Jim, the operations manager for Walton’s Mountain Supplies, noticed John coming to work late for the third time this week. He checked with Mary Ellen, John's supervisor and discovered this had been a regular occurrence for the past two months. Jim then asked Mary Ellen what she had been doing about this. She explained that John was a good worker once he showed up and she didn’t feel that 10 – 15 minutes was worth the confrontation.

A couple of months later, Mary Ellen came to Jim and let him know that Elizabeth was consistently coming in 5 -10 minutes late; she had given Elizabeth three verbal warnings and had written her up twice. Mary Ellen recommended that Jim fire Elizabeth. In talking with Mary Ellen, Jim discovered that Elizabeth was an “adequate” worker and John was still coming in late.

What should Jim do? He decided to call his ESG republic Customer Service Manager for advice. This is what he was told:

• You must enforce your policies equally across the board. If you are not going to hold one employee accountable for the policies then you cannot hold another accountable for the same policy.
• If you terminate Elizabeth, at this point, you are exposing your company to a potential law suit for, Wrongful Termination and Sexual Harassment.
• Write up both employees. Make the write-ups “Final Warnings” and attach all documentation to each write-up; such as time sheets and previous write-ups.
• Explain in the final write-up what your expectations are for each employee, making sure you are consistent.
• Review your Employee Handbook and make sure it is current and contains your policy for tardiness. Also, be sure employees have signed the acknowledgement page stating they have received and read the handbook.
• The CSM also recommended Jim train his supervisors about the importance of keeping updated performance logs.
• Include positive and negative behaviors
• Include the date of the entry
• Write observations not assumptions
• Be specific
• Keep out biased language
• Be brief, but complete
• Track trends
• Be consistent

Labels: Employees, Employers, ESG republic, Human Resource