My employee spends all his time in the loo. Help!

Dear Aunty B,

We have a colleague who spends a LOT of time in the toilet, during work hours. He is aware of his body’s intolerance towards lactose, yet continues to drink milk and spends up to half an hour at a time in the loo as a result!

How can we broach this awkward subject?

Team admin,
Warragul

Dear Team admin,

How is Warragul? Freezing, I reckon, with your ovals, footpaths and paddocks slushy and icy. Watch how you step Warragulians!

Look, this is a performance issue. Whether he is spending half an hour fagging on the pavement, in the loo or practicing the hula-hoop out the back, it is half an hour that he is not working.

You need to sit down with him and do a proper performance review. You run through his job description, his KPIs and his results. You outline the areas he is underachieving and set targets for him to meet. You can also point out that he is away from his desk for long periods which is affecting his productivity. Lastly you can make the point that you understand he has an issue with his health and you are sure he is doing everything he can to fix it, and if there is any way you can be of assistance, you will.

Set a time to meet him in a few weeks to talk about his performance, his productivity and to check he is on target to meet the KPIs.

Keep talking to him about performance and productivity and he will get the message. But at the end of the day it is his responsibility to fix his health just as it is your responsibility to provide him with a safe place to work.

Good luck!

Your Aunty B

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