What is wrong with employees today??? [rant]

[AKLGT]

*edit*So employees now adays don't seem to pay attention to their schedule and actually show up for work. they don't call if they are sick, they just don't show up!

[ZubenElGenubi]

Have you heard from her at all? Are you sure that she isn't having some emergency? You said that she usually keeps in touch with you several times a day, so, if this behavior doesn't have a precedent, I'd give her the benefit of a doubt.

[Navtrtl]

I really feel where you are coming from. Today, while I was at the VA Hospital, I was waiting to get some x-rays done and noticed an elderly Veteran sitting in a wheelchair. I had assumed he was there waiting for an x-ray as well. It turns out that he was waiting on an orderly to escort him to another floor and had been waiting for nearly an hour. He informed a lady sitting behind the desk about the delay/oversight. The lady at the desk calls another department and complains about the long wait that the man had and asked him to sit back down and someone would be with him shortly. She was very polite. When the orderly arrived 15 minutes later, he was walking with this lazy attitude like it didn't matter how well or how fast he did his job, just that he showed up. His pants were off his (removed) and he just looked terrible. Reminded me of Kevin Federline. So he slowly walks up to the vet and spins the wheel chair around as if it were empty. Asks rudely as to where the man needed to go, and upon getting an answer strolled off as if he had no destination. This guy had poor work ethics. Maybe he is too comfortable in his goverment job. I don't know. But If I were paying him, I would expect every action to be deliberate and aimed at getting the job done. Kindness to patients doesn't hurt either. I wrote the guys name down and dropped a not in a box at the information dest because his attitude was all wrong, and the way he treated the man was really rude. This was an elderly VETERAN. He probably spent some time on the front lines fighting for our freedom. Does he not deserve some respect. The majority of the employees there were fairly rude. Like they thought that everything they did was an inconvenience to them and that the customer was quite undeserving. Also while sitting in the same waiting room: A VA employee came walking through the hall and just plops his (removed) on a chair and sits there like he is on break. Seemed to me like he was just slacking off, but that's beside the point. He may have been on break for all I know. Anyway, another employee comes through with another elderly vet in a rolling hospital bed. This guy looked quite sick. The VA slacker asked the second guy where he was taking the vet and then instructed him that he would take it from there. So the second guy goes to push the bed to the slacker but he said to just put "IT" against the wall and he would take care of it. So, VA Slacker just sat there for a couple more minutes then he got up to move the gentleman with the speed and effort of a sloth. BAsically, this vet was being treated like a piece of furniture. Put off to the side as if his service to this country meant nothing. It's not even important that he was a vet, or elderly, or sick. The fact is, no one should ever be treated like that. And the work ethics of a lot of employees there were (removed) poor. I think I am going to write a letter to someone and have that place checked out. It's not right. If I ran the VA Hospital, I would have probably fired a couple of dozen workers today.

[northvibe]

Quote, originally posted by Navtrtl » The fact is, no one should ever be treated like that. And the work ethics of a lot of employees there were (removed) poor.+1 that makes me sick, that anyone would be treated like that. my sister works at a "old person home" (cant think of the name atm) but she says she is the only one that actually treats them like people and talks to them, even ones that cannot talk back and they never act up for her. Other employees just treat them like things and the clients always make a fuss. Uh our society today.Hope sounds like something is messed up :s hopefully nothing happened to her but no phone call or anything? man i hope everything turns out okay

[AKLGT]

i'm trying to give her the benefit of the doubt, however, this is the WORST possible time for something like this to happen as it's the end of the month (she knows it's always busy) and I'm usually up to my eyeballs in pwk and appts, customer issues, etc. as it stands, i just got home at 11:30 pm after working from 7:30 am this morning.... tomorrow, I'll be back at the office no later than 9 am to work til 9 or 10 pm again.

[mcgusto82]

Banefit of the doubt?? are you crazy? FIRE THAT (removed)! i always make sure i complaint if i don't like the service i'm getting.Been to Best buy lately?? Terrible service!. I asked one of their computer guys. Do you carry network hard drives? You know what he does? He goes over the hard drivesection, looks at a couple of boxes, says no to me, and walks away to talk to his buddies. This is even after standing around for 15+ minutes.At another location. i asked a guy for assistance. he says "one second sir, talking business" he was talking to another employee about a bet they made. the guy wanted his 5$. There is no excuse for poor costumer service.

