I had an employee get severely hurt at work. I mean really, really bad. I don't want to go into details. I went with him to Emergency Room, he was in hospital for 2 weeks after that and in a rehab facility many weeks after that. he is OK now, still recovering, and he is very glad that I went with him to ER since his family was 3000 miles away and I was the only one able to coordinate things for him: call family, grab item from his house, etc.

Today, many months later, my boss told me he is not happy that I missed work that day.

I would like to know what you think about this. Would you miss work if this happen to one of your employees? my boss was out of office that week, and so was the next in line (CEO).

Should I apply for a vacation day for that day? I work about 45 h per week on average.

I wouldn't. I think that you acted in an admirable manner.

Your boss is an idiot.
We always have a supervisor accompany an injured worker to a clinic or ER, after any incident....

Your boss is an @&-#% if he thinks you shouldn't have missed work to help a fellow employee who was injured on the job. You did the right thing and shouldn't have to use a vacation day, though you may have to, just to put the thing to rest.

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What these guys said...
That was the right thing to do, and in the long run, it was the right thing for the company, and for the employee... if your boss can’t understand that, update your resume and start shopping around, because he’s a fool.

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Paul F.
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A sword never kills anybody; it is a tool in the killer's hand. - Lucius Annaeus Seneca c. 5 BC - 65 AD
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Good is the enemy of Excellent. Talent is not necessary for Excellence.
Persistence is necessary for Excellence. And Persistence is a Decision.
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Eureka, CA

Apologize to your boss and assure him that you'll hold down the fort when such a mishap befalls him....

Wow! From a strictly, for the benefit of the company standpoint, you did absolutely what should have been done. You did not miss work. You were working. Even the most unfeeling, unsympathetic employer should see the benefit of giving all assistance needed to an employee injured at work. You should not be penalized for also being a caring, concerned human being. What is wrong with this guy???

You ought to have been paid for what you did. Even my cold hearted, money hungry company pays us when this happens.

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Bryan
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Mac Mini 2.6 GHz, 16 GB ram Big Sur
MacBook Pro (Early 2008 model) 2.4 GHz, 4 GB ram, 200 GB hard drive/ Mac OS 10.9.1
iPhone XR
Location: Cincinnati

Your boss is an a s s.

I would go ask HR.

I’d be prepared to file an ask for stress pay, actually.

You did the right thing and your boss is an a-hole. In the game of life, it doesn't even matter what happens...if your boss fires you for this it doesn't matter...you did the right thing. Lift your head up high and move towards the future knowing that you are a person that does the right thing.

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"In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion." (1987) -- Carl Sagan

As a former manager and a human being, you did the right thing. Unfortunately greedy leadership and maybe even HR may think differently. Feel good about your actions. People Matter!

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Long time Mac user

My reaction is exactly the same as everyone else's, that you did the right thing. I would have dropped everything to help an injured employee. But I also run my own, very small, business, and it would only inconvenience me.

So, just to offer another view:

We don't know all the circumstances. Was the office left without leadership, which could endanger other employees? After all, it's a place where someone got "severely hurt".

Were there projects which could not move forward due to lack of supervision/management input? and Was there another responsible employee who could have been delegated the task of going to the hospital, etc.?

It's just that I can see situations where there are alternatives which might be better given those circumstances.

I'd at least want to know why the boss is upset. He or she may have reasons beyond just "missing a day of work".

Assuming you don't plan to quit, is this an opportunity for the company to do some emergency response planning?


Good luck.

- Winston

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Be seeing you.

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max
Your boss is an idiot.
We always have a supervisor accompany an injured worker to a clinic or ER, after any incident....

Agreed.
1. Your boss is a dick
2. Where I was on staff as a photographer, and worker injury requiring the worker to leave the premises for treatment, policy was the immediate supervisor, or the boss' boss, went too. Period.

Your boss wants you to quit. If you don't, he will soon find a reason to fire you.

