Hello,
How can we manage an employee who engages in a lot of gossiping and complaining about management simply because their leave has not been approved and they have received a warning for rude behavior towards HR and management?
From India, Gurgaon
Acknowledge(0)
Amend(0)
2How can we manage an employee who engages in a lot of gossiping and complaining about management simply because their leave has not been approved and they have received a warning for rude behavior towards HR and management?
From India, Gurgaon
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
Though management has refused leave to the employee, he has no case to resort to rude behavior and badmouthing about management during office hours to express his displeasure over the refusal of leave. This kind of behavior may become contagious if not curbed and surely needs to be disciplined. However, when behaviors that are the cause of misconduct are not the employee's own making but triggered by the behavior of another, more so when it is management, then you have two approaches to deal with it because there is likely to be a case of shared blame.
1) One is the reformative approach, and 2) the other is the retributive approach. In the instant case, though leave is not a matter of right of an employee and the management is entitled to refuse it on grounds of administrative expediency, yet the sound principles of employer-employee relations require management to look into requests for leave with empathy and fairness as they are generally need-based and act on the merits of the request. The reformative approach lays emphasis on correcting the behavior of the erring employee but not condoning it. It can be resorted to when:
1) it is an isolated case of misbehavior and not his habitual nature;
2) whether the employee's request is genuine;
3) whether the employee is in the habit of going on leave frequently and on flimsy grounds;
4) whether the management's action in refusing leave is arbitrary, without any justifiable reason and lacks empathy.
You can go through the whole context of the refusal of leave and the behavior it triggered in a fair manner. If you find that the answers to queries No (1), (2), and (4) are 'yes' and if the answer to query No. (3) is 'No', then you can call him for a one-to-one meeting and counsel him about the employee's position in respect of leave, the need to maintain discipline, the ill effects of gossiping on work and badmouthing about management, and the ill consequences of improper and reactive behaviors. Issue him an advisory memo to refrain from repeating such behavior in the future and put him on notice of serious action in case of a breach of discipline in the future.
If he is a repeat offender and is a past master at this game, you can take disciplinary action by issuing a show-cause notice, calling for his explanation, and imposing a minor penalty as specified under your disciplinary rules. Thereafter, monitor his conduct for further necessary action.
Hope this helps.
B. Saikumar
HR & Labour Law Advisor
From India, Mumbai
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
1) One is the reformative approach, and 2) the other is the retributive approach. In the instant case, though leave is not a matter of right of an employee and the management is entitled to refuse it on grounds of administrative expediency, yet the sound principles of employer-employee relations require management to look into requests for leave with empathy and fairness as they are generally need-based and act on the merits of the request. The reformative approach lays emphasis on correcting the behavior of the erring employee but not condoning it. It can be resorted to when:
1) it is an isolated case of misbehavior and not his habitual nature;
2) whether the employee's request is genuine;
3) whether the employee is in the habit of going on leave frequently and on flimsy grounds;
4) whether the management's action in refusing leave is arbitrary, without any justifiable reason and lacks empathy.
You can go through the whole context of the refusal of leave and the behavior it triggered in a fair manner. If you find that the answers to queries No (1), (2), and (4) are 'yes' and if the answer to query No. (3) is 'No', then you can call him for a one-to-one meeting and counsel him about the employee's position in respect of leave, the need to maintain discipline, the ill effects of gossiping on work and badmouthing about management, and the ill consequences of improper and reactive behaviors. Issue him an advisory memo to refrain from repeating such behavior in the future and put him on notice of serious action in case of a breach of discipline in the future.
If he is a repeat offender and is a past master at this game, you can take disciplinary action by issuing a show-cause notice, calling for his explanation, and imposing a minor penalty as specified under your disciplinary rules. Thereafter, monitor his conduct for further necessary action.
Hope this helps.
B. Saikumar
HR & Labour Law Advisor
From India, Mumbai
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
How was the employee before his leave was refused or before he got a warning? He/she needs to be spoken to clearly and told that speaking ill of management and gossiping will be viewed seriously. Also, find out why he is cribbing so much. After all, in-office leave gets denied at times, and a warning letter is part of working life. One must take things in his stride and not get into a situation of continuous backbiting/gossiping. How senior is this employee? It will always be better if a senior HR person or even his HOD is tasked with counseling and also recording the gist of the conversation/counseling. If still there is no improvement, then a show cause can be served, and further action as needed can be taken.
From India, Pune
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
From India, Pune
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
Dear Rashmi,
This is in addition to what other senior members have said. I would like to ask two questions. The first one is, do you have a policy on Employee Leave well in place? If yes, have you written in that policy that "leave is a privilege and not entitlement"? Has this policy been communicated to all the employees?
