ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Always late...

Leespark,
Being a person that is required to start at odd hours of the day and night, I reckon this.
Your guy has his priorities wrong, what's more important than your pay-check?.
I wouldn't go for Drug or Alcohol testing, but it does make you wonder why, the guy is late all the time, all -night partying?.
Not good during the working week though!.

JCooper,
finally someone who feels like me. I have no specified working hours and I'm often the last guy in, last guy out. I've never understood people who start at 6 AM and leave at 3 PM. I much rather start at nine and leave at nine.

Does this kid get paid for the full time, or is he docked for the tardiness?
15 minutes a day doesn't sound like so much, but with simple math it translates to more than 1-1/2 weeks a year.

The most proficient worker around is not worth a nickel if he's not on the jobsite.

This "I guess I'm not a morning person" crap is just that...crap. Tardiness only shows that this person figures his time is more valuable than the time of all the others combined. Allowing it only reinforces that pattern of thinking.

Trumpy's got it right. It's a case of bad priorities. (Imagine if you called a Fire Dept full of guys that couldn't get out of bed.)

You might try telling the rest of the crew that they can't start until everyone is at work (including the "problem child").
Peer pressure should make short work of it.

In response to electure,that hard assed line that you sing about not being a morning person is crap.I have had a lot of guys work for me that would be early,and have the odd guy that would show up late consistently but lots of times that late guy was the guy that I counted on.Business is still a people game and people are different and those who don,t bend end up being broke.

Electure...
I tried the "adjusting your time" thing... I went to bed earlier.. set my alarm clock earlier.. coffee... Jolt Cola... I tried hitting the sack at 8-9 pm for a while... Ya know something? I was still groggy & half asleep until at least noon! Conclusion I've come to about some people is that your body has it's own "clock" regardless of what any timepiece states... Along with the sun hitting your face in the morning, natural instincts tell you it's time to wake up! I feel refreshed & I actually get more done. There's nothing natural about waking up to an alarm clock.. Besides, Does anyone here think its a great idea to NOT be alert when working a jobsite, or worse yet.. on live systems?

-Randy

PS Electure... what time do you go to sleep on average?

PPS... Whats more important than a paycheck?
My son! 2 hours a night MINIMUM spent just focusing on him no matter what time I get home! He's not much of a morning person either

[This message has been edited by Lostazhell (edited 04-23-2004).]

I don't buy the "morning person" and "late person" stereotypes at all.

In highschool they experimented with 07:30 classes for grade 11 & 12 to deal with overcrowding. My grades went through the roof. My attention span was better in the mornings, and I only had to keep it together for 1 class after lunch (when the after lunch nap wants to kick in.) Finished up at 13:45. I was so gung-ho on the setup I picked up my girlfriend in the mornings, and got us both to class 20 mins early. I still liked to stay up late, but usually twice a week, I crashed right after dinner to make up for it.

A few years later I worked at a wrecking yard. Started out being 10-15 mins early for an 08:30 start. After one year I was scraping in the door without a second to spare. The next year I was consistently 10-20 mins late. Over the same period of time my morning habits had changed from a liesurely breakfast while reading the paper, to fly-out-of-bed-get-dressed-jump-in-truck. Consistently staying up late at this point. Tardiness was problem for everyone but the boss. He just decided he would open shop, and everyone else would put in 8 hours from when they actually rolled in.

After four years of that I was married, and started my Electrical career. Been up at 05:00 and 15 mins early for work ever since. My 2-year old makes sure that holds true on weekends too. I end up dozing on the public transit on the commute home. Now when I hang out with my buddies, they're blown away that I'm starting to conk out around 15:00; and why there's no answer when they want to call me out for a beer at 21:00. I'm only up late maybe once a week now.

I think the heavy-handed approach is best. He'll be late so long as he figures he can get away with it. Or wait for him to incur a life-changing event, like get married or reproduce

*bump


(because everyone new person here should read this thread)


Personally, I used to be late all the time for a guy I worked for for over 11 years. He kept warning me to quit being late and to come to work on time. I always said I would, and yet still came in late. I don't think it was the pimary reason he fired me, but it certainly factored into the decision, I'm sure.

I liked the peer pressure solution the best. If the rest of us are at the shop by 7:30, than you should be too. If we don't start getting paid until the guy who's always late shows up, we've got a problem.

It really comes down to this:

Would you rather have a punctual employee who screws things up, causes your jobs to fall behind, and refuses to work late? Or a mildly tardy employee who does outstanding work, ensures your jobs run ahead of schedule, and will work late without any problem, and does the best he can for you and your business? I think the answer is a no-brainer.

Of course, some will say you have a right to expect it all... well good luck with that pie in the sky thinking. A simple fact of LIFE is that you can have ANYTHING you want, but you can't have EVERYTHING. And it doesn't matter how much money or power you have, this basic law applies.

If you're in the NYC area and this kid is as good as you say, do me a favor and fire him and forward me his contact information, so we can hire him immediately. If you have or know of others like him, please do the same. In return, I'll send you a bunch of mediorce people who are always on time.

I'd much rather an employee who is more focused on the job than the clock.

The Industrial Revolution has long been over, and so to should be its antiquated thinking. Besides, life is too short to worry over insignificant details. And what about the ensuing aggrivation you might encounter with his replacment? The old saying "you know what you've got, but you don't know what you're gonna get", seems appropriate here.

Joe

"we don't start getting paid until the guy who's always late shows up, we've got a problem"
Yep! with the laws of most states... If the rest are on time you cant dock thier pay. Pay the way you bill - by the hour.

Quote:Perhaps a "random" drug test for all the employees.

Not that I'm a drug addict but man am I ever glad to live in Canada!