I want to start by saying I’m all for the movement. I give everyone the schedules they want and if someone needs off I give it to them even if I need to take the L and work more because of it.
So one of my employees makes a lot. Like way more than I did when I was in his position. I don’t feel any type of way about it I love that he makes enough to support himself and his family. However when I was making less than him I worked way more and worked whatever that was needed, that was more on me and wanting money than doing what I was forced to. I’m only making this point because he makes the most besides me and I feel like because of that he should be doing more to help me and the business out. But also want to make it clear that I don’t ask anything from him besides showing up and doing his job, and he doesn’t even show up most of the time.
Onto the problem. The busiest day of the year is coming up at the end of march. We have a calendar where people request off. I wrote over the day saying no one can request off. And a couple days later I look at it and at the bottom underneath what I wrote, he wrote that he needed off at 2. I know he doesn’t need off other than the fact that he just doesn’t want to work it. I just feel like that’s disrespectful to not only me but everyone else who’s going to be working that day. I crossed off what he wrote and he confronted me about it. I said he can’t make that request and he said he needed off because he has stuff to do. He’s got a family so under normal circumstances I get it and would give it to him. But it’s so far in advance that I know he has nothing planned for that day he’s just trying to leave early.
If he came and talked to me or didn’t write anything I would have either gave him the time he wanted off or done his normal schedule which would have only been an hour later. But because he wrote it on the calendar I felt it was unfair of him to think he’s more important than everyone else to leave when he wants to.
I need some objective opinions on this because I’m honestly upset about it. I do everything I can for him even when it means more work/ more hours for me and he can’t respect my request for this one day
Edit: I do want to say that I am preparing for this day and I honestly don’t even think that I will need him to come in at all. At this point it’s more of the principle. I’m just not sure if this is the hill I want to die on with this employee. He is valuable but at the same time I am getting a little tired constantly covering for him. There is a lot more with him than is relevant to the problem this post is about.