and I'm not looking forward to it.
I have ten men who work for me and this one guys "issues" far outweigh the "issues" I have with the other nine.
He's late, he needs to leave early, he hurt his knee, he had a 'panic attack', he forgot his lunch, his girlfriend needs him, he lost his wallet... I always find him digging for rocks, talking to tourists, and he has forgotten his glasses twice in the last week. It just goes on and on...
No glasses means he can't run the gun, so the PC gave him the rod but when plan "A" fails, he can't envision plan "B" or "C" or "D". So the PC has to walk over and explain what to do next. And walking around here can mean 15 minutes there and 15 minutes back.
.
He's got diabetes which means his toes are constantly infected, he's colorblind so he can't find points, he's out of shape - so going in the "hole" (80 feet down) and back takes forever...
He constantly screws up our data collector codes and when he gets them right he forgets the "B" for beginning and the "E" for ending.
He is incapable of learning our hand signs - radios are useless due to noise. And he gets about a dozen phone calls a day.
If he only had health issues and one or two other problems I could deal with it.
He is actually a personable kind of guy. The other guys like him.
He's retired from the MTA - a government agency, so they coddled him for thirty years. But he's broke. Zero retirement. Not a G-damn penny to his name.
I have begged, pleaded, promised, threatened, and bribed him and nothing works. He just keeps acting like the world owes him a living. And all my protestations are so much chaff in the wind.
Now, I'm done. Come monday I will take his ID and send him home.
And he will blame me...
Is there anyway, at all, to reach a guy like this?
Some of the complaints may not be allowed - talk to someone who knows HR law.
For the rest, do you have documentation?
-late, he needs to leave early
-'panic attack'
-not performing assigned tasks
-forgotten his glasses
Are there written requirements for the job description?
-colorblind so he can't find points
-out of shape (does job description have req'ts?)
-screws up our data collector codes
-incapable of learning our hand signs
-gets about a dozen phone calls a day.
He's retired from the MTA. Zero retirement.
Doesn't an agency provide some pension for people hired 30 yrs ago?
No. Assuming you've given a fair appraisal of him here, you have to do what is right. That means firing him. Otherwise, you'd have transferred him, found some othe duty he can do, made him check his phone every day, written him up several times making the paper trail,'had a union rep visit with him (y'all are working a union job right), etc.
If you're confused a bit, do more checking and counseling and paper trailing before you pull the trigger. Your duty is to perform your job well, supervise the men and loyalty to the company. Check with your boss first.
Probably not much chance in reaching him. Is NY an "At Will State"?
Jack Welch believed in "firing the bottom 10% of employees once a year"
I thot maybe you were gonna quit surveying!
(what do you do when you are solo, and you fire the top guy?)
N
If he was around here he would be -are you in in oh eff tee. Make him want to leave on his own.
Fire him now! Give him no additional reason or explanation. I presume you documented some warnings already, don't argue the continued violations or consequences thereof. Anything you tell him now can be used by a leach (oops, I meant lawyer 'not really oops'). The longer he stays, the more ammunition he will gather to file some sort of unfairness complaint. I've fired 7 +/- individuals in my previous management roles. I was completely justified in each situation but I never took any pleasure in having to do so and always found it to be gut-wrenching no matter how much deserved. I have not experienced any legal challenges nor ramifications to these unpleasant but justified actions.
Private sector jobs require an employee to earn a profit for his/her employer, there is no other motivation to employ anyone other than a tax payer supplementation which bastardizes the entire economy.
Please forgive my rant, you know this already but non business owners and politicians "don't get it".
"rant off" phew!
CV
Sorry Roadhand, I intended that reply to be directed to Scott.
You work high-rise, right? Maybe you just need to push him in the right direction.
Uh....I would not have put this on the internet.
> Uh....I would not have put this on the internet.
That was my second thought.
My first thought was that this was one of those tongue-in-cheek stories, and he was really talking about himself. As I read further I realized that was not the case, of course.
It would be pretty easy for anyone at Scott's office to know who he was talking about. The guy may even lurk here. I would hate to find out on the internet that I was being canned on Monday. Could something like this be actionable by the employee in question?
It is up to Scott, but he could always ask Wendell to delete the thread.
Agree. Way to much information for casual conversation.
"...Is there anyway, at all, to reach a guy like this?..."
Document, Document, Document, Document.
Document your disciplinary actions, corrective actions, job reviews, etc.
Scott,
Send this guy on his merry way.
Keep it simple and short.
Tell him not working out and hand him his last check.
Honesty, you should have done this long ago.
It's not as if you didn't give him a chance.
It's wierd seeing how things operate in other states. In Florida, you don't even to tell someone why you fired them. You can just say "Don't come to work anymore, I'll mail you your last check", and that's it.
I remember my boss calling the lawyer to get advice on firing a guy in a sticky situation, and the lawyer said don't give him any explaination at all.
A government supervisor of a large group of people will typically spend a disproportionate amount of time dealing with a small percentage. Most employees are good employees. I have one employee and fortunately he doesn't require much more than me signing his time sheet and approving his travel expense claims (which are identical to mine). There isn't much incentive for me to promote further because all I will gain out of it is more headaches and not much in the way of compensation.
Nonetheless I had to spend a week in supervisor training (this is mandated by the Government Code which is passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor). I learned the purpose of the probationary period is not to fail employees, it is to bring them along and help them be good employees (not always easy). The purpose of progressive discipline is to help an employee become a good employee. It is not mandatory but considered essential is to suggest the employee seek help from the EAP (employee assistance program). A supervisor can't require it but it is can be strongly recommended.
In this class of about 100 supervisors I would say 60% were Fire Captains (about evenly spit among Station Captains and Inmate Crew Captains), 39% were Battalion Chiefs and the other 1% was a few people like me and a couple of office people. The Station Captains deal with a lot of early 20-something who don't even know how to make their bed. So we heard a lot about violations like watching porn in the fire station on their smart phones and posting stuff on Facebook that shouldn't be posted, things like that. The Captain has to "teach" these kids that it is not OK to watch porn in the fire house, etc. You have to make your bed, clean up, do chores, all the stuff their parents never made them do.
Scott-
Not to pawn him off on another but diabetes can play a bad tune on the mind too.
I know of a super guy that I'd have as a relative who suffers from diabetes and his head is good one day and bad the next when his insulin play tricks on him.
He has no feeling in his feet due to his diabetes.
I don't want anyone to think I've gone to the left of Genghis Kahn, but is there a security gate guard position on site where he could be off his feet for some period of time when on duty ?
A face to face with him, pointing out the options is in order IMVHO.
Cheers
Derek
>
> Is there anyway, at all, to reach a guy like this?
You can't polish a turd. You owe it to yourself to find better help. He will land on his feet. After all, he snookered you for how long now?
Since You Included His Illness On This Forum
He has a strong ADA case against you, which he will push to the limit. He wants his payback from someone and you just volunteered.
Please explain how he can retire from a government authority and have no pension.
Paul in PA
Since You Included His Illness On This Forum
In Florida, government employees have a choice of a traditional pension plan or an IRA where money (9% of your paycheck) is put a self directed IRA account on your behalf. Like all IRAs, you can cash it out at 60 or 70 cents on the dollar anytime you want.
