HR Reality Check #28
Scenario: Meet Jordan Strong, owner of Strong Funeral and Cremation Services. Jordan’s business consists of two locations in the Southeastern United States serving more than 500 families annually. Jordan is very proud of the multicultural aspect of the families he serves, and his staff reflects that ethnic diversity. The keystone to Jordan’s success is his staff and the high-level service that is provided to every family regardless of whether they are choosing cremation or burial. His staff is trained to focus on memorialization and making each funeral arrangement unique for the family.
Jordan has strived to create a positive work environment by utilizing effective HR techniques such as employee handbooks and policies as well as team building exercises. Employees are also asked to periodically participate in anonymous surveys to help determine if all is well.
Despite all these efforts, the employees are not perfect. One has become an obvious clog in the well-oiled business; her name is Cindy. Cindy is a licensed funeral director, and the families love her.
The challenge with Cindy is that she has excessive tardies and absences. Sometimes, she will be out for multiple days claiming that she is very ill but will then provide a doctor’s note that is dated for after the days she was absent.
For example, she will be out for five days (calling in each day) and then when she comes in, the doctor’s note is dated for the day before, excusing her for all the previous days missed. This does not meet the company guidelines which state that a doctor’s note must be provided if an employee misses three or more days of work. And somehow, she seems very proficient at making it into the office when Jordan is out or with families or otherwise unavailable to speak with her. This has become a true management hurdle.
To address Cindy’s tardiness and absenteeism issues, Jordan sent her a written email scheduling a meeting to discuss the situation with her. The email referenced the relevant employee policies and specific dates that Cindy had been tardy or absent. The email clearly indicated that Jordan wanted to have a face-to-face conversation with her about what might be affecting Cindy’s attendance. However, the day of the scheduled meeting, Cindy called out sick. Again! At a loss on how to motivate Cindy to meet the company guidelines for attendance, Jordan reached out for professional assistance.
WHAT ARE THE RULES?
The first rule that may come to mind as being impactful in this situation is the Family and Medical Leave Act. This would be the cause if Cindy’s excessive absenteeism has been due to a serious health condition or caring for a family member with a serious health condition. However, FMLA applies to private employers only if they have 50 or more employees. Jordan is well below this threshold and Cindy has never indicated that she has a serious health condition.
The Americans with Disabilities Act may come into play with this situation if Cindy has a disability that is related to her absences and tardies. Jordan is not aware that Cindy has any disabilities. State laws may have applicability in this specific situation. It should be noted that most states have adopted FMLA language but may have standards that apply to private companies with fewer employees. It is important to know if, as an employer, there any state laws that apply to your business.
DID THE EMPLOYER MAKE ANY MISTAKES?
It appears that Jordan has been very generous with this employee in applying the tardiness and absenteeism policy that has been established for the business. By not strictly following the policy as described in the employee handbook, his actions have created confusion and implied that the policy is not mandatory. Jordan should apply all policy consistently and fairly to all employees to avoid such confusion unless one of the laws described above were relevant to the situation. While finding and retaining qualified funeral directors is a challenging task, Cindy’s actions have created discontent among the other employees as they are the ones covering for her when she fails to work her shifts. Her value as a funeral director becomes diminished when her actions negatively impact the work environment that Jordan is attempting to sustain. Jordan should have addressed her actions firmly when they first began.
RESOLUTION OF THE ISSUE:
Despite Cindy’s positive qualities as a funeral director, her actions are simply unacceptable. Additionally, her efforts to avoid meetings Jordan has attempted to schedule to discuss the situation indicate that she has a clear understanding that she is not following the company policy. She is using not seeing Jordan in a private setting as a loophole. This indicates a subtle form of insubordination which is unacceptable beyond her tardiness and absenteeism. Jordan was counseled to reach out to her by phone to schedule a face-to-face meeting. Cindy would not answer the phone, letting the call go to voicemail. Jordan left a message for a meeting at a specific date and time. Cindy failed to show. Jordan then planned to be present at her next scheduled shift. Cindy called in sick.
Given Cindy’s avoidance techniques, Jordan had no choice but to terminate her via email. Terminating an employee in this fashion is not recommended as it lacks sensitivity, clarity, and there may be legal considerations or company policies that do not support this type of termination. Given the unfortunate behavior Cindy exhibited, Jordan truly had limited options. It is important to note when terminating by email you should follow the following guidelines:
- Personalize the email as much as possible but stay professional in terms of the topic.
- Be very clear that this is a termination and what the next steps are for the employee.
- Let the employee know how to return company property and how they will receive their final paycheck and how benefits are handled.
- Offer to be available in person or by phone to discuss the termination further.
PREVENTIVE MEASURES:
Jordan had all the policies and procedures in place to address this specific problem. The complication arose because those policies were not strictly enforced, and the employee figured out that avoiding Jordan allowed her to continue her employment without consequences. Jordan could have confronted her during a shift that she appeared to work. This would not have been comfortable but would have addressed this issue in a timely fashion before Cindy’s actions began to erode the work environment for all the employees.
If Jordan did not feel comfortable confronting Cindy, he could have reached out to professionals to step in and address the issue before it got so far out of hand. Dealing with employees can be frustrating and challenging. If you find yourself in a situation that you do not know how to resolve, seek the advice of a professional sooner rather than later.