How Should Helmi Handle Being Terminated Just Days Before Completing His Internship?

The Human Resource Director claimed one of the employees is unfit to work in the industry.

Helmi is a Diploma in Culinary Arts student at Segi University. An industrial internship is part of the course requirement. He went to one of the luxurious beach resorts in Langkawi for his internship. Helmi had to complete 7 weeks in Kitchen Operations and 6 weeks in Restaurant Operations from October 10 until January 7. Helmi was a good intern and followed all the shifts and jobs that had been assigned to him. Overall, he was a well-behaved intern. As a typical internship student does, Helmi accumulated all his public holidays' leaves and claimed them towards the end of the internship period.

The month of December is the busiest month for the resort. The resort offers a private candlelight dining experience on the beach as part of their main attraction for in-house and walk-in guests. The resort also offers events to be held on the beach for various occasions, including weddings, engagements, corporate dinners, seasonal parties, etc. In addition, during December, the workload increases for Christmas Eve Dinner and New Year's Eve Dinner. To top everything off, there is one particular beach wedding event that has 350 invited guests from all over the world. The resort foresaw this and had planned all measurable actions to be ready for the busiest month, especially in human capital. A few part-timers were hired for the whole month, mostly secondary school students and SPM leavers.

Helmi was in the Restaurant Operations, Bar Department. With the scarcity of manpower for the resort, Helmi's work schedule was a bit challenging, particularly during the fourth and fifth weeks of December. Helmi was scheduled to have a day off on Monday (December 19). He was always asked to work overtime almost every day. His next day off was scheduled for Wednesday (December 29), which was a total of 10 days after his last off day. On December 27, Helmi fell sick with a fever and swollen feet and had a medical leave for 3 days from the panel clinic. Helmi came to fulfill his shift despite being unfit to work that day. He intended only to fulfill his shift since the resort was facing a shortage of manpower. Unfortunately, he was forced to do overtime. The next day, his health worsened, but he still came to work and intended only to fulfill his shift. Despite being unfit to work, he mentioned his condition to the manager, who acknowledged it and granted him permission to end his work when his shift was done. When Helmi was about to finish his shift, the manager held him to do overtime. He completed the overtime with a total working period from 9 am until 11 pm with only a lunch break. Helmi then went home and planned not to work the next day, intending to use the remaining 1 day of medical leave that he had. That night, his father called to ask about his well-being, and Helmi told him about his condition. Helmi's intention was not to complain but just to inform about his condition. Without Helmi's awareness, his father called the university career center and asked for an explanation about his son's condition in the internship placement. The career center called the Human Resource Director to seek further explanation.

On December 30, Helmi was called by the HR Director to discuss the situation. She claimed that Helmi was unfit to work in the industry and terminated his internship on that very day, even though he only had 3 more days to complete his internship period.

1. Analyze the Case Study

2. Recommendations for Helmi

3. Suggestions for the HR Department

4. Implementation Plan

Please help... how to answer it? I have no idea >.<

In my opinion, considering a trainee's ability to handle pressure during their internship, I don't think anybody should force anyone to do overtime. An average employee understands the company's needs and has an urge to contribute during busy times, as they are aware of the golden rules of the hotel industry. We can't expect the same from a trainee, and moreover, no one, regardless of who they are, should be forced to work if they are physically unfit.

Therefore, if the root of the problem is addressed by the operational manager, then the incident would have never escalated to the HR director.

Regards,
Jayeeta

I share my doubt with Mr. Simhan that the anecdote narrated and the queries asked clearly indicate that it must be your assignment relating to the written analysis of cases. Anyway, as pointed out by Mr. Simhan, had you given a thorough reading and expressed your views of the problem from your own perspective and sought the views of others, it would have been better. The incident you've narrated reminds me of an episode of the serial "Hell's Kitchen" telecast on a popular English TV channel. Since the central issue of the case is a lack of situation management both on the part of the poor intern and the inconsiderate managers of the busy Beach Resort, I shall try to answer your questions in the order they are posed.

Analysis of the Case Study

Firstly, let us analyze the case in the backdrop of the prevailing ubiquitous practice followed in the hospitality industry concerning the engagement of interns or trade apprentices. The engagement of students as apprentices from catering institutes as part of their curriculum is a cheap and indirect source of employment for the hotel industry everywhere now. Their manpower planning during peak business seasons is designed in such a way that the interns outnumber the regular employees. Even though it is perfectly plausible that the success of a professional in their career depends on the effectiveness of their apprenticeship, the individual's physical capacity should not be completely overlooked. Serving a large number of customers continuously for a long time in a bar during festive occasions is highly demanding work. In such an extraordinary situation, a prudent Beverage Manager should arrange for extra hands to substitute the exhausted workforce in quick succession. Despite his illness and against medical advice, the intern, in his excess of enthusiasm, tried to take on more than he could handle that day. Though fully aware of it, the manager was so inconsiderate and ruthless to have insisted on overtime work. When the intern, like any other teenager, casually mentioned his illness to his father during their usual conversation, the annoyed father, in his angst, brought it to the university's attention. When the University sought an explanation from the HR Director of the Resort, perhaps she might have taken it as a prestige issue and, in an attempt at preemption, held an eye-wash inquiry and hastily terminated his internship with just 3 days remaining for its actual completion. Thus, this is a case of a lack of situation management.

Recommendation for Helmi

Secondly, my advice to Helmi is that in work-life or personal life, one should not try to take on more than they can handle by losing equanimity of mind.

Suggestions for the HR Department

The HR department should obtain necessary inputs from the operations or service departments well ahead of the peak business seasons and devise adequate manpower planning. Any operational challenges that may arise during the season should be anticipated, and remedial measures should be put in place. The HR head, like the one mentioned in the episode, should not hastily act in a defensive mode but look into the crux of the problem and make decisions in the right direction of eliminating the problems rather than eliminating people as scapegoats.

Hope you will devise the implementation program yourself, okay?

Regards