She lies and drinks at work: should I be lenient?

Hi Aunty B,

I have a small medical clinic as well as a medical conference company that I run out of the same offices.

I have recently hired a new receptionist. She has been with me for four weeks now. Her work has been just satisfactory, but bordering on unsatisfactory since she started. I have been lenient with mistakes (spelling, not putting stock away when it arrives, forgetting to do things that I ask for) because she is only new, and where it was justified, I raised the mistakes with her, along with a suggestion for remedy and to prevent them from happening again.

On Friday, I was working from home, and the only two people in the office were my senior practitioner (who also happens to be my husband) and my new receptionist.

I have all emails that go to the reception email address bounce to my personal email address (I told her this occurs when she first started). I started getting emails of a conversation between my receptionist and my casual practitioner that works for me one day a week. The emails were of my receptionist boasting that she had just been drinking wine, and had fallen asleep at the front reception desk because she was feeling sleepy from the wine she had.

When my husband came home, he told me the receptionist had been behaving really strangely at work. I told him about the emails.

On Saturday, all the instruments that were sterilised on Friday had a batch number she had written on each packet and on the logbook which were illegible, so we were unable to accurately record which instruments were used on each patient.

We are both really shocked and don’t know what to make of it. I have come in to work this morning with the intention of writing an official warning this morning for her to sign. When I first got in, I showed her the logbook and asked her why the writing was totally illegible. She told me that she had a migraine on Friday and it had affected her eyesight.

Now, I am trying to decide do I go ahead with the written warning, or just give her marching orders? Do I have grounds to immediately dismiss her for drinking at work and telling me lies? I really don’t want to have to go through the recruitment process again, but on the other hand, I don’t think I can trust this staff member.

KB,
Sydney

Dear KB,

Hang on. Let’s just run through this shall we? She is sloppy and careless with her every day work. She then totally abused your trust by drinking at work. She then fell asleep on the job. She has such bad judgment that she emails someone about her terrible behaviour. She then fails to professionally record which instruments were used on which patients – the kind of mistake that can potentially put lives at risk and threaten your business and reputation.

And you are wondering whether to give her a written warning? Are you nuts?

Give her marching orders immediately. I can’t even believe you are thinking about it. You know you will never trust her again. And in your business trust is key. In fact, lives depend on it. Believe me, the recruitment process will be far less painful than the ongoing grief a person like this will cause if you don’t move her on immediately.

Good luck!
Your Aunty B

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