I get the sick child thing, though. I used to own a retail shop, and one girl would check the schedule, and if I was off, she’d call in sick, knowing I could cover her shift. This was pissing me off, because I only took Sundays off, so every time she did that, I’d have to go 2 weeks without a break, and then she’d do it next weekend, too.
Often her sick daughter was the excuse. Her husband was chronically unemployed ( he never had a job the entire time I knew her, while she worked two jobs), and I finally said “No, have your husband watch her, he doesn’t have anything else to do.”
And that’s when she said one of the most outrageous things I’ve heard: “He doesn’t like taking care of her, because she’s a girl, and Hispanic men don’t like taking care of girls.”
I lost it. “You mean that because you have this communication problem with your loser husband, I have to be the solution? My Sundays are my time to spend with MY kid, but I can’t do it because YOUR useless husband doesn’t want to be bothered with spending time with HIS kid? Your problems are your problems, and they are not mine to fix. Stop making your problems my problems. I expect you to get to work today, or don’t come back.”
She did end up quitting not long after, and then called me up months later when she needed money, and begged for work. She had experience, so I gave her another chance. Then she got pissed because after being gone for a year, everyone else was making more money, so she demanded the same pay, and then demanded more, because she wanted the Assistant Manager position that she claimed I offered her before she quit (I had never done that, I would never have given her control of the shop), which was already held by someone competent, who still works for me to this day.
I can’t tell if you are being sarcastic or not, but I am actually a terrible boss, because I have way too much empathy, and I let my people get away with everything.
I am still doing the same business in an occasional way (I’m basically semi-retired), and my assistant has been with me for over 10 years, so I don’t think I’m that bad to work around.
Making people come to work while sick hurts the company in the long run. It makes more workers sick and less productive
I get the sick child thing, though. I used to own a retail shop, and one girl would check the schedule, and if I was off, she’d call in sick, knowing I could cover her shift. This was pissing me off, because I only took Sundays off, so every time she did that, I’d have to go 2 weeks without a break, and then she’d do it next weekend, too.
Often her sick daughter was the excuse. Her husband was chronically unemployed ( he never had a job the entire time I knew her, while she worked two jobs), and I finally said “No, have your husband watch her, he doesn’t have anything else to do.”
And that’s when she said one of the most outrageous things I’ve heard: “He doesn’t like taking care of her, because she’s a girl, and Hispanic men don’t like taking care of girls.”
I lost it. “You mean that because you have this communication problem with your loser husband, I have to be the solution? My Sundays are my time to spend with MY kid, but I can’t do it because YOUR useless husband doesn’t want to be bothered with spending time with HIS kid? Your problems are your problems, and they are not mine to fix. Stop making your problems my problems. I expect you to get to work today, or don’t come back.”
She did end up quitting not long after, and then called me up months later when she needed money, and begged for work. She had experience, so I gave her another chance. Then she got pissed because after being gone for a year, everyone else was making more money, so she demanded the same pay, and then demanded more, because she wanted the Assistant Manager position that she claimed I offered her before she quit (I had never done that, I would never have given her control of the shop), which was already held by someone competent, who still works for me to this day.
You sound like a true joy to be employed by. Are you hiring?
I can’t tell if you are being sarcastic or not, but I am actually a terrible boss, because I have way too much empathy, and I let my people get away with everything.
I am still doing the same business in an occasional way (I’m basically semi-retired), and my assistant has been with me for over 10 years, so I don’t think I’m that bad to work around.
Sounds like you and I have the same problem😭
Also increases recovery time further decreasing productivity