Night Shift Dilemma: How Should We Handle Staff Playing Poker with Guests?

Night shift front desk staff playing poker cards with hotel guests at the hotel lobby.

This is dereliction of duty and an act unbecoming of a frontline staff member of a hotel. You can bring this to their attention and issue a warning letter as Mr. Puneet suggested.

Regards,

Importance of a Disciplinary Matrix

Every organization should have a disciplinary matrix that is communicated to employees and referred to in times of need. If your organization doesn't have one, please create it; otherwise, you are inviting trouble for yourself. In this case, issue a warning to the employee.

Employee Engagement Activities

Additionally, you should have activities for learning and fun for employees during their free time, such as an e-learning portal, to enhance productivity and prevent employees from feeling bored and engaging in inappropriate activities.

Playing During Work Hours: Is It a Problem?

What is wrong with playing? Maybe the world is not properly aligned. If it's not affecting productivity, what's the problem?

Potential Consequences of Staff Actions

Think of what consequences there may be if this gets into the press. While the person was playing poker, you state that it was front desk staff playing poker in the lobby with a guest.

Firstly, be completely sure they were in a situation that could be called a dereliction of duty. If their duty is to welcome guests and just "be there," they could easily claim they were.

Secondly, as a hotel, you should be welcoming to your guests (or should I say paying customers). This person is the face of the hotel at night, welcoming back drunks and receiving complaints from customers with issues. The person they were playing cards with probably thinks your hotel is great, and the staff are fantastic, and may have shared this with their friends. Free publicity that your hotel could not dream of buying!

If you take draconian action, this person could claim wrongful dismissal or constructive dismissal. The press would seize this as a story about a big bully hotel victimizing an employee who was trying to be nice to a guest. Watch your bookings drop if this were to happen.

As someone suggested, provide e-learning and other activities that can be done so that the person is not just sitting around with little to do; and perhaps have a quiet word about how some guests may perceive this as inappropriate and that a polite "sorry" should be offered to any guest wanting to join the game. Involving HR could lead to an upset, disgruntled employee, especially if they believe they were doing no harm.

Please check and see what your company says about breach of discipline. If you do not have one, please create a clear policy outlining major and minor misdemeanors. I suggest sending a show-cause notice to the employee before issuing a warning letter, allowing them to respond and present their side of the story. A decision should only be made after considering both perspectives, especially in a service industry where 'Customer is ALWAYS right.' Let's also investigate the role the guest/customer played in influencing the Front Desk Employee's actions.

I would recommend starting with a verbal warning before resorting to a written warning.

Regards,
SF

It's true that it will create a very wrong impression. However, whenever they are free, they should also engage in other activities that enhance their knowledge and contribute to their work at the hotel. Please let me know if you need further assistance.