Snow Days For Exempt Employees: It's Still a Problem of Motivation, Bob...

Last week, I posted the only inclement weather policy you'll ever need as a HR pro.  The long and the short of that policy?  The fact that you need to treat people like adults by making them accountable, and here's how you do it - simply base your office open/close decision on road closings (or a lack thereof), then tell people that you don't want them to be uncomfortable driving, so if the office is open and they don't think they can make it to work they are welcome to stay home.  By burning a PTO day.

Take the monkey off your back, and put the burden on them.  You'll be shocked how comfortable people get coming into the office when it's their money/vacation/fun days on the line.  They'll be in - quick/fast/in a hurry...

Readers of the blog correctly pointed out one issue with that policy - it's built for hourly employees.  What do you do if the same circumstances are present with snowy weather and hazardous roads, and exempt workers have the ability and tools to work from home?

Well dang skippy, that puts the accountability on you.  Here's how:

--You've either got mature work-from-home policies or you don't.  The arrival of snow isn't going to make you a telecommuting powerhouse.  If you've never invested trust in your exempt employees to work from home - 14 inches of snow isn't going to make your productivity hum during the blizzard of 2010.  That means it's your call if you don't embrace telecommuting.  Either let the exempt folks know they can't do it, or suck up a low productivity day because you haven't been 2003 enough to embrace some form of telecommuting.  Stop whining and wringing your hands...

--Not all of your employees have earned the right to telecommute.  You've got low performers and folks who haven't been around long enough to effectively telecommute, perhaps even some folks who you gave the freedom to and they couldn't handle it.  You could be really brave and say "yes" to some people and "no" to others.  Of course, you probably haven't sorted all that out by the time you're speed-dialing the weather channel, so again, either let those folks know they can't do it, or suck up a low productivity day and let them do it.  

--The other thing you've got to do is figure out how you address the differences between what you're telling your exempt and non-exempt folks.  I'm a fan of not making a big deal about the different ways the two classes of employees are treated, instead looking to talk about "mission critical" positions that have to be in the office for customers to get served.  I wouldn't even talk about "those who have the tools" having the ability to work from home on snow days.  You know why?  The next question is, "well, why don't I have the tools?"

Are exempt employees different from non-exempt/hourly when it comes to snow days?  You bet they are.  Treat them differently if you like, but for the love of Ulrich, get your game together.  Stop wringing your hands and being a victim to the weather. 

I'll leave you with this gem from an employee on snow days from the comments of the first post:

"I would like to know what folks think about the 'work at home' concept during snow storms. This week, my office officially closed for a few days, but there is no official policy about should you, or should you not work at home. I am salaried, have a laptop, mobile phone and network connections so there is no barrier to working and I don't mind doing some things, however should people still hold regular meetings and expect deliverables as if nothing were happening? Some of us are trying to shovel, entertain kids, deal with intermittent power, and do other things that come with a snow storm. The company policy is not clear (or even existent) in this realm. Would welcome some thoughts on that."

OK, so maybe I shouldn't be so snarky since he's asking for help.  Dude, here you go: If you don't want to play the game and have meetings and do at least an average amount of work on the day in question while your kids sit like zombies in front of Spongebob, the answer is pretty simple.

You burn a PTO day.  While all those tools from the company sit idle.  If you want entitlements during periods of heavy snow, work for the federal government.  I'm out...

Comments

[Phil]

Ha ha ha... "Work for the Federal Government" That's some funny stuff...

[Bill]

I agree with all of this, if the office is open you should be expected to come into work. If you don’t feel comfortable driving then you can take a PTO day or work from home if you’re authorized.

The issue at my organization is the individuals who use a little dusting of snow (I work in Michigan so 2 or 3 inches of snow isn’t enough to warrant not coming to work) as an excuse to not come in and they, being exempt, just call it a “work from home day”. Now, this should be fine and dandy except I know that for many of these individuals a “work from home day” is more of a “watch TV and play video games day” and once every few hours checking their email and responding to a few of them to look like they’re working.

This, of course, is a management issue, not a policy issue. If their manager is fine with this level of productivity, or lack there of, then there isn’t much that can be done about it. The policy is still sound, it’s the management of the individuals taking “work from home days” as a paid day off that’s the issue.

[Trish]

Our company has made it very easy with our inclement weather policy. We close if the govenor declares a state of emergency. If he does not then we are open and unless you are already telecommuting you are expected to come in BUT the employee may choose not to come in if they feel it is unsafe to do so. We have a liberal time off use in that case. Our employees may use vacation, personal, or floating holiday time without pre approval. If we are closed everyone gets paid for the day without using time. If you had a planned vacation or Floating holiday we do not charge you for that for the day we are closed.

[B.A.]

Because I work in an over-regulated industry, I personally think it's a GOOD thing for the feds to shut down once in a while - perhaps more often!

[Ellen Storch, Esq.]

Issues my friend, many of them. First of all, the relevant distinction is not whether an employee is paid "hourly" or "salaried", it's whether they are exempt and nonexempt. And frankly, the issue of telecommuting is a red herring. If the company is closed, the exempt employee is paid - whether he or she telecommutes that day, or shovels all day. And he is paid even if he has no accrued PTO days. Nonexempts only have to be paid for time worked. If employers opt to do more than this, they are allowed to do so, as long as they treat all exempts the same way, and all nonexempts the same way.

[Puma Outlet Store]

good to see you are blogging again. I enjoyed the full article and hope that maybe you can get permission to republish it in full after some time has elapsed - it deserves wider exposure online than it might get behind the log in.