Granting time off without pay

sanrog · October 2011

I've noticed a trend of supervisors giving employees time off without pay. The reasons for the requests are not medical in nature (I want to visit my dad, I want to go camping, etc.). All of these employees have vacation time which they have exhausted. We do have an attendance policy and attendance is one category on our annual evaluation. If our common practice is to not follow the attendance policy, can we really use it as a reason to dismiss employees who have poor attendance?

NaeNae55 · October 2011

Wecome to the forum sanrog!

I think when you consider attendance on an evaluation you are looking at approved scheduled leave as opposed to all leave. If I allow an employee time off for a specific event which leaves us plenty of coverage I don't see that as a ding against the employee. For instance, if work is slow such an employee taking time off would only be a positive thing. I will not be as happy with an employee who calls in sick every time we are bogged down with work, , even if the leave they used was paid. An example would be an employee who never actually takes a vacation but who may call in sick as soon as they have time on the books, even if they don't really need to be gone and you are short handed.

I will note, however, that generally speaking employers offer enough leave that employees should not still want time off when it has run out. Also, many employers have point systems. Such systems help guard against leave abuse by employees, but limit the employer in allowing unpaid time off. Usually the key in a point system is whether the leave was pre-approved or not.

What it really comes down to is your company's culture, needs and policies.

Sorry to be so long winded. It has been a long week.

MWheat · October 2011

I agree that if you do not follow your policy 100% of the time then the policy obsolete. The problem with not being consistent is it is lawsuit material just waiting. If you do it for one you have to do it for all. The policies are in place to keep order in the business. When you start deviating from the policy you leave alot to subjectiveness. Manager A sticks totally to the policies and if you don't have the vacation time, you don't get the time off. Manager B follows the policy "somewhat" but leaves a lot for his own interpretation. Manager A terminates or disciplines employee for T&A while Manager B does notning to his employees. Manager B has set Manager A up for potential litigation. Not following the written guidelines and policies can lead to discrimination suits and phone calls to the EEOC. I think if you are going ot make it a practice to deviate from the policy then you should change it to a guideline not a policy. Time and Attendence issues is one of the biggest problems we have in our organization.
Good Luck!

Sharon McKnight SPHR · October 2011

[quote=sanrog;723160]I've noticed a trend of supervisors giving employees time off without pay. The reasons for the requests are not medical in nature (I want to visit my dad, I want to go camping, etc.). All of these employees have vacation time which they have exhausted. We do have an attendance policy and attendance is one category on our annual evaluation. If our common practice is to not follow the attendance policy, can we really use it as a reason to dismiss employees who have poor attendance?[/quote]

Your first post! Welcome to the Forum. :welcome:

Sharon

Sharon McKnight SPHR · October 2011

[quote=MWheat;723164]I agree that if you do not follow your policy 100% of the time then the policy obsolete. The problem with not being consistent is it is lawsuit material just waiting. If you do it for one you have to do it for all. The policies are in place to keep order in the business. When you start deviating from the policy you leave alot to subjectiveness. Manager A sticks totally to the policies and if you don't have the vacation time, you don't get the time off. Manager B follows the policy "somewhat" but leaves a lot for his own interpretation. Manager A terminates or disciplines employee for T&A while Manager B does notning to his employees. Manager B has set Manager A up for potential litigation. Not following the written guidelines and policies can lead to discrimination suits and phone calls to the EEOC. I think if you are going ot make it a practice to deviate from the policy then you should change it to a guideline not a policy. Time and Attendence issues is one of the biggest problems we have in our organization.
Good Luck![/quote]

Your first post! So glad you joined the Forum. :welcome:

Sharon

Traceyd · October 2011

We have had the same problem in the past and we addressed the situation by revising our policy to indicate time off without pay for personal reasons will only be granted if the employee has exhausted all their vacation and personal time. That has taken care of the issue for us. The biggest problem is trying to keep on the supervisors on board to follow the policy, so far it's working!! Good Luck!

Granting time off without pay

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