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

When you deal with employment, work comp,or insurance laws, every state has a mass of laws that tell you what you can and cannot do. Most of these laws are simular across the country but the are NOT the same. All states have had court cases about these laws and the regulations the various state agencies have written. Those can and do vary in some cases by a lot.
You have to discuss these with your attourney and other professionals you hire such as CPA, insurance agent, etc.
Also the laws about vehicle travel are dependant on type of vehicle, normal use of vehicle and distance traveled. For out of town trips the rules can change dramatically.

We can only speak to our experiences and have to understand that different states have lots of different laws.

If a man has little experience with the courts, I question his knowledge.
If he has much such experience, I question his judgement!

Thank You Jedi Master Reno'.

That is truely quotable!

Wow did we get off the main subject or what?

IMHO, relating to the original post...I agree with some of the posts addressing the attitude problem. Also as was stated, luck was with you in that the ladder did not hit something other than the ground and damage part of the house or worse hit someone.
I would recommend that you have a talk with all your employees about safety. Make it at least a weekly thing of relevant safety concerns, (i.e. ladder safety)and impress upon them that you are concerned for their safety as well as everyone else's. Next, if the guy was to offer to pay for the ladder, that is nice, thank him for the offer and you go and pay for the new one. One of the concerns here is: say you fire him, and when he is getting "his" tools together, he goes and picks up the ladder "he payed for," can you keep him from it??? I think not. Regardless, it is your company and things get lost, damaged, stolen or whatever. It is a cost of doing business. Claim the cost of the replacement on your taxes and move on.
In regards to his attitude, has he had a bad attitude at other times? Is this isolated? Is he worth keeping? If you honestly feel his attitude is bad and he doesn't care about his work or your business reputation, simply get rid of him. But do not fire him because of the ladder falling. Unless you have documentation of prior disregard of safety issues and written warnings, you will loose if he takes you to court or the LRB.

If you are a small company like me, I am very picky about my employees when I have them. I won't put up with either sub-standard work or bad attitudes...maybe that is why I do so much of my jobs by myself?!

It is your company, make the call!

reno,

I love it!

Confucius has nothing on you, man!