Managing Gossip and Complaints: How to Handle an Employee Upset Over Leave Denial and Warnings

Hello,

How can we manage an employee who engages in a lot of gossiping and complaining about management simply because their leave has not been approved and they have received a warning for rude behavior towards HR and management?

Though management has refused leave to the employee, he has no case to resort to rude behavior and badmouthing about management during office hours to express his displeasure over the refusal of leave. This kind of behavior may become contagious if not curbed and surely needs to be disciplined. However, when behaviors that are the cause of misconduct are not the employee's own making but triggered by the behavior of another, more so when it is management, then you have two approaches to deal with it because there is likely to be a case of shared blame.

Two Approaches to Address Misconduct

1) One is the reformative approach, and 2) the other is the retributive approach. In the instant case, though leave is not a matter of right of an employee and the management is entitled to refuse it on grounds of administrative expediency, yet the sound principles of employer-employee relations require management to look into requests for leave with empathy and fairness as they are generally need-based and act on the merits of the request. The reformative approach lays emphasis on correcting the behavior of the erring employee but not condoning it. It can be resorted to when:

- It is an isolated case of misbehavior and not his habitual nature;
- Whether the employee's request is genuine;
- Whether the employee is in the habit of going on leave frequently and on flimsy grounds;
- Whether the management's action in refusing leave is arbitrary, without any justifiable reason and lacks empathy.

You can go through the whole context of the refusal of leave and the behavior it triggered in a fair manner. If you find that the answers to queries No (1), (2), and (4) are 'yes' and if the answer to query No. (3) is 'No', then you can call him for a one-to-one meeting and counsel him about the employee's position in respect of leave, the need to maintain discipline, the ill effects of gossiping on work and badmouthing about management, and the ill consequences of improper and reactive behaviors. Issue him an advisory memo to refrain from repeating such behavior in the future and put him on notice of serious action in case of a breach of discipline in the future.

If he is a repeat offender and is a past master at this game, you can take disciplinary action by issuing a show-cause notice, calling for his explanation, and imposing a minor penalty as specified under your disciplinary rules. Thereafter, monitor his conduct for further necessary action.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
B. Saikumar
HR & Labour Law Advisor

How was the employee before their leave was refused or before they received a warning? It is important to speak to them clearly and convey that speaking ill of management and gossiping will be taken seriously. Also, find out why they are complaining so much. After all, in-office leave gets denied at times, and a warning letter is part of working life. One must take things in stride and not get into a situation of continuous backbiting or gossiping.

Counseling and Seniority

How senior is this employee? It would be better if a senior HR person or even their Head of Department (HOD) is tasked with counseling and recording the gist of the conversation or counseling session. If there is still no improvement, then a show cause notice can be served, and further action can be taken as needed.

Dear Rashmi, This is in addition to what other senior members have said. I would like to ask two questions. The first one is, do you have a policy on Employee Leave well in place? If yes, have you written in that policy that "leave is a privilege and not an entitlement"? Has this policy been communicated to all the employees?

The second question is about training on business etiquette or workplace etiquettes. In the induction training, have the employees been told to follow the rules of the workplace? If an employee refuses leave and starts grumbling, who observed it? Did any employee other than you complain to you? Why did others not feel the behavior was wrong and immediately challenge the employee to stop backbiting?

The incident could be a reflection of your organization's culture. If it is, then you need to fix it as early as possible.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

Ms. Rashmi Shrivatsav,

In addition to the opinion of the members, as an HR personnel, why don't you initiate disciplinary action against the employee in terms of your CSO or MSO to improve discipline in the organization? Don't hesitate to punish him if he is found guilty of the charges leveled against him.

Adoni Suguresh
Labour Laws Consultant