Ever had to fire someone?

Start documenting everything to support the case for termination. Cover your self and company.

 

Uh....

 

I enjoy firing people. Don't want to step up and be an adult? Cya

 

just think how you'd like it to go.

If you want to give the employee an opportunity to correct said issue by offering counseling in WRITING based on company attendance policy, then do so. If you don't, be quick, clean, and to the point. By the time you are done, it will feel like you didn't do it at all.

Now, when you do fire someone, people tend to act in a few different ways. Indifferent, Angry. Just explain that it wasn't your decision, it was his.

 

I've fired more people than I care to think about. You'll save yourself a lot of headaches if you overcommunicate at this stage of the process. Be VERY direct. The last thing you want is for it to be a surprise when you have to walk him out.

1) Set up initial meeting. "I've noticed that you've been missing a lot of days (xx days in the last xx amount of time). If there is a situation that's happening at home, we need to make sure we're handling it in the proper way." You really never know what people have going on at home and you want to be respectful. He could be calling in with weak excuses but have a real crisis going on that he needs help with. I've had employees like this that were facing terrible custody battles, divorce, family illness, family sexual abuse, and all kinds of stuff. Life's hard sometimes and we never truly know what's going on with the people working around us. Steer him towards whatever resources you may have available to him if he needs them and help him as much as you can in working with HR. Talk to him about FMLA, counseling services, or any other options that may be available.

2) If he's just being a lazy sh!#bird, have the following conversation. "Expectations are that you'll be at your job from x to y every day. If you need a day for personal reasons, illness, etc, you have xx days per year. You have missed xx days in the last xx amount of time, which is well outside of our accepted policy. If you continue to miss work, show up late, we will begin to formally document. After 3 such incidents, I'm going to have to let you go."

Sometimes this wake up call is all that's needed. Don't be surprised if he starts showing up early and bringing donuts. If the attendance issues continue, follow through on the steps that you documented. Legal has always coached me to never apologize, and so I don't. I usually open the meeting with something like "I really enjoy working with you and you do a really good job. I would like to continue working with you for a long period of time and I think you bring a lot of value to the company, etc. We need to address these issues together and get on the same page so we can move forward."

My personal policy is to type something up to this effect, have employee sign and I'll countersign. Tell them that this initial meeting is a freebie and won't be captured in his performance management tool, but that this paperwork will stay in your desk drawer in case further steps must be pursued.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

Progressive discipline- call it out for what it is when you see it. If attendance has been an issue and you looked the other way, you have given this behavior a silent approval. This opens the door for others to do the same if they wanted and makes it difficult for a leader to correct.
My suggestion is to have a documented conversation with this person, making it a final warning, and list all of the times this person violated your attendance policy. It is only fair to give that final warning. As someone mentioned before, if the behavior continues, you have done your due diligence and should not have a problem pulling the plug.
Letting people go is not easy, but as a leader, these decisions show what you stand up for.

 

I’ve fired a few people along the way. It’s simple they have a job to do. If they don’t do their job which includes showing up on time (and actually showing up) then you HAVE TO LET THEM GO. If you don’t the rest of the employees will get worn out and say why the hell do I show up everyday no matter how I feel when “Jim” doesn’t. He never gets in trouble or fired so screw it I am taking today off. Then it happens again and again as more people follow the unwritten rules of what’s allowed.

I am not saying operate without any sort of emotion or be totally heartless. This is a result of their choices. They chose to put themselves in this position. If they were stealing would it still be an issue for you? Their choices their result. If anything be upset that they put you in this situation.

Now your boss has an employee that he needs to let go. If he needs to re-evaluate his structure because his supervisors aren’t running a tight ship and keeping on top of the employees under them that means YOU. If after telling YOU that you need to fire “Jim” and there is no leadership shown he might realize the problem may have been “Jim” but maybe the your easy going nature was the real culprit. His conclusion might be that “Jim” could have been dealt with IF you had the BALLS and were on top of things from moment one that “Jim” showed attendance issues. He already has one weak employee and is ready to do something about it. Don’t show him there are two areas in need of improvement. As it sits there is one employee under your supervision that your boss came to you to fire INSTEAD of you coming to him saying it may be time to let “Jim” go.

Without seeing the day to day on my own I can’t make perfect conclusions but I would be looking at whether you should be supervising anyone at the moment. I hire people to do a job. If I have to do your job for you then why the hell am I paying you? Fire the guy and be good at your job while doing it. If not don't be surprised when you get demoted and a REAL supervisor takes over your position.

 

Yes, it sucks, but if they're not cutting it they need to find a better fit elsewhere or learn to appreciate a decent job by sucking it up and getting it done even on the bad days.

 

I work for the government, takes a lot to get fired....

 

Just went through this at our company foreman meetings. Always always keep documentation. It will save your ass because at the end of the day it’s you word against his. Also delete this post because it can be used against you. You are clearly saying him not showing up doesn’t affect you. So if you were to fire him it sounds like retaliation if they were to read this .

 

True story. I work for a large municipal water agency

Guy I worked with punched his boss in the face so they canned him.

He sued for wrongful termination and the city bought him out with an early retirement. Boggles the mind.

He was also a trouble maker who didn't do a whole lot.

 

The simplest way I can explain many years on supervision and management is to suggest that of those people who I fired, I never felt badly about it. Before everyone starts: At the company where I worked, they were very strongly anti union. As a result the personnel policies were more than fair. Rarely did anyone complain they were not treated fairly. So, when it came to discharging someone, they had either committed some egregious act or did something not quite right so many times, it was laughable. The result was getting fired was more or less just another step in the course of events. My advice is to be sure any such individuals have been warned, offered remedial training etc. If its a downsizing, make sure its done fairly.

 

Me too. I told my boss to "eat a dick" and stormed out of the building once. He followed me to the bar and offered me a raise.........

I'm sure no one is interested, but the whole firing thing was much easier than I expected. He called in sick (3 days in a row) and said he was going to go to the doctor and gets some antibiotics, so I told him to bring a note from the doctor stating he wasn't contagious and was ok to return to work. He showed up on the 4th day and said that he forgot his note at home, so I told him to go home and get it before I'd allow him to return to work. He went home to get it and never came back, and that was a month ago.

 

Problem solved.

 

In some states, no show for 3 days without a doctors note is considered a resignation, I'd check on that to CYA before he tries to collect un-employment.

 

I've fired a couple of people at past jobs. be straight forward and honest with them.