The second question is about training on business etiquette or workplace etiquettes. In the induction training, have the employees been told to follow the rules of the workplace? If an employee refuses leave and starts grumbling, who observed it? Did any employee other than you complain to you? Why did others not feel the behavior was wrong and immediately challenge the employee to stop backbiting?
The incident could be a reflection of your organization's culture. If it is, then you need to fix it as early as possible.
Thanks,
Dinesh Divekar
From India, Bangalore
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
This is in addition to what other senior members have said. I would like to ask two questions. The first one is, do you have a policy on Employee Leave well in place? If yes, have you written in that policy that "leave is a privilege and not entitlement"? Has this policy been communicated to all the employees?
The second question is about training on business etiquette or workplace etiquettes. In the induction training, have the employees been told to follow the rules of the workplace? If an employee refuses leave and starts grumbling, who observed it? Did any employee other than you complain to you? Why did others not feel the behavior was wrong and immediately challenge the employee to stop backbiting?
The incident could be a reflection of your organization's culture. If it is, then you need to fix it as early as possible.
Thanks,
Dinesh Divekar
From India, Bangalore
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
Ms. Rashmi Shrivatsav,
In addition to the opinion of the members, as an HR personnel, why don't you initiate disciplinary action against the employee in terms of your CSO or MSO to improve discipline in the organization? Don't hesitate to punish him if he is found guilty of the charges leveled against him.
Adoni Suguresh
Labour Laws Consultant
From India, Bidar
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
In addition to the opinion of the members, as an HR personnel, why don't you initiate disciplinary action against the employee in terms of your CSO or MSO to improve discipline in the organization? Don't hesitate to punish him if he is found guilty of the charges leveled against him.
Adoni Suguresh
Labour Laws Consultant
From India, Bidar
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
Ms. Rashmi,
It seems either your query is hypothetical or you are not serious about finding a solution to your problem. If you or management truly have an issue, it is concerning that you have not responded to my query from 32 days ago, on 01.12.2015.
To be frank, I do not believe you are an HR Generalist or facing a real problem, as your age of 20 years indicates that you have not even completed your graduation, let alone an MBA degree. Please refrain from mocking the members of this forum.
From India, Delhi
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
It seems either your query is hypothetical or you are not serious about finding a solution to your problem. If you or management truly have an issue, it is concerning that you have not responded to my query from 32 days ago, on 01.12.2015.
To be frank, I do not believe you are an HR Generalist or facing a real problem, as your age of 20 years indicates that you have not even completed your graduation, let alone an MBA degree. Please refrain from mocking the members of this forum.
From India, Delhi
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
Thank you for your generous comment. Talent is still valued. By the way, I think you don't know why we use Cite.hr. It's all about sharing problems, advising others, and making connections with some great seniors (not judging others). I would also like to say, if you have a mindset like this, please do not comment on my post. Otherwise, I will surely make fun of you.
From India, Gurgaon
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
From India, Gurgaon
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
Ms. Rashmi Srivastava,
Nice of you throwing your threat of making fun of me. By the way, what have you been doing so far, except making fun of not only me but also other elders and senior members of this forum?
I may or may not know why we use Cite HR, but of course, I can firmly say that you don't know that. Cite HR is not supposed to pose mischievous hypothetical queries but to deal with the real problems of the members, which they face in their lives. You have stated that Cite HR is "all about sharing problems, advising others, and making connections with some great seniors." However, you have not shared the real problem that I am sure. Had that been your real problem, you could have been curious to get that solved without loss of time and would have readily responded to my query when I asked, "was there any specific reason to refuse him leave?" But you used to keep silent over my query for more than one month and responded only when I dared you to prove if that was your real problem.
About advising others, you can only be expected to advise others on how to act mischievously or misuse the sincere efforts of others who try to solve problems of others by wasting their time, energy, and infrastructure without any real gain to them, like me, who has no chance to use anyone else's knowledge now after about fifteen years of my retirement from active service.
You could well have realized that my sincere effort was to solve your problem if you really had, after knowing the background of the problem and how the management acted on such an incident when I asked you the question, "was there any specific reason to refuse him leave?" That too, without expecting anything in return from you. But, not to clarify your position, even after my observation, you preferred only to throw insults and threats to make fun of me by openly threatening, "I would surely going to make fun of you."
That itself proved that neither was there any problem with you, as you did not spell the reason for refusal of leave, even now after asking, nor did you try to share the background, even if the problem persisted, nor were you interested in knowing the real process to tackle such a situation if it arises anytime during your life. That makes it quite clear that you were interested only in your entertainment, but not desirous of learning something vital from the seniors of the forum.
Regarding making connections with great seniors, that is your vain desire if you are not serious in learning anything from them and don't respect them and even throw threats to make fun of them.
