Time off for that New Baby

[bantar]

I was approached by my new (starting his 3rd month here), junior Service Advisor, who's having his 1st baby in the next 1-3 weeks.   His question was "How are we going to be handling the pay during my time off for my baby delivery?"  I asked, "How many days off are you wanting to take off?"    Now, before I say any more, what would you say is a reasonable amount of time off for such a request?

I figured he'd be asking for 3-5 business days off (more or less a week).   He responded:  "4 weeks".    I stared at him for a minute and then said, well, it will be an unpaid leave.   He then said, "Well, I'm going to have to find another job!"   I said "OK". 

Later, we passed each other, and he mentioned that FMLA Leave is 12 weeks and that he's doing me a favor by only requesting 4.   I then let him know that 1 week was what I had expected and was the norm.    Then, he said, it's no longer 1959.  LOL  As they say, you learn something new everyday.   Yesterday, I learned a lot about Entitlement.    I also offered him a 2nd week off unpaid, which he cannot afford.   BTW, this kid is walking a tightrope.   If we can break this horse, he'll will excel, but he's dangerously close to breaking himself and will be put out to pasture.   His heart is in the right place, and he has tremendous potential, but his problem solving skills & approach are dead wrong.   I used to suffer from his same abruptness, so I'm a bit more forgiving than I should be.   But there's a limit. 

Now, in fairness, I knew he had a baby on the way when we hired him and of course, we would support him in his great family event.    During that conversation, I did not yet understand Entitlement.   We were speaking of two completely different things with the same name.   Had he said 4 weeks in the interview, we would have stopped there.

Ignoring my employee difficulty, which will be resolved one way or another.....     Is anyone else seeing this new workplace phenomenon - Entitlement? 

 

[dstremski]

In my opinion for a male (last I understood male's don't actually have the baby) one week is generous. I understand as hard as it is to cultivate solid employees having more give then in the past I am also guilty. Though I'm finding same tried principles to be true, when I make exceptions , bend over backwards etc... it only seems to raise the expectation for the next issue. I have always operated as employment being a 2-way street. I take care of my employees and in return my employee does his part for the company. Review FMLA and I think you will find this 3 month employee does not qualify. I enjoy your posts and would suggest you may not be able to "break that horse" before he causes discourse among other employees. It may be time to put him out to pasture. Of course then he collects unemployment and gets a maternity leave.

Best of luck 

 

 

[bantar]

1 hour ago, dstremski said:

I enjoy your posts and would suggest you may not be able to "break that horse" before he causes discourse among other employees. It may be time to put him out to pasture.

Thanks.  I don't think he understood FLMA either.   We've made it over this hump.  His odds of remaining here have improved from 3% when I wrote this post to about 55% today.    For sure, we cannot afford a Negative Nancy and I won't tolerate it.   But we all have moments where we dislike our jobs and need to vent.  

I was talking to a friend this week and he has a lake house, but it's not the fanciest lake house.   Now, mind you, he can afford a fancy lake house, but doesn't desire this.  He was saying that his lake house was not good enough for his son, who just graduated and has contributed nothing to the party.   Entitlement came to mind again.  He was explaining to me how he's trying to guide his son down the correct path and how fragile his reins are.  Plant a seed, a little water and see if it grows.  Rinse and repeat.  It sounds like his son has a good chance of making it, if he's open to guidance.   They are planning to visit my shop together in the next few weeks and together we'll plant some more seeds.

Also, this week, I found this on LinkedIn.   It captures the essence of my young service advisor's challenge:  "You are not as good as you think you are, and we are OK with that.  We are willing to teach you.   Are you willing to listen?"

[xrac]

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[Joe Marconi]

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[JOEPROPER]

All my babies were born on Saturdays,  so I was able to enjoy the 2 day weekends.  I believe that the paid family leave reinforces the "younger" employees sense of entitlement, which can be precieved as selfish.  I was approached once with the request to have 6 weeks off.  I couldn't believe my ears!!  I reminded him that he needed to review that PFL act carefully and told him that he would need to survive on what the government was going to pay him because I would only offer 3 days paid and he could take his vacation pay at that time.  

Employees need to understand that this disrupts the shop and in some cases shuts it down.  Some shops only have 2 techs and losing 1/2 of your staff is crippling.   I believe that having good communication all the time with your employees and knowing what's expected is the key.

[Joe Marconi]

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[bantar]

On 2/13/2022 at 9:38 AM, dstremski said:

I enjoy your posts and would suggest you may not be able to "break that horse" before he causes discourse among other employees. It may be time to put him out to pasture. Of course then he collects unemployment and gets a maternity leave.

Ol' boy has been put out to pasture.   I've never fired anyone without first giving them a chance to redeem themselves.     Hung a sign out front that says:  "Help Wanted - Must be a Team Player", with fine print that says:  "Please don't lie to me"  (like the last one did).   😄😔