Late For Work (Part Two)

by with No Comment Late for work

Last week we looked at the disciplinary side of reporting late for duty. This week we look at the more difficult issues and how to apply a process that will help the employer and employee through this dry desert of continuous problems and seemingly never-ending hardship.

Personal problems and issues

We all experience problems in our lives. Sometimes at the least expected time a death of a child or parent or even spouse can be devastating for the person left behind. Divorce, serious long term health issues such as cancer, HIV & aids could be the reason for a perfectly normal functioning person to change to that of a seemingly dysfunctional person. It is in the afore-mentioned cases that one has to act with empathy and trust to allow an employee to go through the process in order to heal and to get back to solid ground.

 

It will always be a difficult process that employers face when their employees are faced with the issues as mentioned above. Business has to continue because there might be other employees who depend on their monthly income to sustain themselves. At the same time the employees not directly affected by this process will look to the owner/manager in how he is trying to solve the problem. Some employees base their assumption of whether or not they want to be related to a specific employer on how that employer treats his employees. All eyes are thus on the employer/manager to treat everybody with respect and dignity as it may have a far wider consequence than most employers anticipate.

 

Showing of empathy

To have empathy with a person or his situation you first have to understand what the problem is, what issues that person has to deal with and what the person’s current situation is with regards to finances, family/friends support, and medical help available etcetera. Somebody once said that you do not really know a person unless you have walked a mile in his shoes. It is thus advisable to have an open and honest relationship with your employees from day one as it could have a great effect in the long run.

 

The second important factor is your listening skills and how you apply them. People do not always need advice so much as they need an ear that listens to what they say instead of hearing what they say. The difference is that the person that listens does so with the exclusive goal to allow the other party to voice his views or feelings without trying to give advice or interrupting the person. This allows the employee to communicate freely without interruption. The odd employee might not want to communicate at all as it is either too hurtful for him or the fact that he is just not that type of person. Employers must therefore be aware that such employees might need external help or assistance from a more professional person than you.

 

The third important factor is the asking of questions to establish what is wrong in order to find a proper solution. You might not want to start with the asking of to many questions in your very first session with the employee as this might create the impression that you are in a hurry to finish the job instead of assisting where you can. Questions are to be well thought through before they are put to the employee to avoid silly or unnecessary questions.

 

Fourthly the employer is to make notes of each discussion. This will help you to list your duties and responsibilities towards the solving of the problem as well as to have a proper record of each discussion. The afore-mentioned will become evident when the process runs over into a possible re-deployment of the employee or a possible termination of contract. The latter is extreme but business owners/managers have to be aware that the company cannot, in the long run, continue to support one employee to the detriment of the other employees or the business as a whole. The Labour Relations Act under the Code of Good Practice, Item 11, deals with incapacity: ill health and therefore recognises the fact that companies cannot be expected to support an employee indefinitely in certain circumstances.

 

The above are just some of the factors that business owners/managers have to keep in mind when dealing with the issues as mentioned in the first paragraph. NJC will be glad to assist if you have any questions.

Late For Work (Part One)

by with No Comment EmployeesEmployersLate for work

General Comments

When is an employee regarded as being late for work? That would depend on your contract of service or in some instances the agreement between the employer and Union or Bargaining Council. But that doesn’t actually answer the question. If a contract of employment or agreement, which ever the case, determines that an employee is to start work at 08h00 in the morning then there is still a few questions that is unanswered.

 

Common-sense

Some business owners are of the opinion that if an employee is to start work at 08h00 and the employee arrives at work at 08h05 he is being regarded as being on time. The said employee then still has to get dressed or eat breakfast and would therefore start work at 08h20 instead of 08h00. When doing the calculation for hours lost you will see that the amount of money lost could be quite substantial and it is therefore important that all expenses are either caped or avoided.

 

What time is being regarded as being late?

One second pass 08h00 is being regarded as being late. An employee is to ensure that he starts to work at exactly 08h00. Some employers who employ administration staff will allow there staff to eat breakfast at their desks. However if you do not ensure that your employees start to work at 08h00 then consistency in the workplace might disappear which may cause unhappy staff with low productivity.

 

Consistency

Usually if a certain employee is consistently “late” for work then management must ensure that they apply the late-coming-rule consistently and fairly. It would not be regarded as good practice if one employee is subject to disciplinary steps for reporting 5 minutes late while another employee who also reports 5 minutes late is not subject to the same disciplinary action. Therefore apply the rule for the reason that it was designed for and that is all employees have to start work at 08h00. Obviously in certain cercumstances employees will have good enough reason for being late but that should rather be the exception than the rule.

 

Managing the situation

When an employee reports late for duty enquire what the reason is for him being late and if the excuse that the employee presents for being late is not acceptable speak to the employee to ascertain what the problem area is and how it can be avoided in the future. By speaking to the employee you let him know that you are aware of the situation and that you require him to take action to rectify the matter. The afore-mentioned will put him in a position where he feels he is in control of his personal situation and that if he changes his behaviour it would be regarded by the company as doing the right thing. This creates a positive atmosphere in the work place.

 

However if the employee in question continues his behaviour by being late the first disciplinary step appears on the horizon in the form of a verbal warning. This warning plays a critical part in the process as this is the first step that the employer takes control of the situation and not the employee due to the fact the employee already had an opportunity to rectify the matter. The second important thing about this step is that the employer has to instruct the employee to be on time for work through the verbal warning. If the employee in any way contravenes the warning that the third step would not be that of another warning for being late for work but that it would be regarded as insubordination as the employee would have ignored a formal instruction by coming late. This method is a bit different to the traditional way of dealing with late comers as it changes the issue from late coming to that of insubordination by way of action. The reason for this is that insubordination is a far more serious transgression than merely reporting late for duty and would therefor put the employer in a position of firing an employee without any side issues as would be in the case of reporting late for duty.

 

Next week we will look at personal issues in late for work (part 2) and how to deal with them in such a way that is humane and at the same time that makes business sense.