Another "Should we fire this one?" Thread (very long)

In My Humble Opinion
1

I manage a vet hospital at a practice that, at least in my opinion, is one of the best in town both practice wise and working atmosphere wise. We have the best benefits and compensation package for our employees, a four day schedule for full timers, and many other perks. No one is yelled at or EVER treated with disrespect (in fact one of the employed doctors got in BIG trouble recently for making a receptionist upset).

My head receptionist has been there for 4 years and has been, until recently- a great employee. Calls in maybe once a year, very steady and intelligent, able to handle difficult situations, etc. She’s never been a great person for training others but she does ok there. I have usually enjoyed working with her, and would consider her a friend.

We recently had a horrible theft incident happen, which I will explain, but even before this I’ve had problems with “making her happy”. She gets regular, bi-yearly raises, has her medical benefits paid in full, rarely has to work overtime and has 3 days off a week. Part of her job is to work Saturdays- and I know she would rather not- but that is her responsibility. Any Saturday she asks for off is provided to her within her generous vacation/personal time allowance. Despite these things, she has not seemed satisfied- general comments/attitude and comments from other employees. Any attempt to discuss her disatisfaction is met with a stone face and “I’m fine” kinda response.

About one month ago, there was over $300 stolen from our cash drawer. One of two things could have happened- either an employee stole the money or all THREE people attending the drawer were negligent and a client stole the money. One key factor was that this person, who is in charge when I am not there, allowed another receptionist to go to lunch the same time that she did- which left the least experienced person alone at the desk on a Saturday (one of our busiest days). All three receptionists swore the desk was not unattended and that it had to be an employee who stole the money. The head receptionist herself suggested lie detector tests. We did them for all people with access to the drawer and two people passed the test, while the other two (including the head receptionist) passed the pre-interview (the tester felt they were honest) but both “freaked out” and he was unable to get a conclusive reading on the polygraph.

On the day before her polygraph - she stormed around and acted upset until one of the doctors asked her what the problem was. She then demanded (and in typical fashion, walked away as she did it) the day of the polygraph off. The doctor told her that would be fine (it would have been fine if she had asked for it as well). She also took the following Monday after the polygraph off, also with permission (that time she asked) because she “hadn’t slept all weekend” despite having gotten her results (that she passed the pre-interview and we did not think she stole the money despite the polygraph inconclusiveness.)

After we received the results- and considering it cost us over $1000 to find out the drawer was probably left unattended and two of our receptionists can’t pull themselves together enough to take a polygraph, the owners decided to split taking the money out of the receptionists checks who did not watch the drawer. I informed her of this and she mentioned some financial hardship with it (she did not seem to be disputing the actual money being taken out, just that it was a bad time for her). I told her that I was sure that if she approached the doctors and discussed it with them, the money could be split over two or three paychecks (I know they would have done this). On Saturday, she was horrible- she messed up a specific case I asked her to deal with, she had a horrible attitude and told the receptionist she was working with that she was going to quit. She apparently was upset that one of the owners had not told her herself that the money would be taken out. That owner called this employee at home and apologized, that there had been a miscommunication and since I had informed her of what was happening, she thought that it was dealt with already.

Monday morning, this person told me that she wasn’t coming to our mandatory staff meeting on Wednesday. She basically threw that at me and stormed away. I asked her if she was asking me or telling me and she mumbled something. I and the other owner pulled her into the office to try to get to the bottom of what was going on. Again, when confronted with her attitude- no response on what the actual problem was except that she wasn’t told by one of the owners that the money would be taken out. After the meeting, she seemed better and I thought things were as resolved as they could be. Its not a good situation with the theft, and we are trying to deal with it as best we can.

Yesterday, one of our receptionists asked to speak to the owners- she did not want to tattle tell but she felt that they should know what this person said to her. I believe this person would have no reason to lie or embellish and that it was hard for her because she also feels that this person is her friend.

Basically, this person told the other receptionist that she “hated everyone here” and was just waiting until our Christmas party where she would have another employee pick up her bonus check and she would call in and quit the next day with no notice. Our bonus checks, btw, are several hundred dollars. She also said she thought about getting herself fired so she could claim unemployment.

We still do not know why she is so upset- I do suspect she has an alcohol or drug problem but she is high functioning if that is an issue. Personally, if she said that- I don’t want to work with someone who feels that way and I think that she is a high risk employee to have around. I hate to feel this way because she has been a good employee and IMHO trustworthy to this point but I don’t see any rectifying of this situation. We have already bent over backwards to try to get to the bottom of it…

So should she be fired?

2

Polygraphs? Taking money stolen by an unknown person out of her paycheck?

If I were her, I’d wait to get my bonus and quit.

3

This Year’s Model I’m with you!

Good Lord, it was $300.00, not $300,000. Accidents happen. You all agree that it was not stolen by an employee, so why should they pay. I fully realize that they left the drawer unattended, but should that digression cost each of them $150.00?

The really ridiculous thing, is that you spent $1000.00 for $300.00. Eat the loss. Your bosses are a bunch of cheap bastards with no sense of priority.

