I have an hourly employee who I cannot get to stop working off the clock. It’s particularly an issue if he is out sick, but I regularly notice that he is working or has worked during off hours. I’ve asked him to only work while on the clock, but the problem persists. I think he’s trying to be helpful, but I’m worried about our liability on the matter and am unsure how to address it with my employee.
To read the answer, click here: Dilemma of the Month: Hourly Employees Working Off the Clock
Another possible scenario is that John feels like he is not able to do an adequate job during his allotted work hours. It might be appropriate to take a serious look at his workload — whether it’s realistically matched to his scheduled hours — and/or whether John needs additional training, or other assistance, to improve his productivity.
I live in a country that doesn’t have the exempt /non exempt distinction, but in my job a lot of the workload involves thinking about things. How could this be policed? Could a time card reflect thinking about a work issue while watching TV?
Well you can think about whatever you like whenever you like since it is your own head and thinking does not take any effort. When you start doing research then the clock comes on and it goes on the timecard.
A proper reaction to this situation, would start with a sit-down talk to discuss what makes them feel the necessity to stay working even though they are off the clock. A lot of times, the reason is that employee is expected to do more than physically able, especially in todays reduced staffing because of labor cost. Some efficiency expert decided that staffers should be multi-tasking while on job. Not everyone is capable of everything all the time. If this is a long term employee, offer to review their work and give feedback on what should be considered a priority to be done and what to let go for next shift. If employee is a new employee, offer and schedule retraining, again emphasis on what is priority task versus non priority tasks. Ii would also be advisable to check that scheduling is adequate and not just cost efficient.
Termination is the solution for an employee who persistently does not take direction. Progressive discipline per company policy is the start. This employee is exposing the company to very serious legal issues and the costs that go with them.