fight, resign, death...and life

Evergreen

Here goes -

Our part-time ee (employee A) got into a fight w/another FTE ee (employee Z) while I was away. The next day, I brough both into a room and explained that loud, angry arguments are not accecptable. Z then said either A resign or I will...to which A got up and stormed out w/a parting "I quit". I reprimanded Z for overstepping bounds in a letter the following day. The week got busy, and I got a nasty/threating type letter from A's husband 3 days later (A is older, in the "protected" group). I called A and said under the conditions, I would not accept the resination and A can have the job back. The next day, A's ill father passes, 5 hours later, A's mother passes away. We have 4 days of bereav leave per policy that A is now on.

WHEW, what a couple of weeks. I told A to touch base w/me on Monday. But I don't think A will be able to work here again. A's an emotional wreak w/all that's happened, plus is already on probation from a previous incident4 months ago.

I'm not a professional HR person, just trying to run a business. Any gentle advice would be appreciated.

deniseE

It does sound like she's had a lot going on....the stress of "outside" work has probably affected her ability to be on the job...and irritate a fellow employee (which does not make the other ee's response acceptable!)

Are you able to offer a leave of absence to give her time to get herself together and deal with her parent's affairs??? I imagine there will be a lot to do.

On the other hand, if this is an opportunity to allow an "unwanted" ee to slip away, if you don't hear from her on Monday, you can send her a certified letter giving her x number of days to be back at work or you will consider her job abandoned. Some of the other forumites may have a sample letter for you.

Good Luck!

Gillian3

Don't spend a lot of time berating yourself over what you might have done better, just go forward. A couple of pointers, though. If the argument with Z involved "protected group" stuff, particularly if instigated by Z, you should be careful how you handle. If something like this happens again (another fight), and assuming "protected group" stuff is not an issue, accept a resignation for what it is and don't change your mind, no matter who sends nasty letters. Now go forward - you have an employee who has had some hard events. You cannot foresee how the employee will react, and they may not show up again or quit. On the hand you may be contacted on Monday, in which case you should listen to what the person has to say. If they are ready to come back you don't have any grounds to say no and the previous incident is irrelevant under the circumstances. I think most of us would go the extra mile to try and save this employee given what has happened in the last two weeks.

HR in CA

Was the previous incident 4 months ago similar in nature to the fight?

Unless the threatening letter from the spouse offered new information (like she was being harassed) I wouldn't be concerned about it. She quit with a witness present. She chose to resign.

As Denise stated I would send her a letter (certified) and state if she has not returned by the end of the breavement leave or contacted you requesting more time to get her family affairs in order, that you will consider her status to be terminated, based on job abandonment.

marc

I agree with HR in CA.

Ordinarily, I accept resignations immediately. This case may have some mitigating circumstances that I would want to investigate before acting.

You warned both EEs that their behavior was unacceptable and further warned Z that boundaries were overstepped. The conversation should be documented and placed in both EEs files. Since A was already on shaky ground because of the earlier events, you should consider how this fight would ordinarily effect her status absent the emotional resignation and the deaths of her parents. I am all for cutting people a break, but I think you need to eliminate the emotional content of this situation and concentrate on the facts.

Your conclusions will then guide your actions. The letter suggested by HR in CA would work to cover your backside.