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I have an employee who loves to come in 10 minutes early (nice, huh?), and during that time, she gets her stuff in place, makes coffee and settles in. The problem comes when she accumulates her self-designated comp time (50 minutes a week) and uses it to go to run personal errands. She has never talked with me, her supervisor and owner of the company, to get permission for this.

It sets a bad example for other employees,, and I don't want to get in a situation where I'm trying to keep track of everyone's 50 minutes or so a week. Plus, it bugs me that I'm paying this employee to make coffee for herself. I think that should be something she does on her own time.

Am I being too rigid? We are a small agency, so we only bill the hours we work. (We eat what we kill.)

mmann's picture
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Firstly, there are potential legal ramifications of calling this Comp Time.  Check with HR to determine how your State Labor Board defines Comp Time.  It sounds to me like this is more of a Flexible Work Arrangement (FWA).  Comp Time is owed to an employee based on company policy... an FWA is granted to an employee as part of a benefits package.

Secondly, and perhaps more practical, does she get her work done?

--Michael

jhack's picture

Really?  10 minutes at a time?  that's not comp time, that's clock punching.  

Comp time (in my experience) is for salaried folks who put in extra days (like working weekends near the end of a project) and the manager lets them take a few days after the project ends successfully.  It doesn't show up as vacation, but is done as a recognition that they went far  above and beyond, and that some "comp" is deserved.  It's rarely 1:1 and it's never counted in minutes.   

John Hack

ashdenver's picture

If she's truly punching a clock, the conversation is pretty easy: "You should only punch-in when you are ready to begin working. Making coffee and such isn't part of the work day and you should plan to punch in after you've completed the tasks that you prefer to make your workday more enjoyable."

If she's not punching a clock (i.e., salaried) and the results are there -- no escalations, good productivity, happy clients and business partners -- then I guess you could talk to her about "core work hours" and say that "It's great that you come in ten minutes early each day to get squared away before the core work hours begin but when you accumulate nearly an hour's-worth of time and bug out early every Friday, you're then not available to our clients during the company's required work hours."  

I may not understand the pay structure at your agency but when you say "we only bill the hours we work" how is that you-paying-her-to-make-coffee?  If she's not working, she's not billing which means she's not getting paid?  Or is she on salary/hourly rate whereas the rest of the folks are being paid by the hours they bill?

Either way,

  • If she's punching a time-clock, it's a simple "only punch in when ready to work" conversation.
  • If she's only paid based on what she bills and the productivity is there, what's the big deal?  If the productivity isn't there, that's a completely different conversation and essentially unrelated to the 10-min per day issue.
  • If you just want here there 9a-5p Mon-Fri, that's a pretty simple conversation too.

Have I oversimplified again or missed the point - both of which are common, I'm afraid.

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jhbchina's picture

Ash,

Awesome post! Clear and simple from an HR and manager prospective. Right down to the difference between of core work hours, salaried employees and punch clockers.

Nice job

JHB

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