New employee demands

[CountryMumof3]

I've been mulling this over all day and wanted other perspectives in case I'm, incorrectly, feeling a bit p-ed off.

I run an office team and we've been really short staffed of late, so we've had a recruitment drive and managed to find four new starters. It's going to take the pressure off our team, which will be fantastic - they all work incredibly hard, despite this last year being incredibly difficult. Of the four, I really took to three, but the other (although well suited to the job on paper) was harder to warm to. They've all confirmed they're happy to start so we're getting things in place at the moment. The one I didn't warm to has apparently issued all sorts of demands, including changes to their work patterns, start dates, wages etc. This is all being looked after by HR and senior management, and they may well get some of it. I'm all for knowing your worth, but isn't this bad form for when you've already accepted a job under certain terms? AIBU to already be dreading working with them, or do you think I'm right to be concerned that there could be further issues down the line?

As you'll probably be able to tell, I'm building up my management experience, so don't have any past experiences to go on!

Tbh I don't blame them! So many companies take the piss and try to get away with paying as little as possible and being inflexible.

I don't see an issue with an employee wanting to be paid their worth.

@Hastae I think that's what's bothered me - I think they're expecting certain things from the role that they just won't get. Or they're hoping to change it to meet their requirements, which again, isn't feasible really. We'll see anyway - I'll just support as needed and it'll hopefully work out.

@MrsSparkington Well it's very true that if you don't ask, you don't get!

I’ll PM you

😅😅😅 yeah why not…

I had one like that who turned out to be the laziest, worst worker we had. Full of self importance & barely competent

In my experience employees like this turn out to be a nightmare! I know people who take a job knowing hours, days and weekend requirement. They were given the job, but now don’t want work the hours or days and give a medical reason as to why they can’t work weekends despite this being in the job specifications and accepting this in the interview. It caused difficulties within the team and has meant others are having to pick up the extra weekend hours. It’s a complete headache!

See how it pans out. You can get rid of them if necessary. If they are going to be paid more than their peers they’ll need to bring some other qualities/skills/contacts/experience to the table, otherwise they’ll be poor value for money and will have to go. Hopefully they will do well for you.

My old boss took someone on who managed to tweak her hours, her holidays, you name it. Boss has since left and it has just caused resentment as nobody else gets this.

The person sounds like they will be a pain to work with. You don't accept a post, sign a contract and then start making demands. They've signed and accepted the offer so how can they now demand more money. Sounds like they'll be being paid more than their colleagues, that would also make me uncomfortable if their experience is the same. Once worked with someone who appeared on their first day and announced they didn't work on Fridays!

@Svalberg That's kind of the feeling I've been getting! Or maybe very competent, but in no way a team player. Tricky one.

@England101 It's exactly this - but no medical reasons. If there were, I'd be way more accommodating, if it were doable.

@Reddog1 I'll definitely keep an open mind and give them a chance - everyone deserves that. I'm certainly not convinced they'll bring more to the table than others though - it's a excellent team and they all have different skill sets. If they hadn't been already causing a fuss, I'd have had few concerns. We'll see though - I could be proved wrong.

@Justrolledmyeyesoutloud That must've caused some ructions for sure. It's such a fine balance in an office environment anyway - you just don't need any additional conflict.

@ColourByNumbers88 Exactly - that's what I'm finding very odd. Absolutely negotiate pre-contract if you want to, but seems a bit odd to then start with it afterwards! I'd love to not work Fridays - maybe we should all demand that ;-)

@Svalberg I too have had similar experience. I was the manager of someone who had a massive ego & made all sorts of demands - increases to salary, extra holidays, ignored working hours etc. And then.....v mediocre in the role & totally cherry picked the parts they wanted to do & just ignored the rest leaving the rest of the team to pick up the pieces to save the projects. Add in arrogant & rude too.

I inherited this person who had been in the role years & years. In the end I left as i actually could not bear to deal with them a second longer. It was the best thing I ever did.

OP I truly hope your situation isn't as bad, at least you have a probation period where you can take action if needed.

Good luck!

I understand what you are saying about bringing people in on more money and that it doesn’t sit right but being totally honest that kind of thinking among managers just holds businesses back and contributes to wage stagnation in the UK which has been a problem for 20 years.

The job market is always changing and has changed a lot in the last few years. This often means that market rate now is not what you paid when you recruited someone else 2 or 3 years ago.

if the person has the qualifications and experience to justify a particular wage and it is within the benchmark range then you need to pay it or accept a lesser candidate or no candidate. What others are earning isn’t really relevant and in professional roles it’s really dimly viewed for people to be discussing their salaries.

i get that it feels unfair but it’s not. Everyone has accepted their contracts and everyone gets pay rises. You may want to do some form of levelling up, but for that to be accelerated the existing employees will need to perform better or start operating at a higher level.

That said, the kind of person you describe do often tend to be pains in the arse.

I think you are making judgements here, and maybe feel put out that they know their worth and feel empowered enough to do this.

They have a right to negotiate!!

they had the right to negotiate before signing a contract not after-they could easily have asked beforehand when offered the job

sorry don’t agree, if the organisation doesn’t want the employee, they can pull the contract. If they do want them, they will continue to negotiate.

I personally always negotiate T&Cs, pay and job plan. But tbh, would do this before signing a contract.

Also some of her requests may be reasonable adjustments for a disability or health condition?

You don't actually know that though because you wrote apparently and it's with senior managers and HR. She does not have to tell you and you don't know the detail. You didn't like her and now her actions are reinforcing those feelings. You are already judging her, without all of the information, is that not bad form?

The one I didn't warm to has apparently issued all sorts of demands, including changes to their work patterns, start dates, wages etc. This is all being looked after by HR and senior management, and they may well get some of it. I'm all for knowing your worth, but isn't this bad form for when you've already accepted a job under certain terms? AIBU to already be dreading working with them, or do you think I'm right to be concerned that there could be further issues down the line?

I would absolutely not go through with hiring this person. Experience tells me you will regret it. If you are already tied into the contract, make sure there is a probation period.

The entire first 2 years of a contract are essentially a probation period. It’s very easy to get rid of someone with less than 2 years service.