Are your staff stealing from you?

[umesh 336]

Are your staff stealing from you?

Controversial and I hear shouts from both the employer and employee side  , If my staff stole I'd sack them and the employee's shouting " of course we don't steal" .

Hear me out , Over the years I heard and seen so many examples and recently taken on 5 employee's overnight , Talking today to a parts delivery driver the conversation got onto staff and how different some people work, some just turn up and go, others actually understand what else is entailed rather than just turning up.

Going back to when I was an apprentice in the late 80's I was told in my 1st few days how it works ,The service manager explained to me,  " you start at 8.30 and finish at 5.15 , by start that means ready to start , not a case of clocking on putting your overalls on and then starting work, when I say finish 5.15 that means finishing the work , then washing your hands at 5.15, not driving off the premises at 5.15 "

I remember those words well , and to make sure I was always at work around 8.15 latest , some of the  experienced , long term mechanics pretty much stuck to the rules too, so it wasn't just 'us apprentices' and if someone was 5 minutes late they would lose quarter of an hour's pay.

I was explaining to my staff how this was when I was a lad and I'm reasonably flexible , however the give and take has to be on both sides up to a point.

So am I wrong when I tell them that they are stealing from me .... Last week 3 of them come into the kitchen to make a drink at 8.30, ... then them wonder into the workshop chatting away ..eventually at about 8.50 they decide to open the workshop doors and move a couple of cars , by the time they start to bring cars in for work its 9.00am. At the end of the day come 5.00pm they start to clear up and are ready to go at about 5.05 and on the dot 5.15 they are off.

To me I've lost at least 20 mins each in the morning and 10 each in the evening , that's 30 minutes per day per person , that in a week is nearly a day's worth of work - wasted . My time

I asked how would they feel if I deducted the wages at the end of each month for the hours not worked ? They didn't seem to understand that they were actually stealing from me!

Thoughts ? 

[metcars 397]

Same for me. In fact I was told by a manager that I was "at work" when I woke up!

Although I do remember back in the day about "smoke breaks" and how sympathetically smokers were treated. The "smokers" would work at least an hour less than the rest of us per day, especially when the management were smokers too!

While we are on the subject of timekeeping, I remember when banks opened at 9am sharp. Not 9:02am or 9:04am. It might seem petty but 9:00am is 9:00am. They used to be able to manage it. And opening at 10:00am on wednesdays because of "staff training!" Come on!

Edited December 28, 2016 by metcars

[justina3 518]

I feel your pain, I think it's all about setting out your stall early it's almost impossible to change staff when they settle into a routine I have tried and made a rod for my back cutting the, to much slack, my partner works in a coffee house run like a milatary operation if there five mins late he docks them shifts the week after.

but to answer your question yes there stealing next question is how to resolve the situation when you work out that answer please let me know 

 

 

[bestprice4cash 20]

I see your point and I would agree about the morning as making drinks and chatting is clearly something you do before work on your own time, but in the evening I think clearing the place up is work time, why should they work until 5:15 then clear up on their own unpaid time?

It does drive me nuts when places don't open at the time they say they will though.  Doctors are terrible for this, if by some miracle you can get the first appointment of the day at 8:30 you will be lucky if they have even unlocked the doors by 8:35 and by the time you are booked in it is 8:40.        Banks and post offices are just as bad.  

But anyway, I would be more interested in if they represent good value for money, don't take the piss too often and get the job done when it needs doing.  

Counting minutes here and there would do my head in, I mean would you deduct their wages for toilet breaks under those circumstances?  

 

[M.J 35]

I think productivity is more important than arriving or leaving 10 mins late or early.

For example you could have a member of staff that is super punctual and stays after hours but takes an extra 30 mins to carry out each service just because they are not as compitent as the other worker who knocks off bang on 5.15.

I've got a part time mechanic that is shit hot and i couldn't do without at the moment, not the most punctual but i know that it would be hard to replace him so its a bit of give and take, as long as he's not taking the piss then i'll let things slide. If he was just a bog standard average mechanic then i may require him to be more punctual.

 

 

[betginge 73]

I have just had to let a member of staff go before Xmas ( horrible me, worse then Scrooge).

Really he talked himself out of his job when trying to blackmail me for the umptinth time. 

Borrowed money that go out of control, started at £50 a day before payday to £100 to 150 and so on over the months,  then went to wanting £500 for Xmas and pay back 20 per week lol. 

Kept being late, and not even showing in, when you challenged him he would never admit he was in the wrong and that he had an emergency and could not get hold of anyone.

Daft thing was he was a great worker who we had no issues with for over a year but the last 6 months were hell, worrying if he was going to drop us in the shit everyday by not showing up. 

We wrongly thought that getting rid would cause big issues for us. In the end the final straw came when he wanted to borrow that £500 and then asked for his holidays over Christmas and when told he had used them all over the year kicked up fuss and wrote some childish comment on Facebook.

That was it, I realised that a small hardship to us would be worthwhile if it meant getting shot of him. I got him in the office over this comment and spat he had over the holiday pay where by he stated that if I don't give him the holidays he would be leaving. 

Ok then pal, get your tools and leave, still thinking I would back down he packed up and went home. He then rings 2 days later asking for his job back. Errrrr no  

Some workers do not realise how well they have it, he was well paid to but didn't realise until it's to late what he had. He is still asking staff members if I will take him back but that will not be happening.

Got new mechanic two days later who is on more money than his previous job but less than what I was paying the other fella. Works hard too.

[Rory RSC 596]

On 31/12/2016 at 6:51 PM, betginge said:

I have just had to let a member of staff go before Xmas ( horrible me, worse then Scrooge).

Really he talked himself out of his job when trying to blackmail me for the umptinth time. 

Borrowed money that go out of control, started at £50 a day before payday to £100 to 150 and so on over the months,  then went to wanting £500 for Xmas and pay back 20 per week lol. 

Kept being late, and not even showing in, when you challenged him he would never admit he was in the wrong and that he had an emergency and could not get hold of anyone.

Daft thing was he was a great worker who we had no issues with for over a year but the last 6 months were hell, worrying if he was going to drop us in the shit everyday by not showing up. 

We wrongly thought that getting rid would cause big issues for us. In the end the final straw came when he wanted to borrow that £500 and then asked for his holidays over Christmas and when told he had used them all over the year kicked up fuss and wrote some childish comment on Facebook.

That was it, I realised that a small hardship to us would be worthwhile if it meant getting shot of him. I got him in the office over this comment and spat he had over the holiday pay where by he stated that if I don't give him the holidays he would be leaving. 

Ok then pal, get your tools and leave, still thinking I would back down he packed up and went home. He then rings 2 days later asking for his job back. Errrrr no  

Some workers do not realise how well they have it, he was well paid to but didn't realise until it's to late what he had. He is still asking staff members if I will take him back but that will not be happening.

Got new mechanic two days later who is on more money than his previous job but less than what I was paying the other fella. Works hard too.

Very similar situation for us along with lots of worrying what we will do when someone goes. Staff member goes, we panic what will we do, ended up getting a couple of people saving money in the process and increasing efficiency who are both doing a better job.