I have a small home based business that sells at farmers markets. I’ve gotten big enough where this year I decided to hire people to sell at my booth so I could concentrate on production.

So I hired an employee less than a month ago.

Aug 20 she cancelled her first training shift with 18 hrs notice because she had stuff to do.

Sept 6 she cancelled her shift due to family issues with 11 hrs notice.

Her next shift, Sept 12, she said she couldn’t come in with about 40 mins notice due to illness.

I let her go.

So 2 shifts in a row she cancelled. And 3 in total in less than a month. Now, she keeps texting justifying why she couldn’t come in and the most recent text is her asking for her job back. She doesn’t think the first shift should count bc it was a training shift and I was supposed to be there training her anyways. The other 2 she was supposed to work the booth on her own so I had to cover. Leading to me behind on producing products.I have not responded to any texts other than wishing her luck when I let her go.

I am a small home based business. I need someone I can rely on. Was I unjustified letting her go? Should I respond to her messages? Or just keep ignoring her?

Any advice is appreciated.