How do I tell an employee she is not getting a raise?

Question

Employee has worked 4 company 26 yrs. Employee has been told many times to restrict internet & personal email to breaks & lunch. Now uses personal cell phone 4 calls 2 son homeschooled. Son has issues and I'm not sure where to draw the line.
Her salary is more than position requires. Too much time on personal business. My boss doesn't want to fire her, but I'm at a loss of what to do to get her attention. She can be very intimidating at times, and does not handle authority very well, but can be a great worker when chooses.
No desire to go to school to better herself. Does not go out of way to take on extra assignments.

Any suggestions?

Answer 1

you worded it nicley right there. I have spoken to you about Xy and you still do it. Your preformance is not deserving of a raise. We can revist this next year

Answer 2

Carol,

This is a toughy! She clearly has defiance and that's a challenge for a manager (to say the least!) What's worse is she has seniority and length of service behind her. That's probably why your boss doesn't want her fired. She would have the company over a barrel if they tried to fire her!

As for her use of company time and resources for personal use, I'd just take them away. Unless she needs the Internet for work, cut her off. She is not permitted to use a cellphone at work. If she does then have HR write her up. Not much else you can do.

Now for telling she isn't getting a raise, I'd be brutally honest. Start listing all the things she's doing wrong. The zero increase is justified because she's not doing what's she expected to do after several warnings. What else can you do?

I recall an employee at one job that had unusual restrictions. I'm an engineer and we manually fill out our timecards (we're on salary.) I noticed this other engineer using the punchclock that the production workers use (they are paid by the hour.) I asked why he does that and was told the manager and HR demanded he punch in & out every day because they caught him sneaking out of work too many times to go to the race track to bet. Appears he has a gambling addiction. Turns out the middle manager got tired of his antics and stuck him in a window seat. The guy decided it was the last straw for him. In the end he asked for a package in exchange for not suing the company. Finally he was gone.

-- Liam

Answer 3

You should talk to her about the things you just disscussed here and let her know that she will not be eligable for a raise this time around and put her on another probationary period. She got too cozy and thinks she can basically do what she wants and probably can it sounds like but at any cost you must nip it in the bud now or it only gets worse. Most companys have a process of actions to take you start out talking to her about what she needs to improove on and give her a timeline to do it in. Here at our company we have a thing called a personal conversation report that you use to document what you two discussed and date and time and stuff. You will usually do this 2 times and then you start the write up process you should have a hand book you can go through and find out what the process is.

I am a supervisor myself and i happen to be in charge of 4 other wemon that are all old enoupgh to be my mom and they have the same problem with athority as well, but I still have a job to do.

i do hope this helps and good luck

Answer 4

You mention your boss- is he her boss too, or is that you? Maybe he can talk to her and outline what she needs to do to get a raise- more consistent job performance, fewer phone calls, less involvement in personal tasks, etc..... If she balks, he can say that as a long term employee, she has an obligation to set an example for newer employees. If your boss delegates the job to you, tell her the same thing, and that you'll re-evaluate her performance in XXX time. Let her know you are representing Mr X, so that she knows you are a united front so she can't hold a grudge against you personally.

Answer 5

GENTLY!!! But explain firmly and without excessive emotion that it just isnt feasible. Explain about the the phone calls too if necessary. The best way though is to take a strong stand, and to be as sympathetic and understanding as possible.

Answer 6

The company is not doing too good right now so we can't consider your request for a raise at the moment, oh and by the way we are not satisfy with your performance because.....

Answer 7

You say, "I'm so sorry, [insert name here]. I know you want a raise, and maybe even need the money to support [insert something in here, e.g. your family], but the company just can't do that. We don't really have the money for raises, even for the people who have worked here a really long time..."