Useless Conversation

[ghost]

Yes, it does suck to be in charge.  And I don't mind bucking up and shouldering more of the load when people are sick, but I don't like being taken advantage of any more than the employees do.  If I wasn't in charge of patient care it really wouldn't be a huge issue, but when I'm responsible for the well being of people that I'm treating it makes a difference to how I have to handle it.

I guess what I would like to know is where do I draw the line?  I don't like being viewed as a jackass by my employees.  Maybe you can help me with this Merusk.  I want to know what might be considered a fair post-event policy in your eyes.  

[Cyrrex]

Ask yourself this:  is their collective absence having a major adverse impact on your business/patients, or just YOU specifically?  If it's the former, than you should take action.  If the latter, than chill and let it go.

[ghost]

Ask yourself this:  is their collective absence having a major adverse impact on your business/patients, or just YOU specifically?  If it's the former, than you should take action.  If the latter, than chill and let it go.

Business and patients.  I wouldn't be even asking the question if it was just me. 

[Murgos]

Communication is good.

"Hey guys, I know the super bowl is this weekend and I expect you to have fun.  But, we do have a job to do so I need 1 of you here ready to go monday morning and the other 2 in by 11.  You can decide amongst yourselves who does what."

Reality is what it is and a good manager is one who anticipates it and plans for it.  Ignoring the (obvious) situation until after it happens and then getting all butt-hurt about it is pretty much the wrong way.

[ghost]

That's a great idea, Murgos.  It's easy for me to not think about things like this because of my position and work ethic.  Next year and for all holidays I will have a pre-emptive discussion of the matter and see if that helps.  There's always something to learn when it comes to management. 

[Bunk]

Typically, I pull a guilt trip approach, often preemptively if there is an event like the Superbowl, reminding them of how busy we get on Monday mornings, and that not showing up means their co-workers get to do triple the work.

Other than that, I've made it quite clear that one of the factors that has been used in deciding layoffs in the past is reliability. It works because it's true.
I have no issue with people using thier alloted sick days - I usually use most of mine up each year. Last year though, I had some employees use up all six sick days in the first three months, and continue to call in every third Monday or Friday expecting me not to complain about it.

[Cyrrex]

Ask yourself this:  is their collective absence having a major adverse impact on your business/patients, or just YOU specifically?  If it's the former, than you should take action.  If the latter, than chill and let it go.

Business and patients.  I wouldn't be even asking the question if it was just me.  

I don't know you from Pete, but the vast majority of "managers" I've ever met (and I am one myself) are petty and bitter and only care they they are personally being slighted somehow.  So I only made the point so you'd have a moment of self reflection to make sure you aren't that asshole.

And now that you have, you know the answer to your question.  You can't allow them to do shit like that if it is really having an impact.  Especially when people's health is at issue.

Edit: And for a pre-emptive solution, Murgos has a good one.

[ghost]

Great.  Thanks for the ideas guys.  I feel better about this already.  

Last year though, I had some employees use up all six sick days in the first three months, and continue to call in every third Monday or Friday expecting me not to complain about it.

One of my "sickies" today already used 4 days this year.

[Paelos]

We went the policy of having just 5 sick and 10 vaca, to just 15 "days" sick or not. Use them for whatever.

Works well.

[Mrbloodworth]

Kidney stones are a bitch. 

Um, yeah.  I hope you didn't have one.  My wife had one two years ago and wow, it was rough. 

My weekend was not fun.

[Nebu]

My weekend was not fun.

Sorry to hear it.  I hope things pass quickly.  The relief it brings is beyond compare. 

[ghost]

Yeah.  No kidding.  Hope you're feeling better, BW.

[NowhereMan]

My dad's side of the family suffer from them and he seems to get them every couple of years. He can usually get them ultra-sounded to bits if they're small enough but I'm fairly sure they're something I have to look forward to.

Hope the pain doesn't last too long BW.

[ghost]

Hmmm.  AOL is to buy the Huffington Post.  That's weird. 

[Rasix]

Ahh, temperatures back into the 70s today.  YAY.

Still no sink/fountain water at the site.  Half of the bathrooms are under repair.

I was wondering when you were going to speak up, Rasix.  My sister in law has been bitching up a storm on Facebook (She's in Tucson.)   because southwest gas said they were out of Natural Gas for certain areas and there's no heat.

Heh, some people still don't have gas.  But it's about 90% restored in Tucson now.   This area just really isn't built to handle record lows, especially when everyone else is having them too.

Overall though, it wasn't too bad.  Few days in the 30s with overnights in the teens.  Of course, there was wind too, which wasn't fun.  Killed some of our potted plants that we didn't want to move indoors (bug concerns, they were covered) and my lemon tree has seen better days.  I hope it doesn't set back my crop another year.

