So we had this secretary in our office maybe for last 2-3 years. She was okay at her job and I never had any complaints except maybe the fact that writing letters in English took time as she wasn't very good at it. She was also a regional actress/model on the side and had a good gig going.
Our company is a 7 day a week service, and each employee gets 5 days off per month and they can take any 5 days off. Logic being that usually there are 4 Sundays (but Sundays are irrelevant to us) and they get 1 complimentary leave. They can also choose to work those off days if desired overtime. and
We have a relaxed attendance requirement, i.e nothing really happens if you don't show up to work, just get your pay cut. So someone taking 10 days off in one month and making it up with no leaves the next month isn't rare.
So back to our actress/model secretary. So acting/modeling jobs are sporadic but pay well. She makes per shooting day 5-8 times that she earns in a day at our office. But she doesn't like to be idle during the days with no shoots so she works at our office. This was told to us at the time she joined and we were okay with it. We were used to seeing her only 20 days a month or less. This was fine till now.
The recent economic slowdown didn't affect our work that much but it did hit our revenue. Luckily a couple of guys left when some accounting error was discovered and implicated them for skimming company cash. They left rather than face any consequences, since the amount wasn't large, the matter was dropped. We decided to manage with 3 less guys than hire replacements in this crunch.
Now at this time our secretary's average 5 day absent thing was becoming an issue, it's not like I can tell her to stop her shoots, she earns significantly more in those 5 days than an entire month at the office. So another manager and I decided that we must replace her and it fell on me to tell her.
And damn! It was so difficult. She was a part of the office for so long. She wasn't really at fault because this was how we took her in. I feel by letting her go we are not valuing the last few years of work that she put in to our company. She was the only person who never asked for a raise, we had to insist on it. She was dependable during the days she was available. Also we don't have any severance package system, nor can we afford one during this time. But fuck, it feels so bad.
Me and the other manager had been discussing this for more than a month now, but I could only get myself to pull the trigger today. I literally feel I have shot her. I mean, I know she already has a much better paying job but that job is sporadic. It's rare but she has had months where she didn't have any shoots, especially during the COVID lockdowns.
I just told her that here off days are becoming a problem now and that I didn't know what else I can do. She said she understands, but I did notice a hint of hurt in her voice.
My question to you guys: Have you guys had to fire someone who didn't deserve to be fired? How did you deal with?