Stolen Tools

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What gets to me is leaving tools in isolated areas where they will not be found when you are done with the job. I always tell them when you are done with something it goes back in your tool belt, on your ladder or lift, or in an area where there are other tools or equipment that will be picked up eventually, one small object left 20 feet off the floor and out of sight or in a crawlspace, or other out of sight area is easy to be missed, yet I still find these things laying in these types of areas and I pick them up because I know there is a good chance if I don't it will stay there when the job is finished.

I used to get upset over the same thing when I was employed by others and my co-workers did the same thing. It may not have financially affected me but it still was a problem when on the next job and you need something and it is not on the truck like it is supposed to be.

These tools do not necessarily have to be put away unless there are others around that may not be trusted, but they at least need to be in plain sight in a common location with other tools and equipment so they get picked up when job is finished. I don't think that is asking for too much.
 
Everyone makes mistakes. Losing tools, damaging tools or equipment, installing equipment wrong that has to be redone, missing something on the prints, under bidding a job, hiring the wrong foreman, hiring the wrong anybody, ordering the wrong parts, working for the wrong GC, putting a dent in the work van, parking tickets, and on and on.....

As an EC you have to expect that one or all of these mistakes will happen over time. No one or no situation is perfect. It is part of doing business. In the end it is overhead. The history of the employee is the indicator of if they stay or go. The old "three strikes and your out" rule comes to mind.

Should the employee be canned or have to pay for the lost tool? That is a matter of management style. Would I personally pay for a tool that I lost? I would, but that's just me.

Would I make the employee pay for the tool? No. BUT their future employment with the company depends on their response. If they offered to pay for the tool I would decline the offer. Again, everyone makes mistakes. Nobody is perfect. I would simply open up their file and jot down "strike one." On the other hand, if they keep making mistakes then they are history. If they made no offer at all, then I made a mistake on hiring them in the first place. That's a "strike one" on me!
 
stevenje said:
Everyone makes mistakes. Losing tools, damaging tools or equipment, installing equipment wrong that has to be redone, missing something on the prints, under bidding a job, hiring the wrong foreman, hiring the wrong anybody, ordering the wrong parts, working for the wrong GC, putting a dent in the work van, parking tickets, and on and on.....

As an EC you have to expect that one or all of these mistakes will happen over time. No one or no situation is perfect. It is part of doing business. In the end it is overhead. The history of the employee is the indicator of if they stay or go. The old "three strikes and your out" rule comes to mind.

Should the employee be canned or have to pay for the lost tool? That is a matter of management style. Would I personally pay for a tool that I lost? I would, but that's just me.

Would I make the employee pay for the tool? No. BUT their future employment with the company depends on their response. If they offered to pay for the tool I would decline the offer. Again, everyone makes mistakes. Nobody is perfect. I would simply open up their file and jot down "strike one." On the other hand, if they keep making mistakes then they are history. If they made no offer at all, then I made a mistake on hiring them in the first place. That's a "strike one" on me!
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Right you are, I gave one of my employees 20 chances, and offered treatment options, he had a new baby, so working with him had to be tried, and he refused, the way it started was with lost tools, not hand tools, but hammer drills and test tools, and he had a story behind every loss, and always offered to replace the loss, then the late for work days started adding up, and after a while sick days increased, and every time we tried to work with him, he would say it will never happen again, finally it got to a point where all the other guys were at the point of he goes or we go, a week later he was arrested for dealing, and stolen property, so we din't have to let him go, when he was first hired, we all thought we had a really good employee, and the first few weeks he was an example of the perfect employee. We would always replace lost hand tools, no problem, when larger items, go missing, it sends up a red flag for us.
 
Again, this thread is not about drug abuse, stealing tools, repeated bad behavior or anything more than simple mistake.

It is simply about a guy, who from the OP, left one tool out one time.

Jesus guys lets not blow this up into some huge moral dilemma. :roll:
 
iwire said:
Again, this thread is not about drug abuse, stealing tools, repeated bad behavior or anything more than simple mistake.

It is simply about a guy, who from the OP, left one tool out one time.

Jesus guys lets not blow this up into some huge moral dilemma. :roll:
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Agreed . Take it on a case by case basis . If he's a good employee and gives you a day's work for a day's pay , shows up on time , etc. , then give him a good lecture and move on . Every one of us has screwed up somehow .
 
iwire said:
Again, this thread is not about drug abuse, stealing tools, repeated bad behavior or anything more than simple mistake.

It is simply about a guy, who from the OP, left one tool out one time.

Jesus guys lets not blow this up into some huge moral dilemma. :roll:
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Your right Bob. Everybody makes a mistake now and then. I worked on a job that we had several gang boxes on various floors. One of the field foreman was in charge of unlocking all of the gang boxes in the morning and then locking them up at the end of the day. One Friday he had to leave early and asked me to lock up the gang boxes at the end of the day. Monday morning he pulled me aside and said that I forgot to lock one of the gang boxes up. I panicked of the thought of 5 grand worth of tools gone because of me. Lucky for me nothing was gone. A huge mistake on my part. He never told anyone higher up. He knew that was one mistake I would not repeat.
 
Martinelli said:
The employee trys really hard, he has never been late, but he has been getting very forgetful. He has had to buy several new hand tools because he is not checking for power. He has left customers without power because he forgets to reenergizing circuits after working on them and numerous other careless mistakes. It is becoming clear that his head is not on the job. How many mistakes are hidden behind walls or in junction boxes waiting to be discovered? If he is forgetting to turn a circuit back on, how is he testing it?
I Know everyone makes mistakes but This is my company and I have worked very hard to get where I am. He will be looking for a new job soon.
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Tries hard to keep up with a frantic pace of biz today? Kudo's to him... Since it sounds as if all tools are pulled from the job everyday it sounds as if he's running job to job each day or more. (Or at least needs to be prepared to do so by pulling tools everyday.)

