Employee Scheduling

[daycare]

I have 3 employees and am hiring a 4th. One of my employees is not able to work summers due to having her own kids so she is not on the schedule until fall.


All of my employees HAVE to work for me PT, FT is not an option due to insurance.

Currently I have no one working on Thursday morning and the only employee that can does not want to work on Thursdays because that is her time with her BF..She thinks that she should have seniority over the other employees that work summer as she has been here longer.

She is also the only one that does not have another job or in college over the summer.

The new hire can not work Thursday morn due to college. The other has a PT job and works all day there on Thursday.

I want to tell my assistant that she has to work Thursday mornings or I have to let her go. Is this fair?

[KidGrind]

I have 3 employees and am hiring a 4th. One of my employees is not able to work summers due to having her own kids so she is not on the schedule until fall.


All of my employees HAVE to work for me PT, FT is not an option due to insurance.

Currently I have no one working on Thursday morning and the only employee that can does not want to work on Thursdays because that is her time with her BF..She thinks that she should have seniority over the other employees that work summer as she has been here longer.

She is also the only one that does not have another job or in college over the summer.

The new hire can not work Thursday morn due to college. The other has a PT job and works all day there on Thursday.

I want to tell my assistant that she has to work Thursday mornings or I have to let her go. Is this fair?

Some jobs respect seniority and others do not. As an employer you obviously have to do what is best for your business. Only you know if letting her go is worse than giving her Thursdays off.

If you do not of a seniority rules policy your decision is more than fair. I hope it works out for you.

[Blackcat31]

I have 3 employees and am hiring a 4th. One of my employees is not able to work summers due to having her own kids so she is not on the schedule until fall.


All of my employees HAVE to work for me PT, FT is not an option due to insurance.

Currently I have no one working on Thursday morning and the only employee that can does not want to work on Thursdays because that is her time with her BF..She thinks that she should have seniority over the other employees that work summer as she has been here longer.

She is also the only one that does not have another job or in college over the summer.

The new hire can not work Thursday morn due to college. The other has a PT job and works all day there on Thursday.

I want to tell my assistant that she has to work Thursday mornings or I have to let her go. Is this fair?

Who cares if it is fair or not? It's what the job entails therefore she is either an employee that covers the required shifts or she isn't an employee.

That would be like us telling daycare parents that we are child care providers but we won't change diapers. ::

If YOU need her to be available on a certain day, then she either steps up or you find someone else that will.

It's that simple.

[daycare]

Some jobs respect seniority and others do not. As an employer you obviously have to do what is best for your business. Only you know if letting her go is worse than giving her Thursdays off.

If you do not of a seniority rules policy your decision is more than fair. I hope it works out for you.

Thanks for your feed back.... I think the other thing that is bothering me is that she thinks that she is going to make her schedule which does not work for me. I need them to work with me as I do with them. All year long I have given her Thursdays off so she can have her BF time. Now I don't have my regular morning asst.

I really don't want to let her go because it would be very costly for me to train and certify someone.

But I can't run my business if I don't have someone here to keep in compliance . I am just super frustrated.

[daycare]

Who cares if it is fair or not? It's what the job entails therefore she is either an employee that covers the required shifts or she isn't an employee.

That would be like us telling daycare parents that we are child care providers but we won't change diapers. ::

If YOU need her to be available on a certain day, then she either steps up or you find someone else that will.

It's that simple.

very good point thanks BC. I just really needed some reassurance with this. I am feeling super angry and frustrated with her right now..

[melilley]

I agree with pp's. It's your business and if you need her to work on Thursdays, then she needs to, if not then I would look for someone who wants to work. It sounds like she thinks she's entitled to do what she wants just because she has been there for a while.

[daycare]

I agree with pp's. It's your business and if you need her to work on Thursdays, then she needs to, if not then I would look for someone who wants to work. It sounds like she thinks she's entitled to do what she wants just because she has been there for a while.

that is the exact feeling that I have. The young college kids these days all suffer from an irrational sense of entitlement. It won't kill you,but it will cause you to believe that you deserve everything for doing nothing.............

I am dreading having to talk with her about this AGAIN

[daycare]

that is the exact feeling that I have. The young college kids these days all suffer from an irrational sense of entitlement. It won't kill you,but it will cause you to believe that you deserve everything for doing nothing.............