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Saint Cloud, Minnesota, where the weather is wonderful even when it isn't.

What a jerk.

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That old man - he don't think like no old man...
Now I wouldn't want to be within 400 - 500 yards of one of them nuclear bombs when it goes off! WW1 Vet Old Man
"He's pinned under an outcropping of rock. Lucky for him, the rock kept the dirt from burying him alive."
If idiots could fly, this place would be an airport. And I'd be a TSA agent.
A bonified member of The Mystic Knights of The Sea, George P. Stevens, President. Andy Brown, Treasurer, Algonquin J. Calhoun, Legal Consultant.

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Speedy
Your boss wants you to quit. If you don't, he will soon find a reason to fire you.

No, quite the opposite. In fact I am due for a pay increase, on top of the annual pay increase that occurs every January.

He likes working with me, he was just in a bad mood yesterday and brought up several topics, all of them justified, and among them was this one.

I will clarify this issues in the 1:1 meeting next week.

Wow.

I hope he apologizes in your 1:1.

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space-time

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Speedy
Your boss wants you to quit. If you don't, he will soon find a reason to fire you.

No, quite the opposite. In fact I am due for a pay increase, on top of the annual pay increase that occurs every January.

He likes working with me, he was just in a bad mood yesterday and brought up several topics, all of them justified, and among them was this one.

I will clarify this issues in the 1:1 meeting next week.

Unbelievable. Seems like you're on good terms with him and they like you and appreciate your work. In your 1:1 meeting next week, I'll definitely let him know that he was out of line and how you felt about his reaction. He owes you an apology at the least, and much gratitude for your responsible action.

what a #$%#$^%$#..

no answer for you, just a spit at another @#$%& in the world..

did your company go down the tubes?

First, you did the right thing.
Second, why did he wait for months to bring this up?

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Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)

You did not miss work. This was part of your job as a supervisor, both to ensure that the employee got appropriate care, and to mitigate any liability the company might have for the consequences of the injury.

Remind your boss that you were protecting the company from any possible lawsuits -- even if such liability seems unlikely, this is a good emotional argument (fear of financial liability) to counteract the emotional basis of your boss's complaint (anxiety over productivity).

Agree that it is unfortunate that productivity is sometimes negatively affected by the accidents of life, but the accidents of life are best addressed by dealing with them responsibly.

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rgG
First, you did the right thing.
Second, why did he wait for months to bring this up?

Because I wanted to leave half hour early on Friday, which he said is never a problem since I work hard, but he did say that he was in a bad mood on Friday morning (argument at work) and that he needs me to focus even more on work, and he brought this up as one example that seemed to bother him. We were both in a hurry and I did not have time to clarify, but I will do so next week.

From what I learned about people so far is that when they have in issue they may be able to hide it for a while and claim everything is fine, but eventually in a moment of stress they will likely bring it up during arguments. I think this is what happened here.

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space-time

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rgG
First, you did the right thing.
Second, why did he wait for months to bring this up?

Because I wanted to leave half hour early on Friday, which he said is never a problem since I work hard, but he did say that he was in a bad mood on Friday morning (argument at work) and that he needs me to focus even more on work, and he brought this up as one example that seemed to bother him. We were both in a hurry and I did not have time to clarify, but I will do so next week.

From what I learned about people so far is that when they have in issue they may be able to hide it for a while and claim everything is fine, but eventually in a moment of stress they will likely bring it up during arguments. I think this is what happened here.

I see. It does seem that it was something that had been bothering him, but that he hadn’t wanted to bring it up. He had probably been stewing on this and his bad mood finally let him get it out in the open. Good that it is out in the open so now you can explain that you were working and doing what was in the company’s best interest, even if you weren’t in the office that day.

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Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)

I personally think its best left alone unless you think this is going to have some sort of impact on the future. It sounds like your boss was in a bad mood and frankly wasn't being a very good boss. He might not be a very good boss in the best of circumstances.

Leave it be and move on, as you're confident that you took the correct course of action.

