A friend came to me recently with an HR related matter regarding some personal time she needed. You see, she has worked in the accounting department for a small business for over 8 years now. During that time, she has accumulated vacation days, personal days and the like. However, in this particular instance, she had a personal appointment, and needed to leave work only one hour early. She suggested skipping her lunch period to make up the time for that one hour. Her boss, known to be very rigid in these situations, would not allow her to do so without taking an entire personal day.
She called me and wanted to know her rights in this particular situation. Due to the fact that she is an hourly employee, she is not entitled to the same rights as an exempt employee; I had to give her the bad news that her boss did not have to accomodate her request. But as her friend, I gave her additional advice. Knowing her like I do, she is a diligent worker, rarely misses a day, and is very dedicated to her job. If she decided to leave her position in search for another, the company would need to invest in the time and cost to find and train another individual. Therefore, my suggestion was to tell her boss, "I really need the time, and if you value me as an employee, you will honor my request".
Her boss grunted and groaned a bit, but in the end didn't want to risk making her unhappy. The situation made be think about the stress people are feeling in these tough economic times. There are less employees doing more work, and everyone is a bit on edge. It is for these reasons that I say to bosses everywhere, give a little to your employees! Since pay raises are not feasible, make up for it by the occasional long lunch, or early dismissal. Give your employees something to be grateful for. The little things matter, and your people deserve it.
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