Just Life as it Goes

Well, here we go again. The young man we hired six weeks ago waltzed into work on Thursday and announced to the boss that he had an L and I claim from his previous job, and not only that, but that he would have to have surgery next week to correct the problem. When I participated in his job interview, I dwelt heavily on the fact that this job is extremely physical at times and that he needed to be prepared for that. He assured me, and the boss that his last job had been a physically demanding one and that he was absolutely prepared to do the work. On his application, where it asks: "Is there any reason that you should not be employed here?" he answered "No." I guess taking a month off during the busiest part of the year didn't occur to him.

I don't say that tongue in cheek either. It came out in conversation that he has been pursuing this the entire time he has worked for us. I counseled the boss to let him go and find somebody else, hard-hearted foreman that I am.

We are not a large company. Most of the time our employee numbers average between five and seven. When I get an employee like this one, who has trouble doing what he is told, I give him some simple information. It was no different with this man. Two weeks ago, before all of this came to light, I explained to him that he was only hired for two reasons: the primary reason was to allow the rest of us to be able to have days off. The secondary reason was simply to help reduce the work load.

Those are simple concepts. This, coupled with the information that I knew he was not doing what he was told to do, and that he was skipping steps in his responsibilities left him looking at me with a surprised stare and nothing to say. I don't bully people on the job. I can't stand that. I have worked for people who did that to me. I do occasionally tell other employees the blunt truth, especially when they don't do the job they are hired to do. He didn't seem to get it though.

After his announcement, he was politely told by the boss that he was done working here. He didn't seem to get that either. It was almost as if he felt he was entitled to the job. We were already looking for an additional employee, so now, we are back to square one. Ah, life.