You have probably heard of unfair scheduling and scheduling abuse in the workplace. For some, employers, they don’t really give much time with planning schedules and policies on time off.
However, when you are a business leader or manager, you should make it your priority to ensure a fair and smooth running workforce to lessen instances of attrition and complaints from employees.
Below are some simple tips on how to come up with a fair work schedule.
Practice Fairness and Avoid Judgment
What is your basis when deciding who will get the time off during busy season or when several employees request for a time off? The very first thing you need to keep in mind is that the reasons why your workers choose specific shifts or days over others must never be an issue provided that they let you know about their preferences in advance.
It doesn’t matter if they need to babysit their children on a weekend or attend classes on a weekday because your primary concern is that they must be reliable the moment a schedule is put in place. Also, how workers want to use their PTO or paid time off must never affect whether you deny or approve their request. It is their own discretion how they will spend their time.
Open Communication Lines
When creating a fair work schedule, it is important to verbally relay the information to all your workers. During this conversation, make sure you share the procedures you prefer when it comes to management of unplanned and planned time off and work schedules. To avoid any last minute vacation requests, you can also request the workers to submit vacation requests at least 2 weeks before the date of the planned absence. Having open and strong channels of communication among and with workers can lead to reduced number of frustrations and complaints from both parties.
Have a Clear Definition of Comp Time and Overtime
Overtime is very common in most industries. However, you need to consider if you should offer the chance of working overtime because this is a decision you need to make on your own. When your employers work overtime the whole year, there might be a need to look for additional workers. If it is only during a certain peak time of the year, your best bet is to pay employees overtime.
On the other hand, when you speak of comp time, this pertains to the comparable time off for the hours worked in excess of the 40 hours for every work week. Although it is usually tempting to offer some comp time as a form of benefit, particularly for employees who are not qualified for overtime yet they
Consider a Bundled Sick and Vacation Time
More and more business are now offering a packaged PTO benefit which includes sick and vacation time combined. Grouping all the paid days off into a single bucket will help in simplifying the process of PTO and provide employees a better sense of control on their schedules as it allows further flexibility. This is also considered as a fair work schedule since it takes out guesswork and judgment off the equation.
