JUDGE1162
ArboristSite Operative
I am looking for some input from you guys from a more employee relations then a legal issue.
He is my problem, I have an employee (a very good employee) who I recently found out was doing some side work, some very small jobs (afterwork and weekends), work that I really would not be interested in doing, so it is not that he is stealing work from me but we do have an employee hand book, which does state that moonlighting requires previous approval and that the work can not conflict with their work, at the company.
Here are my issues
1. even though it is small jobs, they are still jobs that our company does (a little small, but not a job that I would turn away especially if we get slow) and they are small now but what is to stop him from moving on to bigger job, job I would want.
2. What happens if he gets hurt, now I am out a worker or even worse, he waits until the next work day and acts like he hurt himself at work, n ow I am paying workers comp.
3. I found out he has used compay equipment to do some of the work, this is one of the biggest issues, I don't own this equipment, pay for its up keep to have him make a few bucks on the side, what happens if he breaks it on one of these side jobs, how do I prove he did it then and not on my job site.
4. Some of our equipmet has our company name on it, I feel that opens me up to some legal issues, I don't want issues for the company because of his side jobs see our logo/name and think they have hired my company and not just the guy they have working, I don't want there to be an issue (he screws up) he gets sued and because he had my equipment or happened to have a sweatshirt with my logo on they sue me too.
5. The final issue has more to do with employee/boss relationship. I know he is breaking company policy, others employees know he is breaking company policy, as a boss I feel like I have to address it.
Now the question is how?
He is a good employee, a very good employee I have never had issues with him in the past, he does a great job, I wish I had more employees like him. We have a good working relationship, even friendly outside of work. This is a big part of my issue, I don't want to lose him to another company, I don't want to destroy our working relationship, and if he would have asked I would have said yes with conditions like don't use company equipment, the jobs need to be run past me first to see if I want them, and there can be no conection to the company.
What should I do, how big of a deal is this, according to my company hand book he can be fired with cause for this, so if I should fire him I have legal grounds to do so. We also have policys regarding the use of company equipment which he by using it for side work he has also violated, which according to the company hand book can carry disapline actions from a day without pay to a month without pay. I tend not to do anything less than a week because the guys see a day as a free vacation day and one day pay usally is not enough to really have them notice the diffrence in their pay check, when you don't get a weeks pay your wallet feels it.
Any advise? :bang:
He is my problem, I have an employee (a very good employee) who I recently found out was doing some side work, some very small jobs (afterwork and weekends), work that I really would not be interested in doing, so it is not that he is stealing work from me but we do have an employee hand book, which does state that moonlighting requires previous approval and that the work can not conflict with their work, at the company.
Here are my issues
1. even though it is small jobs, they are still jobs that our company does (a little small, but not a job that I would turn away especially if we get slow) and they are small now but what is to stop him from moving on to bigger job, job I would want.
2. What happens if he gets hurt, now I am out a worker or even worse, he waits until the next work day and acts like he hurt himself at work, n ow I am paying workers comp.
3. I found out he has used compay equipment to do some of the work, this is one of the biggest issues, I don't own this equipment, pay for its up keep to have him make a few bucks on the side, what happens if he breaks it on one of these side jobs, how do I prove he did it then and not on my job site.
4. Some of our equipmet has our company name on it, I feel that opens me up to some legal issues, I don't want issues for the company because of his side jobs see our logo/name and think they have hired my company and not just the guy they have working, I don't want there to be an issue (he screws up) he gets sued and because he had my equipment or happened to have a sweatshirt with my logo on they sue me too.
5. The final issue has more to do with employee/boss relationship. I know he is breaking company policy, others employees know he is breaking company policy, as a boss I feel like I have to address it.
Now the question is how?
He is a good employee, a very good employee I have never had issues with him in the past, he does a great job, I wish I had more employees like him. We have a good working relationship, even friendly outside of work. This is a big part of my issue, I don't want to lose him to another company, I don't want to destroy our working relationship, and if he would have asked I would have said yes with conditions like don't use company equipment, the jobs need to be run past me first to see if I want them, and there can be no conection to the company.
What should I do, how big of a deal is this, according to my company hand book he can be fired with cause for this, so if I should fire him I have legal grounds to do so. We also have policys regarding the use of company equipment which he by using it for side work he has also violated, which according to the company hand book can carry disapline actions from a day without pay to a month without pay. I tend not to do anything less than a week because the guys see a day as a free vacation day and one day pay usally is not enough to really have them notice the diffrence in their pay check, when you don't get a weeks pay your wallet feels it.
Any advise? :bang:
Last edited: