Topic: Will You Fire Your Best Employee Who Is Addicted To Gambling ? - page 3. (Read 352 times)

From your words, take noticed of one thing, that you say the best performing employee, which means he can be an addicted gamblers which is to his own benefits or bad as long as that doesn't have anything to do with a drop in the quality of his delivery capacity in the field of what he does, sometimes, we just need to admit people with the way they are because such is part of them and this has to be concerning their personal lifestyle and not under a professional ethics.

Rules are rules, I found out that an employee who assigned to work for my company broke any of my rules, there is going to be a fine, I wouldn't sack him that instant but he will definitely pay for breaking the rules. After a while, I will place him on observation mode, if in the future he didn't repeat that in the future, then there is no course for alarm but if next time he did same thing again, I will fire him without hesitation. This is not just about gambling but for taking the company or business rules for granted.


If you are talking on a gambling nature, I don't think it's nice to sack someone who do gambling, as long as you are not doing in whole at work, I think we will be cool and be on the same page but I will make sure that the unit you work doesn't involve money so you don't use the business money to gamble. However, if it's base on company rules that gambling isn't allow, I will make sure you stop or you leave the business and go else were where such Will be tolerated.

The "good moral character" rule is there to prevent theft, embezzlement, and the like, not that the company actually cares about one's character
So as long as no rules are broken, and everything is running as it should, I see no reason for firing the employee in question. There are some exceptions if my company is a talent agency. In this situation, the public perception matters for the talent in question, so yeah, I see a reason to terminate his/her contract.

Since this is a hypothetical question, we can say that as long as he performs well, we see no reason to fire him. However, in reality, a person who is addicted to gambling often displays unwanted behavior, like borrowing money from co-workers, arriving late, not having a good focus, etc., which will negatively impact his performance.

I will not fire my employee if he is an addicted gambler. I will consider his productivity and conduct during working hours. This will form the basis for judging the employee and so my decision will not be based on whether he is an addicted gambler or not. In my thinking, it is not ethical to fire an employee solely because he is addicted to gambling. Even when you know that your employee is an addict, it is proper to support your employee and help them overcome their addiction rather than terminating their employment. Addiction is a serious issue that requires understanding and assistance, and firing the employee would not address the root cause of the problem.

I understand also that most employers will be more bothered about their business growth than the feelings of their employees but then employers must approach the situation with empathy and offer resources such as counselling, support groups, or access to addiction treatment programs. By providing a supportive environment, the employer can help the employee seek help and work towards recovery while still maintaining his job.

I used to work in an organization where the best staff is an alcoholic but our boss refused to sack him because he is still highly productive. I will not fire a staff who is a gambling addict since his gambling disorder is not affecting his productivity in my organization. But I will not also ignore him because it might start affecting his performance in the future if not checked. Gambling addiction can lead him to debt or lead to family problems and these problems could lead to poor performance. He might consider stealing from the organization if he eventually falls into debt or he might become depressed if he starts having family problems. I will have to seek means to help him choose responsible gambling. If possible we could seek medical assistance to enable him to become free from gambling addiction.  

You're the one without a good moral character if you just fire a guy without giving him a chance, you have to understand that addiction is not something that just came, and you did not even consider how he worked hard so the bucks keep coming into your company.

He did his share for the company so why not do your share to your best employee but give him a chance to change or like what the others are saying give him a chance, if he's not your best employee you can fire him but since he is then give him all the chance he deserves.

I also voted no he deserves his place in the company because he earned it, if he agrees to be rehabilitated I will give him a chance to remain in the company to avoid disruption in the sales performance.

But if he remains addicted to gambling after the warning and refuses to undergo rehabilitation I will just put him in a position where there is no money involved and he can only go back to his old position if he agrees to be rehabilitated.

For being the best employee, he does need consideration. This is the kind of guy who works hard and there could be a purpose to it like he has a family to take care of. This will hurt his family if he goes home jobless the next day.

But if I have to fire him to set an example for the rest, I will give him time to look for a new job and pay for another month or two to repay his service.

It depends on what you mean by moral character. It is subjective if also include gambling to fall under moral character as owner of gambling company. Some people don't consider gambling as immoral.


If the clause includes gambling prohibition for my staff for example and like you said, a best worker is found to be violating the company's rule severally, of course he or she has to be fired. If he is left there, he will become a bad egg and corrupt other workers. Despite being the best worker which he could be using as advantage on the employer, he has to be fired.

What employers do with their best staff is to attach another worker to the best person so that he can also get same knowledge from the best hand and afterwards they are fired.

Moreover, such best work might be as a result of his work experience not only qualification, so another worker who is exposed to such number of experience can also acquire the knowledge to assume another position of best worker. So a worker who refuse to stop violating rules of a company has to be fired, nobody is indispensable


Not because those addicted to gambling has no good moral character but because he may be a bad influence on others. In an off line gambling, usually the workers are encumbered to gamble and if they are caught in the act irresponsibly, they are fired or their phones and properties are seized. This reason for this is to ensure that they don't gamble with company's money.


Nobody is indispensable. There will be other good hands if exposed to same training that the " best"" worker has gone through.

