TL;DR: A month in, our new office assistant is consistently missing time being sick and I don't know how to handle.

We hired a new "Office and Client Service Associate" (Secretary, Office Manager, etc.) at the start of this month and so far she appears extremely competent at the position - but she has missed at least one day each week (including this one) due to various ailments. They are legitimate, the symptoms/evidence of the conditions have been apparent either after an absence or right before it caused her to leave the office. Various things - cold/flu, allergy, "heat exhaustion". She is apparently just one of those sickly people. She's in her early 20s.

The part that makes this interesting is that her predecessor in the position was similarly let go for ridiculously excessive absences - we loved her, but her life was extremely chaotic and a laundry list of random things caused her to work less than 60% of her scheduled hours in her last 6 months here. I'm a little traumatized by that situation and some of that worry may be bleeding over to this new hire.

Wondering how to handle this. I don't want to be in a situation where I've invested time and training into this person for a year but am still dealing with availability issues. From an employee's perspective I can't imagine how painful it is to be fired for being sick. And we really struggled this time around to find competent/qualified candidates for the position, so I'm not looking forward to the hiring process again. There was also a signing bonus with a 3 year claw-back for her resignation or her termination for-cause that I'm sure she's already spent and won't be a fun time yanking back this quick.

Thoughts appreciated.

Troy91 said:

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What is your sick leave/personal time policy?

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She has 5 PTO days initially and accrues 3 more after 6 months and 2 more after 9 months. These can be used for sick/vacation/person. Her position is only 32 hours/week. She can take more time unpaid.

i think you need to set a limit on unpaid leave in your policies. anything beyond that limit would have to be discussed/approved case by case, and be clear that excessive unpaid leave beyond the limits could result in termination simply due to the need for business continuity.

She doesnt even have 2 weeks vacation ...

She ever file for unemployment before. We used to have a lady with a myriad of "ailments" who would basically go on short term disability whenever she could.

Yep definitely weird, not something we've ever done for any employee before. Several reasons I did it - for one, she and her husband just moved here from the Rocky Mountain region and I thought it would be nice to front them some cash for expenses. Additionally her wage requirements were lower than what others were asking for.

But primarily I did it because I wanted to lock her in here "long" term. She is in college and not really set on what she's doing for future career plans, but I didn't want her bouncing to another job after 6 months, and I wanted to incentivize even staying after graduating. The only negative we had on application and interview was the fact that we weren't sure her goals/family plans were going to lead her to be a long term employee. So I structured a compensation arrangement that would help us get closer to what we were looking for. The signing bonus has to be repaid in full if she leaves after a year, 2/3 if before two years, and 1/3 if before three years. (Taxation makes it inconvenient to pay back these signing bonuses).

The signing bonus + her salary is less 1st year compensation than most other qualified applicants were asking just in salary. (I believe this is due to her age and the cost of living advantage of TX over where she came from.)

Tough spot OP! I feel for you. Good help is hard to find, and it's hard to not feel for this person, as it is not their fault.

Edit: adding that I'm in a similar situation with a staff person. They have a sickly child, and they are sickly themselves. So this person is out of the office more than I like. It isn't their fault, but I can't help but feel the urge to address it somehow. So again, I feel for you.

You graduated undergrad in 2016 and are responsible for this employee? Good for you, OP

Not meant to be sarcasm

tamcmsh said:

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Must be present to win. Cut your losses and move on. It won't get better.

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I agree. I have managed lots of people. In my experience people that are either always sick or let some drama in their home life (usually a new drama after the old one wears off) have an effect on their work life, it never gets better and you usually have to move on.

That typically means: 1. They are a dramatic person and not someone you want to handle responsibility on your team, 2. They don't love their job so consciously or subconsciously they are looking for ways to not be there.

JobSecurity said:

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You hired a college kid for an entry level admin position and expect her to stay in that role long term, including after graduation? I think that's a bigger issue than her needing a few sick days. If she's getting any kind of useful degree she'll be getting job offers that make paying back a small signing bonus insignificant...

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Key word highlighted. There are many different types of college students. Growth in this position has the potential to pay better than a lot of college graduates are going to be making.

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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The "heat exhaustion" is the concerning one to me.

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was working in the backyard at a property I bought with my daughter in Bryan earlier this week.

I think I felt a little "heat exhaustion" , but I was outside and I'm sure I'm much older than this employee.

friendly reminder to employers that hungover is a type of sick

hell, drunk is a type of sick, a medically impaired condition

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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The "heat exhaustion" is the concerning one to me.

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To cut some slack, this is a hot summer even for Texas and she did just move from the Rocky Mountains.

tamcmsh said:

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Must be present to win. Cut your losses and move on. It won't get better.

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Yup - there are legions of people out there looking for work.

Excellent! Sounds like it sorted itself out.

thanks for the update.

Is she going to pay you back that signing bonus or did she blow through it in Vegas during all those "sick days"?

sounds like a solid compromise. Best to discover these things early.

Are you a hiring manager? Because this doesn't mesh with most of what I see/hear