Sleeping at Work - Wow - Can you do that?Sleeping at work sounds relaxing - doesn’t it? Probably not a good idea though. You would think that this is not something that you would find very often - but unfortunately - I have seen it often. But before you jump to conclusions make sure the person isn't suffering from something that the ADA Law might protect such as; sleeping disorders, sleep apnia, and make sure you know what causes narcolepsy! So yes, before you jump to conclusions and move forward into something that could get ugly, know what these are and see if your employee has one of them. Now once you have a thorough understanding of what are sleeping disorders, sleep apnia, and what causes narcolepsy, and they don't have any of them then it is safe to move on. Here are just a few of the funny and more interesting stories I have experienced with employees sleeping at work! Sleeping at Work - What’s you plan if you find them… Many times when you discover someone you think is sleeping - it is very difficult to really determine that they are in fact sleeping. So what do you do? Well - what are the other possibilities - if you are not sure - Loafing - Willful Idleness - Wasting Time - could be just a few - and I am certain you could find more - based on your company’s Policies and Procedures and/or Employee Handbook. You have these - Right! I would personally stay away from charging the employee with sleeping at work - if you did not observe them actually sleeping. So point is - it is not necessarily the point to focus in only on sleeping itself. However - it is important if their job involves the safety of others - such as a boiler plant operator that falls asleep during their shift - or an ICU Nurse - a train engineer - you get the picture. So if their in a position that could risk other peoples lives - it should certainly change the actions that you take - once you have determined that facts. Sleeping at Work - I wasn’t sleeping… I have never questioned one person that ever admitted that they were sleeping at work - except one - which is listed above - found snoring in a hotel room. My point is that they almost all deny sleeping. I guess my short answer to this is so what. But - if you do not end with termination - it might be wise to find out what is going on - and how we can avoid this in the future. As an example - does their assignment allow for them to go off by themselves often and for long periods of time - such as the boiler plant operator. In this example - why not have them report via telephone every so often to another department - and if the call doesn’t come in - something may be up. Maybe have them fill out a log sheet more often that is time stamped by a mechanical device so it can not be pencil whipped - or add something to their assignment that requires them to make contact with someone - or check something. The most effective way is for yourself to make unexpected rounds - so that it will always leave doubt in their minds if you are going to show up - unannounced. It isn’t fail safe - but - put up barriers to help them - and help you. Sleeping at Work - Ask about things you know… When you sit down with them - ask them specific questions about what you know for sure - then move into what you don’t know. As in our example - if the boiler plant operator was suppose to make rounds every 30 minutes and there is a gap in the time punch verifying this - or their call to the other department was ten minutes late - or the gages recorded a high reading and they didn’t react to it. My point is if you have set up barriers to help curtail sleeping at work - use those to find out what’s going on. Now on the other hand - if you walk in on them laying down - it changes your line of questioning a little. Of course - the questions are very short if they are snoring. Sleeping at Work - I observed you sleeping… Ask them specific questions about what you observed - but I like to start off with - I observed you sleeping - and generally they will tell you everything else that happened - except the fact that they were sleeping. But during their confession - it almost always falls into other violations of your company policy - such as willful idleness. In their effort to avoid you knowing they are sleeping - they just start rambling. Now this may not always work - but I have had great success with it. Thank you! 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