I have a very small business – fewer than 5 pt employees. One of my employees has been struggling the past several months – has called in a lot and has been generally unreliable.

Today was the last straw and tomorrow we will have the talk. I’m going to cut their hours and it may lead to them quitting or me just firing them. I’m feeling kind of sick about it – my business is so small that we are all friendly and I’m always very understanding when my folks need days off or are genuinely ill or have an emergency but this person is making it impossible to plan. Today has been kind of a shit show because of the call in and I’m already exhausted.

I don’t need to justify it – this is an at-will job and all the absences are documented – but I guess I just need to tell someone (this sub!) about it since I’m dreading it.

A question, so I fit the requirements of the sub: Does it ever get easier when you have to fire someone?