How many strikes?

[KodiakAttack]

I have a new barber that started a week ago. He is only scheduled to work 3 days a week and started Friday of last week.
He was supposed to have his second day of work on Tuesday this week and about 20 minutes before his shift he called and told me he couldn't come in because he got in a car accident (luckily he was okay, the car was not).
I understand life happens, so I let it that slide.
Today his shift started at 8am. He was nowhere to be seen by 8:15 so i called him. No answer. After I send a few texts, he calls me back at 8:30 claiming he's "not used to working this early" and that there was drama at his house the night before.
Its 9:30am now and he's still not here. This is the second issue in 1 week.

Being a new business at about a year old now, I've fortunately never had to fire anyone yet.
I'm a very nice and understanding guy, but how many strikes should I realistically let slide?

 

[inspiringK]

I would gauge his performance over the next few days/weeks. Make sure that you give him some sort of a written or at least semiofficial warning at this stage. Sometimes life does happen, but if you are already hearing about his drama at home and the fact that he isn't used to being up during the morning, my suspicion is that days three and four are only going to get worse.

I have had to fire people, if you address every issue as it comes - in other words make it clear that sleeping in is bad - it makes it a lot easier to justify. So, clearly communicating concerns with a bad employee makes it easier on you down the road, but it is also a courtesy to the employee who simply may not realise what kind of a shop you are running because he is used to working at more lax establishments. Create the environment, structure, and support needed for this employee to surprise you, but there is no reason to ignore faults.

 

[OldSaw]

Number of strikes is not the issue as much as attitude. I'll give a lot more leeway to someone who is trying and has a good attitude and much less to someone who doesn't care.

At my shop (machine shop, not barber shop) we carried a guy for way too long, but he rarely missed a day and frequently stayed late (on his own time) to make up for inefficiencies. However, when he plateaued it just didn't make sense to keep him. If he had attitude issues his time would have been cut down to days/weeks rather than 18 months.

 

[KodiakAttack]

Great advice.
Being that he is a contractor and not an "employee", I'm under no obligation to give him written warnings.
I've hired him to do a job and if he doesn't do the job, he no longer has one.

Looks like we have a chair open!

 

[John Von Wuggz]

If any of these issues have impacted a customers experience I would fire him on the spot.

 

[KodiakAttack]

If any of these issues have impacted a customers experience I would fire him on the spot.

Indeed.

 

[Toothpick]

Gone gone gone. I would forgive the car accident. crap happens. but not showing up for work and then saying "im not used to being up this early". Well good news for you, you can sleep in all you want now, don't bother coming back.

Being late or not showing up at all is the #1 peeve I have for employees. There are very very very few excuses i'd accept for not showing up to work.

 

[KodiakAttack]

Last I talked to him this morning he was "hopping in the shower".
He must be taking a long shower. It's 3:30pm now and he's still not here . Needless to say his final check is already waiting for him. Thanks for all the advice, but this one ended up being easier than expected.

 

[sgtd]

Sounds like he made the decision for you.

 

[Toothpick]

I always told my employees I don't fire people, they fire themselves.

 

[dpmtherrien]

I think the way to handle this matter is to have a face to face talk with the guy. Let him know what you expect of him and then tell him if he doesn't meet your standards that he'll no longer work there. That's a simple, direct way of telling him. If he doesn't do the right thing after you've talked to him, then you tell him he's gone.

 

[Mediumrarechicken]

Well there you go, that was easy. You figure with this job market you would at least try, dude should have been on the up and up. It's not hard.

 

[Mojo88]

My barber faces the same problem, he has had several people in and out over the years that I have gone to him . One barber was doing quite well and just didn't show up. It forced my barber(the shop owner) to let him go as he had several people waiting for him an it doubled the workload.

It's not exclusive to the industry, but my mother was a beautician and she had the same issues and decided to go to a one person shop. The turn over in barber and beauty solons is great, probably close to that of the fast food industry..

 

[Mick]

There are a lot of people looking for work and you will find someone who will appreciate the work environment and add to your business.

It just takes a little time but someone will come along that you have been waiting for who will be standing at the door waiting for YOU!!!

 

[dieselfuel79]

Personal life needs to be checked at the door before starting a days work. Drama at home or not, he has a responsibility to you and your customers. If that is too much for him to handle, I'm positive that about 20 other people would love a shot at the job.

Nothing wrong with taking him aside and saying "Hey, I wanted to chat with you about something. It sounds like things at home have been rough the last couple of days, but I also know that it's starting to affect your work and being here on time. Can you tell me what your expectations are of your employer?"

And then tell him your expectations and ask whether he thinks this job is right for him or not.

 

[Doc4]

Today his shift started at 8am. He was nowhere to be seen by 8:15 so i called him. No answer. After I send a few texts, he calls me back at 8:30 claiming he's "not used to working this early" and that there was drama at his house the night before.
Its 9:30am now and he's still not here.

Last I talked to him this morning he was "hopping in the shower".
He must be taking a long shower. It's 3:30pm now and he's still not here .

Okay, before that bit, I was all willing to give you the whole "diamond in the rough" chat. "Stuff" happens; that car accident could have been on anyone on his first day of work. I've slept through the occasional alarm clock, too. It's how he responds to those situations that counts.

If I were starting a new job, and on the first week I slept in or whatever, I'd be on the phone to my boss ASAP with a grovelling mea culpa, and then zoom to work as fast as the law will allow. IF something's keeping me from showing up at work, I'd be on the phone to my boss explaining the situation.

... but to leave you hanging for about four hours with "I'm hopping in the shower ..." um ... the dude just doesn't get it.

 

[dymaxion]

I don't understand people that are chronically late for work.

When I stated working my dad gave me the advice to always be at work 10 - 15 minutes early. He always said that no one is
ever fired for being early

 

[Haggises]

So how did he take the firing?

 

[KodiakAttack]

Hard to say! I've called him a few times with no answer, and now it's Monday and he still hasn't came in.
My next question is: how do I divvy up his tools?

 

[Haggises]

Oh dearie me....

Had to do that with a programmer who pulled an all-nighter supposedly coding before that day's deadline, only to find he hadn't left any code. Never saw him again and company eventually called it "voluntary separation".