[the truth]

the employee keeps threatening to quit

rather than discuss matters its always Im quitting

it tires me out and wears me down due to the tension and negativity of it all

the basic premise is the worker feels others get a better rota and better shifts than him

but the trouble is the shifts have been in place years and there has to be at least some kind of system in place

so we try to change things around a fair bit for this one employee , yet still it doesn't work and the same employee keeps telling us how several other firms have been offering him work

Im at the stage now if I keep adjusting other peoples shifts and contracts they may turn round and quit....they've been here years so that would be a big blow.

as the owner I find a constant argument as the managers want to lay the law down but the employees come to me to try and get their way.....very difficult to get the balance right

this employee has threatened to quit about 10 times in the 4 months hes been here, so should I keep trying to compromise or changing things around or should I accept his resignation

[Smithy]

just let him quit

[AnnieK]

Does he have a contract of employment with you? What were his terms on hours, shifts etc? If he's only been with you 4 months, I would accept his resignation as if you pander to him you will get more problems down the line I would imagine..

[Vicky.]

Don't compromise. If you are considering sacking them anyway, let them quit next time

[joeysteele]

I would want to try to get to know the reasons. Everyone can get fed up of things at times and sometimes people can be pushed into thinking the best thing to do is leave somewhere.
At least talking things through or at least trying to do so at least once gives the chance of some understanding of the problems or compromise ,which I believe in heavily,especially if they are a valued employee.

However if they made repeated threats to quit,then that cannot be tolerated by someone with a business to run really.
So after those attempts are exhausted just tell them to go.

[Z]

I'm assuming that this must be a job that requires a fair amount of skill and/or training, otherwise why are you letting this person mess the system around so much? You should try your best to accommodate your employees' wants and needs; but if someone is more hassle than they're worth then just let them go if they want to. I'm sure you can train someone else up who would be happy to have the job.

[Apple202]

get rid

[Benjamin]

Trouble is, you need a VERY good reason to fire them or it'll bite you in the arse.

[Z]

By the sounds of things, you don't need to fire them, just let them quit and if they don't then they're clearly just threatening it to try and twist your arm to get things to go their way - and I've no idea if you can legally fire someone for doing that or not but I can't imagine that would be looked upon kindly.

[Verbal]

Not sure you can fire someone for that without having some comeback with him going to a tribunal for unfair dismissal.
You're the boss, you make the rules, do what suits your business, if he doesn't like it he will leave. Will not look good for him in future if he is totally unable to be flexible.

[Kizzy]

Is there some hours that nobody likes to do, you could organise a rota so everyone gets a fair share of troublesome shifts?