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General => General Discussion and ??? => Topic started by: mooseman on March 20, 2014, 07:45:55 AM
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Someone my wife works with was complaining this week because her daughter got fired on the first week from a new job she just started at a factory.
This girl about 24 years old was hired as temporary help at some factory operation. They let her go the first week because of her first 5 DAYS ON THE JOB she didn't make it in for THREE OF THE DAYS. Now the unusual part...both mother and daughter can't understand why the girl was let go...According to mom she had stuff to clean up before she was ready to work and had to take care of some things things . They are both amazed the daughter's employer didn't understand. They also expect that an employer needs good reason to terminate someone. Mom believes the employer was just unfair.......WTF I would have canned her ass on missed day #1!
Anybody out there think the employer was out of line? I guessing this girl is available if anyone is interested in hiring her, she should have her stuff done by now >:(
mooseman
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There could be more to the story, thats the difficulty of only hearing one side.
Hear me out.
My ex wife is a fairly successful artist, she displays in galleries all across the country including NYC. But being an artist is not easy to make a living off of so she does work for a professional staffing service. Her conditions are simple, she cannot work on specify days and has to have future dates off for gallery openings. The staffing service is aware of this and makes sure she gets work in places that only need temp help.
There is a slight chance that this woman's daughter had made it clear to the temp agency that she needed a few days to get things in order but the temp agency did not care and still sent her to the factory. Temp agencies are notorious for playing both sides. They pump up positions to the temps and they pump up the employers about the temps.
Fortunately for my ex wife it is a professional staffing only and not crummy manual labor jobs, their arrangement works out well and continues to do so.
Or this daughter could be a loser as you mentioned and she should have been fired the first day.
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I think I've mentioned (bitched about) temp workers before. We have to use them here due to extreme seasonality. I swear this year is the worst as far as turnover. I have seen more come and go this year than in previous years. But yeah, the one that blows my mind is the one that says, and this is a quote, "I would have come in if I knew you were going to let me go". Yes, unless excused or arranged, you have to work every day, and be on time. One more quick one from a few weeks ago. I told one girl I'd give her one more chance. She agreed she would be here the next day at 8:00. Even though it was a Saturday, it was a scheduled work day. She showed up....at 9:30. I asked her what she was doing here. "I'm here to work" I said you're an hour and a half late. She said, "Yeah, I over slept". I just pointed her to the door. I don't effing get it!!!
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I just had a guy not show all week; He came in Monday like nothing happened. To bad I already hired someone to replace him.
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The difficulty in integrating a job with your personal life is a difficult one. Personal issues, like getting a new phone, or heading out for an excursion with your unemployed friends is definitely more important than showing up, or on time. Employers must realize that the employee is doing them an extreme favor by appearing, and should be grateful. Why don't all you guys get that.
We now are an easy 10 bad to one good this year. A new record. The above was biting sarcasm BTW.
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I just had a guy not show all week; He came in Monday like nothing happened. To bad I already hired someone to replace him.
This exact scenario happened here last year. A girl I hired was always late but I let it slide for a while because she did great work and then she started missing a few days here and there then on a Monday she didn't show up or call or text. On Tuesday morning I texted her and she said that she was so incredibly sick she slept all day long on Monday. She then told me that she thought she would be ready to work by Wednesday and I said that was fine. Wed rolls by and no call or text, no show wed, thurs and fri and at that point I didn't bother with trying to communicate with her. On Monday she texts me and asks if she could come to work if she still had a job.
I believe the employee directly before the above did something very similar. Didn't show up on Monday and we called her on Monday, tues and wed and got no response or callback. She was responsible, in her 30's with a son with no prior issues with getting to work so I was assuming the worst. The following Monday I get an email from her asking if we could mail her last check to her house and how her grandmother had a health issue. By wed I get a nasty email about her check not showing up and she needed to money to pay her bills and keep her electricity on and how inconsiderate we were being about her check, "the money that she earned by working so hard" for us. Turns out the address she gave us on her application and employment paperwork was incorrect and the check obviously never made it to her for that reason. Then a week later we get a notice from the unemployment agency because she had filed for unemployment!!!
