No call No shows

[treevet]

I had bad days but I did call in and tell the boss and now that I'm the boss I tell them to just tell me the truth, if they are hungover or what ever tell me the truth and we'll talk about it but don't mistake my kindness for weakness and try to take advantage of me because I'll send you packing in a minute.

That is a real good point RF. I am the nicest guy to any employee but when it is time to can them, hey, they are down the road. I have em call crying and almost everyone has called months, years trying to get the job back they took for granted.

A lot of assumptions made here by me about the substance abuse. Maybe he was just oversleeping (for 2 days?).

I have been sober for 20 years and this may sound stupid but it is not their faults but rather the substance/drug/alcohol. No matter how good their intentions they just cannot make it with a big ball and chain tied to their ankles. Until they acknowledge their problem and get help if they have to go that route, they are destined to a life of not making appointments and losing jobs/families/possessions, etc.

You, the biz owner, with best of intentions also, do not have a chance either no matter how much you like them or how good they are if they are addicted.

 

[clearance]

When I was younger I was a constant no show, showed up hungover, puking on the jobsite type of guy. The only kind of good thing people ever said was, and I heard it a few times from bosses who had never met-"Jim, you are hard worker-when you are f----- here!"

I worked hard. Got more done by lunch than a lot of guys got done all day. The work ethic could not be defeated. Now I have been clean and sober for so many years, I have sympathy and understanding for what I caused.

Strange as it sounds, some of the hardest working guys I have ever met have the biggest problems out side of work. Work is perhaps the only positive thing in thier life. Met lots of clean living guys who were almost useless when it came to production, but they looked respectable, were always on time, but at the end of the day, had they produced.....not.

I think you were a bit to hard on the guy. You are not a social worker, just a boss. Call him back and talk to him, thats my two cents.

 

[Raymond]

If they are otherwise a good to excellent worker, I always ask some personal questions. Like "Were you drunk, hungover, or stoned?". Or "I need to know more about your bad day, since you gave me a bad day".

In the end, they tell me what was the real deal, or they make up some fabulous story that doesn't hold water. Either way, you have something better to base your decision on.

Then I drug test them, and that pretty much settles the no-show no-call problem. It's amazing how few grounds workers are actually clean. Curiously, the stoners are the ones that seem to be absent with "bad days".

Weed never seems to be an issue really. Sounds more like meth or crack to me. Either way I don't need that crap around.

Another option is side work..No?

 

[clearance]

I have been sober for 20 years and this may sound stupid but it is not their faults but rather the substance/drug/alcohol.

First of all, good for you, I know how it is.

But you made a choice to quit. Nevermind who's fault it is. It doesn't matter what the drug. People make the choice to pick up the drink, do the line, whatever. And they make the choice to quit, all the help and love in the wolrd cannot stop someone, its up to them.

I believe this to be true, and I wish everyone the best.

 

[MonkeyMan_812]

I think you were a bit to hard on the guy. You are not a social worker, just a boss. Call him back and talk to him, thats my two cents.

I did call him back after my anger settled down. I told him that I wasnt going to let him go afterall, but he was to report to work next monday. I think that since this is a first offense that a few days of suspension will be good.

 

[TOP TREE FELLER]

threaten him w/piss test

 

[treevet]

First of all, good for you, I know how it is.

But you made a choice to quit. Nevermind who's fault it is. It doesn't matter what the drug. People make the choice to pick up the drink, do the line, whatever. And they make the choice to quit, all the help and love in the wolrd cannot stop someone, its up to them.

I believe this to be true, and I wish everyone the best.

IMO fault is the issue. While on the addiction, whatever it is, it is running your life. One has to acknowledge a powerlessness to it to reach an impasse in order to get to where they can quit (again IMO).

I may be spouting AA rhetoric but I only went to a few meetings, some under the influence, and decided it wasn't for me, and quit myself. As you know, it is real hard and takes a lot of self searching. I can see where the support group is a real positive.

Tree guys tend towards extreme personalities and this may ad to their problems. I never had any interest in a few drinks. Also as for weed being so innocuous, man we blew a tractor trailer load of the stuff. Nothing innocent about that.

Back in the day it wasn't believed to be such a big deal. Hey, you had an "accident" loaded and cops would pick you up, dust you off and tell you how sorry they were that you had an "accident" (I had at least a dozen of them) and send you on your way home or drive you there if the car was trashed.

