Change to Handbook

cbs

At the present time we classify a full time worker as one who works 30 or more hours per week (a full time worker receives company fringe benefits). Therefore, a worker working only 30 hours per week receives the same fringe benefits as an employee working 40 hours per week. The cost of benefits offered to our employees is becoming so costly that I would like to increase the full-time status to 35 hours per week which means that any employee working less than 35 hours per week would receive no fringe benefits.
Please let me know if you see a problem in making this change.

Glacier Rose

you can make such changes. the only problem I see is that you may have someone who has benefits under the over 30 hour plan & they would no longer have them with the 35 hour requirement. Are you going to terminate their benefits? or grandfather them?

cbs

I am re-doing our company handbook and any new policies will begin at the effective date of the new Handbook. I hadn't planned to Grandfather any of the new or revised policies, but I planned to have several weeks of meetings prior to their implementation.
We presently have three employees who work 30 hours and receive full benefits and I intend to tell them that they need to increase their hours following the implementation of the new Handbook if they are to continue to receive full benefits.
I will certainly honor any benefits that have been accrued but cutbacks are needed to stay competitive.
Please let me know your thoughts.

Gillian

How are you going to save any money if the three employees take you up on the offer to increase their hours? In that case you continue the benefits and pay more salary $$ to boot. If you have turnover or plan on more part-timers at the 30 hour level your offer to the three existing employees is a good one since you wouldn't be cutting benefits, just applying the new rule to new employees.

cbs

Thanks for your comment. It is not our choice that the workers work only 30 hours per week, but that was the minimum number of hours set up in the past for full time. We have valued employees who go to school part time and employees who farm part time and in the past we accomodated them by allowing them to be at the bottom of the full time status. We need all employees to work full time or as close to full time (40 hours per week) as possible, therefore, we would like to raise the bar by setting the minimum full time status at 35 hours.
Please comment!