employee attendance problems...

[UtahProtectionForce]

So theres an officer assigend to my site i will change the name for the write of this.

So before i became supervisor at the site i am assigned to now, i have filled in various times, and "Mike", whom was supposed to be my relief tonight called in 1 hr before shift, saying he wasnt going to be in. The previous week, i had written mike up for being 2hrs late, his excuse was he was helping a friend in wyoming and miscalculated time, although he called dispatch 2hrs before his shift saying he was only going to be 10-15 mins late. However in previous weeks before becoming supervisor he missed 3 days, i have no clue why, he was out m,t,w that week, then the week before he had some excuse for not coming in at all. then week before that he had missed monday too. so i see a pattern here i think. but since i have only been supervisor for about 2 weeks, i wrote him up for the 2hrs late last week, and he will be recieving another unless he has a good excuse this time for calling off only 1hr before shift, company policy is too call off 4hrs in advance if you cant make it, company is pretty leinent as so, if you atleast give 4hrs notice they can usually find a replacement. however i have breifly spoke with a few other supervisors and they are suprised he isnt gone yet. i think the reason on this maybe that the previous supervisor never wrote him up, i dont like to do the write ups but they are part of the job. our dispatch did find a replacement, as i am home now and writting this, but i am considering call the office and talking to our HR person, and see about having a meeting with the office, "mike" and i, however i also want to give him a fair chance to show me why he called off. but i think he is just wanting to play hookie.....


what would you guys do ??????

[NRM_Oz]

UPF - firstly I would take a deep breath and ask to see his previous attendance records or any disciplinary stuff. If the same supervisor is still on duty from this post - I would see if the boss would allow him to sit on a meeting with both of you to speak with this idiot so he can not put the blame on just you.

Thirdly, you need to be tough on this idiot as he is letting the team down by not following company policy and I used to get called out because of people like him to relieve at minimal notice. I did not mind but it peed me off knowing I had a 1 hour trip home by car a few hours off before a regular night shift and people call in later to say, I am sick when their shift is due to start.

Fourthly, he should now be on probation and he should be warned that he has 3 months to get his **** together or his **** is out the door. Finally you need to be the MAN ............... don't let people fool you with their poor excuses and BS but also be understanding if his wife is sick, etc. I had 1 clown who religiously would clock on before 0930 but would always coming into the LP Office some 15 minutes later.

After being confronted, he lied his way through a meeting with me and in a HR interview he was caught lying when the girls he were chatting up rolled on him about his sleazy ways and BS. HR informed him that he was on 3 months probation and lost his o/t - his life source. He demanded to go higher than me about this matter and screamed of being being a racist and a bigot (he was an islander) until I pointed out the extra time he was given to sort out his tax issues (I did the auditing for him for free), the fast approval of leave to fly home for a funeral and his time off to see his son with pay when the baby was born early. HR told him to sit and listen but he stormed off and I assumed had resigned from work 3 days later (no notice from him). Some people you can only help so much before they walk all over you.

[Lawson]

Let me start by saying, I have always personally felt the 4hr call-in rule that a lot of companies have is completely bogus and I'm glad we don't have it at BHR.

I set my alarm to wake me up about 2hrs before I have to be into work, which gives me ample time to get up, clean up, get dressed, eat, and get out the door. If I wake up, and I'm feeling ill, I'm calling in. Period.

Especially since I work 12's, I'm not going to set my clock to wake me up 4hrs early, giving me at max 6hrs sleep when you factor in the time it takes to get home and get ready for bed from the previous shift.

I think if you're going to run a company, you need to get stuff squared away enough to provide for 2hr and 1hr coverage, and have S/Os understand they may need to cover that time.

Now, as far as your situation goes, this guy needs to either get his act together, or be kicked to the curb. I'm sure we've all had our call-ins, and late arrivals, feeling green, nasty weather, bad traffic, whatever it may be... but... to be having issues with it every week when you are at a post that has required relief, you need to be reliable, which this guy is apparently, not.

[CorpSec]

I would document, document, document and if this keeps up, consult HR about firing him. There is no excuse for that level of attendance.

Attendance problems is one of many reasons why I disliked contract security. About 20 minutes before my shift would end I could about flip a coin about whether or not my relief would be there on time, if at all. This is why I liked sites with cold ends.

Now that I am in a corporate environment the call offs are much, much fewer and we deal with attendance problems decisively. You almost have to try to get fired at my company, but poor attendance will do it.

Having employee that are attendance problems is bad for business and need to be moved out ASAP.

[NRM_Oz]

Well Corp, I can only be fired by the Managing Director or the Board of Directors but it does not mean I am invincible from being fired for stupidity / dishonesty / not being productive. It does make you feel different but I see it as being nothing less than a manager of group HR manager who has the same authority. I learnt from the previous experience in my post to cover my clacker with documenting everything and like a police diary - learnt to make notations of EVERYTHING I came across or discussed in my duties.

[Maelstrom]

Well I've not been in Security long enough to fully appreciate the difficulty experienced by Supervisors/Senior SOs when dealing with subordinates, but I've always been a strong supporter of a 1-to-1 chat when difficulties arise with fellow employees...

Try to establish if there's a personal problem (perhaps direct them to some support network) all while keeping a professional manner about the conversation, set them straight relating to their responsibilities to the company, reinforcing the reality that this conduct won't be tolerated any further (explaining the eventual outcome) & finish off the conversation with the opportunity for them to clarify any queries they may have

BTW congrats on the promotion to Supervisor UPF!

