Employee mistakes

[sam gha]

Hi all,

Again, how you guys deal with your employee mistakes especially when it's big in coast, I returned lately from the SEMA show to realize that half of my tools were missing because my employee didn't park our bucket inside before leaving to his holiday, on top of that he hit the garage door with the bucket damaging first 2 panels, and I had to review my recording on cameras to know what happened when I was away, because when I ask him, he admit it and said that he didn't want to ruin my mood during the show, but sure that's what happened when I discover that.

Just wondering how do you solve this kind of issues, not sure if you can charge him for damage or just ignore it and swallow the cost, insurance wont cover that too.

please advise.

Thanks

 

[Kottwitz-Graphics]

It sounds like he may have had a long day, but not parking inside a secure area, which sounds like a daily practice (it should be ), is neglect. He should be held accountable for the missing tools.

Do you have an inventory of exactly what was on the truck? If you do, you have a case, if not, you may have a hard time proving what is missing. Give him a chance to replace what's missing (and not upgraded options ). He can either go buy them on the weekend, off the clock, or you can purchase them and he can reimburse the cost either up front or weekly, out of his check.

 

[HDvinyl]

Is he good at his job? If not, here's the reason to get rid of him.

 

[SightLine]

I see your points and I've asked myself the same thing on more than one occasion. What I do though is I step back and ask myself the opposite - what to do about employer mistakes? I know I have certainly made my share of them over the years. Of course all things need to be considered like if its just outright slackness, neglect, common sense, etc. For example I'm very big on making sure all doors, etc are locked up at night, lights off in the install bay, compressor shut off, alarm is set, etc. and 20,000sf of building with multiple vehicle and personnel doors its actually a lot of things to check and a good 5 minute walk to go around and make sure of everything. However I've found myself miss something on more than one occasion. There have been a few times that I've left the compressor power on over night or over a weekend which is a fire hazard in that if a soft line blows then the compressor will essentially run nonstop until it burns up all of its oil, overheats, and catches fire. I've also left a door unlocked (alarm was set) or hurried out in a rush and forgot to set the alarm. Fortunately I have full remote access and can arm/disarm the system from my phone or look at any of the 16 cameras around the place and I've made it a habit to check when I'm home in the evening to make sure everything is right. Thing is sh!t happens and all of us make an error at times, some considerably expensive.

 

[Gino]

Just swallow hard and eat it. Like mentioned, unless you're looking to get rid of them, we all make mistakes. We, on the other hand, pay for our own mistakes...... and the mistakes by others. Sit down and have a good talk with this person and explain what he costs you in the long run, when he haphazardly does one of his dumb things. Tell him you will write him up, you have given him a warning and after so many write ups, your Christmas bonus won't be as big this year. The only way someone understands is when it hits them in the pocketbook. Look at you, it's costing you, so you see it instantly. Let him see it the same way, but not through immediate payment. Give them a chance to correct their mistakes.

 

[HulkSmash]

All employees make mistakes. You can't charge him for it, that's illegal, unless it's something you agree and sign on before the hire. But taking out wages on mistakes without a signed document is a huge no no.


If it becomes a continued thing, you just get rid of him. All our employees make mistakes, but good outweighs the bad.. most of the time.

 

[Chasez]

I agree with most ppl here... you can't charge the employee for the missing tools/damage unfortunately. Part of the risk of being an employer. But you can write him up so that there is record of this incident and later on if you decide that you're wanting to get rid of him because he's done something else, you have record of warnings. It is true too, we all make mistakes, its human nature but we will forgive and forget quicker when it is us who make the mistake than someone else. You're going to have to weigh out the employees value to you and your company. If he's a great worker and you would have a tough time without him, you just have to suck it up and think of how much you would have to deal with without them, if he's not worth his weight in gold, may be worth trading them in for a different model.

Chaz

 

[ExecuPrintGS]

Everyone makes mistakes, owners, employees, sub contractors. It happens.
If it happens a lot or often with the same employee, obviously they are being careless/ negligent with your equipment and tools and that shouldn't be tolerated.
If it was an honest mistake, make sure they know and move on. It really isn't worth the stress and tension in the shop of "charging" and employee or making them replace it, that just makes for a tense/ stressful work place.

 

[Marlene]

Hi all,

Again, how you guys deal with your employee mistakes especially when it's big in coast, I returned lately from the SEMA show to realize that half of my tools were missing because my employee didn't park our bucket inside before leaving to his holiday, on top of that he hit the garage door with the bucket damaging first 2 panels, and I had to review my recording on cameras to know what happened when I was away, because when I ask him, he admit it and said that he didn't want to ruin my mood during the show, but sure that's what happened when I discover that.

Just wondering how do you solve this kind of issues, not sure if you can charge him for damage or just ignore it and swallow the cost, insurance wont cover that too.

please advise.

Thanks

so you come back, find half your tools missing and two door panels ruined and watched your spy camera instead of asking the employee? you only asked him once you watched the recordings? that sounds strange to me. seems like the first thing would be to call him in and ask what happened

 

[threeputt]

Please note:
You cannot charge an employee for damage or missing tools, or whatever. That's the law.
(unless the tools were stolen by him, that's a different story)

If this person is not otherwise, a stellar performer, I'd have a long talk with him.