The risks involved of getting every egg into every basket are not his as an employee - they are yours... By CA law you can not bill him for the loss of the tool. If you have insurance for said tool that is what it is for, if not or far below the deductible the risk is yours alone. Otherwise if he is assuming risk, he may as well be billing the client directly.

If he is supervised it is the guy supervising him that needs a talking to. If he is self-supervised it is up to you to devise an employee policy and set of procedures to manage your risks. A check list of tools on the truck before leaving the job... A tie down list for ladders etc. Asset tags for your equipment... A LOTO program. Training etc. (Procedural and customer service etc.)

Ship this one out - you'll find the next one has the same or worse issues...

http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/FAQ_Deductions.htm
http://www.dir.ca.gov/IWC/IWCArticle16.pdf

That said - where did he leave it? On a curb in DT SF, or on a job in Marin? If the latter - IMO the tool was stolen by some dope on the site - or set aside by the GC or other trade who has no clue who it belongs to.... Since most of the trades and GC's I work with look out for each other if a tool is out they'll put it away 'somewhere' but not go looking for the owner since they assume that person will come ask.... If you have asset tags or some other clear marking they'll just say "Hey I chucked your Fein tool in our gang box last night." And if not marked I go ask ans say "Hey did you see a Fein tool?" - "Oh yeah - had no clue who it belonged to - its in our box..."

And if I open the back of my van right now - and open the gang box inside it - all the tools are in a line I can tell at a glance what is or is not there - simple...

The fact the guy called you, and probably went back looking for it after hours (maybe on his own dime) says it was a simple oversight and 'on the way home epiphany' - which I'm sure you have had - because there are few who haven't, even those not willing to admit them.
 
Martinelli said:
I just had an employee forget to load my Fien Multi Master back onto the van after he used it. He remembered that night and called to let me know, but the next day when we returned it was gone. The job site was filled with other trades but nobody saw anything. I am not expecting to find the tool but how should I handle the employee? Does anyone hold the employee financially responsible?
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There are two opportunities with this problem. You get to show him that you are a nice guy and you also get to show him that losing expensive tools is not tolerated. Ask him if he would be willing to compensate you for the lost tool by doing after hours cleaning of the vehicles and shop. A clean and organized vehicle and shop lends to easily accounted for tools and materials. It is also a safer environment. You might also want to write him up and put him on probation and maybe give him a slightly smaller Christmas bonus. It would be a good end of year reminder.
 
Ravenvalor said:
Ask him if he would be willing to compensate you for the lost tool by doing after hours cleaning of the vehicles and shop.
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Where I am that would be trouble with the labor board and workers comp.

Lets say he somehow gets hurt while cleaning the shop, he was not on the clock ... that would be a problem.
 
My guess is the OP was with the employee but its the employees fault. With me who ever drives the truck is responsible for its contents.
Helpers don't drive the truck.
 
Mgraw said:
My guess is the OP was with the employee but its the employees fault. With me who ever drives the truck is responsible for its contents.
Helpers don't drive the truck.
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Your helper might not, but many mechanics have the helper drive while he/she takes care of more important issues.
 
iwire said:
Where I am that would be trouble with the labor board and workers comp.

Lets say he somehow gets hurt while cleaning the shop, he was not on the clock ... that would be a problem.
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Tis a sad predicament we've gotten ourselves into today.

I truly believe that our founding fathers had it right. Man's actions were ruled by God's (natural) law and reason. While the governments actions were ruled by man. We seem to have it bass ackwards.
 
Ravenvalor said:
Tis a sad predicament we've gotten ourselves into today.

I truly believe that our founding fathers had it right. Man's actions were ruled by God's (natural) law and reason. While the governments actions were ruled by man. We seem to have it bass ackwards.
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At some point you just have to stop being a wuss and replace the stupid tool. I believe that's what the founding fathers would've wanted.
 
Just kidding.

But in a way I'm not. I don't remember losing any expensive tools while working for others but I've broken or lost plenty of my own tools. Tape measures, flashlights, screw drivers, etc. I didn't go whining about it expecting some sort of compensation.

The best thing (IMO) is to simply replace the tool and put the guy back to work earning money. If he's a skilled electrician he's not going to appreciate cleaning your trucks after hours. I believe this would be counter-productive, ultimately. If he's not worth keeping around, he's not worth keeping around.
 
I lost around $800.00 worth of my own tools because I forgot to lock a tool bin on my truck...... (A) Should I fire myself :roll:(B) Do I have some serious underlying problem :roll:(C) Am I a imperfect human prone to making mistakes :confused:. I Think (C) applies in my case and this poor kids case who just left a tool on the job site and now that tool is gone! Forget and forgive, move on.
 
Ruff-N said:
I lost around $800.00 worth of my own tools because I forgot to lock a tool bin on my truck...... (A) Should I fire myself :roll:(B) Do I have some serious underlying problem :roll:(C) Am I a imperfect human prone to making mistakes :confused:. I Think (C) applies in my case and this poor kids case who just left a tool on the job site and now that tool is gone! Forget and forgive, move on.
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You should be out back in the supply shed scrubbing all the wirenuts with your own toothbrush. This will restore the cosmic equilibrium.
 
Losing, forgetting and ruining tools is part of the game.

It should be calculated in your cost of doing business. If it isn't, you'll slowly go broke.

If they guy makes it a habit, you could eventually terminate him. Otherwise, buy a new tool and move on.
 
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