30 min early on Friday should be fine as well unless there's a specific reason why not. Doesn't sound like there was.

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What Janit said. Your company is probably already on the hook for a whopping worker's compensation claim but imagine how much worse it could be if the employee had nothing to do but stew for weeks about being left to fend for himself from the point of injury. If it were me I would be absolutely seething.

And I can't imagine how critical it must be for the company to be able to have an eyewitness accompanying the injured employee all the way up to the point of hospital admission. Imagine the sympathy the injured person could create in a jury with a "...and they left me there to die" story. That kind of stuff can completely end a company in monetary and/or PR damages.

Janit is very wise. If I were ever thrown into jail and only allowed to send one PM to someone here, it would be Janit.

Also: you work with lasers, right? THIS THREAD IS USELESS WITHOUT PICTURES.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/13/2018 10:28AM by tenders.

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space-time

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Speedy
Your boss wants you to quit. If you don't, he will soon find a reason to fire you.

No, quite the opposite. In fact I am due for a pay increase, on top of the annual pay increase that occurs every January.

He likes working with me, he was just in a bad mood yesterday and brought up several topics, all of them justified, and among them was this one.

I will clarify this issues in the 1:1 meeting next week.

Sounds like a supervisor or the hierarchy above him that thinks concentrating on negatives is what motivates employees, so they have to go fishing for stuff.

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space-time
From what I learned about people so far is that when they have in issue they may be able to hide it for a while and claim everything is fine, but eventually in a moment of stress they will likely bring it up during arguments. I think this is what happened here.

A very wise statement.


Good luck.

- Winston

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Be seeing you.

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Acer

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space-time

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Speedy
Your boss wants you to quit. If you don't, he will soon find a reason to fire you.

No, quite the opposite. In fact I am due for a pay increase, on top of the annual pay increase that occurs every January.

He likes working with me, he was just in a bad mood yesterday and brought up several topics, all of them justified, and among them was this one.

I will clarify this issues in the 1:1 meeting next week.

Sounds like a supervisor or the hierarchy above him that thinks concentrating on negatives is what motivates employees, so they have to go fishing for stuff.

It never occurs to the majority of supervisor that saying something like "You are doing absolutely great at XYZ, and it could be even better if you worked on ABC. What can I do to help?"

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tenders
What Janit said. Your company is probably already on the hook for a whopping worker's compensation claim but imagine how much worse it could be if the employee had nothing to do but stew for weeks about being left to fend for himself from the point of injury. If it were me I would be absolutely seething.

And I can't imagine how critical it must be for the company to be able to have an eyewitness accompanying the injured employee all the way up to the point of hospital admission. Imagine the sympathy the injured person could create in a jury with a "...and they left me there to die" story. That kind of stuff can completely end a company in monetary and/or PR damages.

Janit is very wise. If I were ever thrown into jail and only allowed to send one PM to someone here, it would be Janit.

Also: you work with lasers, right? THIS THREAD IS USELESS WITHOUT PICTURES.

Aw shucks, you are too kind. It is deceptively easy to play the Monday-morning quarterback, especially when there is time to reflect calmly and to think through any piece of advice. Acting reasonably in the moment is much more challenging, and taking my own advice myself can be doubly so.

Space-time is fortunate that his boss seems to have a relatively slow fuse, and may be receptive to a discussion that reframes this action as a net benefit to the company.

Janit -

If nothing else, you have a gift of phrasing things in a clear and communicable way. By that I mean, conveying important meaning without raising hackles.

It's often not enough to just be right. If one can communicate in a way that moves everyone forward, the world becomes a better place.

Kudos.


- Winston

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Be seeing you.

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Winston
Janit -

If nothing else, you have a gift of phrasing things in a clear and communicable way. By that I mean, conveying important meaning without raising hackles.

It's often not enough to just be right. If one can communicate in a way that moves everyone forward, the world becomes a better place.

Kudos.


- Winston

Thank you. I appreciate the appreciation.