[scherry2]

GM has hired contract "temps" (to cover the line workers who are retiring and the jobs bank people who are coming in) and they come in late and they say "I was tired" or "I over slept" or the good one "I stayed up too late last night" I think they need to learn the word RESPONSIBILITY and if they can't make it to work on time fire their butts. I know sometime things happen but most of the young workers I've seen just don't give a crap. this includes places other than GM, just like mcgusto82says about Best Buy I've also seen that.

[GrayFox]

Well, I hope everything works out for you.... and her.As far as employees go, fortunately I work with some good people. I can't imagine having to work with someone that isn't responsible (One woman I work with is fairly forgetful so I guess that would count). My supervisor (I guess that's what to call her) and I are very caring about what we do. There isn't anyone else under us. In a way I'm glad, too b/c I know what's done is done right.Anyway, good luck in all your end of the month bussiness (I've been busy as hell, too)!

[slvrvibes]

I know the feeling. We had a temp work for us for about 3 weeks for our department a while back. On various times she would show up late. One time she called in because she was sick out for 2 days. Shows back up 2 days later and the following week she doesn't show up on Wednesday. Doesn't call us or the staffing agency. No one can't get a hold of her. By that afternoon, still no one has heard from her. We tell the agency at the end of the day that we need a replacement for her because this isn't working out.Come to find out the next afternoon, she had finally called the staffing agency and told them that her dad had been admitted into the hospital and she had gone to the hospital the minute she found out the night that she last showed up to work, and just forgot to call the next day due to all the stress. Whether that is true or not, we don't really know, but luckily we got someone else who was 100 times more reliable.It all comes down to responsibility and commitment. Some people have it some don't. I hope she turns up and is ok, but sounds like you just need to replace her with someone who is more responsible in showing up to work on time and will be commited.

[Mavrik]

There is something in the drinking water up here in alaska I swear because at my work yesterday it was weird. Customers were just weird but so were my co-workers. Its been slow at work lately but yesterday was very busy. But that didn't stop the techs from deciding they were all going home early and leaving a lot of unfinished work they could have gotten done by 5pm. One tech had some parts to put on a car he had verified needed replacement a couple weeks ago. Well the customer dropped the car off in the morning and asked if we could check out a couple other things if we had time. Instead of putting on the parts ordered, the tech spends his time looking at everything else and comes up to me at 3 and says "well I don't have time now to put on the rear struts..." and he goes home leaving all of us wonderinf (removed) just happened because we all know two rear struts can be mounted on an STi in an hour and its only 3pm and he could easily be done by 4. But nope. Something as simple as an oil change dropped off in the morning. Its 3pm, everyone goes home and the oil change is still sitting there to be completed.Everyone was just plain ol flaky yesterday.I even got stood up by my work out partner. He never showed, never called... lol

[GrayFox]

Quote, originally posted by Mavrik »I even got stood up by my work out partner. He never showed, never called... lol*poof*

[AKLGT]

was it a full moon yesterday? cause even though I had my own drama with my employee, we had an incident (again) at the office. a customer brought in their laptop to have us take a look and see if we could figure out what the problem was. but it was all in Chinese so we couldn't even get to the point of figuring it out. in the process of calling the customer to find out how to change it back to English, they got slammed at the front desk and then turn to find the laptop GONE! so now, they have to replace his missing laptop (fairly new and a great customer).

[ZubenElGenubi]

Wowsers...maybe that BP pipeline problem was just a symptom of something bigger happening up in Tundraland... So, the laptop was just sitting out there? Y'all don't have a service area for that kind of thing? Keepin' positive thoughts about your employee...

[jimincalif]

Welcome to the world of being an employer. I've been doing it for 22 years. Just had a new employee worked here a couple weeks, then just didn't show up on Friday, Monday or Tuesday. Called her emergency contact number - her mother - who didn't sound surprised at all. Happens more times than you would like to believe. Not only do some employees treat employers and customers like ****, there are a dozen government agencies willing to take the employees' side in any sort of grievance, complaint or whatever.We fired another one for being drunk on the job (after appropriate warnings) and she goes and collects against our unemployment account. Tells them she was laid off due to a RIF. We appeal, send in the payroll records that show we were ADDING employees during that time, but the judge rules that her termination was part of a RIF. Say what?

[Mavrik]

So a customer walked in and stole another customer's laptop? (removed)...

