often gets the colds the kids get. I gave him 2 weeks off in Feb, because he wasn't well, and still wasn't 100% for another week.

I'm getting to the point of saying no every time he wants to go home early because of a problem with the family, but I don't know if I'm allowed to say that, or if it's discriminatory. Sorry, you have chosen to have kids, you have chosen to work here, you can't be rushing off every time there is a problem with the kids. This week, he couldn't complete one of his shifts because he had to fly back to Europe because his dad had been in accident, and I said I could only be there in about 2 hours (I already had stuff planned) he wasn't exactly thrilled.

I've not forced the issue with staff, because if the staff member feels they can't work their shift for whatever reason, what was the point in forcing them to work? And it had been manageable, but it's not manageable for me any more, with staff cancelling their shift, what appears to be on a weekly basis. Many times, I have had to literally drop everything, go back to the business to ensure that there is a staff member there.

The policy is, staff have to use up their accrued holiday if they want a day off, so all the staff have accrued lots of it, they get paid for these absences. I prefer it like that, it's far easier for me giving them their holiday pay in bits and pieces, rather than one chunk. I have no objections to staff taking lots of days off, especially if it's planned in advance, but I just dislike being called at 8am saying they can't come in that day. At least they tell me, that is one positive aspect.

Am I being unreasonable? Is this normal? Should staff be allowed to cancel shifts like that?

Thank you.

 

[Graham Tyers]

If you have staff, you will have these problems.

I think the starting point is the culture you create. If you were a small theatre group your staff would be there hell or high water with a broken leg and a migraine because they know that their colleagues need them on stage. You can't have one actor missing!

If the staff understand that they are valued and without them there is no business and without their colleagues there, their own job is at risk that's a good base to start from.

Then you're down to getting their contracts right, getting the right processes like return interviews, making sure the environment isn't contributing to the problem and then start getting tough on repeat offenders with warnings, and then disciplinaries. And then start replacing the faulty staff with more reliable units.

BTW. Your member of staff with the baby is entitled to paternity leave. Hopefully an HR expert will pop by and help out, but I think it's something like 50 weeks can be shared between the two parents.

 

[Stedurham]

Think id be looking for new staff

 

[Ian J]

I even had 1 staff member (not with me anymore) who took a personal day because she had broken up with her boyfriend. No notice of course.

One of the teaching assistants at my son's high school had to take a day off work because she was so upset that David Bowie had died

 

[Mr D]

The policy is, staff have to use up their accrued holiday if they want a day off, so all the staff have accrued lots of it, they get paid for these absences. I prefer it like that, it's far easier for me giving them their holiday pay in bits and pieces, rather than one chunk. I have no objections to staff taking lots of days off, especially if it's planned in advance, but I just dislike being called at 8am saying they can't come in that day. At least they tell me, that is one positive aspect.

Am I being unreasonable? Is this normal? Should staff be allowed to cancel shifts like that?

Thank you.

Perhaps you need to look at your contract with staff? Is it suitable?
Using holiday pay to cover sick appears to not benefit your business.


If you don't want to be called at 8am to say someone cannot do the shift, what time do you want to be called when they cannot do the shift? 6am? 7am? 10am?

 

[Employment Law Clinic]

If you have staff, you will have these problems.

More accurately, if you have staff, and you don't know how to manage staff, you will have these problems.

I've not forced the issue with staff, because if the staff member feels they can't work their shift for whatever reason, what was the point in forcing them to work?

They will either feel obliged to work their shift, or they could face capability procedures, and be left with no shifts - if they're not doing the job, dismiss them!

Reasons are they are sick
Have problems at homes
Kids not feeling well
Family member illness
Personal day, etc. I even had 1 staff member (not with me anymore) who took a personal day because she had broken up with her boyfriend. No notice of course.

From this list, I can possibly see one reasonable excuse: genuinely sick... and that being so unwell they can't work, not just because they have a minor ailment that doesn't actually prevent them working.

I don't know what a "personal day" is, or if this is within company policies; it's arguably not a terrible idea to have something of this nature (sometimes referred to as a "duvet day"), where staff can take leave for whatever reason at short/no notice, but this should be limited to a very few opportunities a year.

It's mainly one member of staff that has been increasing unreliable lately due to illness and family problems - he has a baby and toddler at home (his wife is on maternity leave). Every time there is a minor problem with the kids, or with the wife, he wants to leave early, or can't come in. He's often gets the colds the kids get. I gave him 2 weeks off in Feb, because he wasn't well, and still wasn't 100% for another week.

I cannot perceive why this chap would need to take time-off, or leave work early, due to his wife/kids being unwell.

Managed properly, he should be either attending work & performing to his full & expected capability, or he should be warned he'll be spending a lot more time at home.

Am I being unreasonable? Is this normal? Should staff be allowed to cancel shifts like that?

Staff should not be able to cancel shifts like this, and you're not being unreasonable to question it. However, you have been lame to allow it at all @locutus , and should take a firmer line now.

There are no obvious grounds for tackling this unauthorised leave, certainly nothing that would be a discriminatory issue. In the ideal world, you would have some form of HR service to advise & assist you as & when these instances arise, but even without that, you should be able to take a firmer management line - managing your staff, and not permitting these random days off.
If they don't comply, as suggested above you get new staff.


Karl Limpert

 

[Bushman]

I would say the first step is to make sure they are not being paid for these days off, that may stop a lot of it. After all if they are getting paid whether they go to work or not, why would they go to work.

We have a policy that all holidays MUST be requested at least 14 days in advance. This means that sudden days off cannot be taken as holiday. Also make sure the don't get sick pay for the first 3 days (inline with SSP rules) so they are discouraged from taking false sickies.

