Another Day In the Neighborhood

Supervisor takes action. Union files a grievance. Welcome to another day in the neighborhood.

What if you are faced with a relatively minor issue in the big scheme of things but are just not comfortable with the actions you have to take to deal with the issue? Maybe it's not all about your comfort. Okay, let's think about that.  You are tooling along, taking the bumps as they come, varying off-course and doing what you can to be consistent in your actions. Interpretation is grey, however, it is clarified by day-to-day actions and doing what's right.

An employee does something wrong. A supervisor speaks with the employee and puts them on notice. If the employee does it again, the supervisor can take action. That action can range from choosing to do nothing at all to counseling on up to discipline. What the employee did wrong can alter this greatly but what if the employee's infraction was a number of relatively minor instances over a six-month period? What if the instances were all the same, i.e. AWOLs, unplanned sick leaves, customer complaints, or poor workmanship?

Time goes on, the instances pile up and the supervisor keeps notes. One day, the supervisor has had enough and takes an action. He counsels the employee. Union files a grievance. How do you advise? It depends. Are you comfortable with the supervisor's action?

You advise the supervisor. Supervisor does not hear. Welcome to another day in the neighborhood.