Problematic employee

Two days at Christmas are holidays that most get or take off in lieu at another time. Ramadan is not a national holiday here, hence time off is by negotiation. This employee doesn’t have a policy tailored to her. The company should have a Ramadan policy and the OP implements it.

You clearly need training in management and she is taking the p, and being allowed so far.

Also I do think your remark was racist, as I'm sure that given what you say (and after 3 years) you have plenty of other examples.

I had one of these. Consistency is key. Let her throw her toys out of the pram. Tell her what you need to see, it up in writing and keep on it
Best outcome is she leaves. 2nd best outcome is improved performance.

Your job.

You manage her.

This is what you are paid for.

You have created a monster and now that her behaviour is impacting you, you expect everyone else to fix the problem you’ve created.

I think she should be entitled to leave for Ramadan. Who cares if she’s devout? Plenty of non devout people celebrate Christmas and expect time off for it.

The other stuff all sounds like a nightmare and that’s what you need to address with her. Speak to HR for advice on how to approach her improving her performance.

Put a meeting in your LM's diary, and invite an HR member of staff.

You know exactly what to say, cos you've articulated it perfectly!

It sounds like she's got a job for life!

‘Would you prefer to work your hours over 5 days during Ramadan so you’re able to finish earlier in the evening at 5?’

@somenonsense A tantrum at work is not acceptable. You don’t have to accept this behaviour. When you say HR are useless, have you actually spoken to them? You really do need to stand up to her because you have other people in the team who are working to cover for her absence and lack of productivity. You must consider them.

So tell her to compose herself and you won’t be shouted at. Say you will talk to her when she’s calm. Say that her contract must be honoured. If she has a tantrum tell HR and insist there’s a disciplinary hearing. You do need to face this down. Usually insubordination when asked to work in line with your contract is a disciplinary matter. Read your discipline policy.

Ignore it and crack on

like you’d do with a toddler

Give an example of the tantrum you expect?

If she's working 4 days. Ask her which days she can be in the office each week. If she cannot make the day agree explain she'll have to come in another day or if she's sick be off sick.

Stand your ground but be consistent and fair and treat her the same as everyone else.

I think you should send an e-mail to all the staff you manage reminding them of the terms and conditions of their employment. Then when she reverts back to her lazy ways then go through disciplinary procedures. But you will need to treat everybody the same

I totally agree with other posters that Ramadan is a red herring here, it is just a list of things that she is using to get her way.

However, just for the record, I think she can only pull the Ramadan issue because she is, I'm assuming in a minority to observe it in your organisation? I worked for an organisation that had a very strong 'Islamic Ethos'. I'd say two thirds of the staff were Muslim including the MD and senior management team. It was a great place to work but she wouldn't have lasted five minutes in that environment. Her colleagues would have put her straight very quickly.

Whilst reasonable adjustments were made, eg, start/end times flexible if possible, the only changes made in the organisation during Ramadan, were that we didn't organise any 'extra' activities that might take place out of hours or required any exertion. And we closed for Eid holidays in addition to Christmas.

Don’t suggest she gets another job. That’s moving towards constructive dismissal. However make it clear she needs to comply with the terms and conditions of the job and excuse after excuse won’t be accepted. Agree her wfh and work in office timetable,

I would (and have) let the period pain thing go. I have a team member with PCOS and I know how much she can struggle. She appreciates the flexibility and will always, without me asking, make up the time in the office another day instead.

Too many other staff, however, think that if their "sick but workable" time falls on an office day, oh well, that's handy, I'll just miss that day in the office.

As all the other posters are saying, Ramadan is a red herring in this whole situation.

You need to start managing the employee better, while maintaining consistency across all your team. i.e. if someone else doesn't come in to the office on a day that the repair man is coming, you need to give them the same response as you would the problematic employee.

Send group wide emails to the whole team setting out your expectations (or reminding them of their contracted terms). Blame higher up management if you need to (clear it with them first), saying "BigBoss has asked me to remind all of you that you need to ensure you are in the office X days per week. We of course are flexible where we can be, but if you need to arrange something on a day that you are otherwise due to be in the office, you are expected to make up the office time later."

Also, remind people that they have a statutory right to put in a flexible working request. She can then, if she wants, formally apply to WFH 90% of the time and you can give it due consideration (using HR for support).

I think you have probably fallen into the same trap I did - you don't want to upset anyone and just want to be liked by your team. Unfortunately some people, as you've learned, will abuse that.

I stood firm with one employee, after being nice for too long, and set out my expectations in terms of their attendance and performance. The whole team have now learned that I do have a limit after all and while I am fair and reasonable with them, I won't tolerate having the piss taken as it's not fair on me or the rest of the team that are picking up the slack.

In your case, consider what performance statistics you are able to use. Start gradually implementing results of these in with everyone's feedback.

Slowly, slowly, make it clear that things are going to change and she'll either have the choice to get on board, or find another job. You being consistent with all staff will remove the threat of a constructive dismissal claim if you make life too hard for her alone.

Ramadan isn't the issue here.

She has piss poor performance all the time.
The tail is wagging the dog here.

You need a conversation about performance, attendance and conduct. If you have ant concerns about it ask HR to frame it for you and document.

Why isn't she on a PIP?

We had someone just like it- she was public sector and even we managed to get her sacked! Sounds like she's come your way OP
You must have a policy re flexible working to back you up? There's a really good response up thread from @ChateauMargaux re how to tackle her. It's so unfair on your existing team if she's getting paid full time for fuck all.

I'm afraid it's just HR sounding useless here.

Why didn't you do something about this as soon as you knew ? Or forced HR to do something during that third week. You're her manager, do your job.

@Guest100 All of that should be discussed with HR. Issuing a written warning has a protocol attached. It must be evidence based so how the evidence is collected matters. The OP must follow the employees handbook or policies the firm has in place. Failing that, ACAS advice.

@somenonsense I wonder what her employment record is before she came to you?

I think you must speak to HR and come up with a plan and not keep accepting excuses and poor productivity. This will involve challenging her and record keeping. You didn’t answer me regarding annual appraisal and performance management. Are you a company actually making money or a charity? Who manages you? Why haven’t you had appropriate training? I’m afraid you will have to toughen up but don’t mention religion. That’s a company wide policy area. You do though need to apply it!

Put them on a personal improvement plan. Hold them accountable, give written warnings if that’s still a thing.

So your manager isn't doing his job.

You're not doing your job.

HR isn't doing its job.

No wonder she's taking the piss. The whole company needs a massive overhaul because you're all dragging each other down.