One of my younger employees recently has been forgetting a lot of things that she normally does/knows well. When this first started happening (about 3 weeks ago) I asked her about what was going on, as she was obviously stressed out.

She explained that she’s having a hard time with school, had finals coming up, and her parents have decided that next semester she’ll be responsible for paying her own tuition.

Now, obviously as a business none of this is anything I can control, or even should want/try to address, however we are a smaller company with a staff of just 5, and I do care about my employee’s well being and quality of life. I offered to pay for her tuition (she’s only taking 2 classes next semester), and take a minimal amount of her check each week to pay it back, which she was very happy with.

However, she is still making small mistakes and forgetting things, and it’s getting worse. To the point where it’s starting to affect my bottom line. (We are a tool and equipment rental shop, and she forgets to apply add-on fees, weekend rental fees, etc.) She has cost me about $150 in lost revenue in November because of these mistakes.

Generally, she is one of my best employees, is always on time, and prior to this was the one making the most upsells, so I am more than willing to overlook her mistakes and forgetfulness during this stressful time for her. But how would you guys handle attempting to stop the increase of mistakes without adding more stress to her life? I’ve already talked to her about it, given her a formal warning. Next step would be wage garnishment, which I want to avoid if possible as she can barely make ends meet as it is.

Should I just chalk it up as a loss and see how things go once the semester is over?