I am dreading having to talk with her about this AGAIN

Wanted to add, what makes this so hard is that she is SUPER reliable otherwise.

in the past year has never showed up late once, never called in sick once and always works later when needed. BUT she has zero work ethic.

I need her so that I stay in compliance. she basically has become a warm body here...

[Blackcat31]

Wanted to add, what makes this so hard is that she is SUPER reliable otherwise.

in the past year has never showed up late once, never called in sick once and always works later when needed. BUT she has zero work ethic.

I need her so that I stay in compliance. she basically has become a warm body here...

But that doesn't make her a perfect employee... that only makes her a regular employee...

I wouldn't give her so much credit for doing what most employees do;

• show up on time
• not call in sick
• stays late when asked.

ALL things most employees have to do at one time or another.

[Blackcat31]

that is the exact feeling that I have. The young college kids these days all suffer from an irrational sense of entitlement. It won't kill you,but it will cause you to believe that you deserve everything for doing nothing.............

I am dreading having to talk with her about this AGAIN

I also wouldn't "talk" with her about this either.

I'd post some sort of notice that says you will try to be accommodating to outside obligations such as other jobs and college courses but when you need someone, you need someone so employee requests may be CONSIDERED but won't be GUARANTEED.

Then put her on the schedule.

If she balks, tell her you NEED someone that day and she is scheduled. period.

[daycare]

I know what you are saying, and I am not saying she is the perfect employee by any means. it's just almost next to impossible to find good help these days that acutally cares about your business. She knows that if she is late she could cause me to be over ratios.

I would take a person who shows up every day on time and always helps keep me in ratios than one that shows up late, calls in sick but works their butt off.

In an ideal world, I would love to just clone my morning assistant who is older because she is the perfect asst. She too has never called in sick once and works her tail off. I wish I could afford to pay her more and wish that I could keep her....

[TwinKristi]

Doesn't she realize one day she won't even talk to this boyfriend or if things work out she's going to get sick of looking at his face every Thursday? :: Just kidding! But anyway, I would probably say what you told all of us about her being the ideal employee who is very reliable and responsible but if her Thursday AM with her BF is more important than her job then that's HER choice. You NEED someone to work that AM and won't be able to comply otherwise. If that doesn't matter to her, why should her personal time matter to you? This is a business and she sounds like maybe she's gotten a little too comfortable with calling the shots there. The time and money it would cost you to find and train someone would be crazy. Is there anything you could offer to entice her? If it's going to cost you $500 to find and train someone maybe offering her $5/hr more on that AM would be worth it! Figure out what that would be just for the summer until your other Thurs AM girl is back and see if it's a good economical choice. If it would cost you an extra $20/wk for 10 weeks that's only $200 vs $500. Maybe it's only $180 to certify someone else so $200 isn't worth it.

[TwinKristi]

How old are the assts kids who she's home with? Would you be able to have her bring them that AM and keep you in ratio?? Maybe deduct $2/hr from her pay for bringing the kids? Then you can also recoup some of that with them on the food program?

[daycare]

How old are the assts kids who she's home with? Would you be able to have her bring them that AM and keep you in ratio?? Maybe deduct $2/hr from her pay for bringing the kids? Then you can also recoup some of that with them on the food program?

I would not be willing to pay more. I may my employees pay everything out of pocket when they start. If they stay with me for 1 year I pay them back. It would just be a pain finding someone, but my husband could fill in if needed until then.

My morning ass can not bring her kids it would put me over ratio and I don't like or take school age kids........Plus, she watches her neighbors kids all summer long to make up for the pay loss from me...

[craftymissbeth]

I definitely would not be offering any benefits for working that day. She doesn't have other "obligations" like school or another job... she just wants the day to chill with the boyfriend. Sorry, but your want is does not have priority over my need.

Personally, I'd advertise to replace her... that doesn't mean you have to actually hire anyone, but you just might find that perfect someone who's reliable AND busts their rear which would make paying a new hire well worth it.

She needs to be 100% worth the money you pay her. If merely showing up and being reliable makes her worth her pay then awesome... but I wouldn't consider that a "whole" employee. They don't necessarily need to be outstanding or the perfect worker, but you described her as being just a warm body so you can stay in ratio... that to me says she's not worth her pay.