As for your direction for me not to make any comments on your post, don't forget, you don't enjoy any discretion to debar anyone from giving his observation or replying to your query that appears on an open forum like Cite HR. Anyone is free to give their observations on your post if you have failed to state facts of the so-called problem of yours.
As for your assumed problem, I can predict that due to your own behavior, you, of course, can become the target of such a situation for yourself if employed, as exceptions are always there where employers are compelled to break the rules of law to get rid of some really mischievous elements.
Best of luck!
From India, Delhi
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
Nice of you throwing your threat of making fun of me. By the way, what have you been doing so far, except making fun of not only me but also other elders and senior members of this forum?
I may or may not know why we use Cite HR, but of course, I can firmly say that you don't know that. Cite HR is not supposed to pose mischievous hypothetical queries but to deal with the real problems of the members, which they face in their lives. You have stated that Cite HR is "all about sharing problems, advising others, and making connections with some great seniors." However, you have not shared the real problem that I am sure. Had that been your real problem, you could have been curious to get that solved without loss of time and would have readily responded to my query when I asked, "was there any specific reason to refuse him leave?" But you used to keep silent over my query for more than one month and responded only when I dared you to prove if that was your real problem.
About advising others, you can only be expected to advise others on how to act mischievously or misuse the sincere efforts of others who try to solve problems of others by wasting their time, energy, and infrastructure without any real gain to them, like me, who has no chance to use anyone else's knowledge now after about fifteen years of my retirement from active service.
You could well have realized that my sincere effort was to solve your problem if you really had, after knowing the background of the problem and how the management acted on such an incident when I asked you the question, "was there any specific reason to refuse him leave?" That too, without expecting anything in return from you. But, not to clarify your position, even after my observation, you preferred only to throw insults and threats to make fun of me by openly threatening, "I would surely going to make fun of you."
That itself proved that neither was there any problem with you, as you did not spell the reason for refusal of leave, even now after asking, nor did you try to share the background, even if the problem persisted, nor were you interested in knowing the real process to tackle such a situation if it arises anytime during your life. That makes it quite clear that you were interested only in your entertainment, but not desirous of learning something vital from the seniors of the forum.
Regarding making connections with great seniors, that is your vain desire if you are not serious in learning anything from them and don't respect them and even throw threats to make fun of them.
As for your direction for me not to make any comments on your post, don't forget, you don't enjoy any discretion to debar anyone from giving his observation or replying to your query that appears on an open forum like Cite HR. Anyone is free to give their observations on your post if you have failed to state facts of the so-called problem of yours.
As for your assumed problem, I can predict that due to your own behavior, you, of course, can become the target of such a situation for yourself if employed, as exceptions are always there where employers are compelled to break the rules of law to get rid of some really mischievous elements.
Best of luck!
From India, Delhi
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
Ms. Rashmi Shrivatsav,
Your comment in this forum against the post of Mr. P.S. Dhingra openly is not proper and goes against the ethics, which is hurting the members who are sharing their experiences and contributing their valuable suggestions. The suggestions given by the members voluntarily to accept or ignore are up to the person who raises the query. Also, suggestions given by contributing members are not binding on anybody. Nobody has the right to make such a derogatory comment; it is intolerable against such an old, senior contributing member of this forum. You are new to this forum. Please learn about the norms first and then react accordingly. If you are a real HR professional, it is advised in your own interest and in the interest of the contributing members to write an apology letter, addressing it to Mr. P.C. Dhingra in this forum, and correct yourself in the future if you are interested in interacting in this forum.
Adoni Suguresh
Labour Laws Consultant
From India, Bidar
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
Your comment in this forum against the post of Mr. P.S. Dhingra openly is not proper and goes against the ethics, which is hurting the members who are sharing their experiences and contributing their valuable suggestions. The suggestions given by the members voluntarily to accept or ignore are up to the person who raises the query. Also, suggestions given by contributing members are not binding on anybody. Nobody has the right to make such a derogatory comment; it is intolerable against such an old, senior contributing member of this forum. You are new to this forum. Please learn about the norms first and then react accordingly. If you are a real HR professional, it is advised in your own interest and in the interest of the contributing members to write an apology letter, addressing it to Mr. P.C. Dhingra in this forum, and correct yourself in the future if you are interested in interacting in this forum.
Adoni Suguresh
Labour Laws Consultant
From India, Bidar
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)Engage with peers to discuss and resolve work and business challenges collaboratively - share and document your knowledge. Our AI-powered platform, features real-time fact-checking, peer reviews, and an extensive historical knowledge base. - Join & Be Part Of Our Community.
Sins of Bad Employee to Avoid Pink Slip.pdf
Employee Appraisal Form new.doc