ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade Business Related Discussion Is it his fault?

My employee, left my extention ladder leaning against the the house on a windy day. Needless to say after an hour, it fell over and the rail is cracked, so it is garbage now. Is this his fault? I mentioned something to his and his reply was "what do you want me to do about it?" He thinks that it wasn't his fault. What do you guys say? Thanks for the input.

Either dock him for at least half of the ladder or the whole thing, and if he gives you grief toss him. Imagine what would happen if he left an open connection by one of your jobs and some one gets injured. Also your lucky the ladder didn't fall on someone.

Make a note of it and throw it in his file. In fairness, if he does something wonderful, make a note of it and throw it in his file. When it's time for his review, go over the notes with him as a profit/loss statement. If he's a looser, get someone better. As far as fault, IMO it's the same as hitting a parked car.

Dave

Look at the larger picture: who among us has not had "stupid attacks," or done things that turned out differently than we planned?

More important, how did we respond? A broken ladder can be replaced, and some things can be fixed, but a bad attitude? If Junior has a bad attitude, maybe it's time to treat him like the ladder, and replace him.

I am going to have to disagree. He is not the one in business, you are. If it is the first time something like this has happened I would give a warning to be more carefull, writen warning. Employees don't like it when you mess with their checks, they sometimes will end up getting more back from you. Maybe it was not his fault, he is lucky it did not come down and kill himself or someone else.

I know this topic is probaly going to get heated as this topic has in the past, the bottom line, it is against the law to take money out of someones check without proper written notice, it is to bad more people do not know that.

First of all, it is illegal to charge the employee for damaged tools. My concern is not the ladder, but the fact that the guy not only would not acknowledge he was at fault, but it appears that he may not have cared. I personally would write the guy up for unsafe practices and a bad attitude.

I agree with the others not charge the worker for the ladder. Like others said the fact that he does not accept responcability seems worse then the fact he made a mistake.

Make a note of it. When a worker has too many mistakes, call backs, and other attitude problems then it's time to part. It's also relitive to the workers value to the company as far as output and skills. Also how hard finding a replacement worker has to be considered.

For penitilies maybe a bonus is the way to go. The worker gets a bonus for not getting hurt, breaking things, late, missed days, call backs, or other mistakes spelled out. One place I worked the end of the week you had to sign off that you were not hurt to get a % bonus. Legaly you can take away a bonus but not regular pay.

It would be easier to start a bonus program with a new hire or at raise time. Instead of more /hr they get a bonus. Might not work out with prevailing wadge jobs.

Tom

I started off working in the field and worked my way up to having a succesfull buisness. My experience in the field you dont want to doc. his pay. He will cost you more in the long run. If he has no ambition and doesnt even care that it happend, you are better off with out him. He is already costing you money. When you treat your guys right they should respect you and your company. If he doesnt care then get rid of him and look for someone trust worthy. You are only as good as the men working for you.

If you don't care for tools your employer furnishes (at least in a smaller company / non .gov environment), you don't care too much for the company, it would seem.

I don't think I'd dock him for replacing the ladder, but I would talk with him about his attitude. Maybe he had a brain fart, and forgot. Maybe he just doesn't understand that actions (and, in this case inactions) have consequences. Whether or not that ability will develop or is genetically supressed isn't a determination we can make over the web...

If he thinks it's no big deal, let him go. If he thinks it was a problem and could have been avoided consider it an eductation for him and you paid for it. You will eat the ladder just like a job that didn't make money. Never dock an employee's pay without a signed form.