How do you deal with irresponsible employees without feeling bad?

I work at a staffing agency mainly staffing for warehouse workers where it’s not very skilled and requires minimum high school diploma. I really need to stop recruiting people from my parent’s business with flyers of job openings because I swear it makes him lose customers. The ones I recruited I found were here illegally falsifying documents, ran out on me during a drug test, had horrible attendance, etc. Don’t get me wrong, few are good. But then the bad ones are too embarrassed to show their face or angry that I ended their assignment for their horrible work ethic!

One worker has a bad habit of never returning my phone calls even after I left messages for a week regarding important details and showing up to my work unannounced during my meetings and appointments with no respect to my time. I told him to please call beforehand and to return my call.

He didn’t listen. Second time he didn’t respond to my messages and showed up announced again and had stupid excuses. I’m tired of his excuses! He could’ve called like I said and I know phone isn’t an issue since he was practically on his phone the whole time I ha him sign paperwork!

His problem is he takes no responsibility whatsoever and sees himself as innocent.

He didn’t show up to his first day in the second job I got him. Two hours later I call to find out what happened. He was clueless and said he didn’t know what time to be there after I confirmed twice, then he said he was sick and was going to call…two hours after orientation on first day…really?! I don’t believe him. I lectured him about how important it was to leave me messages as I explained our policy twice before and told him its against our policy to work with “No Call No Shows” and he got really upset. Started saying I was mean, rude, that’s no way to talk to a customer, and again putting the blame on me and taking no responsibility. Saying he was sick and wasn’t going to kill himself at work…even though I saw him two days before…

Sick? Fine, just don’t wait to have me call you two hours later after start date. It’s so hard to believe anyone’s sick because so many people tend to call off their second day and think it’s ok to take an extra day vacation.

I feel bad I made him feel bad but deep down inside I know I’m not at fault. I hate being seen as the bad guy and I can’t believe how people spin things around to make them feel guilt free.