[ZubenElGenubi]

Quote, originally posted by jimincalif »We fired another one for being drunk on the job (after appropriate warnings) and she goes and collects against our unemployment account. Tells them she was laid off due to a RIF. We appeal, send in the payroll records that show we were ADDING employees during that time, but the judge rules that her termination was part of a RIF. Say what?I think that DoL laws will allow an employer to require an employee to submit to breathalizer/blood tests to test for being under the influence. The employer is required to show cause and that it has a no alcohol/drug policy in place. Better yet, you should have had her arrested for public intoxication.

[JohnC]

At the risk of "lumping em all together" I have noticed over the last 30 years that employees are getting worse and worse, it seems the younger they are the more they think everything is owed to them. There is very little pride in workmanship and very little personal ethics. Yes I know there are many exceptions to this generalization, but the majority of young workers are lazy dirtbags. I believe it is one of the reasons are good paying middle class type jobs are being moved out of the country.

[VforVIBE]

Quote, originally posted by JohnC »At the risk of "lumping em all together" I have noticed over the last 30 years that employees are getting worse and worse, it seems the younger they are the more they think everything is owed to them. There is very little pride in workmanship and very little personal ethics. Yes I know there are many exceptions to this generalization, but the majority of young workers are lazy dirtbags. I believe it is one of the reasons are good paying middle class type jobs are being moved out of the country. Wow, them are fightin' words mister. I don't think I would say that 'employees' or 'young workers' are lazy or 'dirt bags.' All the world has grown lazy, not just 'young people' and if things weren't handed to them so easily maybe they would know what its like to have to work for something. However, there are 'young people' out there who work hard to make a living because their parents can't or won't support the family. What you have to remember is who is shaping the young people, and for that you 'old' people can only blame yourselves. We young people didn't invent video games, drugs, motorized scooters, and so on. We didn't come into the world knowing how to kill or lie or steal, we learned that from you 'old' people. And you're right, you shouldn't lump them all together, because I work hard at my job, and I take pride in my work, I am an employee, and I am young. The world is made up of individuals, do not mistake one for another. So trdvibe, the correct question would be: What is wrong with people today?

[AKLGT]

well, i have to agree that it seems that the YOUNGER generation (myself included) don't seem to want to work. I see it every day. Not everyone, but MOST young people.

[ToolGuy]

Well this is why some people stay as temps or contractors the rest of their lives and cannot get hired into a company. I have not been in your shoes but my company has and I have seen it lots of times!

[redlava]

A lot of your young working types have never had to work fo anything before. They are just coming to the real world whee Mommy and Daddy aren't there with their check book to bail you out of a jam. I learned that if you want something that you have to work for it when I was 14. I got my school permit and if I wanted gas money for my hand me down car then I had to mow our 3 acre yard and help do house work. When I turned 16 I detassled and rogued corn and worked in a seed corn company warehouse during the summer to earn money. It was very rare when my Dad gave me $20 for gas or the movies. When I was is school my Dad helped out with the finances, but I had a part time job in a bookstore to help out.I sound really old when I say this, but I you have always had things handed to you, you will always expect them to be. Good luck Hope, you are showing a remarkable amount of restraint, and hopefully this will be a wake-up call to her. You deserve better help than that.

[AKLGT]

Eventually, I will branch off on my own (as this has always been the intension) and open my own business. When I do that, I know the benefits of having an actual retail location/store front versus working out of your garage, especially when the seasons slow down. I will have enough of a customer base to draw from, as well as establishing myself in the market as such. What will really come in handy is being able to offer more services and products than just internet. And once they launch their new system (similar to cell phones) where customers BUY the type of equipment they want (laptop cards, mobile units, in home units) and then pay for the service. Since our merger with Motorola and Intel for our equipment and R&D, I know what the future will hold. This is where the company as a whole will start moving towards: resellers and wholesalers.

[jake75]

I am confused as to the "status" of this "contract worker"? You hired her and are paying her - not your company? Assuming you are a W-2 employee yourself, if you are paying her how are you going to take that as a business expense? Is she from an agency so they are paying the social security, workmen's comp and unemployment taxes? If not, and you don't, then you are running the same risk as those who hired "nannys" without paying those taxes. You'll find that out if you fire her and she files for unemployment compensation.

[sloth]

If she's a contractor than she is responsible for paying her own taxes as a sole propietor or whatever status she is.That being said, if she only works for Hope then in the eyes of the IRS she is not actually a contractor but an employee. I think the younger generation has a very bad sense of entitlement. Such as they are entitled to money they haven't really worked for. To many kids get allowances for not doing any house work.I personally blame unions and welfare.

