Employee issue

C

Chiggles

Registered User
Messages
39
Hi

I have an employee working for me who is refusing to deal with one of our customers because she has a moral objection to the products that they are selling. She also refuses to do any work on any aspect of their account.

Is she entitled to take this stance on moral grounds or is it grounds for dismissal? We are a small company, its a good account and this customer is our best chance of seeing out the recession. None of our other employees have a problem with the customer.

As a small company we cant afford to have people employed and not being productive.

What is our best way to deal with this?

Thanks
 
similar. no change in job description or tasks. just has an objection to the particular customer based on their organsational ethics.
 
As you say there is no fundamental change in job desc or tasks, therefore the employee is in breach of contract with you. So you would commence your disciplinary procedure and move through it.

The best way to deal with this (IMHO) is to act quickly and decisively. Its important to focus on the work issue which is their refusal to deal with a particular customer (the reasons are not really the core issue)
 

I agree. Don't get into a conversation about ethics; you and your customer are not breaking the law so her ethical standards should not be allowed to put everyone else’s job as risk.
 
I don't understand what an objection "based on their organisational ethics" means... OP, can you explain or give a hypothetical example? Do they only hire white men under 50?
 
to explain a bit further......without getting into specifics.... Say we were an advertising agency and she was a vegan/animal rights supporter. Would she be within her rights to refuse to work on an account for a customer whose business involves battery hens?

This is not the case , it's just to illustrate the point!
 

Tell her to do her job or find another one. I would not tolerate that sort of rubbish for one minute. She’s not in school now and if she can’t live in the real world she should go home and live with her mammy again.
 
Just be careful when going through the discipline procedure, if she does feel this strongly about it then if she does end up talking to the client she could do more harm if she carries an attitude.

It may be useful to have an off the record conversation out of the way from others and politely tell her that her stance isn't appreciated and before you go down the discipline route (which would not be good for her cv) she might consider finding another job where ethics aren't an issue.
 
Sounds like a great way to set up a constructive dismissal case to me.
It would be interesting to find out if anything has changed recently - is the client in question a new client? Has the employee in question changed role? Is this a genuine issue, or an excuse that is masking other real issues?
 
Hi Michael

Have tried the 'off the record' route. no joy.

She has stated that she is prepared to be sacked for her beliefs. My concern is that she is trying to fabricate a pay off!
 
Chiggles said:
Hi Michael

Have tried the 'off the record' route. no joy.

She has stated that she is prepared to be sacked for her beliefs. My concern is that she is trying to fabricate a pay off!
Click to expand...

What a nightmare; hold your ground and, if necessary, have a conversation with your solicitor.
There’s no easy way out of this.
 
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