I'm sure many of you with jobs have 1 or 2 coworkers that really know how to play the system in some way or another. Most of the time, it involves absences.
I work with 2 chicks that REALLY know how to play the absences game as well as a guy that has been on Workmans comp most of his adult working life, including almost every job he's ever had.
What I'd like to know, is why the system allows this, or cannot do anything about it?
The girl that's on my team, had over 25 absences last year. Policy allows 6, and the 7th is termination. The funny thing is, she's learned how to use her child as leverage and they cannot question her or do anything about it. Her daughter had leukimia about 2 years ago, but has since had a good recovery. I wouldn't wish that on anyone, and I feel bad for her. Her mom, as a parent, should never have to go through that either, but she has since learned to use that excuse for any days she wants off. We work a 5 week rolling schedule along with 4 other teams. It involves working 2 weekends, (one days, one nights) and also having 3 off. One of them is a 7 day break and it's all built in.
Anyway... Whenever the weekend shifts come up, her daughter miraculously ends up sick (because of the leukimia) and she needs to go home, and will miss the rest of the weekend. The odd thing is, she won't bring her to the doctor because she just "keeps an eye on her at home". Supervision cannot/will not ask her for a doctors note due to some legal bullshit involving FMLA or something. It's obvious to all of us on the team, as well as the entire force, that if you go back and TREND her absences, they'll all show up on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. This in turn causes the team to work shorthanded, unless someone with the day off answers the phone and comes in to help.
Other absences include certain Holidays where our team would have to work due to the schedule working out that way. She'll realize we're working, make the mistake of saying something to the effect of having plans for the holiday or wanting to spend time with her kids, (Halloween, Thanksiving, Easter, etc...) but having to work. Then, the day or night before that day, she'll get a phone call at work from home, and then within 30 minutes, she's out the door and also missing the next day. How much more obvious can it be? She missed this entire weekend AGAIN, due to a "sick child", but was seen out and about with the new boyfriend on Saturday.... right outside the movie theater
Of course we had to work short handed....
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Second girl... Not on my team, but many of us have been forced to cover her shifts before, and It pisses me off. She's another one with the Single Mom life and does nothing but BITCH constantly about the guy/guys in her life (she's a virtual petri dish) and not having someone to watch her kid when she wants to go out and party. Her mother refuses to watch her kid every weekend, and it pisses her off to no end.
She will miss almost every weekend as well with some sort of excuse or another. The "Sick Child" or Daycare excuse is a great one, because work cannot do anything because of it for some reason... She's another one who had over 10-15 absences last year, and she only started in July/August. She's been seen at the bars tanked off her ass MANY times when she called in sick to work.
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The last guy, is constantly hurt in some way, and of course, it happens at work, but with no witnessess. Last year, he aparently fell down, and while falling, hurt his elbow. He spend the next 6 months on light duty, but getting full pay. He had to go to 3 different doctors before one finally said that there could be something wrong with his elbow. The work doctor as well as his regular doctor told him that there was nothing wrong and a little rehab would work the bruise back out. Not good enough for him... He wanted off work. This same guy was on Workmans Comp at the last 3-4 jobs he was at as well. See a pattern here? He was once married and his wife at the time had to work 2 jobs just to make ends meet because his workmans comp wasn't covering the bills. She eventually left him because she was sick of his laziness. He'll do anything to get out of work, whether at work, or at home. As far as the "work related" injury goes, he's been seen by many of us off the job, and for some reason, his arm worked just fine to carry groceries out the door at the store, pick up his daughter and do other things, but when at work, he wears a protective brace and canot lift more than 2 pounds...
Why the FUCK can't a workplace do something about people like this? What they really need to do is hire a Private Investigator and follow these certain problematic people and get the goods on them, and then just fire their asses. In the long run, it would save the company money because they have to pay others OVERTIME to fill these spots in the roster, while STILL paying the jackass who called in sick, or cannot work due to injuries, not to mention their healthcare insurance costs. Our Insurance went up the last 2 years due to too many claims.
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The girl that's on my team (The first one mentioned above), just threw herself under the bus... Hopefully it pans out to where they ixnay her. She called in sick on Tuesday night of this week, and somehow didn't need a doctors note again. Anyway, that put her at Low Hours for the pay period. There are overtime shifts to fill over the weekend as well as early next week. Since she was low hours, she got nailed for Sunday and Monday nights, and they lead into our regular Tues-Thurs night shifts, so she'll have 5 in a row
She was wimpering about getting them because she had "plans" this weekend. So... I ended up rotating up from the Main Gate at about 1:30am and notice she's sitting in the downstairs office with the 2 EMT's on our team... WTF NOW?!?!?
Aparently, while at the Main Gate, she twisted her knee, but didn't report it until 2 hours later.... Guess what... That would put it in the timeframe that I was with her at that post... So I had to write a report
Usually that sucks, but I got to be the bus driver this time
I assumed my post at the front gate at approx 10pm tonight. There's usually 2 people posted there, and I, unfortunately, got stuck with her. When I got there, She was walking around outside and dealing with a vehicle that wanted to get in. She was walking just fine. Over the next 1.5 hours, she was up and about, sitting on her ass, Texting like mad on her new cell phone, up and about, sitting on her ass, etc... and NOT ONE WORD about hurting, and not ONE TIME did I see her have an incident where she would get hurt. At appx 23:30, she went outside, got in the Jeep, and rotated up to her next post at the main building. She didn't limp, fall or do anything that would make one think she got hurt. About 01:00, she made a comment to a supervisor that she had hurt her knee while at the Main Gate. That started the downward spiral...
So... I was approached by supervision, to write a report and take special care to note the TIME I was there with her, and what I DID NOT see happen, or DID NOT hear her mention.
I have a funny feeling that supervision is going to try and make this one stick, but it's management that continues to ignore the problem.
With a knee injury, it's immediately to the Hospital for an examination. Either she has to be taken by Management, but since they live over 20 miles away, they allowed her to drive herself, but she had to meet someone from management there. Mind you that they're already NOT HAPPY because it's 2am
When she found out she had to go to the Hospital, she tried to back pedal and say she'd be fine, but supervision was on a roll, and they "insisted" she go 
On the down side, now the rest of us will have to fill her overtime shifts
I'm hoping that they'll run with this one, but I have a funny feeling they'll sweep it under the rug as usual
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