Dear Community,
I still have a little issue where I can't go any further…
After completing my training and studying, I founded my own company in 2016. The focus is on control cabinets for industrial applications. In addition, we also have a small external revision service that specifically carries out the inspections according to DGUV regulation3 / BetrSichV. After we were 9 men in summer 2019, it was clear to us - we will train! So we started in autumn 2019 with the training of 2 industrial electricians - industrial engineering. In addition, there are 4 other trainees who are doing their inter-company part with us. At first I took over the training management. Unfortunately, I don't have the time, which is why we have hired a retired civil servant part-time to take over the training. From the beginning there was a bit of quarrel because the Lord certainly has enormous expertise, but has a few problems dealing with the younger generation.
After my younger brother began his apprenticeship in the autumn of that year, the climate, to put it casually, became icy. We now have 3 of our own trainees and 5 outside the company here. Both trainees from the 19 year-old successfully completed their training after 1 1/2 years. One of them is continuing his training as an electronics technician for industrial engineering, unfortunately in another company due to the trainer, which I regret.
In the week before Christmas, the situation between my brother and the instructor escalated - the instructor was violent and the company notebook was damaged. Unfortunately, the instructor does not accept that my brother has a few more powers here. After his 18th birthday at the end of September, my brother received power of attorney and has e.g. Direct access to the e-mail inbox, the home drive, etc. The trainer noticed that my brother had read the hard drive of his PC again and was scrolling through his e-mails. The instructor slapped him and the notebook fell to the floor.
Of course, I take this incident very seriously and am thinking about what to do next. Has anyone already experienced a similar situation or can report from their practice?
The problem in this situation is probably not the trainer, but the "family economy", despite the problematic incidents. In my opinion, it is also not okay to just search the PC - that's stupid, even if the person notices it. Just ask yourself how you are; in my opinion that has A lot to do with distrust and that one feels spied on and under general suspicion. If you are a bit older and have already seen something / actually no longer need it, it is clear that it will come to this.
I don't want to offend you, but I think, as a sedate trainer, I would also have a problem if an 18-year-old acted like the boss, scanned the PC and then possibly let it hang out about being the boss's brother and everything better to know and to be able to do better and to be non-terminable anyway, while the trainer is a puppet and is suggested to be the last dodgy - unfortunately the whole thing comes across like that here; correct me if it isn't. It's not okay for him to go crazy and wreck the laptop, but the history wasn't okay either. In the end, the man does it as well as he can - tries to understand him, he knows it differently from his professional life.
If the apprenticeship is "icy", there are always two guilty parties - you just make it very easy for yourself when the instructor is assigned all the blame and your brother is ultimately allowed to do what he wants and certainly lets it hang out. I can imagine - please correct me if it is different.
I would talk to everyone again in a friendly way, but it will come out of the fact that you want to shoot down the trainer and the brother can do everything better / has more rights and has more rights and does not have the necessary competence of a veteran. The best thing to do is to look for someone from your circle of friends who is grateful and does not contradict / let everything be done with him or who has been granted some pro forma powers. Then you avoid it by yourself.
No experience… I'm still an apprentice myself, but I have an opinion…
Your instructor's behavior… No go. In addition, there's certainly a generation conflict
AND BUT…
Brother or not… He's a trainee and you give him power of attorney?! This is not correct and not professional for a trainee, as he has no experience with the important, extensive power of attorney. Sorry, completely wrong😲. Does your instructor know that?!
Nothing more can be saved between the two, understandable.
And… The behavior of the trainee was not ok!
You will have to look for a new trainer… Or have one of your MAs trained or keep him and clarify the situation with everyone?! Either way… Clear everyone up.
Family in the company is not easy and if you betray the trainer…
Two kinds of problems: this is certainly one reason for the immediate termination of the instructor without notice. But immediately and without notice and not after thinking about it and waiting. So chance probably wasted. But you should try to terminate the contract in due time because something like this is not acceptable. Do not forget the warning.