Our luck with the temp service has gotten worse over the years and hiring direct is hit or miss. You can be a great judge of character and be able to read people with the best of them, but hiring good people is so hard to do. I know for every 10 people you hire, maybe 2 of them will be worth a crap but our standards are a little higher than most other shops around here so our success rate may be less than others.
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A job is a job. If you want a job, you need to come to work, essssssssppppeeeeeeeeeecially when you first start. Different story if you have paid your dues and show to be worth the time and effort in training ect. We had that a couple times, bottom line, you can't make it to work, I need someone who can. There are a lot of people out there who would love a job where they could make overtime, and basically, "HAVE A JOB". Our gov has made it too easy on lazy pokers to just sit at home, fill out some online forms and collect a check for nada while we all bust our backs trying to build small businesses that offer folks a place to earn. It's rare to find those good team members, I say when you do find one, and they look to be a team player, take good care of them and try not to let them go.
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I look at hiring employees the same way I looked at getting a job; you make a deal with a person to show up and perform work; Why? Because they need help. If I don't show up, they haven't solved the problem of getting the help they need, so they must go elsewhere, and I'm out in the cold. I know how that feels, because I've been fired before, and it was from a job I had held for 2 years. I was 18, and my girlfriend left me, and I couldn't sleep, (yeah, I know, boohoo) hence, I couldn't get up and go to work. I was fired. I understood. I found another job, and showed up. The point is, I made a deal, and then didn't live up to my end of the bargain. What's to get? For a young person to not quite understand is one thing, but for Mom to not get it, holy s...
Steve
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My ex and I used to own a dog kennel/day care facility, and we'd get a lot of highschoolers/early college kids that would work for us...
the parents calling for their kids drove us CRAZY.
We even had a mom call us after we didn't offer a job to a kid... WTF.
I'm dreading and looking forward to the day when we need to add real staff (not just a neighborhood kid pulling or folding like we have right now)
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Having Mom to call to address a work situation is a huge red-flag. I'm glad all I employ are adults.
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This girl about 24 years old
There's the problem right there.
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This girl about 24 years old
There's the problem right there.
The age or the title "girl"?
3 of the 8 people that work at my shop (including myself) are under the age of 24. While many people my age are still maturing you'd be surprised at how good some of us young folks can be. My press operator just turned 21 and she is really doing great for us.
All of that being said, I had to fire two employees in one day, both were aged south of 24 as well. But also had a lot of growing up to do!
It's tough being a boss, now imagine Being my age and hiring and firing folks that are twice and three times as old as yourself!!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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people are maturing slower these days(except sexually thanks to the interwebs).
aside from a so-so economy, more young men are living at home longer than they every have before. it's just the way things are, for the most part, millennials feel entitled.
The greatest thing a young person can realize is that it is NEVER their job, it's their employer's job, and their employer picks who fills it.
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In our employee handbook you must call within 1 hour of your scheduled start
time or you get a "point". 4 points= written warning, 9 points= second and final
warning, 10th point, don't even bother to show up. 3 days no show or call is
considered job abandonment period. We do have an amnesty program for
working extra overtime etc. and points are erased at a certain time each year.
It is fair and lead to the firing of only a few really bad offenders.
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A handbook....thats what we need..I should have one before i start hiring more than my one...
Do i have to type one out or is there q generic one somewhere...I am thinking for the reason of unemployment and writing people up..I should have something set that they sign so if for example they are late i can write them up and keep track of it..that should help when firing , correct?
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Yes, when firing, you really need documentation. It may help you if they try
to get unemployment. I might add that we also have an incentive program
for perfect attendance. For every 3 months (not even 1 minute late) you get
1/2 day paid off which can be used any time. A full calendar year perfect
attendance earns an additional 1 1/2 days paid.
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An excellent consideration. Reward good performance, discipline poor performance. Management tends to overlook the former.
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When we get through crunch time I'll throw a nice BBQ for our gang. We usually take them to a ball game and buy them food and drink. Even have done the suites in the past. Yes, you do need to reward as well as reprimand. There are limits to both.
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I had a point system here at one time. Excuses, legitimate or not, didn't matter. X amt points Verbal, Y pts Written , Z points Termination. X amount of time no tardies or lates buys back points. Reward points =Gift Cards, Restaurant coupons etc. Problem was it bacame too unwieldy with so many employees.