4

Ok- I can see that as possibly a valid point except-

The polygraph were suggested by her- so I don’t think the problem is that she was asked to take one since she basically volunteered.

As far as the money being taken out, that was a hard decision for us, and possibly not the right one. However, had I been there I would expect that to happen if I neglected the cash drawer and created an opportunity for theft. In fact, the other two receptionists both volunteered to have that money taken out (one wanted to pay all of it herself) at the beginning of this. She did make a judgment call (leaving one person at the desk by leaving for lunch with the other receptionist) that also created the opportunity for theft.

5

Well, given that she’s planning on walking in a month, why fire her? All it’s gonna cost you is an Xmas bonus (which you can adjust accordingly) and if you can piss away $1000.00 on a polygraph test, you can certainly afford that.

I think your office handled the theft mighty poorly. Three hundred dollars is not an insignificant amount of money, but it’s not the crime of the century either. If it had happened to me, I’d consider putting in a survelliance camera on the register, but I can’t imagine performing a polygraph test unless money flying out the register was a regular event.

6

Time for her to go.

7

Having several employees w/ access to the till is a poor business practice. Under those circumstances I think your investigative procedures were draconian and I would be irate if I were one of the suspected employees. Spending $1000.00 and implying guilt by requiring a polygraph over a $300.00 loss seems ridiculous. If you really need more than one employee to handle cash then give each a separate cash drawer w/ it’s own key. That would be a lot cheaper than hiring a polygraph operator and alienating your employees.

8

Yes, they are considering just letting her walk. I don’t think she will be getting a bonus at this point, whatever happens.

To put a little perspective on this, four years ago we had a trusted head receptionist embezzle a good deal of money from us. So while money does not fly out of the drawer on a regular basis (we have had smaller amounts missing, $100 twice this year that were more likely change-related) they have learned that a seemingly good employee can still steal from you.
I guess my point of view may be skewed because I have worked for literally the most horrible vet hospitals in town where you are screamed at, the vets are incompetent, you don’t get breaks (what are those?), you don’t get paid well or any kind of benefits. This hospital has an awesome working atmosphere, with the exception of this theft situation, a history of listening to their employees and adjusting accordingly (we have tried on several occasions to communicate with this person), excellent pay, benefits paid IN FULL for most of our full-timers. Our accountant is constantly giving us a hard time about our payroll costs, because they pay the top of the scale, and the benefits. I have never worked a better place, and if it cost me $100 out of my paycheck (this is split three ways) to make up for a mistake I made that resulted in a theft, I would gladly pay it. That is part of the front desk job description - that they are responsible for the cash drawer.

9

You see, you’re just offering excuses for your bad decisions here. You are the manager. You should know that when an employee says “I didn’t take it, I’ll take a polygraph test”. It really means "I *swear * I didn’t take it!” And when they say “I’ll pay for it”; it really means "I *swear * I didn’t take it!”

I think you made a very bad decision. You treated your employees like thieves and liars, when it turned out they were neither. You did this over $300.00. If they were my employees I’d tell them I fucked up, apologize and give them their money back.

10

>>
We have adjusted some of the drawer policies- we now have only two people in the drawer. The drawer does lock and should have been locked when the theft occurred. We asked them to vote on how they wanted it done, two locked bags vs. one drawer with the understanding that they would be responsible for the money inside- and they voted for the one drawer system.

While I see the point of many of you, this person was already not satisfied with her job before this. She has also been giving ample opportunities to air any dissatisfaction with how we are handling this situation and with her general job issues.

11

As nice as you make it sound to work there your description doesn’t quite jive with the decision to take the $ 300 out of the employees paychecks for a relatively minor theft where no concrete guilt has been established. It defies common sense fairness, esp. considering the relatively small sum involved, and the fair degree of likelihood that a client simply saw an opportunity and reached in while the new receptionist was distracted and emptied the drawer. Stuff like this happens all day long in the workaday world, and you and the docs have ginned it up to the level of a bank robbery and a game of CLUE rolled into one re your “horrible theft incident” and the decision to polygraph everyone. Do you have any clue how bizarre this over reaction and theft (by you and the docs) of your employees paychecks sounds to normal people?

And you wonder why she’s agitated?

These weird, fairly invasive responses by you and the doctors to a minor theft by your office makes me think there is probably additional weirdness in the work environment that you don’t appear to be able to pick up on, and this may be part of what is bothering her.

12

Stuff like this happens all day long in the workaday world, and you and the docs have ginned it up to the level of a bank robbery and a game of CLUE rolled into one re your “horrible theft incident” and the decision to polygraph everyone. Do you have any clue how bizarre this over reaction and theft (by you and the docs) of your employees paychecks sounds to normal people?
>>>

I guess I don’t, since in over 5 years of working in this place we have never a flat out drawer theft. So it is a big deal to us. Its a locked drawer, with two locked doors (receptionists have to let clients in) to access the area. I have all three receptionists say it MUST be an employee- we have a past history of a trusted employee stealing from us (in a different manner). Most of these decisions, btw, were not my personal decisions but I simply don’t see a problem with them in the situation. Neither do the other two receptionists involved. In fact, one of the questions asked in the pre-interview was “do you approve of how your management is handling this situation?” and all three receptionists, including the one in question told the examiner that they “100%” approved. One other employee, who had brief access to the drawer (she’s a cross trained tech) told the examiner she did not approve, but mostly because of the waste of money (she was the only person who did not feel it was an employee out of 4 people tested).

