On 6 Feb 2006 08:17:43 -0800, "
wrote:
I have an employee who is an avid fisherman and also knows many people
at the coast here in NW. FL. He says he likes to fish but does not
like to cook and eat fish so he has started to bring me fish every
Monday. So far it has been grouper one week, redfish another, then sea
trout, more grouper and now stone crab claws. I am now feeling very
weird about this. My wife and kids are actually getting tired of fish
and I am thinking there is more to this situation than it looked
initially. We area very small company (6 employees) and somewhat
unstable and he is the most recent hire. How does this look to Y'all?

The way I see it, it is kind of like politics: How will others see
it?

Ideally the quality of his work should not play into your decision
process, but in the real world of managing a small company, it does
and will. If you really like the guy then you have to be careful of
not bruising his feelings of course. If his work is marginal and you
may have to let him go, then be really careful.

One way to deal with it is to implement a gift "policy". These are
normally limited to something like $25 a year. So once he's given you
fish a couple of times you are "over the limit" and can no longer
accept. Blame it on your lawyers. :-)