Dr. M

I have an employee issue question to ask you, since I value your
opinion.

I have a small office, of 1.5 front office employees.  It is very hard for me to function 
without my part-timer.  At the beginning of this month, she started acting strange, and was 
on the phone making a lot of personal calls.  I allow some laxity in my office, however the 
girls have always been honorable.  Come to find out that she has an old friend that is very 
ill with adult leukemia.

Because of some scheduling in the office, there was going to be a period of 4 days where 
she was going to go to Texas to help this friend in a special hospital.  (She usually works 
the afternoon, however I only worked a  day on Mon and normal  day on Tues, thus she 
was able to leave Sat Nov 9th after our AM hours and return Wed afternoon).  Well,
she never showed up, and never called.  Tried calling to her house, only to one time get an 
answering machine, other time got her husband who was very guarded and cold to my full-
timer.  We tried calling every day, only to get nowhere.  The whole week went by, and we 
heard nothing.

Monday afternoon this week, we return from lunch (12-2pm) to find a message left on our 
office machine at 1:14 pm (she knew wežd be away) telling my full timer (not me) that 
shežd be back on Weds.  Well, no show on Weds.  Thurs evening at 7:30pm I tried to call 
her house myself, only to get someone hang up on me.  I tried to call back, got busy 
signals twice, then 10 mins later got a computer voice from the telephone company saying 
„This number is not accepting calls at this
time.ū

What do I do?  Do I fire her?  Do I send a simple letter telling her so, or can I relate how 
she has put us in a real bind, and that I am an understanding person given the opportunity, 
like a simple courtesy phone call?

A:

Thanks for the e-mail. First and foremost .. you run a professional business and every 
employee has a job to do to assist you and your patients. Never be held hostage to your 
staff. There is some bad blood in your office for this mystery .. hang up calls etc. You can 
and should be compassionate to your employees need to assist her friend but there has to 
have some control .. meaning scheduled time off etc.

Your employee has literally abandoned you and your patients. You have attempted to be 
understanding and contacted her to no avail. She has to be dismissed .. there is no question 
about it. I wouldnžt have her come back since her not talking to you personally means she 
has little respect for you. There is no need to fire her as she has literally quit. 

Your next step is to create a paper trail. I would use your e-mail that was sent to me as a 
starter to write what has happened in case she applies for unemployment or there is some 
unknown reason she is acting as she does. Write her a letter today and send it .. be sure to 
have a copy. The letter should simply state that you have attempted a  number of times to 
contact her and she has not responded. Since she has taken the position to leave her 
employment, you have no other choice than to seek her replacement. I would end the letter 
by stating that she contact you with any questions, etc. 

Look for someone else .. mystery in an office is the beginning of practice sabotage .. you 
donžt want to go there. Itžs a drag hiring someone else .. but it will be for the best.

One important thing. When you fire someone or have suspicions never leave the office 
without the locks being changed. Call a locksmith and they will come to the office and do it 
for $50 or so .. worth every penny. Be sure you discuss this matter with the full time CA .. 
you have to just explain yourself without getting her involved. Tell her it is a good idea to 
change the locks since the PT CA never called you and you don't know what's going on .. 
just do it cleanly .. no conspiracy etc.

Have a Great Day

Dr. M