Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
Years ago, I worked for an organization that was obsessive about productivity. Every month, the company offices would produce a report listing each location and their productivity scores. The one who produced this report – let’s call him Mr. Lumbergh – would put a line within the report. Eventually, it became often called the “Lumbergh Line”. The locations above the road were considered to have good productivity and the locations below, well, weren’t.
Today’s reader note touches on a very important aspect of productivity – managing time.
Is it appropriate for a supervisor to understand how much vacation, sick time, personal, and comp time an worker has?
Since this reader note doesn’t ask about legalities, we’re not going there. Alison Green over at Ask A Manager answers an analogous query about tracking break day. If you might have a moment, test it out. And if you might have detailed questions on how much managers and supervisors are legally allowed to know in relation to break day requests, please contact your friendly labor and employment attorney.
What I would like to speak about is the importance of getting a reliable process in place for managing time. At a lot of the places that I’ve worked, managers knew worker break day balances. The explanation was easy – managers were accountable for running their operation, in order that they were accountable for making schedules. If an worker called in sick, they might call in to the manager who can be accountable for ensuring the operation was covered.
The one time I’ve seen something different was once I worked on the airline. We had scheduling departments. The individuals who worked within the department were accountable for knowing the transportation laws and what number of hours flight crews were in a position to work. Additionally they needed to know the scheduling provisions in collective bargaining agreements. If a pilot called out sick, the scheduling department was able to have a look at all of the pilots and determine who could work inside the established guidelines.
The explanation I’m mentioning these two scenarios is because ultimately, the organization must have a reliable solution to manage time. Each options I discussed above worked and worked well. Organizations need to have a look at their operation and determine the most effective system for them.
Whatever system the organization designs to trace worker time must be reliable. And it should meet the organization’s productivity needs. If a supervisor goes to be accountable for worker schedules, they should do it well. Recent supervisors should receive training on methods to create worker schedules and a few suggestions for methods to adjust coverage when an worker calls out unexpectedly.
If an worker calls out or would love to schedule a vacation day, there ought to be a process in place for them to do this. The supervisor should have the ability to account for break day of their schedules. And there ought to be a process in place for HR/payroll to be notified so the worker is correctly paid from their account balances (assuming they’ve paid break day available).
Organizations have to operate. All of us get that. Meanwhile, employees who work at the corporate should have the ability to take their earned break day. Or if an worker has no paid break day left and is faced with an emergency, they should care for their emergency. There must be a system in place that permits each productivity and break day to occur.
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