 

[Graham Tyers]

We have a policy that all holidays MUST be requested at least 14 days in advance. This means that sudden days off cannot be taken as holiday.

Ours is similar. Staff need to provide 1 days notice for 1 day holidays, 2 days notice for 2 day holidays etc.

Ruling out the 'I'll take it as holiday' or 'I'll make the time up' games is important.

 

[tony84]

What is a "personal" day?
Whenever I have been employed you are either in, on holiday or off sick.

If a member of staff gets a cold, I am of the opinion I would rather them stay off. The alternative being they come in infect other staff or worse (joking) me!

 

[Mr D]

What is a "personal" day?
Whenever I have been employed you are either in, on holiday or off sick.

If a member of staff gets a cold, I am of the opinion I would rather them stay off. The alternative being they come in infect other staff or worse (joking) me!

Worse when they come in with flu (driving in!) then pass it on to all they work with.
Lost wages are annoying but sometimes cannot be helped.

 

[tony84]

I agree. I know speaking from personal experience, if I take 2 days off with a cold it will be gone and I will not have given it to anyone else. If I come in, it will likely get passed around, it will take longer to clear and when I am in, I do not do anywhere near as much work.

 

[Ian J]

If a member of staff gets a cold, I am of the opinion I would rather them stay off. The alternative being they come in infect other staff or worse (joking) me!

My wife has to go to work even if she has a bad cold and she's a nurse in a hospital

 

[locutus]

Thanks for the replies so far, and you're right, I need professional HR services after reading what you all have said.

The reason I prefer to pay them for their days off is because it makes holidays easier to manage (no big chunks of holiday at once). But I think you're all right, perhaps it's best not to pay them for these days off, and only pay them for when they actually have holiday. And I have been too soft on them.

With the staff member with the family, I've had to send him home a couple of times, because he was just not well (you can see it in his face), and I said I would pay him from his holidays, and as soon as I said I would pay him from his holidays, he said he wanted me to send him an e-mail confirming that he would be paid for it, otherwise he wouldn't go home. I think part of the problem is that he's in the wrong job, the job isn't suitable for people who have families at home. I also plan to speak to him about this, and say constant absences have an impact on the business. Once he scolded me for finishing my shift early, because I needed to pick up urgent supplies for the business, and there was a problem with a customer later in the day. Now, it's never a problem for him when he needs to drop everything and go home early.

As for staff being genuinely sick, if they have something contagious, like cold or flu, then it's best that they don't come in, and they don't. I had the part timer off last month for 2 weeks because of flu.

As for the unhelpful remark about what time is best they inform me, it would ideally 24ish hours before they start, but of course that's what I would like, but doesn't mean I would get.

Personal days, is just another form of holiday, it's one of those types of days where you have an appointment, moving house, etc, where it's really not a holiday or a proper day off. But at the end of the day, it just comes from their holiday pool.

Thank you for your input so far, it's been very helpful and enlightening.

 

[Mr D]

Thanks for the replies so far, and you're right, I need professional HR services after reading what you all have said.

The reason I prefer to pay them for their days off is because it makes holidays easier to manage (no big chunks of holiday at once). But I think you're all right, perhaps it's best not to pay them for these days off, and only pay them for when they actually have holiday. And I have been too soft on them.

With the staff member with the family, I've had to send him home a couple of times, because he was just not well (you can see it in his face), and I said I would pay him from his holidays, and as soon as I said I would pay him from his holidays, he said he wanted me to send him an e-mail confirming that he would be paid for it, otherwise he wouldn't go home. I think part of the problem is that he's in the wrong job, the job isn't suitable for people who have families at home. I also plan to speak to him about this, and say constant absences have an impact on the business. Once he scolded me for finishing my shift early, because I needed to pick up urgent supplies for the business, and there was a problem with a customer later in the day. Now, it's never a problem for him when he needs to drop everything and go home early.

As for staff being genuinely sick, if they have something contagious, like cold or flu, then it's best that they don't come in, and they don't. I had the part timer off last month for 2 weeks because of flu.

As for the unhelpful remark about what time is best they inform me, it would ideally 24ish hours before they start, but of course that's what I would like, but doesn't mean I would get.

Personal days, is just another form of holiday, it's one of those types of days where you have an appointment, moving house, etc, where it's really not a holiday or a proper day off. But at the end of the day, it just comes from their holiday pool.

Thank you for your input so far, it's been very helpful and enlightening.

It was not an unhelpful remark - you want staff to inform you that they are not coming in, set a time.
One that suits you and the business.

I worked night shifts for a couple of years, the bosses were annoyed when I rang in sick at 4pm. Company policy was to ring in sick at 6am, I was still at work with them until 8am. The company policy for 9,000 people could not cope with the dozen working nights.

 

[Newchodge]

Given that you are changing a long-standing arrangement, I strongly suggest that you have an all staff meeting, if that is possible in your business, and explain to them that, in future, (emergencies aside) there will be a fine demarcation between holidays (always pre-booked) and sickness absence (notified at least 2 hour before start time, in a telephone conversation). Explain, first, the negative effects on the business and that the change is necessary to ensure the proper running of the business. Give them a chance to ask questions and raise issues, in private if necessary. If someone raises a genuine issue that you had not considered, or that means they need special treatment, for valid reasons, consider those situations.

Implement it immediately.

The employee with the baby and toddler may have a genuine problem at home if his wife isn't coping. However, unless there is an emergency he should know he is expected to finish his shift. Emergency may mean different things to different people. My husband worked, briefly, with a man who had to rush off early because his girlfriend needed taking to an appointment to have her nails done. So make it clear that the wife finding a crying baby and energetic toddler tiring is normal. The wife seriously considering throwing one of the children through the window is not.