Employee always has a conflict when they need to travel or present
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Anonymous
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I'm a middle manager in the federal government. An employee on my team always has a conflict when they need to present at a conference, webinar or meeting or travel on a site visit or to a professional development or retreat. I didn't really notice it during the pandemic, because we were working remotely and moved everything to virtual. Now that we are back to having in-person meetings, conferences, panel discussions or even virtual webinars or Zoom/Teams calls, this employee will state that she has a "medical procedure". We need to go on a site visit and manager don't typically travel. I asked for some dates she was available and she said she had no conflicts. So we scheduled the site visit with our other offices and the partner organization, and now she has a "medical procedure". At our one-on-one, I brought it up to her. I told her that I could be flexible about her schedule, but would appreciate if she knows in advance, to give me a heads up so we can schedule around her appointments or other leave. To not single her out, I sent an email for planning purposes to the team, asking if they could please enter any leave they have scheduled for the next month and let me know about any other leave they have scheduled.
The employee sent me back a note that she is sorry that she is taking leave and that this is "life or death". I said I understood and if there was anything I could do to accomodate her as her supervisor, to please let me know. For example, we could do the site visit as a desk monitoring visit or we could postpone it until later. I also suggested she contact our reasonable accomodations office. The employee told me she does not need to get an RA. I cannot ask her to get one. For the past six months, every time I ask her to represent the agency or present, she has a last minute conflict. I talked to her about unscheduled leave. This is never an entire day thing, but rather a period of hours. She does not have a fear of public speaking and is a terrific presenter. I brought it up to her again at her mid-year and she again stated that she wasn't able to plan the leave. I understand that she may have a health reason or personal matter, but literally it is every time I ask. I showed her the dates I asked and how she had declined all of them and then asked her again about possibly getting accomodations. I also asked for any advance leave. My HR wants me to send her a memo about leave restriction for unscheduled leave. I think that is a little excessive. She has no performance issues and I see this as a conduct thing. However, she is placing me in a bad position as another team member has to present and many times, I have presented for her. Most people on my team enjoy traveling, so that is not as big a deal. What would you do? |
Anonymous
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If people don't mind picking up the travel for her, I would leave it. Obviously she's going through a health issue and doesn't want to discuss it. If HR wants to meet with her, that's on them.
. If other people on the team are getting upset that they have to travel more, I think you need to have a frank conversation with her. |
Anonymous
| If her job is to present and represent the agency, then it is absolutely a performance issue. She is unreliable and creating more work for others, which reflects poorly on your team. You’ve been accommodating enough. I’d follow HR’s guidance. |
Anonymous
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Do you have a decent HR dept? I'd check with them.
Next question: are these presentations and site visits an essential part of the job? If so, she is not meeting performance standards. |
Anonymous
+1 She could be experiencing health matters that should only be discussed with HR, be in an abusive situation at home, or suffering crippling panic attacks related to travel/site visits (which of course cannot be scheduled in advance). If others on your team love to travel and have no issue with picking these assignments up, is it a big deal impacting your team? Should the JD and responsibilities be amended and updated? |
Anonymous
| Stage fright? |
Anonymous
+1 Her refusal to get RA set up makes zero sense. |
Anonymous
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There must be something deeper here that this employee is not sharing. What is the real roadblock other than medical?
Maybe she needs to be given a ultimatum from HR |
Anonymous
| The problem is that the employee is not being forthcoming, so OP can't trust her. What is there about RA that could not be meeting her needs? I think OP needs to have a frank conversation with her about what HR is planning and that OP won't be able to protect and defend her if she continues being unreliable without setting up formal accommodations. |
Anonymous
| I wonder if she caring for a dying love one |
Anonymous
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Can you tell her what you wrote here: it has become a performance issue impacting others on the team. You respect her work and don’t want to make this a bigger deal than it needs to be, but she either needs to reduce the unplanned leave or get accommodations through HR if she cannot. You don’t want to, and shouldn’t, get into the need for leave - that’s an HR thing - but if she anticipates that this may continue to be a problem she needs to get accommodations through HR.
This all assumes this is an important part of her job! |
Anonymous
| She may be afraid to fly. |
Anonymous
I was thinking this too - maybe she has a fear of travel. |
Anonymous
| The employee is playing you. How can it be that she is a good performer, does not need an accommodation, yet consistently can’t present on a scheduled date. OP, it’s a form of quiet quitting. Who knows what’s really up, but this won’t stop until you call her on it. Get HR involved. I have been in federal employment for 20 years, and federal employees are presently the most entitled and insufferable that I’ve ever experienced. Everyone is daring managers to not give them telework, not understand their home life, and to fire them. Do it. Bust her a$$. |
Anonymous
Quit making excuses for this sorry sack of sh*t employee. If a professional truly has this problem and can’t address it directly, they are in no way a good performer. |