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how to deal with uncooperative employee

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  • 01-09-2014 1:10am
    #1
    LegacyUser
    Registered Users Posts: 166,026 ✭✭✭✭


    I'm manager to a small eatery and am having difficulty with a kitchen assistant. He has flat out stated that because I'm a woman, he doesn't consider me his boss! (He's not Irish) He said he will only listen to the company owner who of course is on a 3week holiday.

    I was advised by a legal professional that since my boss is out of the country, to have him send an email to me addressed to the employee stating he was to follow my orders, and print it out and give it to the employee. I did this but he REFUSED to believe it, calling me a liar and stormed away from me saying there was no way he would listen to me OR ever leave this job (which I didn't ask him to do or even mention).

    I'm of course ready to give him his verbal warning and have all the issues regarding me and ALL other staff members (three pages) recorded as a 'reiteration' of this warning when I give it to him but I know I won't be able to get him to sit still long enough to listen to it!

    If I just tell him to leave , we can get in major crap as he's worked there over a year. He's know this legal right as well.

    He'll likely sit down with our boss but that's not until the 2nd week of September and I can't take the daily arguments and disrespect until then.

    We've worked together for the last 1.5 years but I've never had issues with such aggression from him or anyone else before. It is likely due to the fact that all the staff that was here when he was hired 3 yrs ago have moved on and he is the original member, even under a new chef that was hired by me 3 weeks ago.


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    #2
    Mrs OBumble
    Registered Users Posts: 25,968 ✭✭✭✭Mrs OBumble


    I hate to say this - but have you got the authority to hire an hour of a male lawyer's time to spell out the obvious to him, including that he will be fired for insubordination if he refused to accept any order from you?

    Failing that, the owner will simply have to have his holiday interrupted. (Harsh - but that's what being the owner is about.)

    fyi, I've worked with this before. There are some people who move to countries with vastly different cultural backgrounds and do not ever manage to adapt to this particular aspect of life in western democracies.


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    #3
    CatFromHue
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 18,160 Mod ✭✭✭✭CatFromHue


    A quick phone call from your boss is what's needed while he's away, if he was happy to send an email he'll be the same with a phone call.

    When he comes back there should be a big follow up from the boss. The employee is in Ireland now and needs to learn how things work over here.


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