WWYD - Employer/Employee situation

[WDSearcher]

I would advocate firing her as well, but be sure that she understands WHY you fired her. Be specific and be sure she knows that certain things (a quick food run that closed the store for 10 min) might have been tolerated, but lying (to you or on the timesheet) was inexcusable.

 

[wdwfan16]

I would fire Anna and talk to Beth.

 

[indimom]

Agreed. Fire her for the lying to you and on the timesheet.

 

[j's m]

From NJ Dept of Labor website:

Q. Are breaks and lunches required by law?

A. The mandatory break law only applies to minors under the age of 18 and they must be given a thirty (30) minute meal period after five (5) consecutive hours of work. Company policy dictates break and lunch periods for anyone over the age of 18.

I would fire her immediately. What else is she lying about? I would also worry about trusting her with your cash.

 

[kamik86]

I agree that you should fire her. I mean leaving for an hour and not claiming the break?

I will admit I don't claim lunch breaks where I microwave food in the room my desk is in and eat at my desk while I work. I count this about the same as when many people have a quick conversation about something other then work in the hall. (And I also have no problem not counting the extra 10 min here while waiting for my ride, or when someone comes in with a question just as I was about to walk out and go home). So if it was just the 10 min to get food and she left Beth there so she didn't close I would have maybe said something or watched a bit closer but other then that no problem, but an hour is not acceptable, neither would closing the store be.

 

[disneyfans95]

Couple of thoughts.

1. Get direct deposit for your staff
2. If you are leaving an employee all alone in a store (assume you open, what 10am) for 6+ hours and they can't take a break, you might be breaking state laws.

Now, that said, fire her because she fudged her timesheet. That is a deadly sin when it comes to employement.

But for future staff, you need to think about how to handle Fridays shifts. You can't just stick one person in there without letting them get a break.

 

[NHdisneylover]

Absolutely fire her. Also thank the shop keeper who let you know about the closures and talk to Beth. DO you have a system that allows an employ to take a quick bathroom break, and to at least eat a cold lunch neatly behind the counter in between having customers in the store when only one person is working for prolonged times? If not, you may want to figure this out for the future (and share it with Beth and anyone else you have working for you).

 

[FireDancer]

No hesitation. Lying on the time sheet is grounds for termination.

Not to mention theft. I think both of them need fired if they both lied on their time sheet no matter who was in charge. Beth can't claim Anna told her it was ok to steal from her company which is what falsifying a time sheet really is. If Beth just went with her and punched out for that time then she might not need to go.

We had to fire everyone at one of our locations because they were falsifying time sheets. One of the employees tried to rationalize it by saying her boss told her to do it. It didn't matter, they knew it was wrong and were let go.

 

[Jennasis]

Fire away!

 

[Handbag Lady]

I've never been the owner, but lord knows I've been the employee MANY times.

For lying on a timesheet, I would expect to be fired. So that's why I've never done it. What really would get my goat is that she asked first, was given her answer (and assistance was offered!) yet she still pulled this crap.




If it helps, I worked at an amusement park. Our lead always hand-wrote in her timecard every Monday. She gets back from a week of vacation, hand-writes in her timecard on auto-pilot, and being fresh back from a week off, had a brain cloud and wrote in that she was there. She was fired immediately. But, she had a vacation request in, and clearly she wasn't malicious and wasn't trying to dupe anyone, but still she was let go. She was good at her job, too.

 

[Micca]

Put on your best Donald Trump hairpiece and say "Anna, you're fired."
And I agree that Beth needs to understand the rules and that this behaviour will not be tolerated.

 

[NHdisneylover]

Not to mention theft. I think both of them need fired if they both lied on their time sheet no matter who was in charge. Beth can't claim Anna told her it was ok to steal from her company which is what falsifying a time sheet really is. If Beth just went with her and punched out for that time then she might not need to go.

We had to fire everyone at one of our locations because they were falsifying time sheets. One of the employees tried to rationalize it by saying her boss told her to do it. It didn't matter, they knew it was wrong and were let go.

I think Beth is young and new and may well have been led to believe (by Anna) it is policy not to sign out for breaks (I have worked where that is the case actually). Thus, she needs to be spoken to and the rules made abundantly clear--but I think she should not be fired.

 

[Nennie]

Thanks so much everyone!!!

She has really left me no choice. I'm just floored that she thought she "got away with it" the first time she closed the store, and then decided to close down again 4 hours later.

I just feel like she really took advantage of me.

For the PP who mentioned cameras. I'm hoping to make enough money this summer to be able to invest in cameras! It's a shame that I need to spy on my employees, but it looks like I need to do it!! I always thought if I had cameras I might catch them closing up for the night at 9:45pm instead of 10pm...not closing my store for an hour in the middle of the day! UGH!

 

[SOnotLayuh]

I absolutely agree with everyone else who has said that you need to fire her. She lied, left without your consent, and expects to get paid for it? Oh no. That's not a lapse in judgement or a mistake - that it purposeful.