I would fire him but of course if its reasonable and here's the ff;

1. Too many absences
2. Not efficient
3. Always late
4. Having some attitude issue with his/her co-workers
 
For sure that would be a solid reason for me to fire him/her but if those things above isnt something that you could see
then there's no reason on doing so. Its his money or salary, yes we could show some concern but firing him isnt really just that ethical as an employer.
Somewhat there are bosses which are really having those perfectionist kind of approach on which if they dont like on the things that their workers been doing
then they do immediately fires them.

having a gambling addiction doesn't mean they don't have good morals. while it can be concerning that an employee of yours is a gambling addict, you don't necessarily need to fire them, if they are the best-performing employee and your company might suffer if you fire them, then you need to approach this issue in a different way that would benefit your company.

It wouldn't be wrong if the company discussed taking him to therapy. Because if you fire him, your competitor will hire him to skyrocket their sales. In your context, the employee happens to be a salesman, and they're in high demand. Everyone needs to push up their sales and make high profits. If the habit hasn't affected his productivity, there'll be no need to take him out of the company. He's a good asset to the company. I don't think the company will be making the right decision by removing the employee from the business. Moreover, if the board decides to stick to the company's deal or contract.

It's not wrong to fire him, especially when they are other competent salesmen to replace his position. Because a gambling addict can cheat on the company and sell higher than the normal price to customers, thereby reducing the credibility of the company on the market. It's either the company helps him get well or sacks him. I'd want to heal the fellow, since he's known the in and out of the company. It would be wrong to chase him out of the company, he could go and reveal lots of secrets to our competitors, on ways to bypass my business or company. The cooperate world is filled with loads of competition and managers need to be careful with how they deal with employees.

As long as he is efficient in carrying out his duties, and since he is the best. I would not fire him, because his input is very important for my company's growth.

I will only talk to him, and think of a way to help him out because he is important for the success of my business. Assuming he allows his gambling activities to affect his work, I will fire him. We cannot tell among those serious and committed employees who are gambling addict but don't allow it affect their work.

Firing someone over their own problems doesn't seat well with me, and I don't think this will be anything inline with their employment playbook on how someone can get sacked!!
If I were their supervisor or the person that can get them fired, why not help in getting the person back on track as labour turnover is expensive in terms of finding a replacement, running interviews, training the new employee etcetera , and besides a healthy employee means better productivity at work which is a win-win once the gambling addiction is brought under control.

Agreed, wrongful dismissal is a cost on the company and you don't want to make the wrong call for something that can be sorted out verbally , unless it involves company losing funds as a result of the employee...otherwise other course of action is advisable!!

This seems contradictory if I have the best employee there is no way he will become a gambling addict, because people who are addicted to gambling will definitely not focus on work let alone be the best employee, for example at my workplace there are lots of employees who don't work well and are even less productive on average. On average, they were gambling during working hours, obviously they were caught by CCTV cameras so they were fired by my boss, I think I would do the same thing if I were the boss, of course I would fire my employees who were addicted to gambling.

Even though he is the best employee for me, I will definitely fire him, of course his work will also be messy and will not be completed or will be less productive. It is rare for someone who is addicted to gambling to be the best employee, wherever they can definitely not be found, most gambling addicts don't know when. must stop gambling and when to gamble, they will continue to ignore anyone's advice even if it is someone closest to them, especially their boss, it is certain that people who are addicted to gambling will never be able to become the best employees even though they are there. I will definitely fire them too if they are caught by my eyes. .  

Eventually his addiction will affect his job performance. His supervisor will notice it. His colleagues will notice it. I will notice it. He will become a weak link in the team and cause the revenue of the organization to plummet. I don't want that. I'll tell him to take a break and within that time sign him up for therapy if that's what he needs. If not, I'll fire him.Poor performance is contagious.

Definitely not because he is proven working properly and the best among the rest even with his gambling addiction. His personal life such as gambling activity shouldn’t be your concern as employees because your main focus is his contribution to your work.

You already mention that he is the best despite his addiction which means he clearly can separate his work to his problem which is a good quality of an employee. Also I don’t consider that he is already have an addiction if he can still perform a solid performance because no one can do that in reality but in your case I will both for no.

If he is not in charge of funds, I have not problem with him. If he is in charge of funds, my mind will not be at rest. I will only make sure I do my work very well like making sure I know everything that is going on in my organization. In this era of online gambling, you can not know who is gambling and who is not gambling but just make sure you protect your company by knowing what workers are doing and making sure  that they do their job correctly.

I would make it very clear to him that what he does on weekends, is his prerogative.

I would warn him that you believe that, unless he gets help, he will not be your best employee for much longer. Because gambling, as any other addiction, is a poor way to 'recharge one's battery'.

I would be even more demanding to him, and offer him a RAISE if he showed commitment to cut down on gambling and GENIUINELY tried to replace it with something more ... socially acceptable.

Shouldn't be just a warning first? There is a law for this one which you just can't fire anyone without verbal warning first. It would be unfair to him.

I wouldn't fire him as he is the best employee and if this guy is loyal and had stayed in the company during the covid means this guy is playing an important role in the company and will likely give him and chance to do his best to quit gambling and I might even spend money for his rehab is he is up for it.