13

They are in front of a polygraph interviewer and their jobs are on the line, and you take their responses in this incredibly coercive situation to be freely given opinions reflecting how they actually feel about “how your management is handling this situation”.

Wow… just wow. I’m beginning to see “the problem”.

14

I have to ask - why don’t you have a camera on the cash drawer? You’ve had some ongoing problems with cash disappearing. $1000 towards a security camera would have been money better spent than $1000 on the polygraph IMO.

15

That is being considered. Again, this is the first flat out drawer theft, the past theft was embezzlement and would not have been picked up by a camera. The employees were not coerced to take polygraph tests, it was not mandatory and anyone who had a problem with taking the test was invited to discuss that with us.

But there is a point here- I don’t feel that this was a case of employees feeling coerced but since I’m not in the hot seat, my view may not be legit. We may have mis-read the communications with these employees before the polygraphs were scheduled. Each was talked to individually beforehand and all communicated support for doing so. There has been so much “communication” going on before and after that I’m worn out with it. They were not told “do this or else”. My view , supported by their communication with me before hand, was that they wanted to be clear of any suspicion- especially since all but one felt it must have been an employee. They communicated to the examiner similar support to what we we were doing. I don’t see why they would have “lied” about that, in fact I was told by most of them that the examiner made them feel very comfortable (the two with problems said that as well, they did not get nervous until they were actually hooked up).

That being said, the major mis-read must have been in the suggestion of polygraph tests (it was not said like “I’ll take a lie detector test” manner as suggested by a previous poster but in a “We should have polygraph tests since I think it had to be an employee” manner) by this person. She communicated STRONGLY to me that she did not feel a client had an opportunity to steal and that it was an employee that did it.

16

It sounds to me like this problem stems, at least in part, from poor security arrangements for your cash. I don’t quite understand how the cash is handled, but I gather that (a) you routinely have large amounts of money in the front office, and (b) it’s stored in such a way that, if your employees aren’t careful, someone can just dip in and grab the money when no one’s looking.

Bad security, and bad internal controls (which make it hard to determine who’s responsible for a loss) are not the fault of your front-line employees – they’re management errors.

17

And thereby put the spotlight right on themselves as the likely culprit. You really don’t see the problem here? How would you like to be the one employee of 4 suspects that refused to go along with a polygraph?

18

True, that is a good point. I wouldn’t want to be that person, but at the same time- if I had been one of the 4 suspects, it would not bother me to be asked to take a polygraph test since I didn’t steal the money. So its a case of- no I wouldn’t want to be the one to refuse it, but I wouldn’t refuse it in the first place. Had I been one of the 4 suspects, I would have strongly suspected an employee, not a client, because of the way the drawer was set up and the fact that the thief had time to open the drawer, pull out 2 Hundreds out from under the cash tray, pull additional twentys out and then close the drawer. If the drawer was unattended, a client would have time to do it. All three receptionists told us it was never unattended. Maybe they were trying to not get in trouble for leaving it (frankly, things would have been easier if they had admitted that it was left unattended), but none would have reason to fear their job if they had admitted that it had been left. Our owners are much more likely to keep trying with employees that should be fired rather than just fire folks for a mistake in judgment. Actually, if we had been told by even one of them that they knew of a time the drawer was left unlocked and unattended, we would have not gone through with the tests. We have the people responsibe for the drawer ALL sure that it was an employee that did it. This is a business with not just access to cash but also controlled drugs- it could cost us much more than $1000 in the long run if we have a thief among us.

Thanks though everyone, even those who think we handled this badly, for giving me your thoughts. I may not respond much to this thread after this since I’m flying to Denver soon, but will respond when I get back. And I have some good points to think over and decide what my input will be on Monday.

19

I don’t understand the reasoning for taking $100 from all three receptionists. Are all three receptionists supposed to be watching the cash drawer simultaneously, at all times? If one of them pocketed the money while the others were attending to other duties (they do have other duties besides watching this cash drawer, right?), how could the other two bear any responsibility?

20

This was not handled well. As practice manager you may want to get a little more training in HR, since it seems to be part of your role. This $300 loss may be on its way to become a significant legal exposure.

First order of business should be these 2 things to read -

The Employee Polygraph Protection Act

http://www.fas.org/sgp/othergov/polygraph/eppa.html

Dedcutions from payroll, from the Fair Labor Standards Act

http://www.workplacefairness.org/index.php?page=deductions&agree=yes#1

I don’t jump to this conclusion lightly, but I think you should talk with an employment lawyer about this one, maybe develop a severance package in exchange for a signed release of all claims.