Fired a guy, and had one quit (UPDATE)
Oakie
Member Posts: 40,510 ✭✭✭✭
Not a good day. One of my best new employees didn't show up for work today. He has been with me for 2 years. Super nice guy and a hard worker. I called his house and he told me something I didn't want to ever hear. The other mechanic he was working with, who has been with me many years, Was constantly calling him the N word, and other racial remarks🤬. He was also drinking on the job. He said he didn't want to be a rat, but that he also couldn't take the abuse anymore. I immediately called the other guy in the office, and promptly showed him the door. Told his to never use me as a reference and that I will be fighting his unemployment. Man am I pissed. The guy that quit, I told him to please come back, as we all really like him and respect him. Told him to take some time to think about it, I will pay him, and let me know what he wants to do. If he doesn't come back, I told him that I would give him a great recommendation. Hopefully he changes his mind. I think every employee in the company called him today, asking him to come back. I really feel bad for this situation that I had no control over. Tomorrow I am having a meeting with the rest of the guys and go over some rules, that should never have to be said. Oak
My guy decided to come back to work, starting Monday. Man I am one happy guy. He was going to come back tomorrow, but I'm heading to Pittsburg in the Morning, for my nieces Wedding. Told him to come back Monday and we will start fresh. I also told him that I deposited his weekly pay , in his direct deposit for this week. I'm so blessed to have this young man back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Comments
HOLY MOLY!!!!
Get the new guy back somehow. He sounds like the kind of person who wants to do the work for people who know the meaning of respect. You showed that today.
As for the other guy, you showed a lot of restraint not literally giving him the boot.
🇺🇲 "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." - Thomas Jefferson 🇺🇲
Just curious, how did you verify the allegations? Did the “offender” admit to it when confronted?
👍 and a tip of He Dog's Stetson sir.
Oakie, I was very fortunate to have a great boss that I bet was a lot like you for my last 17 years of employment at West Point. He was Pres/Ceo Assoc. of Grads, USMA.-----------Ray
I spent most of the day on phone and iPAD trying to sort out problems with 3 employees. Literally everyone other than myself and one employee have butched up the past 2 weeks work project. I've been up since 4am this morning and still watching progress 15 hours later. I've had a headache and upset stomach since 10AM. I'm retiring/resigning in 4 months and can hardly wait.
Time draweth nigh. I remember those phone calls in the middle of the night, " Jim, the plant just went down."
I wanted to sit on the edge of the bed and cry. Weeks of 12 hour days, no time off, no extra pay.
Now, I just drive th by the plant, roll the window down, and holler " Send my pension check!"
"Now, I just drive by the plant, roll the window down, and holler " Send my pension check!""
Sounds like me!! 33 years in maintenance, and a TON of overtime patching up old equipment was enough for me. I miss some of the people, not the place.
I was fortunate to have two great bosses, one for 11 years and the other for 27. If you count my wife, 45 years!!!
WOW, you would think that if that was going on someone would have approached you. If it was true the guy that was being harassed showed much restraint. Geez, I don’t miss management at all - Hope for the best to you both.
I don't even drive by. Auto deposit, and I shop on Gunbroker.
Yep........I also had a few night-time/weekend calls over the years.
My best revenge is........I'm still here........and all four of the businesses I worked for here.........are.......CLOSED/GONE/KAPUT!!! 😛
Sad in so many ways and also sad the few who bring the hate down on the rest of the population no matter their race or their actions and words
JMHO I still think the goverment loves to keep the pot stirred to keep a huge distraction and hate mongering going to keep people blaming each other and focused away from goverments shady dealings
I wish he had said something to you about it.....that was on him for letting it get so bad he felt like he couldn't take working in that situation anymore. Plus, you don't just "not show up" for work. You owe it to people to give them heads up you aren't coming back....a few days notice is customary....but telling them you aren't coming back is the least he should have done.
So, I'm not a huge fan of the guy who had the issue....but I appreciate he is a good worker, that is rare these days.
