Sorry to bring Serious Topic - BUT - curious....

[MPII]

So, I'm curious to what people's responses may be.

Scenario:

Employee of small company (20 employees or less) who claims to have a "familiar environment" call boss and says that he/she has to take the day off because a parent is in the hospital with a heart issue. Employee has the personal time available for such a purpose. Employer/Boss then goes to an assistant and has them call the Hospital and verify that the person's parent is in fact in the Hospital because he doesn't believe employee. Assistant then tells all the other staff that the boss doesn't believe employee and believes employee lied about the parent being in the Hospital. Now, before answering - here are some general thoughts - (and no, I'm not talking about me)

1. The employee is now denigrated to the staff
2. The staff now thinks that employee is not respected therefore - they don't need to respect that person.
3. Other same level employees now look at that person differently.
4. Boss, who claims to have not just been the employer, but a friend, now shows true colors.

Question:

Would you be upset if you were that employee? If so, why?

[E_]

All of the above and YES.
Defamatory IMO

Also wondering about healthcare violations from calling hospital

[MPII]

I agree - I thought it was completely reprehensible. It showed his pure colors. What's even worse in my mind is that after the employee found out about, i.e,. that he had his assistant call, he then told his assistant that if anyone asked, the reason for the call was his "personal concern for the employee's parent" and he even then approached this employee and said "Hey, I don't know if you know, but I had Susan call and check on how your mom was doing."

I couldn't believe it. I about SH$$ my pants.

[E_]

lol, They can't tell "Susan" how his mom is doing.

[Fall Creek]

How about a little more information, Has the employee used this excuse in the recent past? Has the employer had issues with said employee?

Example: I have a policy that says employees must request all vacation or personal days by the first of December. 3 years ago I had an employee fail to request his last 2 days off and when he said he was going to take 2 days off between xmas and New Years he was denied. Well, the following week he called in "sick" on Tuesday morning and then again on Wednesday morning. obviously I called bull and went out that morning and watched him shovel the snow off his 50' 2 car diveway. Didn't look to sick to me and needless to say he is no longer with our company.

Now I am not accusing this person of doing anything wrong, all I can say is there are always 2 sides to any story and the employee will always paint the boss out to be the bad a$$.

In reality the boss isn't wrong, calling the hospital is a little much if you as me but he does have the right to check up on an employee's story. If the employee wants to be mad at anyone it should be at the assistant who couldn't keep her mouth shut!

[MPII]

No previous problems. Further, the environment is not a "corporate" environment so things are pretty loose.

The issue I have is that (1) the employee had the available time off to use, (2) the employer then lied about the reason for the follow up, and (3) why not simply approach the employee rather than involve staff.

I just disagree with the way it was handled on all levels. When I have an employee call me and tell me they have a family member in the hospital, I give them the benefit of the doubt. If think its a problem, I'll talk directly to the employee.

I think it shows poor character, deceitfulness, and it surely doesn't inspire trust and motivation for the employees to want to work.

[JLA]

As an owner of a convenience store I can see both sides of this story. I have been made the fool on way too many occasions by giving the benefit of the doubt to my employees. I usually believe the employee until given sound reasons not to. The biggest issue that I have had is having to wade through all the "gossip" and "he said, she said" whenever someone calls in. Who do you believe? That is just one of the joys of owning your own business.

With that said, if I suspect someone is not telling the truth, I'll request documentation. I just went through this same situation this week with two employees. One said she was sick and was going to the hospital and ended up calling in 5 days in a week and a half, she brought in a note for two days and another one that clearly stated that "patient was not seen, but complained of not feeling well on this date", so doctors notes don't really mean anything anymore either. She quit 2 days later.

The other one said her Uncle was going into Hospice and wasn't expected to live long. She was scheduled to work this weekend so I called her to get an update (she called off her 2 prior shifts) and see if she was coming in tomorrow. That is when she told me she quit!! So was the story of her Uncle true, or was it bogus? I guess I'll never know.

I guess things have a way of working themselves out.

[MPII]

The only other thing is - this is a professional environment. The person accused of lying is another attorney. One of the partners didn't believe him. We aren't high school kids ditching out on the food snack hut at a high school football game.

Moreover - for the partner to then find out the associate knew what he had done, and bold face lie and say "Hey, I don't know if you knew this but I had so and so call the Hospital because I worried about your mom's condition" is just plan despicable.

I understand from a management perspective in a normal setting but this isn't that setting. This is a professional organization with grown adults.

I personally spoke with the associate and discovered that he has three weeks PTO, if he wanted the day off, he simply would have called and said I'm not coming in.

I'm glad I don't work in that group.

[Pinnacle]

I thought that the only way you could tell if an attorney was lying was if there were any words coming out of their mouth!!!

[E_]

If I was a Partner in this group I would raise some sort of grievance..

[Nebrios]

Hmmm....boss oks the day off. Case closed. simply could have forced him to use his personal time.