At our shop, we have employee reviews every six months. Do you do that? That way you have open dialog with employees and can address things that you've noticed and concern you. Everything from a propensity to be sloppy, coming in late, whatever.

Finally, have a checklist. When the last person leaves the shop he can review them. Set alarms, bay door down and locked, portable heaters turned off, cash in safe, etc.

 

[Gene@mpls]

Seems like a real thoughtful fellow to me... he didn't want to ruin my mood during the show

 

[TimToad]

You didn't mention his track record outside of this single event. If there has been other similar issues, there could be an attention deficit issue.

How much experience does he actually have with this industry and the equipment you've put under his autonomous control?

The problems I see if there are other issues like this are, why did you leave him unattended while you went to a non-essential trade show and why didn't you just close the shop while you were gone?

We'd all like to be able fully trust that our shop and business are in good hands while we take a break or go on a business trip, but maybe this employee isn't up to that level of responsibility.

The other issue I struggle with is safety to him, others in the shop and the public. You've got a bucket truck and I'm not sure of the level of service it is doing, but I'd be really concerned if I've employed a less than fully experienced and competent person to operate a machine that can easily injure or kill people in the event of an accident.

 

[d fleming]

Smashed my roll up with bucket and then left it out to be burglarized........

 

[HDvinyl]

Hopefully your employee isn't halfway to having his own shop.

 

[Gino]

Ya know, a screw driver in the wrong hands can be a deadly weapon as well as any vehicle..... that's why they're called accidents. When driving a bucket truck and someone cuts you off, you don't have quite the braking/stopping power a regular truck has, let alone a car. Everyone makes mistakes and everyone has accidents.

All the reasons and inside psychoanalysis you mention are why we can't charge them for anything, other than being negligent. YOU hired the person, so it's your responsibility to make sure you have them in the correct spot. I understand you had an employee who you suddenly fired because you thought he was milking jobs and not giving you 100%. Did he cause deadly force against another ?? Did he steal from you [other than a little time] ?? Was he unfit to be around the public or others in the shop ??

 

[DerbyCitySignGuy]

Just to reiterate what's already been said you absolutely CAN NOT deduct pay from your employee. It's illegal and if you do so, YOU can actually get into hot water if your employee goes to a lawyer or the NLRB for unfair labor practices.

I realized after I posted this that you're in Canada, so the same rules might not apply there.

 

[Andy D]

Just to reiterate what's already been said you absolutely CAN NOT deduct pay from your employee. It's illegal and if you do so, YOU can actually get into hot water if your employee goes to a lawyer or the NLRB for unfair labor practices.

I realized after I posted this that you're in Canada, so the same rules might not apply there.

But you can deduct from a bonus that isn't guaranteed.

 

[DerbyCitySignGuy]

But you can deduct from a bonus that isn't guaranteed.

Very true. Bonuses are also more effective than punishing employees.

We have an hourly "on-time" bonus here that employees get for showing up to work on time. If you're late once the bonus is lost and has to be re-earned by not being tardy for X amount of days.

 

[Gino]

Very true. Bonuses are also more effective than punishing employees.

We have an hourly "on-time" bonus here that employees get for showing up to work on time. If you're late once the bonus is lost and has to be re-earned by not being tardy for X amount of days.

You're serious ?? You actually reward people and give them bonuses for showing up on time ?? They are supposed to come to work and be ready to work at their starting time, not just show up. We do not and will not pay someone for setting up their station or changing clothes on our time. They need to be ready to go as in the job description of their wages are for work, not horsing around.

I understand, you can make exceptions, but to pay someone extra on a routine basis, for what they are already being paid for, is kinda odd.

 

[DerbyCitySignGuy]

You're serious ?? You actually reward people and give them bonuses for showing up on time ?? They are supposed to come to work and be ready to work at their starting time, not just show up. We do not and will not pay someone for setting up their station or changing clothes on our time. They need to be ready to go as in the job description of their wages are for work, not horsing around.

I understand, you can make exceptions, but to pay someone extra on a routine basis, for what they are already being paid for, is kinda odd.

Just to be clear, I don't actually own the business, so I don't pay the bills. There is plenty of research that shows that employees are happier and more productive when they're given incentives instead of punishments. On time bonuses that are factored into hourly wages aren't any different than paying sales people commissions. It gives employees accountability and rewards it. Show up for work on time, get a little extra money. Don't show up for work on time, don't get extra money.

We have lots of incentives here and they absolutely work. We even have an "employee of the week" incentive where employees get votes from each other for going above and beyond and helping each other out. It's not much, enough to buy your lunch for a couple days, but it makes a huge difference.

We've got an amazing crew here and it's in no small part to benefits and incentives. People know that they'll get rewarded for their hard work and it shows. If you give people a reason to go above and beyond, they will. If you punish people for making mistakes, they're just going to do whatever it takes to not get fired.