Dear Heather- Sick and Tired

Dear Heather,


I have worked for the same property management company for several years and have worked my way into a good salary, benefits, and a Manager in Training role. With this role comes great responsibility, including taking on the challenge of supervising employees. The downside to this role is that I don't really have the autonomy to really fix some issues that drive me crazy within my office and for the most part, my hands are tied when it comes to disciplinary action issues because that is my manager's responsibility. You see, I have a coworker that has a variety of health issues and it is known within the office and management, so therefore, we have to accommodate. I have no problem with this for the most part. My issue is that she calls out a lot. When I say a lot, I mean it is to the point of being predictable. Even my maintenance staff make jokes about her calling out so much. For instance, I will get a text that tell me how she's not feeling well and how it's ruining her weekend. First off, this is rather annoying because I frankly don't care what she is doing on her days off. Secondly, this irritates me even more because in my eyes this is a set up for the inevitable call out for her return to work from her weekend break. Not only that but she won't hesitate to share with you that she suffers from several ailments at the same time and all of the details of them ...I am not trying to belittle her health conditions but I honestly have never met anyone with more issues that prevents them from working in my life! I have brought these frustrations to my manager's attention many times. The response I get is very HR (which I understand) and it's typically something like "you have to accommodate by giving breaks during the day or allowing her to go home early or come in late". Seriously?! Can't I just get a Leasing Agent that shows up and isn't a Web MD nightmare? Although her call outs have been less frequent than before, it's still predictable and if she does show up, she is so loopy from her medications it makes it difficult to work with her. My manager has told me to send her home if she comes to work loopy but frankly, I need her in the office and can't afford to be alone in the office any more than I already am.
 
How do I balance my feelings of frustration and disbelief in her legit "sick days" and still be in compliance with the law and not on the wrong side of an lawsuit? Some days I believe she is ill and other days I think she just didn't want to get up out of bed and come to work. She has even mentioned that she knows my manager can't fire her because she could sue based on her medical issues. I know we all have a right to call out sick but I just feel like it's predictable and abusing that very policy that is meant for those that do have medical issues that truly inhibit them from working normal shifts or performing daily tasks. How do I overcome these feelings of not believing her, not feeling confident in her attendance, not feeling confident that her ailments are severe enough to prevent her from working or performing her duties, and yet knowing that I have to accommodate her call outs and deal with it?
 
Please Help!
 
Sick and Tired of those who are ALWAYS Sick and Tired
 

 
Dear Sick and Tired of those who are ALWAYS Sick and Tired,
Wow!  This is a really horrible situation and I can imagine that you must be thoroughly frustrated, even more than your letter sounds.  It's always difficult to work in an environment where there is someone who is shirking their responsibilities, and working in a property management office with that sort of a person is extra hard because our days move so fast that once you get behind, you never feel like you can catch up. 
 
First, while I very much sympathize with your situation, I have to concur with the "very HR" response that you've gotten so far.  Employers MUST make accommodations to sick employees under federal law, but more than that, this particular employee has already placed a not-so-veiled threat against them.  Whenever you have an employee who KNOWS and has the audacity to say that they know they can sue their employer upon termination, it's a very sticky situation.  On one hand, if any other employee pulled this behavior, you'd do the 6 (yes SIX is the customary number in the current economy) write ups and terminate them.  On the other hand, it's going to cost you much more in the legal and public relations arena to get rid of this person than to let them half ass their job.  From a company view point, you're picking up the slack, so they aren't out anything and they don't have to deal with the problem.  
 
Second, you have to make sure that even through your dissatisfaction with this employee that you are not making the work environment hostile so she will leave.  She can sue the company for that as well, and a lot of those kinds of suits are being won currently, plus with the health issues she has, she'll have the sympathy on her side.  Problems all around on that front.
 
Third, if she comes in "loopy" on her meds, you really should send her home.  I know this puts additional stress on you, but remember that some states are verbal contract states and what she says in her inebriated state, you and your company can be held legally liable for.  On top of which, any contract that she signs with a resident might not be valid if she, as a company representative, is in an altered state.  Plus, in such a state, she could write a contract for either the wrong amount of rent or the wrong lease term, and once the resident has signed it with her, you're bound to that contract.  Send her home when she's a threat to your NOI.
 
So let's talk about some solutions.  One of the things that you mentioned is that you can't afford to be alone in the office anymore than you already are.  This may just be the background of a staffer talking, but one of the quickest ways to call attention from the corporate office to the escalated degree of the problem is to call your local staffing agent when she calls out, or when you have to send her home sick.  The corporate office might not notice the stress that it puts you under to not have her there, but they WILL notice the stress that staffing costs put on your budget.  This is a risky solution, however, so it might be worth it to just contact your office about ASKING for staffing.  It will have a similar effect, and won't potentially get you in as much trouble as just calling a staffing agent without approval will.
 
Now here's the good news - People who are frequently absent or who do not seem to connect with their workplace rarely stay there long term, so she may be on her way out.  Also, if she's made the lawsuit statement, that might be what she's really looking for, and when you do not provide her with the grounds to sue, she'll move on and look for another rube to play this game with.
 
How you, as a manager in training, handle a situation like this can be a defining moment for your career.   You can take the path of secretly hating your coworker (and believe me, MANY of us take that path, as it's the most fun), or you can try to ignore as much of the situation as you can and realize that you can only do what you can do in any given day, or your can try to reach the employee on a personal level. 
 
The last is the hardest to do, but also the most long term rewarding of the options presented.  To open communication you have to re-foundation some modicum of trust between the two of you.  I would start by giving her massive positive reinforcement on days when she doesn't call out sick or come in loopy.  Extending yourself as a mentor and trying to have a different relationship with this employee might encourage her to come to work more often and to call out less.
 
As for managing your feelings on the issue, my best advice to you is to step back and take some deep perspective on the issue.  I want you to ask yourself if it's really worth you caring if you believe her or not?  If it's worth carrying anger and spite over something you cannot prove and something that in the long run will not make a difference?  My mother once told me that you only have so many pieces in your matched set of emotional luggage, and you have to choose what's worth packing in them.  You can't carry everything, so make sure that she's worth putting in there.
 
Good Luck to you!
Heather