 

[Nennie]

I think Beth is young and new and may well have been led to believe (by Anna) it is policy not to sign out for breaks (I have worked where that is the case actually). Thus, she needs to be spoken to and the rules made abundantly clear--but I think she should not be fired.

Beth didn't sign out either. She's only 14 though, and I think was just following Anna's lead. I'm going to talk to her to make sure she understands that what Anna did was wrong.

I usually don't make them sign out for breaks. There are tables right outside the store, and if they want to go outside and eat lunch or have a snack I'm fine with that. Usuually they just eat in the store. I just ask that if they don't sign out for the break that they realize they are "on call" if it gets busy and the other person in the store needs help.

Closing my store is definitely not a "usual break" though!

 

[Mimi1965]

How old is she?
I cant believe that she is alone in a store all day-do you have a "panic button" to call police?
My DD works in a store and there has to be 3 employees in the store (minimum) at all times & there's cameras and a panic button.

 

[Ciao Mickey]

I own a small business. It's a store in a tourist area. Fridays are one of our busier days b/c most people come Sat-Sat, and the tourists "window shop" during the week, and usually end up buying towards the end of the week.

I have an employee "Anna" who worked during the day on Fri and then I had a teenager "Beth" coming in at 5pm to work with her as we get busier in the evening.

Anna texted me around noon to say she needed to cash her paycheck and could she close the store for 5 minutes to run to the bank. I didn't get the text til 1:30, at which time I called her back to tell her that I would cash the check for her at 7:30pm when I got there, or she could wait til Beth got there at 5, and then run out.

So I call her to tell her this, and she tells me "it's okay, my boyfriend is giving me some cash til I cash my check tomorrow." I think that's the end of it.

I just found out from the store owner next door, that she closed the store around 12 and was gone for almost an hour. He also tells me, that she closed the store again around 5:30, took Beth with her and went out to get sandwiches.

I do online banking, and see that her paycheck was cashed at 12:50pm at a bank that is a 20 min drive from my store, so yeah she shut down for about an hour. Don't know how long she was closed the 2nd time.

On top of lying to me about it when I called, she also filled out her timesheet for the day and put down that she didn't take any breaks! So she expects to get paid for the time that my store was closed???!!!

Up til now, I thought she was a good employee (she's only been with me since the end of May). I could possibly deal with her being an idiot and not realizing how horrible it is to close my store (twice!!!) on my busy day, but the lying and timesheet is over the top.

I'm leaning towards firing her. Am I being harsh? Should I talk to her, tell her what I know and that I'm docking her pay for the time the store was closed, and give her one more chance?

I've never had to fire anyone before....this stinks!

P.S. Not mad at Beth, b/c Anna was the one in charge. Plan on just talking to Beth and telling her that one person always needs to stay back at the store if someone wants to make a food run, etc.

Let's see--

She lied to you about how long it would take for her to get to her bank,

then she lied about her bf giving her money,

she didn't tell you she closed the store, not once, but twice (lie by omission),

and finally,

she fudged on her time sheet (stealing).

So, you have an employee who doesn't think twice about telling a lie and stealing--I know what I'd do--fire her.

I wonder what else you don't know about.

 

[Spoodleink]

Thanks so much everyone!!!

She has really left me no choice. I'm just floored that she thought she "got away with it" the first time she closed the store, and then decided to close down again 4 hours later.

I just feel like she really took advantage of me.

For the PP who mentioned cameras. I'm hoping to make enough money this summer to be able to invest in cameras! It's a shame that I need to spy on my employees, but it looks like I need to do it!! I always thought if I had cameras I might catch them closing up for the night at 9:45pm instead of 10pm...not closing my store for an hour in the middle of the day! UGH!

Instead of spending money on cameras you could just stop abdicating your responsibility as owner of the store and spend some time there rather than leave one person on their own all day.

 

[Darsa]

She's only 14 though

You can have a job at 14 there??? My DD would be sooo jealous; she's been dying to be able to get a job and make some money, but she's having to wait until she's 15. I hope this work ethic keeps up until she's old enough to actually work!

Wow Nennie, I don't envy you in your position at all, but I can't imagine how much nerve it would take to pull something like that, TWICE in one day!! I hope this is a learning experience for the young'un...

 

[OceanAnnie]

Let's see--

She lied to you about how long it would take for her to get to her bank,

then she lied about her bf giving her money,

she didn't tell you she closed the store, not once, but twice (lie by omission),

and finally,

she fudged on her time sheet (stealing).

So, you have an employee who doesn't think twice about telling a lie and stealing--I know what I'd do--fire her.

I wonder what else you don't know about.

Yeah. I'd ask the younger employee and maybe ask the other shop owner if she has seen anything else unusual. That's crazy! I never would've had the nerve to do just close up like that (twice!) and then to lie about it!?! Not cool at all.