I work at a small organization that has a fairly loose policy about taking personal appointments during the work day. We’re basically free to use our best judgment and tack those appointments on at lunch or the beginning/end of the day, making up time as necessary. I’ve been here eight years and there has been no need for a formalized policy because it’s not abused and most people are working over 40 hours a week anyway. However, there’s one employee who has become excessive, slowly increasing to what has become at least twice as many appointments as what would be considered typical here (and is not suffering from any illness requiring frequent doctor’s visits). Is it to better to address this with that one individual–when there’s no formal procedure outlined, but there is an understood office ethic on this–or to create a new blanket policy for all staff– which may come across as punitive at this point?
The Team Doc Says…
What a dilemma! I’m definitely one for policies and procedures, so I think company policy does need to be documented for future purposes but it may also need to be handled individually with the team member. The first question that comes to my mind is, “Is the work getting done?” As long as the team member’s work is getting done, what is the issue? Are other team members just upset because it’s outside the established culture of the company? If the team member’s work is not getting done then that’s really the issue here. It would need to be addressed as performance feedback with that team member.
Another thing to keep in mind is that there may be some legal issues here that need to be run by an attorney. (I am not one.) You can also check the Department of Labor website for the legality of what is being done with the time. The exchange of missed time for extended work time may be in violation of the law.
Best regards,
Denise O’Berry
aka “Team Doc”
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