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When we get through crunch time I'll throw a nice BBQ for our gang. We usually take them to a ball game and buy them food and drink. Even have done the suites in the past. Yes, you do need to reward as well as reprimand. There are limits to both.
Dave we are having a Season Beginning lunch today as we speak. A lot of our employees have Gullah roots and if anyone has ever been here you know they can throw down some serious food. I'm sure you've experienced the classic Low Country Pork Cop with Red Rice and Andouille sausage. Baked Mac and Cheese, Low Country Potato Salad (w/bacon) and of course, Corn Bread. We're talking serious Comfort Food here.
Thank God it's only every three months. And don't get me going about Thanksgiving!
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thanks tony, way to make my brunswick stew not taste as good. Next time, invite the rest of us. ;)
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I like spelling it out in a handbook as well. Once an employee is hired it pays to sit them down in a friendly environment and explain the rules and what can get them let go. If they call in before start time great, I can look the other way, but 3 times in the first week shows no respect for their job, unless they have a doc excuse it doesn't help. In a production environment they are hurting their 'team'. A great print shop in Campeche Mex has each production line named as a sports team. The peer pressure to be there for the 'team' has monetary rewards attached to it every week and month for attendance and production yields.
Shift change is another area. I overlapped them 30 minutes so the incoming crew could talk to the press ops, find out the issues and load shirts as soon as they were confident on the job. Being late here can be a disaster. A 10 color discharge job cannot stop, it needs people all the time. An hour of production can easily be lost by late workers, hence the 30 minute overlap so traffic, buses, and weather weren't too much of an issue. BTW I have no idea how you guys in the snow country handle weather like blizzards and stuff.
My go to test is this: Anyone hired for the production area has to start in the screen washing area. This is for press, ink, screen depts. only. If they can't handle cleaning screens they really don't want to be a printer. If they make it 30 days they are permanent, if they manage to make the screen area better within a couple of days they get moved to production, or any number of things that show 'effort'. I point out that starting time is that, we lock you out after that, you get to go home. (Needs to be in the employee handbook.) The team can't start short a person, you have let the team down, I sometimes would leave it to the team leader to express in expletives that I can't use!
Too many young people need to know that work is work. It isn't supposed to be easy, if it was we wouldn't need their help. However cracking a whip like a slave driver doesn['t work either. My message was simple. This is your company. Your goal is to make it better so I can pay you more by moving you up the ladder. I need you to take control of the operation, I can't be everywhere at once. Take pride in your work, make your production the best it can be to keep our customers, without them we don't need you. If they yawn, look at their phone, look bored, or act put out cause the boss is laying down what works, they will never work for you, only themselves.
Sometimes people need money but not work in their lives, this is a dangerous combo. I preferred hiring people who wanted to learn screen printing, who were jazzed by the print process, who wanted to print some of their designs. The desire to learn is more important to an employer than the employee's need for money in hiring a good employee. Sure they can go on to start their own companies but that is the nature of journeyman to owner. To combat this I often moved these people to sales, paid them a good commission so they could feel a sense of ownership.
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Giving newbies crappy tasks in the first few weeks in a time honored and proven way to weed out the weak, unwilling and unfit.
Cleaning screens fits the bill perfectly for most, but it can also bite you in the butt if they suck and do a crappy job of it.
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You know how you handle blizzards? Plan ahead. In the case of sever weather, I will let people make the call. I won't put the safety and lives in my hands by deciding how bad is too bad. I will say, when there is a snow storm, I don't expect everyone to make it. We have never closed due to one though. What is irritating is the gal that drives two hours and makes it (usually a half hour drive) and then the guy that can't make it that lives a quarter mile away. I don't necessarily document that, but I do remember. Also, I am a HUGE believer in family first. If your Mom is in the hospital and you feel the need or desire to be there, then go. I sure as hell won't hold that against you. Things happen.
Off on a different tangent, yet related. The work ethic has changed over the last few decades. When I was younger and stupid (not to be confused with my current old and stupid) I managed to lose my driver's license. I was working full time third shift. My job was a bit of a distance from my home. I would leave for work two hours early in case I had to walk the whole way. Many times I thumbed a ride and was there almost two hours early. Point is, I was there regardless. It wasn't a glamorous job either, but I wanted to work. Now, someone has transportation problems and that's a good enough excuse not to go to work.