[Jason Bennett]

I have an employee that been leaving tools on jobs. I have made him go back on his on time and pick up tools. I proved all power tools on trucks,but the power tools are not cordless. The employee has cordless and he put them on our's truck and now he is missing a 150.00 drill. He is wanting me to pay for it. He thinks some stolen it off of truck,but no evidence of break in. I want to do what is right but I don't know if he left it on job or not. Thank your help with this.

 

[rocksteady]

he has a history of leaving tools on the job and now one of his is missing? i say he has to buy a new drill.

if you provide drills (corded) it sounds like he elected to use his own tools. unless it can be proven it was stolen, from the truck, parked at your shop, i don't see how you should replace it.





paul

 

[smellslike$tome]

He would have to replace it even if it was my drill and it came up missing. He is responsible for everything on that truck. Is the truck storage lockable? If so then he has no excuse short of armed robbery. Now if it was a guy who never had such issues and it was my drill, then I might say to myself, "you know what this guy has no history of this, I'll resupply the drill this time" but if it was his drill that was on my truck simply as a matter of his preference, no way.

Btw, you might want to take a closer look at your inventory over all and hit him with an unannounced drug test. If he's using then it's a very short matter of time before you start missing a lot of other things. Having said that, if he's complaining about his own drill missing from his own truck then he may just be ADD.

 

[Plasticman]

When you take your truck to the auto mechanic, most of them have a sign that reads, " not responsible for articles left in vehicle ".
Why should you be?

 

[Jason Bennett]

Thanks every one for giving me some advice on this matter. This is the way I feel to. Again thanks

 

[ROCKSTARPLUMBER]

Buy him a new one, let him pay you back weekly. But you need to charge at least 86% intrest on the loan.
My very last employer supplied no type of cordless tools what-so-ever. But i had my own. Some times things break. Batterys, Chucks. My boss had no problem replacing these things for me. I think that is a fair bag if the cordless tools are making the job go by faster, which for me, they do.

 

[Double-A]

I'd replace the tool.

Especially if the plumber was a good employee. A simple act like this can go a long way to making an employee happy.

I'd also talk to all my plumbers about supplying cordless tools to them. Yes, they are expensive to invest in, and expensive to replace, etc., but if they will actually increase production, then its a no brainer. Hell, even if they only increase moral it would be worth it. Keeping happy plumbers is half the battle in this business.

We're lucky in that most areas require our field employees to be licensed. That is not true of other trades. This limits our pool of candidates and puts us in the position of making our companies good places to work for.

BTW, as I understand the law, you can't have an employee perform a task for the company without renumeration. Your tool, your employee, your cost to recover said tool, even though the dingus left it on the job. Take care when you tell an employee you're not gonna pay him to do his job, which in this case, was to recover your company property.

Disclaimer: I ain't no lawyer and I ain't never played one on TV. This ain't legal advice, its friendly advice from one business person to another about keeping yer fanny out of a possible crack.

 

[para1]

I have an employee that been leaving tools on jobs. I have made him go back on his on time and pick up tools. I proved all power tools on trucks,but the power tools are not cordless. The employee has cordless and he put them on our's truck and now he is missing a 150.00 drill. He is wanting me to pay for it. He thinks some stolen it off of truck,but no evidence of break in. I want to do what is right but I don't know if he left it on job or not. Thank your help with this.

no.

 

[Down N Dirty]

Just like above, I would not. You might consider a sign in your shop or if you have an employee manual, put a statement to the effect about lost tools and your stance. That way further problems can be avoided.

 

[M5Plumb]

Initial inventory can prove you in the right with what you provide...That said, if he loses a tool that you did not provide, it is up to him to replace. If he broke his tool on the job he was performing for you, that may be another story.

 

[Ron]

Guess I got it good here, even though I will buy my own battery tools, they would buy them for me if I asked, they will buy replacement batteries, they will buy all my tools up to $200 limit, if I loose a tool they say just buy a new one, no questions asked, they would rather see us have the correct tool for a job then trying to use a pipe wrench as your hammer. but I have bought tools needed on there books. Now I don't loose tools often but it does happen and no one on here can say they never loose a tool, say you never do I'll call your bluff.

 

[Phat Cat]

I feel bad, I whine when one of our plumbers loses a water meter key. Replacement cost, less than $20.00.

 

[Herk]

I whine when I lose a water meter key!

 

[stillaround]

Ive used a pipe wrench as a hammer before.

 

[Airgap]

ive Used A Pipe Wrench As A Hammer Before.

The official pipe wrench hammer.

 

[Bollinger plumber]

Guess I got it good here, even though I will buy my own battery tools, they would buy them for me if I asked, they will buy replacement batteries, they will buy all my tools up to $200 limit, if I loose a tool they say just buy a new one, no questions asked, they would rather see us have the correct tool for a job then trying to use a pipe wrench as your hammer. but I have bought tools needed on there books. Now I don't loose tools often but it does happen and no one on here can say they never loose a tool, say you never do I'll call your bluff.

Plumbers never lose tools that is why we have helpers:laughing::laughing:

 

[stillaround]

And aluminum is not near as good for pounding.
Hey! Need a stud out of the way fast and an 18 is nearby--voilla!. Gotta tuck a shim a little better under the china bowl( with a screwdriver which is also a multi tool) why walk, but be careful. Need something to hold the prints down or if you are just walking in Chicago --need I say more.