 

[TOP TREE FELLER]

its not how much you know its who u blow

 

[Mikecutstrees]

from my experience people don't change. Giving someone 3 chances is just wasting time you could be training someone who wants the job. Now if they have a legit excuse and call promptly thats another thing..... Mike

 

[Timberhauler]

I have had this happen to me so many times over the last ten years,I will have to admit that now I have a pretty good crew...I set the ground rules on the first day with newbies.I don't have time to waste training someone the same things over and over again,and since I have scaled back to just myself and two guys,I for sure do not have time to run my business around someone else's schedule.
I make it clear on the first day that if they do not call and do not show then there is no need for them to bother showing up the next day,and if I've had someone for a week or more and have been teaching the same things to them over and over again,then I will quickly tell them that they are probably in the wrong business.
The part that gets me alot of times is that I have had several new guys with little or no experience show up and start telling me how I should be doing things.That doesn't wash either...I try to take good care of my guys,and much of the time I've been told that I am too nice...Well...Id rather be accused of being too nice than being an a$$hole.
I've had a few guys test my limits,and usually it gets them a ride home fairly quick.I've had the guys I've got now..One for a little over a year and the other a little over three and I can't complain.I work just as hard if not harder than they do and they respect me more for that.I think you did the right thing by letting that guy go.There are too many people hungry for a job right now to have to deal with someone else's issues.

 

[Raymond]

My favorite line when I've had my fill of no shows is...
"You don't have time for a job. I don't wanna be the one to slow you down, you can go."
That usually goes for cell phone abusers more actually.

 

[fishercat]

screw me once ,it's your fault.

screw me twice,it's my fault.i think canning him was the right thing to do.i noticed the majority of my problems stopped as soon as i stopped hiring labor help.

 

[Treetom]

MonkeyMan812, the country is full of hard workers who've been laid off and are chomping at the bit for a chance to earn a living. You made the right choice. Too many good workers out there to be babysitting employees with "problems."

 

[Raymond]

I did call him back after my anger settled down. I told him that I wasnt going to let him go afterall, but he was to report to work next monday. I think that since this is a first offense that a few days of suspension will be good.

Uhhh guys...

 

[Toddppm]

Yup, I used to call in on Mondays from a long weekend too but, but... I called. I knew if I didn't I wouldn't have a job anymore.

The no call/no show if pure BS and I aint having it, even if you're in jail or the hospital you can find a way to get word out.

One guy I had last year no called/no showed and I fired him, not a bad guy and he worked alright sort of. After a while he called begging for his job back a few times and I relented because I really needed the help. The dipchit no showed on his supposed first day back! He still calls me begging for work, sorry you're done quit calling.

 

[MonkeyMan_812]

This guy is a good one to have around. He is a mechanic and i am not. He used to work at freightliner working on big trucks and i am not so good with that stuff. Plus he has potential to be a climber too. His first time in a saddle i sent him up a big poplar to retrieve a block that i set up there at 55 ft, he went right up there and got it no problems. I think hes worth another shot. It wont happen twice though. You can bet your last dollar on that.

 

[pdqdl]

There is an awful lot to be said for being a total prick and firing someone quickly, then relenting when you "cool off".

You have left an indelible impression as to what is not acceptable behavior.

 

[Sunrise Guy]

There is an awful lot to be said for being a total prick and firing someone quickly, then relenting when you "cool off".

You have left an indelible impression as to what is not acceptable behavior.

Hmm--Not sure how to take what you're saying, as in the above. Which behavior is not acceptable? Is it the firing by the boss, (and) the relenting of the same, or the act of the person who got fired, in the first place?

 

[MonkeyMan_812]

I think he is talking about acting rashly and firing the guy while being mad instead of keeping cool and thinking things through first. Either way whats done is done. Besides all that, I think this guy should look into his past and examine his actions. That is if hes ever lost his temper with anyone before. If not, my hats off to this guy.

 

[pdqdl]

No. What I meant was that leaving the employees with the impression that bad behavior will be rewarded with instant termination can be a very good thing.

The only problem with rehiring the recently fired is that it is a dangerous tool: if used to often, firing becomes a toothless threat.

I don't consider firing someone bad behavior, unless it was done badly.