Employee always has a conflict when they need to travel or present

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She may be afraid to fly.

Like Dr. Ford the certified scuba diver

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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$$.

That's fine if you're ok losing people. If you can easily replace someone, by all means go that route. But if you can't and someone is otherwise good at their job, then your job is to suck it up and deal with your feelings, just as many employees do in suboptimal situations where they don't have better options.

[Anonymous]

I was this employee. I was doing multiple rounds of IVF and having repeat miscarriages. I had no control over the timing of procedures and I was terrified to travel because the first miscarriage happened on a work trip and I was so scared it would happen again.

I was the only woman on an all-male team and people assumed I had no plans to have children. It was the kind of office environment where sharing I was trying to get pregnant could have cost me promotions - something I didn’t want to risk if I might never have a successful pregnancy. And as you might imagine, I didn’t want an accommodation for this reason either.

I flew under the radar as long as I could, finally had a baby and then left because yes as expected it impacted my promotion opportunities.

Just to give you some insight into an employee side of things…

[Anonymous]

And I know people are being rude here but I do have an intense fear of flying - I cry the whole time and just have panic attacks over and over. I have to take medication but it doesn’t help. Just ask her honestly what is going on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was this employee. I was doing multiple rounds of IVF and having repeat miscarriages. I had no control over the timing of procedures and I was terrified to travel because the first miscarriage happened on a work trip and I was so scared it would happen again.

I was the only woman on an all-male team and people assumed I had no plans to have children. It was the kind of office environment where sharing I was trying to get pregnant could have cost me promotions - something I didn’t want to risk if I might never have a successful pregnancy. And as you might imagine, I didn’t want an accommodation for this reason either.

I flew under the radar as long as I could, finally had a baby and then left because yes as expected it impacted my promotion opportunities.

Just to give you some insight into an employee side of things…

I’m not sure why any of this matters. You were entitled to your privacy. Your employer was entitled to an employee fulfilling the job requirements. If your job required travel, you failed to perform. Of course you didn’t receive promotions. Did you really expect them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

+1 Her refusal to get RA set up makes zero sense.

+2 this is a performance issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was this employee. I was doing multiple rounds of IVF and having repeat miscarriages. I had no control over the timing of procedures and I was terrified to travel because the first miscarriage happened on a work trip and I was so scared it would happen again.

I was the only woman on an all-male team and people assumed I had no plans to have children. It was the kind of office environment where sharing I was trying to get pregnant could have cost me promotions - something I didn’t want to risk if I might never have a successful pregnancy. And as you might imagine, I didn’t want an accommodation for this reason either.

I flew under the radar as long as I could, finally had a baby and then left because yes as expected it impacted my promotion opportunities.

Just to give you some insight into an employee side of things…

I’m not sure why any of this matters. You were entitled to your privacy. Your employer was entitled to an employee fulfilling the job requirements. If your job required travel, you failed to perform. Of course you didn’t receive promotions. Did you really expect them?

+1 you should’ve spoken to HR or your boss or suffer the consequences.

Stinks. I did multiple ivf rounds as a single person, recognized it would affect my work hours and had to tell my boss.

[Anonymous]

I wonder if she has some kind of anxiety.

[Anonymous]

Is travel part of the position description? Or are you trying to send people off to stupid conferences to make yourself look important? In the zoom era, most travel isn’t necessary, and of it’s not part of the PD, you shouldn’t be trying to make her do it. Most agency HQ jobs don’t actually require travel - it’s a choice by the management level. You will lose what sounds like a smart employee this way.

[Anonymous]

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?

I don't know how you could possibly think this isn't a performance issue. She's not doing her job, and others are forced to pock up the slack, including her supervisor. That's the definition of a performance issue. And if it's legit, there's no reason to not seek an accommodation - that's the whole point of an accommodation.

You should involve HR.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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?

I don't know how you could possibly think this isn't a performance issue. She's not doing her job, and others are forced to pock up the slack, including her supervisor. That's the definition of a performance issue. And if it's legit, there's no reason to not seek an accommodation - that's the whole point of an accommodation.

You should involve HR.

It seems hard to imagine someone saying an absence was “life or death” without it being a significant thing unless the employee is really wacky in which case you’d probably know that already. If she’s otherwise a levelheaded seeming person it dies sound like there’s something significant going on / the person mentioning IVF might be on to something.

Is she absent other times that don’t correspond with needing to present or travel? If not…that’s a little weird it it’s more than 2-3 times and only on those occasions. If she’s just been out a lot in general, could you limit her role on some of these things for a while - especially travel, since it sounds like others would be happy to do it, but it’s hard to sub someone in at the last moment.

[Anonymous]

Is she eligible for intermittent FMLA?

[Anonymous]

Leave restriction is the answer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was this employee. I was doing multiple rounds of IVF and having repeat miscarriages. I had no control over the timing of procedures and I was terrified to travel because the first miscarriage happened on a work trip and I was so scared it would happen again.

I was the only woman on an all-male team and people assumed I had no plans to have children. It was the kind of office environment where sharing I was trying to get pregnant could have cost me promotions - something I didn’t want to risk if I might never have a successful pregnancy. And as you might imagine, I didn’t want an accommodation for this reason either.

I flew under the radar as long as I could, finally had a baby and then left because yes as expected it impacted my promotion opportunities.

Just to give you some insight into an employee side of things…

I’m not sure why any of this matters. You were entitled to your privacy. Your employer was entitled to an employee fulfilling the job requirements. If your job required travel, you failed to perform. Of course you didn’t receive promotions. Did you really expect them?

+1 you should’ve spoken to HR or your boss or suffer the consequences.

Stinks. I did multiple ivf rounds as a single person, recognized it would affect my work hours and had to tell my boss.

+2

[Anonymous]

Wow. No advice but truly a mixed reaction from DCUM,!