Put on your pretend hats.

[Samuel]

Ok, scenario.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You are a manager.

You have 4 employees under you.

One employee is expecting a child (well, his wife is)

He knows how long he will be out.

He knows when the baby will be born due to cesarean.

He refuses to inform others, including you (the boss) when the birth is, and subsequently, when he will be out.

You have a major project coming up in the time frame of this possible date (company dependent type project .. like the company shuts down due to this not happening on time).

He is in charge of 75% of this project.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Got that all?

Here is the question I want you to answer.

Are you pissed?

[Jerhart]

Is this guy aware of his responsibility?

[JLC]

Why on earth would he not give a projected date for the birth and his leave? I think I'd definitely be frustrated....and going on the extremely limited info you provided and the critical nature of the project, I'd probably be seriously considering re-arranging the staff a bit and put him in charge of some less important project, while giving that one to someone you know will be sticking around to see it through.

[Samuel]

Is this guy aware of his responsibility?

yes.

[Jerhart]

yes.

Then Hell ya I would be a bit ticked....move that decimal point over and give him 7.5% of the responsibility. His child obviously takes priority, but I see no reason on keeping the timeline on the upcoming events a secret.

...so yes. I would be pissed.

[OhBalls]

Yes, I would be pissed. The employee would also be given a written warning.

[dreese88]

I don't think I can really say how I would feel on here...but yes pissed is a little of an understatement

[Samuel]

Another added element

You are the employee's uncle.

[MarkS]

How long is his leave for? Is this a paid leave? Perhaps he originally was not planning on taking any time off and now something has changed? Would he have been passed over for a project that he wanted had he told anyone? How would you have juggled things had he fallen down a flight of stairs and broken his leg, necessitating that he be out for an even longer period of time? How is how he handles his personal life, any of your business whatsoever?

[OhBalls]

Another added element

You are the employee's uncle.

LOL...in that case, ask his wife when she goes in!

I feel for you, I really do. I made the mistake of hiring my daughter (her first job) as a stocker and I had to fire her because she never showed up on time. That was fun.

Hm, perhaps a one on one is in order - away from work. Just let him know that it's not negotiable due to the company needing a specific time frame. If you kept it in a personal level, perhaps he would be more forthcoming.