[scherry2]

Quote, originally posted by sloth »I personally blame unions.excuse me? its not the parents fault is it....or the person themselves, no its some group that has never employed the person. oh yea blame everyone but the person responsible. disgusting....that means any criminal should go free because it isn't his/her fault "they are just a product of society" or as the Joker said to the Batman in the 1st movie "ITS ALL YOUR FAULT, YOU MADE ME"and if you read the wall street journal you will find it is GM managment that has brought about their own financial burdens for the executives not the union......http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=24702

[Atomic]

I have to side with some of the opinions regarding the new generation of workers of today, in that they certainly SEEM to be less enthusiastic about working hard to EARN a living.A lot of the "younger" kids have this funny idea that they are entitled to a job with good pay, where they don't have to work too hard.I have noticed this predominantly from the people I've hired that grew up in the city.99% of the kids who have worked for us, even as summer production help, if they are living on a farm or even just live out in the rural areas, seem to have a better work ethic than the kids that grew up in the city.I firmly believe that if someone grew up having everything handed to them, and never had to take work for anything, then they probably would feel like they should just be given things without having to earn them.As for employees:We had this one guy, he was with us for almost two years, and he actually worked only two full five-day weeks in all that time.He had EVERY excuse you could think of, and maybe 25% I could actually believe.One of the better stories was "last night this guy dropped off this huge German shepherd, because he was moving, so I had to stay at the farm to build him a dog run so he wouldn't escape" ok, then.At the time we were so busy and unable to find another skilled machinist to replace him, otherwise he would have been gone. (Or maybe I'm just too nice)His last story, before he asked for a leave of absence to go and paint cars, was that he was in jail Friday to Monday, from his impaired charge so that's why he didn't call on Friday to say he wouldn't be in.Anyway, I hope your assistant gets her head in gear, and realizes soon that she should have to work hard to succeed.You don't owe her anything.You provided the opportunity, and its up to her to make the best of it.Just my opinion.

[AKLGT]

Quote, originally posted by sloth »If she's a contractor than she is responsible for paying her own taxes as a sole propietor or whatever status she is.That being said, if she only works for Hope then in the eyes of the IRS she is not actually a contractor but an employee. well, i am a W2 employee of the company directly. She is a sole proprietor, or individual contractor. she has the option to work for any of our resellers or independant sellers.i pay her a commission for her sales/referrals. Guess i need to figure out a better way to do this, so it's both legal and the pwk is in order. i don't want to be liable for something that isn't worth it.

[GMJAP]

Wait.... you gave her back the money you fined her for?

[AKLGT]

I work anywhere from 60-70 hrs/wk easily when I am only required to work 40 (but that's the minimum and discouraged). This is commission based, so therefore, the more sales you have, the more money you will make.

[jimincalif]

Hope,Don't take this the wrong way, but it sounds like the way you have it set up is the worst of all worlds. Some problems I see:1 - As a W-2 employee, you are not self-employed and therefore cannot deduct what you pay your assistant.2 - Notwithstanding the contract you have with her, run thru the IRS 20-point independent contractor guidelines. It is possible that she is not an IC under the law, but a common law employee of either you, your employer or both. 3 - If she is not an IC, you (or more likely your employer since you are W-2) will be liable for income and payroll tax withholding.4 - Even worse, if she is deemed an employee, what if she gets hurt on the job? If she is not being carried on your employer's books, she is not covered by their Workers Compensation insurance. Your employer and perhaps you personally could face uninsured litigation in the case of substantial injury. If I were her lawyer, I would certainly go after both of you. Then you might find your employer hanging you out to dry, saying that it was outside the scope of your employment to hire and pay someone. Then you have to sue your employer to cover you, paying your own lawyer $400/hr. I know this sounds extreme, but I've seen it happen.5 - What if she hits and badly injures someone with her car while driving on business? How much liability insurance does she carry? Is it enough to protect you personally and your employer? Does it cover her for driving for work? Again, if she is not properly treated as an employee, your company's general liability coverage might deny the claim. The injured person's lawyer is coming after all of you.6 - Some of the things you mention, such as the "fine" are not legal in an employer-employee relationship (varies by state, I don't know about AK).7 - It sounds like you are doing this with your employer's full knowledge and consent. That's good (for you personally) but again puts your employer in a more precarious position should something go wrong.If your having an assistant is as lucrative as it sounds, find a way to do this and make it legal. You could become an IC with your employer (not unheard of in outside sales), then your assistant is your employee, you hire, pay taxes, insurance, etc. but get to deduct it. Or alternatively she becomes an employee of your employer with you as her manager. You are paid for your production and part of hers.Again, there are always ways to structure it, but you need to do it legally. Employer-employee relationships are fraught with risk. I strongly recommend you get your employer to make an appointment for both of you with a good business/tax attorney ASAP. Lay out what you want to do and let him or her guide you in doing it correctly.Good luck.