[Minneapolis Security]

No excuse for that much absenteeism. I would start building a case for dismissal. Company policy should have a step system for dealing with this type of problem.

[Cactus]

Personally I despise people like this, if it were up to me... he would have been let go a while ago.

[Badge714]

Let me start by saying, I have always personally felt the 4hr call-in rule that a lot of companies have is completely bogus and I'm glad we don't have it at BHR.

I like the 4 hour rule because it gives us time to fill open shifts and not leave a guard stranded for an unexpected double shift. I have a small area hour-wise, billing only 600 hours a week on average, but my accounts are spread out. in an emergency, a guard's relief may be coming from up to 90 MILES away. Four hours notice is not excessive.

I have 17 guards who have collectively called off a total of 11 shifts this year. One guard called off just 1 hour before a shift once, and I knew that is was unavoidable, based on his previous attendance record. Another guard was 2 hours late when he hit a deer with his car on the way to work.

A guard of mine who missed 3 days with questionable explanations and was late so many times would be gone already. One thing I like about our company is the policy that lets the area or site supervisor determine what is excessive tardiness or absenteeism. My guards clearly know what my expectations are, so I don't have any problems in this regard. -Thank God!

[Minneapolis Security]

Sometimes you just have to buck up and come to work sick. It seems like the work ethic has gotten really bad lately. I remember when people used to give 2 weeks written notice when they quit, now they often times just stop coming to work, and that is how they let you know they intend to quit.

[craig333]

Really depends on the site you work whether coming in sick is an option. I usually do unless its one of those need to stay close to the toilet illnesses. But, if you work a hospital or some site where your work brings you into close contact with lots of people. My previous site, I'd hate to ride the elevator and to be hacking and coughing all over the elderly and already ill people who can't avoid me.

Of course since most of don't get sick leave and can't afford to take time off, those around us just have to suffer.

I really don't know how the four hour thing works. If I know I'm not going to make it before I go bed I'll call let em know then, but otherwise I won't know till I wake up. And I generally get up and go to work.

[Badge714]

It seems like the work ethic has gotten really bad lately. I remember when people used to give 2 weeks written notice when they quit, now they often times just stop coming to work, and that is how they let you know they intend to quit.

I went to cover an open shift once. It was a 2200 cold start, and I got a call from the client at midnight saying they had no guard. I tried calling the guard's house - no answer, of course. I wound up working the shift myself, when I got there, I found a note from the guard written on the desk blotter in the security office saying that he quit. He wrote it the night before! So, I cut the note out of the blotter and placed it in his file. I found out from the staff working at the account that the guard had been telling them for 3 days that he was leaving to work for another company.
Then a few days later he called me and asked for his job back! Apparently his new job fell through. After I quit laughing, I told him he was welcome to re-apply, but we didn't have any immediate openings!

[Minneapolis Security]

I went to cover an open shift once. It was a 2200 cold start, and I got a call from the client at midnight saying they had no guard. I tried calling the guard's house - no answer, of course. I wound up working the shift myself, when I got there, I found a note from the guard written on the desk blotter in the security office saying that he quit. He wrote it the night before! So, I cut the note out of the blotter and placed it in his file. I found out from the staff working at the account that the guard had been telling them for 3 days that he was leaving to work for another company.
Then a few days later he called me and asked for his job back! Apparently his new job fell through. After I quit laughing, I told him he was welcome to re-apply, but we didn't have any immediate openings!

It can be really frustrating sometimes! We pay really well for contract security in the Minneapolis area, and sometimes people still throw their job away with a no call, no show.

[craig333]

I prefer to give a two week notice if I can.

However, work is a two way street. I show up on time everday and do my job as well as I can. I also expect certain things out of my company. Pay me on time, treat me passably and so forth. Good companies can expect two weeks notice, really bad companies might not get any.

That said, even if I'd like to give my company two weeks notice, if get that call for my dream job that doubles my salary, gives me the shift of choice and great benefits, and they want me to start tomorrow? Sorry, I'm gonna call and tell my boss what happened and say I'm sorry. Risking a great job just to give two weeks notice isn't something I have the luxury of doing right now.

[bpdblue]

I agree that someone who is late on a regular basis, and does not call in (if possible) to report they are going to be late or sick, within a reasonable amount of time (and the amount of time necessary IS debatable) should be handled in the usual ways.

First, the verbal warning; and if it happens again within 6 months;

Second, the write-up; and if it happens again within 6 months;

Third, the suspension; and if it happens again within 6 months;

Fourth, the termination.

There are exceptions to every rule, and some exceptions are if the employee gets into an accident on the way to work and cannot call, if the employee has a true family emergency and cannot call, If the employee is abducted by aliens and cannot transport back to earth , or any other valid explanation that is brought up by the employee. In these cases there should be NO action taken against the employee.

In regard to the "how much notification time should an employee be required to give if they are going to be late or sick," I think that depends on several circumstances. As brought up in this post, if you have a 12 or more hour shift, and you normally get up a couple of hours before your shift starts, how can you call in four hours before the shift starts to make notification that you are going to be sick today. There are always reason why a rule had to be broken, and so those reasons need at least to be listened to to determine if they were reasonable. If no reason is given, then it must be assumed there was no reason to have committed the company infraction by the employee.