We had a little hiccup here with our little team. Someone didn't like the music or podcasts another person listened to while they were working. They don't share a workspace, so I didn't see it as something I needed to address and they were planning on moving on to another job anyway....so it was just drama for drama's sake in my eyes. If you have a group of people working together day in and day out they are going to have issues from time to time.
I hope you find a way to get him back....but when you do I'd tell him he owed you a warning at the very least so you could have a chance to fix the situation. He needs to know he handled the problem poorly.
I sure don't envy you any of that nonsense, Oakie. Hopefully you can get all that mess squared away in short order.
For most of my time in business (26 years) I worked by myself. At one time I had five guys working for me but fortunately all got along well and worked pretty good. I'm a self-admitted control freak and somewhat of a perfectionist. I found myself spending more time looking over people's shoulders making sure they were doing things up to my standards rather than just doing it myself! Once all the guys had drifted on to other things my stress level went way down.
Firing him for the reasons you gave pretty much eliminates any chance for him to get unemployment anyway.
...having had a company for over 25 years before I sold it and retired, I never fired anyone...I did however have quite a few that fired themselves...and never felt "bad" over any of them...the day they were hired they were given the 3-4 "firing offenses"...no ands, ifs, or buts, no second chances on those particular rules...immediate termination if any one of those offenses occurred...had one guy fire himself on Christmas Eve, oh well, he knew the rules...
Yes, He admitted to it. After I fired him, His uncle told me he has a severe drinking problem and is a total raciest POS. I would have never thought that, but I am not working with him every day in the field. What stinks the most is, both these guys just had children, within the last few months.
Almost everyone in the company knew what was going on, but nobody wanted to be the snitch and was hoping I would find out another way. My one guy, who runs the crews, said he has a motto with the other guys. What goes on in the field, stays in the field, until I have to say something to John. He said he was going to talk to me about it this week, but everything exploded Monday morning. I respect my foreman and he does well with the guys. He said he had just recently found out about the name calling and drinking. He warned the guy to stop, and told him that he was going to talk to me if he heard one more complaint from the crews. He takes a lot off my shoulders sometimes. I told him this morning, he now has my permission to fire anyone that needs to be fired, or suspend anyone. I trust his judgement. I relayed this to all my crews this morning. I think I only fired a couple of guys in 36 years. I treat them all with respect and encouragement. I even let them do side work and send them job out of my area. Anyone that wants to start their own business, I help them out getting started. Someone did this for me many years ago, and I never forgot it.
I finally talked to the guy that quit this morning. He would like to take this week off and will let me know if he is going to return on Monday. I'm fine with that. I also told him if he decides to take another job, I will give him an outstanding recommendation. I also let him know that, he will be paid for this week, regardless of his decision. It's not a compensation, but rather a bonus for all he endured and his hard work that was noticed by me and my foreman. He is always early and always the first to volunteer for ot and weekends when I need someone. Take care of me, and I take care of you. Thanks for hearing me out. I kind of wear my heart on my sleeve sometimes.
You sound like a guy I'd enjoy working for, Oakie, and I guarantee you those are far and few between!
Well, as to the offender, I wouldn’t give him another thought. All you did was hold him accountable for HIS actions.
As to the victim, it’s definitely a shame he had to deal with that. Still shouldn’t have been a no-show. However, it’s tough to say how that situation affects a person, and he probably just reached his limit.
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Glad that got worked out and your worker is coming back. The one you lost turns out to be no loss after all.
Good luck to you guys.
Good deal, Oakie. Glad he decided to come back.
Glad he’s coming back. You handled the matter well. I think Kasey’s comment is now in order “tell him he owed you a warning at the very least so you could have a chance to fix the situation. He needs to know he handled the problem poorly.” I’m certain the fella will understand where you’re coming from and appreciate the feedback.
i say thanks for posting all these comments. They reminded me that leadership is hard and takes years of experience in order to be consistent, effective, and good at it.
🇺🇲 "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." - Thomas Jefferson 🇺🇲
Sounds like the other 13 will have learned a lesson also.