[AKLGT]

see, this is what i've been trying to figure out the past month or two. i can't get anyone to give me a straight answer on this. she isn't an employee of mine or for my company. if she wants to quit helping me then she can at any time, just has to let me know. and no, my boss has no "knowledge" of this. i am personally held liable for this, not my company. like i said, i'm trying to get some actual answers on how to do this right and legally, but so far, no one seems to know. i appreciate the help. I'll have to take a look at that info you posted and see if i can figure out a better way to do this. as for the taxes, because she bills me for her services, then I suppose I'll have to figure out a way to pay her and not deduct any fees or taxes. She would have to figure out the self employment taxes, correct??

[jimincalif]

Hope, I think I've sent you an e-mail. Respond there if you get it and I will e-mail a reply to your last message.

[AKLGT]

email received and replied. Thanks for taking the time for some insight.

[jake75]

Thanks "JiminCalif" for your effort in trying to educate Hope on these complicated employee - i.c. issues. I see these all the time - where a business (sole proprietorship, LLC, corp) pushes the envelope in treating someone as an i.c. rather than an employee. However, I have never had a situation where an w-2 employee of a business hired an i.c. assistant. I think the 20% taxes Hope had mentioned "withholding" from this i.c. were the 20% taxes Hope had to pay since she could not deduct that expense. I did have a situation once where a salesperson (to keep his secretary from leaving) paid for her monthly downtown parking when his employer declined to do so. I have also seen people get talked into incorporating their business and then not realizing that they then became an employee of the corporation and at least here in Ohio had to pay workmen's comp premiums on their own wages. The state was going after my neighbor (a self employed electrician) for thousands of dollars in back payments, penalties and interest. [I assume he should have paid state/federal umemployment tax but that never came up.]

[AKLGT]

well, i appreciate your responses and insight on all this. I will cease any further "payments" or work until I can figure out how to do this. It's a bit confusing. I think since it's only been a month doing this, I can catch this before anything HUGE comes of it or I have to pay some insane ammt of taxes or fees or whatever.

[jimincalif]

Quote, originally posted by jake75 »I have also seen people get talked into incorporating their business and then not realizing that they then became an employee of the corporation and at least here in Ohio had to pay workmen's comp premiums on their own wages. The state was going after my neighbor (a self employed electrician) for thousands of dollars in back payments, penalties and interest. [I assume he should have paid state/federal umemployment tax but that never came up.] Wow. Here in California, those of us who are shareholders of our own corporation do not have to pay workers' comp on our own wages, we can waive the coverage for ourselves. Apparently this is not the case in OH? That's a drag!

[jake75]

Quote, originally posted by jimincalif »Wow. Here in California, those of us who are shareholders of our own corporation do not have to pay workers' comp on our own wages, we can waive the coverage for ourselves. Apparently this is not the case in OH? That's a drag!I really don't know if Ohio permits you to "waive", but they would probably require you to file a form or something to do that and I am sure my neighbor had no knowledge in that regard. Some lawyer just told him he should incorporate to limit his liability and he did that which is useless for a one man operation as they can always go after you personally if you are negligent.

[jake75]

Here's the Ohio BWC response on Workmen's comp coverage for owners of a corporation. Apparently one person operations with no employees can be exempt.Thank you for using our website. If you are a SOLO officer of the corporation, it is optional for you to report your wages and carry the BWC coverage. If however you have employees you are required by Law to carry the coverage on yourself and your employees.

[jimincalif]

Quote, originally posted by jake75 »Thank you for using our website. If you are a SOLO officer of the corporation, it is optional for you to report your wages and carry the BWC coverage. If however you have employees you are required by Law to carry the coverage on yourself and your employees. How about that? Here in CA my partner and I don't need coverage on ourselves, just our employees. Pretty rare these days here in the people's republic of CA for us to have a law that is more business friendly than elsewhere. Hopefully your neighbor got them off his back.