Employee walked out but now wants to come back

[daffodil10]

I have an employee who walked out of the office shouting I quit. My colleague had picked her up on a piece of incorrect work that was a serious mistake . She wasn't disciplining her she was discussing the error and how to move forward. The employee lost it, threw her keys at my colleague and walked out. She now wants to come in on Monday to discuss. I don't want her back. As she walked out is this classed as resignation therefore she doesn't serve notice and I don't need to pay her

I have to point out she is not under any pressure at work nor is she stressed at home ( and before anyone says I know her partner, family and her very well and have done for over 25 years) so I don't buy the stress card. I agree that due diligence must be followed but everything is so stacked in favour of the employee. It appears that it's ok to walk out when you feel like it, leaving everyone else to Pick up your job then flounce back in when you feel like And there is nothing your employer can do. When I started out doing the job that she's doing now my boss would have fired me on the spot for this type of behaviour.

There are things you can do, you need to follow policy though. Her conduct sounds like it probably merits a warning, possibly even a final warning depending on how aggressive she was etc. But without following process you won't have a leg to stand on.

Follow procedure
Follow the law
Park your emotions re her actions.
Be an employer, do what needs to be done.
Job done.

I would be very careful and access legal support if you have it. My MIL had someone quite in similar circumstances and a error in paperwork (her error) ended with her in court with the employee claiming unfair dismissal and my MIL having to pay out a lot of money.

I can't comment on the rights or wrongs if you do decide to sack her or whatever but I would seek professional advice before doing anything if I was you

Walking out on shift is a disciplinary matter. Meet with her, allow her to bring someone and explain that the meeting is a formal disciplinary which will go onto her record.

Clarify to everyone in the office the standards expected within the workplace and performance manage any employee who is falling short of the overall expectations. Lateness/rudeness/bullying/failing to complete a shift/witholding info/etc.

Daffodil, have you thought of offering her a settlement agreement?

It sounds like the relationship of confidence and trust that forms the basis of employment contracts has broken down. You may find if you offer her, say, 2-3 months as an ex-gratis payment (which is tax free) could be a useful way of parting company on mutually amicable terms.

She sounds like a nightmare, but you need to be careful to ensure you comply with the law.

Settlement agreements are ideal for this type of scenario, as it gives a clean break, and enables everyone to move on. You can offer her the legal fees to get an employment lawyer to review. They'd say to her "take it like a shot".

You could include a 'bland' reference as part of the agreement, which confirms dates of employment, role and that she decided to leave the company to pursue other opportunities.

Why not run this past your HR dept and see what they think.

How long has she worked there?

I expect it's well over the 2 years by the sound of it so the employee will have full employee rights, disappearing.

That said, its a game-changer, her flouncing out. The person has dug a bloody big hole for herself, and if she's sensible, she'll 'stop digging'.

All the OP needs to do now is to resolve the matter as swiftly, amicably and professionally as possible, so it does not become an unhelpful distraction IMHO.

Her contract will probably say "x months notice in writing". Two shouted words don't negate the contract. She could've shouted "I'm off". Then it would be a discussion about walking out and her other actions.

I think it is worrying that you have to ask here op. If you are in a position of such responsibility you Must have the correct procedures to follow, an HR department.

"I do have employment legal support and hr support to call on"

Use them then, instead of asking on the internet. They will tell you that refusing to let someone back to work who has walked out and said I quit in the heat of the moment would be a very risky thing to do.

and you say she has no stress. how can you possibly know that?
perhaps the working team is her stress?

Thank to all those who've given helpful advice on a Friday night. I'm off to speak with my hr department to decide which route to take

perhaps the working team is her stress?

Or the lack of any management.

Please access some qualified advice about this. There is a body of case law about heat of the moment resignations and refusal to reinstate; much depends on the detail of the situation. I'm an employment solicitor by the way and I would get proper instructions before advising.

I have to point out she is not under any pressure at work nor is she stressed at home ( and before anyone says I know her partner, family and her very well and have done for over 25 years) so I don't buy the stress card.

You cannot possibly know that. Lots of people suffer with stress, anxiety, depression etc who on the surface appear to have no reason to do so. This sort of attitude is one of the reason there is such stigma towards mental health.

You need to manage a poor employee out, not just kick them out.

That employee should def get a warning for that behaviour.

My DH dealt with an employee with constant low level poor behaviour. He implemented a 'record of conversation' process where when all employees were verbally praised or pulled up for something minor, a note was made and signed as seen by the employee and added to their file.

It meant that you could prove if something happened repeatedly e.g, bad attitude or being late, working to a poor standard.

It was also used to record going above and beyond and dealing with things in an excellent way

"It appears that it's ok to walk out when you feel like it, leaving everyone else to Pick up your job then flounce back in when you feel like And there is nothing your employer can do."

Not a single person said that. She's been with you years and not done anything (in your words) serious enough to warrant disciplinary action. Therefore something this serious is out of character. No one said it's fine, it certainly would usually be a disciplinary offence, and as long as you follow the appropriate process, including giving her the chance to explain any mitigating circumstances which led to something like this, you are fine to give her a warning.

Do that, with the HR advice you have available to you, and also discuss with them why you want her 'gone' despite not having reached the stage of any kind of formal warning in respect of her performance/behaviour before, and talk to them about options to achieve that.

There is likely a bigger back story than is ethical to discuss in this thread. We can speculate about whether there are mitigating circumstances and for all we know the Employee wants to bring the situation to a head and took extreme action. Throwing objects like keys at someone is very unprofessional and irresponsible IMHO.

Look at it this way, if you don't follow due process and you end up at an ET then you will only have yourself to blame and you will kick yourself. Unfortunately, although there is a history here a daughter although she has acted badly, this is just one step in the process, you can't just skip to the end.

You mention that you have known her for years and know her well and you know she is not stressed. My mum and I have an incredibly close relationship and my husband would joke that we live in each other's pockets but even she doesn't know everything about me.

You can't get rid of her just because this has annoyed you more than her previous bad behaviours (for which she wasn't disciplined). One bad-tempered flounce isn't enough to justify termination of employment. You should have been disciplining for every bad behaviour previously if you are that keen to give her the push.

Give her a chance to come back, apologise and crack on with a fresh attitude.

People don't usually flounce for no apparent reason. There's usually some reason for it.

You have to follow process. The system is not stacked in favour of the employee - it is the other way around. What it does mean though is that once you have 2 years' service you can't just take away someone's livelihood. You may be worrying for no reason anyway - she may well not want to come back.

If you follow process you can discipline her. It's not gross misconduct (unless the key actually hit your colleague, in which case it could be) but you might be able to go to a final written warning depending on your procedure and the full facts. Alternatively, as mentioned above, you go for a settlement agreement. Yes it will cost - but if you want her to go, it's a good way to proceed. She might bite your hand off if she wants to go.

I've never seen anyone behave badly in the workplace unless they were incredibly stressed and/or an arse. So she's least one of those. If it's the former, you need to tread carefully. if she's an arse, well you should have been dealing with the situation a lot sooner than this.

Fairweather. She flounced because she didn't like being picked up on her error by her younger female employers.

On a better note she came back in with resignation letter. She's doing her notice and then she's off - thank god

Ok good