2. Problem, what the hell is your brother doing on the instructor's emails? Whether procuration or not, that's not possible under data protection law! As a "supervisor" you can't snoop around in the emails of your employees internally either.
Crazy or… Pure nepotism.
Just… That you train… Is a plus.
I admit that I often don't know it much differently from my home country and therefore know how something like this can work. I absolutely advise against it, or even then to at least fill the posts with their own people, so that nobody disturbs the ideal world or has other thoughts. You can imagine the rest!
That's right… Data protection😲
Yo, nepotism / vitamin B… Normal. But… An apprentice has power of attorney? Never!
Have successfully completed their training after 1 1/2 years.
How is that possible please? Or are we not talking about Germany at all?
The training to become an industrial electrician usually only lasts 24 months. It is the shortened form of the electronics engineer for industrial engineering. This can be shortened.
You screwed up a lot yourself. Before you made your brother an authorized officer, you should have waited until he has at least finished his professional training. How is that supposed to work when someone is both a trainee and a manager of the company? Of course, this does not justify physical violence and you could terminate the instructor without notice. But maybe we should meet again for a conversation.
We have even more pluses.
+ Free cold drinks during working hours
+ Free coffee / tea during working hours
+ A small lunch for late shifts or weekend work
+ A premium smartphone also for private use
+ There's a Windows tablet at the beginning of the training
+30 days vacation (over 50 35)
+ Benefits in kind
I haven't screwed up anything here. We're a family business and that is part of our corporate culture. We have our management team assessed annually by an external business consultancy. His visions in the area of Leon management met with an outstanding response from the consultant.
Praiseworthy! Nevertheless, no trainee gets power of attorney!
I still decide who gets power of attorney here. I think I'm not always the easiest person as a person, but my business decisions couldn't have been that wrong. The power of attorney is absolutely necessary for representation in external relationships.
Yo. But no trainee gets that! Brother or not! That, sorry, is not normal.
It may not be the norm, but I don't see any legal problem in the matter
You are crazy!
Health. Why not? I think I've always done well with my corporate policy.
I don't mean that badly and I don't doubt the quality of your company, especially since I don't know about it. But I think it is wrong to appoint someone to the management as a not yet fully trained person, to which they belong as an authorized signatory. He belongs to the "employer side" and is still the smallest wheel in the transmission as a trainee. That can't go well in parallel. Even if the instructor's reaction was wrong and forbidden (slap in the face…). But how is that supposed to work?
I'm shocked that you have already given your brother power of attorney even though he has not yet completed his professional training. I would feel offended not only as a trainer, but also as an employee / skilled worker. In short: From my point of view as an entrepreneur, you made the wrong decision here, which is now leading to potential for conflict in your company.
If I were a family entrepreneur, I would require at least a master craftsman's certificate and two years of professional experience in order to be granted power of attorney within my own family. Technical and leadership skills are not in the blood; they have to be acquired.
You should clarify the facts about the slap in a timely and impartial manner. Listen to both sides. If you come across contradictions with your brother or your trainer, question them. Are there any witnesses for the slapstick? Is your brother visibly hurt?
If your brother's allegation that his / her trainer gave him the whistle turns out to be true, your trainer's behavior is unsustainable. After all, he has a duty of care towards the trainees (Section 14, Paragraph 1, No. 5 BiG), which he certainly did not comply with with the whistle. In other words: He made himself a criminal offense for assault! You have to terminate him without notice for an important reason (criminal offense) (of course within the 2-week period). From my point of view, the relationship of trust with your trainer has been irrevocably broken.
If you intend to hire a new instructor, you should urgently have resolved the "problem" with your brother by then. Even a new trainer will not be enthusiastic about the dual function of your brother as a trainee and authorized signatory in one person.
I think I've always done well with my corporate policy.
Well, your "so far" doesn't last that long.
