We have a female employee who, for whatever reason, feels the needs to fib constantly about themselves. These fibs have ranged from pregnancy to terminally ill parents.
Anyone who shows the person any interest (usually as a result of sympathy for the fibs!) then becomes a fixation for the individual (ie constantly bombarded with inappropriate text messages, phone calls etc).
Whilst the innappropriate text messages would in itself be grounds for dismissal under our internal procedures, we do not really want to go down that path until all other options have been explored.
We know for a fact that the “stories” are imaginary, and this individual is using them as an excuse for poor performance and indeed periods of unauthorised abscence and as a result is causing unrest with other employees in the same department.
We have tried counselling interviews, but usually more untruths are given as a consequence.
Where do we go from here and how do I deal with a perpetual attention seeker?
Richard Farish