[Merusk]

Merusk:  I'm not your typical employer.  I don't scream at my employees and I rarely even give them a hard time about things like this.  I don't fire people for useless shit.  I don't usually pester them for doctor's notes or even usually ask them why they were out.  I have never said no to a time off request.  I expect them to respect the rules, but I'm usually pretty flexible with them because they are people with real lives.

I understand you're bitter about the job market, but getting on my case won't get you a job any quicker.  However if you offered a reasonable solution  you might actually be able to help my employees. 

I went to cool off, and I apologize.  I'm not bitter about the market or anything like that, this is just a hot button.  Like I said I've had lots of bad managers who give you a hard time about time off.  I got guff at the last one for having the gall to schedule vacation at the end of the year because the company had a no-rollover policy and I had 7 of my 15 days left.  I've also had managers call me at home to see if I was still there, so yeah it's a big sore spot and I was projecting a bit. 

What Murgos suggested is a really good idea.  I was serious about having a good temp staff number as well, because hey shit happens and you've got a requirement for a certain # of bodies, I get that.

That said, I've been in a management position before and know people will pull shit on you if they can.  I had to fire a woman for abusing the absence policy, FMLA (oddly enough it was kidney stone related) and managing to sneak in extra vacation days because she'd switched managers several times.  It was an extreme case but it still sucked because she'd worked maybe 15 days out of about 4 months.   HR still gave us hell about it until I and my boss had documented each day and occurrence.

The guy who's used up 4 sick days already you might want to have a talk with.  Maybe something's going badly and you can make other arrangements, or maybe he's just really tired of the job.  Hell, I can't believe Bunk kept the guy he mentioned employed.  Having a fair system works both ways, to me.  Leave the employee alone when they use up a day but expect them to adhere to the policy and number of days or face the consequences.

Also, what Paelos said;  Lump 'sick' days in with Vacation days and it clears up for a lot of people.  Something differs in the psyche of most people so they won't burn a random "Vacation" day instead of a "sick" day unless they're actually physically unable to work.  I've never quite grasped the reasoning.

Sorry about the Kidney Stone, BW.  Hope it passes quickly.

[Sand]

Anyone in a position of management have strategies to deal with this?

I'm the owner. Im sitting in my home office at 1pm in my bathrobe reading the news and typing on F13.
Its good to be the owner.

[ghost]

Thanks, Merusk.   

It's hard being a boss, and I feel personally responsible for these people.  I think I'm going to go Muros's route at first, and then proceed if I have to.  It's sad that my worst offender for this kind of thing is actually my best in-office employee, so I have to make a compromise between letting her push the edges and keeping her focused. 

[HaemishM]

That winter weather in Dallas? Thanks, that's coming here. Though we probably won't get it nearly as bad, but the weather man forecast a high of 33 at noon today. It doesn't matter where I go, nobody's heater seems to be able to keep me at a comfortable temp. Taking the dogs out has been a goddamn nightmare for my skinny ass. I'm wrapped up like Nanook of the North and I still can't get warm. The building management at my office won't let us use space heaters, so I'm contemplating lighting my feet on fire to get them warm. And despite all the cold, we probably won't get a goddamn lick of snow but will likely get freezing rain.

If your extremities are cold, put on a hat.  I mean a real wool or fleece winter hat.  The only reason your extremities are cold is because you're bleeding out too much heat from your core and head, so your body restricted the capillaries in your hands and feet.

Your head is full of capillaries and small blood vessels close to the skin which bleed heat like a mother in cold weather.  Also why even minor head wounds bleed like crazy.

Heh, when walking the dogs in those temps, I put on a balaclava, a Green Bay Packers wool cap, a scarf around my neck, sweatpants, a sweatshirt and a double layer trench coat. More layers is not my problem. I'm starting to look like the kid on Christmas Story.

[Bunk]

The guy who's used up 4 sick days already you might want to have a talk with.  Maybe something's going badly and you can make other arrangements, or maybe he's just really tired of the job.  Hell, I can't believe Bunk kept the guy he mentioned employed.  Having a fair system works both ways, to me.  Leave the employee alone when they use up a day but expect them to adhere to the policy and number of days or face the consequences.

Also, what Paelos said;  Lump 'sick' days in with Vacation days and it clears up for a lot of people.  Something differs in the psyche of most people so they won't burn a random "Vacation" day instead of a "sick" day unless they're actually physically unable to work.  I've never quite grasped the reasoning.

Sorry about the Kidney Stone, BW.  Hope it passes quickly.

It sucks having a small department with a set headcount. Deciding to let someone go without being told to by corporate first, leads to them dropping your headcount. When mandated cutbacks came around last year, he was the easy choice.

I'd love to have vacation days and sick days lumped together (heck, we are usually flexible about letting people use vacation days when they are out of sick days if they don't abuse it). The problem is, in a call center environment with specialized groups, sometimes you only have two or three people covering a set block of time. It makes it pretty much manditory to ask people to book time off two weeks ahead to make sure we have coverage.

