I am the manager of a locally owned cell phone shop. I take care of all of the day to day operations at the store such as scheduling, payroll, inventory management...you get the idea.
One of my employees is the brother-in-law of the store owner. The store owner is a great guy. His brother-in-law (from this point forward referred to as "The Hooligan") is an almost complete waste of flesh. He just turned 18 and is perhaps the least responsible person I know. He already has two children, was kicked out of high school in the middle of his 9th grade year, and is generally ignorant and abrasive when it comes to dealing with customers.
The Hooligan shows up late to work almost every single day. I would say that over the last six months or so, he has been an average of 20 minutes late every day. There have been several days where he has been more than an hour late. When he does show up to work, he is so disinterested in doing his job that customers will often leave in disgust after having spoken with him. On one memorable day, he got into a rather heated argument with a couple of women (not sure how they started arguing, but I know it was The Hooligan's fault), and as they were walking out the door, he actually yelled at them "you fat dykes!"
After hearing that, I promptly fired him, and sent him home. He didn't seem to understand what he had done wrong, and was quite mad. I had the next two days off. When I returned to work, I was greeted by The Hooligan. It seems as though the owner of the store had hired him back. I guess that the owner's wife, sister of The Hooligan, rose hell over me firing him...
Every Sunday it is just myself and The Hooligan scheduled to work at the store. Every once in a while he will give me a call on Sunday morning asking if I can give him a ride to work, since I pass by his house. I normally don't mind, since at least this means that he will be at work on time. Even though he is horrible with customers, it is nice to have another warm body to answer the phone.
This morning he calls, but I don't answer the phone since I am in the shower. I call him back, asking if he needs a ride to work. His reply - "arghhh...I am so hung-over. I can't even stand up. I feel like sh!t. I may not make it in today." I told him that this is not really an option, and that he should drink as much water as he can stand, take a few ibuprofen, and show at least a sliver of responsibility by showing up to work. He tells me that he will try.
I open the store at noon, expecting him to be at least a few minutes late. 1 pm rolls around, still no sign of The Hooligan. By this time I have had several customers walk out, costing myself and the store money, simply because I could not get to them in a timely manner. I sent The Hooligan a text message asking if he was almost here, and he tells me that he may not come in because he "is sick." I replied that being hung over is not the same as truly being sick, and that he had better hurry up and get here. Then, the little punk, apparently forgetting that I had already spoken with him earlier in the day tries to tell me that he is not hung-over, but that he is "just sick, can't stop puking."
Amazed at hearing this, I reminded him that I had spoken with him several hours earlier at which time he told me that he was indeed hung-over. His response to that was simply "oh."
So, I am stuck picking up the slack whenever he does not show up. It is frustrating as hell. I would love to fire him again, but I know he would just be hired back. I have talked to the owner about it, and he knows that The Hooligan is costing him money, but he just won't allow me to fire him. Still looks like his wife has him by the short and curlies. If it wasn't for the fact that I am being paid reasonably well, and that when several more stores are opened later this year I will be paid even better, I would leave this job in a hearbeat. The only comforting thought is that when more stores are open, I can get away from The Hooligan, and staff the stores with employees of my own choosing.
Cliff Notes:
I am the manager of a cell phone shop
One of my employees is the brother-in-law of the owner
This employee sucks at everything related to working at this store
I fired him once, for calling two women "fat dykes" - he was hired back the next day
Currently over 3 hours late to work today - still can't fire him
Owner of the store is quite whipped by his wife - sister of The Hooligan
I am paid reasonably well, so I don't want to quit
:|
I just don't know what to do about this situation...
One of my employees is the brother-in-law of the store owner. The store owner is a great guy. His brother-in-law (from this point forward referred to as "The Hooligan") is an almost complete waste of flesh. He just turned 18 and is perhaps the least responsible person I know. He already has two children, was kicked out of high school in the middle of his 9th grade year, and is generally ignorant and abrasive when it comes to dealing with customers.
The Hooligan shows up late to work almost every single day. I would say that over the last six months or so, he has been an average of 20 minutes late every day. There have been several days where he has been more than an hour late. When he does show up to work, he is so disinterested in doing his job that customers will often leave in disgust after having spoken with him. On one memorable day, he got into a rather heated argument with a couple of women (not sure how they started arguing, but I know it was The Hooligan's fault), and as they were walking out the door, he actually yelled at them "you fat dykes!"
After hearing that, I promptly fired him, and sent him home. He didn't seem to understand what he had done wrong, and was quite mad. I had the next two days off. When I returned to work, I was greeted by The Hooligan. It seems as though the owner of the store had hired him back. I guess that the owner's wife, sister of The Hooligan, rose hell over me firing him...
Every Sunday it is just myself and The Hooligan scheduled to work at the store. Every once in a while he will give me a call on Sunday morning asking if I can give him a ride to work, since I pass by his house. I normally don't mind, since at least this means that he will be at work on time. Even though he is horrible with customers, it is nice to have another warm body to answer the phone.
This morning he calls, but I don't answer the phone since I am in the shower. I call him back, asking if he needs a ride to work. His reply - "arghhh...I am so hung-over. I can't even stand up. I feel like sh!t. I may not make it in today." I told him that this is not really an option, and that he should drink as much water as he can stand, take a few ibuprofen, and show at least a sliver of responsibility by showing up to work. He tells me that he will try.
I open the store at noon, expecting him to be at least a few minutes late. 1 pm rolls around, still no sign of The Hooligan. By this time I have had several customers walk out, costing myself and the store money, simply because I could not get to them in a timely manner. I sent The Hooligan a text message asking if he was almost here, and he tells me that he may not come in because he "is sick." I replied that being hung over is not the same as truly being sick, and that he had better hurry up and get here. Then, the little punk, apparently forgetting that I had already spoken with him earlier in the day tries to tell me that he is not hung-over, but that he is "just sick, can't stop puking."
Amazed at hearing this, I reminded him that I had spoken with him several hours earlier at which time he told me that he was indeed hung-over. His response to that was simply "oh."
So, I am stuck picking up the slack whenever he does not show up. It is frustrating as hell. I would love to fire him again, but I know he would just be hired back. I have talked to the owner about it, and he knows that The Hooligan is costing him money, but he just won't allow me to fire him. Still looks like his wife has him by the short and curlies. If it wasn't for the fact that I am being paid reasonably well, and that when several more stores are opened later this year I will be paid even better, I would leave this job in a hearbeat. The only comforting thought is that when more stores are open, I can get away from The Hooligan, and staff the stores with employees of my own choosing.
Cliff Notes:
I am the manager of a cell phone shop
One of my employees is the brother-in-law of the owner
This employee sucks at everything related to working at this store
I fired him once, for calling two women "fat dykes" - he was hired back the next day
Currently over 3 hours late to work today - still can't fire him
Owner of the store is quite whipped by his wife - sister of The Hooligan
I am paid reasonably well, so I don't want to quit
:|
I just don't know what to do about this situation...
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