It's Not Fair Issues!

Rockie

All of us who have been in business world for some time know there is no perfect workplace and there are always people who seemingly "game" the system and get away with it. I have an issue with an hourly employee who feels that salaried individuals are not pulling their weight. Most of our salaried people work well over 40 hours a week and there is no issue with that. There are some salaried people who are always seem to be out of the office on partial days and take long lunch breaks, leave early, always have a doctor's appointment, etc. These are not isolated incidents, but weekly occurrences.

How can you get this across to an individual who feels a very defined sense of justice and feels that some salaried people are taking advantage of their salaried status?

I have tried the tact of (1) it is the responsibility of the individual's supervisor to ensure their reports "do the right thing" and (2) "what goes around usually comes around" and (3) you will drive yourself crazy trying to keep up with what other people are doing or not doing. You can only be responsible for what YOU do.

Maybe we should have an "Employee Relations" section on the Forum.

Just wanted to vent a little on whining!

plynnl

We also have an hourly employee who feels it is her duty to keep track of how many minutes an exempt employee is late back from lunch, late for work, or gone. These employees also work over a 40 hour work week and more than make up for the time missed. She does not see when they go home in the evening because she is long gone so doesn't have any idea what late hours they work. We are a very small company and she is one of the few hourly employees we have.

I have told her she is only reponsible for her time and does not need to spend the time getting involved with others.

NaeNae55

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 10-06-08 AT 03:50PM (CST)[/font][br][br]I always reply that hourly employees are being paid by the hour. For every hour they work, they get paid. The duties and pay were agreed to before hire, and we are both keeping our end up. If they spend time chatting, etc, then they are actually 'stealing' time from the company. The company is reasonably lax about it, so as long as they don't abuse it they are ok.

Exempt employees are paid for the job. If it takes them 2 hours or 200 hours, they have to get it done. That is why some exempt employees (including yours truly) have ended up having to work on weekends or holidays without any extra pay. The benefit is that if they are really good at their jobs, or if the workload is light, they get to work fewer hours (unless they have to be here for a specific reason like phone coverage or employee supervisory duties). Again, the duties and pay were agreed to before hire. When an employee is consistantly gone early, etc, then the position needs to be reviewed and see if the duties need to be updated, and the same applies if they are consistantly working more than other employees.

All employees are told the expectations of the job, whether hourly or exempt, and I assume the supervisor is satisfied or things would change. That being the case, each employee should concentrate on their job, and let the supervisors worry about the others.

Frankly Rockie, I think your responses tacitly agree with the complaining employee that the exempt employee is not pulling their weight. I don't think that is the wise choice.

However, if you feel that their complaining is justified, I would certainly make a point to bring it to the supervisor's attention. Remember, the supervisor may know things you don't. Like perhaps this is time off for doing a spectacular job last year, or this employee is running errands for the company, having business meetings offsite, etc. Could be they are also just getting away with it because the supervisor doesn't know or doesn't care. All you can do is make sure the supervisor is aware of it. Just talking to the supervisor can sometimes bring you in the loop for an FMLA situation too.

I think there will always be employees who have an hourly mentality and don't get the difference. All you can do is try to explain it, and move on.

Good luck!

Nae

stilldazed

Agree with Nae, and confess that I have been a victim of 'hourly mentality' in the past, many years ago in a former life.

I would add that if the person really feels driven to make things 'right,' he/she should concentrate energy on self development with the idea of one day holding an exempt position, then set out to make the world 'right,' and develop a potentially more effective response for the next victim of 'hourly mentality.' There will surely be one.

davids

I used to work at a university. Faculty hardly ever work a straight eight hour day. They may be teaching some classes in the morning and others in the evening. They can just as easily grade papers at home or on a park bench as in their office. They may be conducting research that requires them to be in a lab late at night. Department chairs and deans really never knew where a particular faculty member was at any given time. Often, office staff, who were required to be at their desks at 8:00 a.m., would complain about faculty being allowed to "come and go as they please." All we could do is explain the different terms and conditions of employment that attach to different FLSA status. We also pointed out that the office staff receive pay at one and one-half times their hourly rate for hours over 40 in the week; faculty do not receive overtime pay. Usually this response would only partially appease the complaining employee.

However, all you can really do is explain that with different FLSA status comes different conditions of employment; and it is the law, not a company policy. However, I agree with others that the supervisor should be spoken to. Exempt employees can be held to a set schedule if the job requires it. However, the bottom line is really results. Is the employee producing the required results? (Even if the answer is yes, the supervisor should be asking: Would the employee perform better if he/she was held to a more consistent calendar?)

ACU Frank

Tell her if she doesn't like it she needs to get an exempt position. Then tell her to stop whining.

mbeam

Is there an issue of work not getting done? Sometimes people equate time spent at work with work being done.

If it's that big of a deal to this individual could he or she talk to the person about it? Often you find out the job the other person is doing isn't what the individual thinks it is and spends time outside the office working. With devices like blackberry's, often people are working outside the office but isn't visible to those whose jobs require them to be there at certain times.

2445428

Some ee's just like to whine. Sometimes it is a matter of the "green eyed monster" mentality. Explain to the whiner the responsibilities and requirements that come along with an exempt position. Then if they continue to whine, tell them not to let the door hit hem on the way out.

Paul in Cannon Beach

Sometimes its appropriate just to shut someone down in their tracks. I can remember a time when it happened to me early in my career. I went to a manager all hot and bothered about someone and the manager just told me bluntly "it was none of my business". I have never forgotten that. It hurt my feelings at the time but ultimately it was the right approach and it set me straight.

The only person (in my opinion) who should actively monitor an employees work time is their direct supervisor. No one else on the outside really has all the necessary information to make an accurate judgment.

In this day of flexible schedules and telecommuting, I think its crucial that we nip "So and so leaves early too much!" in the bud and clearly communicate that its a matter for the supervisor of that employee to be concerned with.