what would you do..

[Moongal]

I want to open my own salon some day when I get more experience in
grooming. If I employ a groomer and book several appointments for a dog
groom and my groomer calls in sick or just doesn't show up, I wonder how
the owner handles this because it's obvious that she can't do it all by
herself. What kind of back up should they have? Would she just call up
the clients and try and reschedule them and risk the chance of them
going somewhere else? Should the employed groomer be nervous
about getting sick in the morning and expect to be fired if she calls in
sick? I just wonder if owners just expect their employees never to get
sick at the last minute.

[sheilabgroomer]

People get sick. I don't care if you are a Brain Surgeon, a Pilot, the President or a Dog Groomer, you will get sick one day and other employees will get sick one day, and should not have to worry about loosing your job. Now, REPEATED sick days where you are concerned about a substance problem or some other problem is another story and would needs to be delt with.

As a business owner I have had to reschedule appts because of illness. I hate doing this, but it is hard to groom when your head is in the toilet...lol I started a thread not to long ago where I was stressing over 3 Bishons that showed up at the shop before they could be called. I was wondering if I should discount their next groom because of the inconvience to them. I didn't have to worry about it. When they came back in for a grooming they were very understanding (like most people are) and wouldn't hear of me discounting them. This is a good question though if you are wanting to open your own place someday.

[Helly]

When I get sick, I call in sick as soon as I know I'm not going to be in. If that's first thing in the morning, so be it. My employer reassigns any dogs the other groomer is able to do, and calls the rest to reschedule. It's never been a problem. And I do receive sick pay for 5 days each year.

In fact, last summer when I was off work for weeks after a dog bite that got infected and required surgery, they worked around it. I went in to offer suggestions to the other groomer while she worked on my regular clients when necessary. The rest of them waited until I was able to return to work. I didn't lose a single client.

I wouldn't work for an employer who expected me never to get sick. And I don't think I want clients who expect me never to get sick, either.

[toomuchfunbnme]

I've had this happen before when I was running a friends busy grooming salon. I split the dogs between myself and one other groomer in one incident. In another incident I was the only other groomer, so I took the absent groomers dogs. It was a big day, but it turned out really good and the clients appreciated it. My friends own a really busy shop and usually avoid cancelling or rescheduling clients appointments. They also have a couple "extra" groomers that are on an on call list in case they need more help.

[Jengroomer]

i would like to add, that it is much more doable in a multi-groomer salon to have someone call in sick. If there are multiple groomers, than it's not felt so hard if each gets one or two extra dogs. But if there is only the owner, or one groomer than it presents a problem. Especially if the salon is so booked that there really isn't a day to reschedule dogs to. And you can't really reschedule dogs unless you have a little notice to do so.

I guess it's hard for me because I have never called in sick before. It's just my nature. I was brought up that way by a Dad that literally NEVER took a day off from work. 7 days a week till he retired.

OF course people get sick, and if it's so sick that they just can't work, really can't work, than of course they should call in sick and not worry about their job. If it's repeatedly then it becomes a problem because it is not fair to either the employer or other groomers.

I just think that people should be considerate of others, and realize when 'calling in sick' poses a big problem. Do their best and that's really all anyone can ask.

[SiotehCat]

I work in a multi-groomer salon, and let me just say that "calling in" is a huge problem. Not for me of course, Im not the salon manager. I have to be close ot death to not go in, I was just raised that way. I dont do calling in and I dont do tardy. I can understand other people calling in when they are sick, its calling in for other things that gets me. They call in when they didnt realize they were scheduled and had already made other plans, call in because their boyfriends have to go to court, call in because they didnt get much sleep the night before...etc. Usually they wait till after their shift has started to call in. In my salon, that would be termination.