A Missing Staff Member?

[diamondlady]

OK, I'm getting the willies now, we have a missing staff member and the last time we had one missing, it was not a good situation, in fact the worst kind.  He had an accident at lunchtime and it was fatal.

But this guy, I don't know what happend to him, and we've sent the possie out looking for him this morning.  He is ALWAYS early to work and when he's not, he ALWAYS checks in with either me or my boss (we have the same boss).  I called my boss, he knows nothing, his cell phone is here, he hasn't called in, and he doesn't answer his home phone.  So we've sent out the possie to look for him.  He's a single dad and lives at home by himself, so we're hoping it's nothing, but sheesh anything can happen. We're hoping he didn't get hurt at home somewhere.  Or worse a fight with the ex-girlfriend over his son and he's in jail somewhere.  See how the mind runs rampid here when we don't hear.

Please please please have a system in place so that when an employee doesn't check in you know what to do, and don't wait!  It's been 3 hours since he was supposed to be here and he's not yet.  I'm hoping he forgot to tell me about a doctors appointment or something.  He's the office clown along with another accounting staffer, and the other office clown went looking for him with another close coworker, and I'm holding down the fort waiting for him to check in or pull in.  He's a good half hour away from the office and it's making me extremely nervous.



Diamondlady
Peer Moderator

[diamondlady]

OK Now I can kill him when I see him tomorrow. He's home sick.  He was sleeping and didn't answer our phone calls.  Grrrr...

The possie is there and they are going to chew him out in good shape for not checking in sooner.  I told him next time if he calls in early to leave a voice mail so we won't worry about him til we hear.  He ALWAYS calls in when he's sick and this is the latest he's ever called, and it's after we called him to check up on him.  He's NEVER going to hear the end of this one, LOL!  He torments us all the time, now it's our turn.  He'll NEVER hear the end of it, he lives a good distance from work and with gas prices and taking our coworkers truck, I'm sure they are giving him a hard time as we speak.  LOL! Whew I'm glad that is all it was.

Diamondlady
Peer Moderator

[carolmmarch]

Wow Diamondlady - I hope everything is okay - try not to work yourself up too much - keep hoping for the best.
Let us know what happens
Good Luck!


Carol

[officeguru]

Glad it turned out well....

We have such a large department, no real way to know if someone has checked in with someone else unless it gets mentioned.  (i.e., person calls in to their manager who doesn't tell the admin, or the person calls and leaves a voicemail on someone's phone that is out of the office).

As a rule among us admins in our division...if one of us has to call off - we call not only our leadership, at least 2 other admins as well.

[diamondlady]

Just got off the phone with him.  I chewed him out for not calling in.  He said he was asleep, and he didn't answer the phone.  Apparently he heard it ring, but he was not awake.  Grrr!  I told him next time leave a message with one of us, no matter the time!  Had me worried sick!  As much of a pain he is to us sometimes, you still worry, almost like your brother, you know, pain in the keester, but you still care and worry just the same.  Now if he heard me say that I'd never hear the end of it, but I think he knows NOT to do that again.  I just spen 20 minutes giving him a hard time about calling.  He's usually pretty reliable even sick to call in, but it was almost 10:00 our time and no word.  Worried? YEP!  

He's home with a swollen face, something bit him or he got into something outside, who knows.  I'm still gonna kill him tomorrow! LOL

Diamondlady
Peer Moderator

[spitfire78]

That's the wonderful part about voicemail.  I've left messages for my supervisor and co-workers at all kinds of odd hours.  If I've been up all night sick, and it's now 4:30 or 5 a.m., I KNOW I'm not going to make it in.  So, I just call then, leave a voicemail message and try to go back to bed.  Then, if I actually manage to fall asleep, I don't have to worry about waking up to call in at 8:00.

[diamondlady]

And Cell phones, which his was on his desk, lots of good that did us.  Anyway, I gave him a hard time and I think he now knows to call in no matter what!  We are a tight knit group of about 30 folks here in the office and normally run around 15 in the office on a daily basis, so we all know each other really well, so if you do something out of the ordinary, we will worry about ya.  That's the nice thing.  

When I was sick last month, I called my boss at home on his cell phone at 7:30 or before if I knew I wasn't going to make it in, then if someone asked my boss, he would tell them I was out sick. As it turned out, he was the only one I called because I really was that sick for 2 days.  Almost three days, but I had to go in because I was going stir crazy at home with the house to worry about.  Hubby was on the road and MIL and the dog were there, but they require lots of TLC right now, so to be home and sorta sick with a stomach virus, you really can't go anywhere anyway.    But, back on track, I made sure I called my boss and told him I was sick.  Sheesh!  He's never gonna hear the end of this one!  Having to send the possie out to see if he's ok.

Diamondlady
Peer Moderator

[officeguru]

What can be bad is when there's an employee that is notorious for being late or not coming in and not calling anyone... leaves or doesn't show up and something did happen to them.

[dettu]

I hear you! We had a very reliable guy one day MIA for nearly the entire day...he was driving to one of our remote offices and didn't check in with anyone. We were all worried sick and when we finally heard from him, the department director called a short meeting to tell everyone to ALWAYS CHECK IN while traveling or sick.

[gee4]

I am resurrecting an old posting rather than starting a new one.

We too had a missing staff member last week or so we thought.  We didn't know until Tues that he had not travelled to his meetings for which I booked his flights.  He phoned HR on Monday who informed his line manager but the buck stopped there.  Had HR phoned or emailed me I would have known instantly and certain individuals would not have been in a panic about getting work out last week.

On a further note, my boss did not show up yesterday.  He had a personal appt yesterday morning and when I left on Fri he never mentioned he wouldn't be in.

Now he's just done yesterday what we were telling someone off for last week.  Is that rude?  I feel it is.  As his PA I take offence that he couldn't even phone to tell me he wouldn't be in the rest of the day.  I sat like an idiot all day while most of the office were offsite for a managers' seminar.

Any wonder there is no motivation in this place.  I am slowly but surely become demotivated on a daily basis.  Why is it I am expected to communicate but no one else seems to??

[JessW]

Gee, did bossie put his appointment in his diary?  If not, then very naughty.

Mind you, having said that, in numerous jobs I have had I have misplaced colleagues and bosses alike.  I call it business as usual (the beggers disappear without telling me IF they are coming back, never mind where they are going!).

  Jess

[gee4]

He had the morning appt in his diary yes but nothing to say he wouldn't be back...manners eh?

[JessW]

Definitely sounding like my guys when then meet clients for informal lunch get together, which ends when it ends and certainly not before I go home in the evening! 

[gee4]

This isn't one of my team.  This is my boss, a director, and it's the first time he's ever done something like that.  All picture no sound this morning.  His appt yesterday was private, not work related.

[peaches2160]

Boss does it all the time.  I never know from one day to the next if she will be in the office or work from home, until she walks through the door.  It has taken some getting used to.  Very strange behavior for leadership.  Now, she no longer reports to a boss in our building, but in another state due to a recent re-org.  I'll probably never see her:) 

I had to take leave for bereavement and called her to let her know the situation.  She said, "this is just not a good time, we have so much going on".  Is there ever a good time  for the death of a family member (in-law)?