Staff having to leave for emergency.?

[Will C]

Flesh wound or broken down car it's man up and get on. Proper emergency it's what it takes if that means downing tools so be it, by proper I do mean proper no ingrown toe nails or dead hamsters etc. Our team are important with out them we don't earn so they need to be looked after and if s... Hits the fan it's all hands on shovels to get out of it if that's what's needed

[Joe Newton]

Balls to the hypothetical, Ben, what was the situation?

 

Me? If it were an emergency, and I mean a real emergency, I'd take the fastest way I could and apologise later. I'm not about to sit around waiting for the boss to figure it out. After all, the situation means more to me than them.

 

I wouldn't charge them for the day, but then I wouldn't expect any crap about it either.

 

On the flip side, if I were employing a person, and they sincerely told me they had an emergency to attend, I'd get them to wherever they needed (within reason). I'd rather be a few hundred quid down then an arsehole.

[carlos]

Balls to the hypothetical, Ben, what was the situation?

 

Me? If it were an emergency, and I mean a real emergency, I'd take the fastest way I could and apologise later. I'm not about to sit around waiting for the boss to figure it out. After all, the situation means more to me than them.

 

I wouldn't charge them for the day, but then I wouldn't expect any crap about it either.

 

On the flip side, if I were employing a person, and they sincerely told me they had an emergency to attend, I'd get them to wherever they needed (within reason). I'd rather be a few hundred quid down then an arsehole.

 

pretty much my thoughts on the matter.

id expect my boss and team mates to help me out if the poo hit the fan and iam sure they would expect the same from me, too hard to say without details.

[felixthelogchopper]

Balls to the hypothetical, Ben, what was the situation?

 

Me? If it were an emergency, and I mean a real emergency, I'd take the fastest way I could and apologise later. I'm not about to sit around waiting for the boss to figure it out. After all, the situation means more to me than them.

 

I wouldn't charge them for the day, but then I wouldn't expect any crap about it either.

 

On the flip side, if I were employing a person, and they sincerely told me they had an emergency to attend, I'd get them to wherever they needed (within reason). I'd rather be a few hundred quid down then an arsehole.

 

[benedmonds]

As an employer it's hard to know if its a real emergency. I am never going to say to an individual they can't leave site, if they feel they need too.

 

But in most cases I don't think it unreasonable for that person to arrange their own way back from site rather then stop a job. If it was only a 5 mins or could be done during lunch fine.

 

In this case the guys called me from site around 10am. The site was a good hour away so they would have only just got set up. To have taken the employee back would have meant the 2 other guys in the team would have had to turn around spend another 2 hrs in the truck to get back to site for midday.

 

It would have caused me a massive ball ache rearranging work etc.. and probably cost me £400. In my opinion a taxi could have picked up the individual taken him to the emergency, this would have cost £50-£100 and probably only taken 10 mins longer.. Now as a business decision it would make sense for me to pay for the taxi, but why would i pay for a taxi? It's not my emergency?

 

In my experience some emergencies are less urgent when they are expensive.

 

My guys came to some compromise dropping him somewhere to be picked up and I don't think any permanent harm occurred in the emergency.

[forestgough]

Blimey ben! Glad i wasnt working for you when i had my emergency.all this talk of money and it not being your problem is making you sound pretty hard nosed.

But i guess business is business to some.

[R Mac]

Balls to the hypothetical, Ben, what was the situation?

 

Me? If it were an emergency, and I mean a real emergency, I'd take the fastest way I could and apologise later. I'm not about to sit around waiting for the boss to figure it out. After all, the situation means more to me than them.

 

I wouldn't charge them for the day, but then I wouldn't expect any crap about it either.

 

On the flip side, if I were employing a person, and they sincerely told me they had an emergency to attend, I'd get them to wherever they needed (within reason). I'd rather be a few hundred quid down then an arsehole.

 

Well Said,

[geoff]

Balls to the hypothetical, Ben, what was the situation?

 

Me? If it were an emergency, and I mean a real emergency, I'd take the fastest way I could and apologise later. I'm not about to sit around waiting for the boss to figure it out. After all, the situation means more to me than them.

 

I wouldn't charge them for the day, but then I wouldn't expect any crap about it either.

 

On the flip side, if I were employing a person, and they sincerely told me they had an emergency to attend, I'd get them to wherever they needed (within reason). I'd rather be a few hundred quid down then an arsehole.

 

Spot on:001_smile:

[agg221]

The problem with these situations is that they need a very quick judgement call, which is sometimes the wrong one with the benefit of additional information - so in hindsight it can sometimes be the wrong call but you can't tell at the time. I therefore tend to give the benefit of the doubt.

 

Two examples - this week a phone call from the school, younger daughter (5) had banged her head, massive lump and grazing, no obvious signs of concussion but was sitting out quietly and not joining in, which is not like her - school said she needed collecting. My wife picked her up because even though she was 20mins further away it was easier for her to reschedule her day on that occasion and there was no sense of extreme urgency.

 

A few years ago my mum was nearly killed in a car crash. Phone call came through, it was clear that it was serious and she may not make it (as it happens she did, but her heart stopped three times and she spent six months in hospital with ongoing reconstructive surgery). Drop everything and go.

 

I take my own transport to work so the issue didn't arise, but to me, if it was an employee, in the first scenario I would pay for a taxi. The person is where they are without transport due to the nature of the job, so I would feel it incumbent on me to enable them to reach their transport. This is on principle rather than on cost grounds, either to them or me. Their call as to whether to get a taxi back to their transport, or to the school and then sort out picking up their transport later, but if the latter that is at their cost. The extra time isn't critical.

 

Second scenario, get them there. One drives them, the other stays to look after the site, sort out the problems later. 10mins waiting for a taxi (which may not show up so it drags on to half an hour) could be the difference between them getting there in time or not and the consequences of 'not' are not worth risking. Hopefully (as in my case), the person makes it. That does not make it the wrong decision.

 

Alec

[benedmonds]

On the flip side, if I were employing a person, and they sincerely told me they had an emergency to attend, I'd get them to wherever they needed (within reason). I'd rather be a few hundred quid down then an arsehole.

 

If that happens 5 times a year it's a a grand..