All that being said - every one gets a bonus float day off for their birthday, and we've never forced anyone to "unbook" an approved vacation. I'll be hitting 4 weeks vacation by the end of this year 

[Murgos]

Heh, when walking the dogs in those temps, I put on a balaclava, a Green Bay Packers wool cap, a scarf around my neck, sweatpants, a sweatshirt and a double layer trench coat. More layers is not my problem. I'm starting to look like the kid on Christmas Story.

The coolest thing about a few weeks of > 20 weather is that once it hits mid 40ish it's shorts and T-shirt weather.  It's amazing what the body can adapt to.

[Bzalthek]

I lived in Hawaii for a while.  Kinda odd seeing people break out the heavy sweaters cause it dipped down to the mid 70's (Oh no!)

[Nebu]

I lived in Hawaii for a while.  Kinda odd seeing people break out the heavy sweaters cause it dipped down to the mid 70's (Oh no!)

How did you like living there?  I had a job offer on the big island and I often regret having turned it down. 

[Cheddar]

I absolutely love the post superbowl whiskey flu.  It's such a strange coincidence that suddenly cars won't start and children get sick on the Monday after the big game.

Anyone in a position of management have strategies to deal with this?

Positive reinforcement.  I call them and ask what I can do to get them to come in for a halfday - and joke about some tylenol since they got the big game flu.

edit.  2 quick additionals. 1 - don't fuck with FMLA.  Seriously.  2 - I have a LOT of experience dealing with workgroups hovering around 10-15% absent rate (not vacation/other time off) and I have found being straight with them upfront (dude, when you are out we have to cover for you) along with killing them with kindness (noooo, seriously, it sucks we lost 50k due to your absence, but take care of yourself first!) to be fairly effective.  YMMV

[ghost]

I lived in Hawaii for a while.  Kinda odd seeing people break out the heavy sweaters cause it dipped down to the mid 70's (Oh no!)

How did you like living there?  I had a job offer on the big island and I often regret having turned it down. 

From what I understand "Island Fever" is a bitch, but if you surf it's not too bad. 

[Yegolev]

Do they have the high speed intertubes in Hawaii?

[Sand]

Do they have the high speed intertubes in Hawaii?

Yes.

Here is a picture of the local server. I think the Professor made it.

[Bzalthek]

I lived in Hawaii for a while.  Kinda odd seeing people break out the heavy sweaters cause it dipped down to the mid 70's (Oh no!)

How did you like living there?  I had a job offer on the big island and I often regret having turned it down. 

Well, bear in mind that my experience is from 89-91 so it's dated.  I lived on Oahu at Kaneohe.  As I recall it, there was a lot of pollution (beaches closed frequently), sewage treatment plants you could *taste* from the highway, lots of racism from the locals (somewhat deservedly, though their target selection could use work) and from japanese businesses (several wouldn't serve white people).  There was a "kill haole day" which is whatever day the locals want to kick the shit out of a white guy.  Happens in schools a lot, teachers don't do anything.  Police don't either.  Bad crime while I was there too.

[Sky]

[ghost]

Well this  is shaping up to be a spectacular week.  First my wife gets sideswiped by a 16 year old girl on her way to work and now the dog just bit the boy on the nose.  Wheee.   

[Viin]

Stupid kids.

[Fraeg]

At a hotel that is apparently blocking Netflix streaming, it is the nicest hotel in the area, closest to the job site, and is within our per diem rate... but $%!$^!% this netflix thing is pissing me off.  If i was just going to be here a night or two, no biggie, but I am here for several weeks.  They also auto block any computer that runs a torrent client.

Raaah!!

[Merusk]

Bleh! I wouldn't plug my worst enemy's laptop into a hotel network if they used it regularly, much less one I'd be expecting to keep for a few weeks.  Hell, the only reason I did it with the laptop I used to have is I could wipe and reinstall everything when I got home. 

I remember running some firewall program and seeing 400+ hits in about a half an hour from trojans, sniffers and other unprotected systems when in Vegas.  The real fun one was going to Xp's default network (mshome) and seeing 4 unprotected systems waiting for me to connect to them.


Oh, sorry about the netflix, though.  Maybe ask about it at the front desk?

[Cheddar]

Real men tether.  Lazy men use hotspots on the fancy new phones.  What are you?

[RhyssaFireheart]

We need a facepalm smilie.

Just found out staff over on the forum I admin had to delete multiple pages of conversation today from several people's profile walls and hand out temporary bans.  The reason?  They were having an explicit RP discussion of sex (with bonus!necrophilia), complete with hentai pics.  And then one of the banned idiots had the stupidity to log into a second account and hold a whiny convo with another member bitching about how someone must have turned them in because they got banned.  So I perma-banned the second account, which prompted the other person in that convo to post on my wall asking if staff was watching him.

I swear, kids these days are morons in so many ways.  Especially since we've told members multiple times that staff have ways of knowing if you are using duplicate accounts, so don't do it because they aren't allowed!