Aibu to tell her that she needs to do a full shift.

[DawnFawn]

Hi,

Posting here for traffic to see I'd any managers/HR gurus knocking about.

I am a fairly new manager, I have been managing a department for about 2 months and all is running pretty well, however, I have an issue with a member off staff that I cant get my head around.

Let's call her Linda, she started under a previous manager who was a friend of hers. She doesn't drive and lives about 15 miles away with not great/not horrendous public transport links.

For about 18 months she got a lift to and from work with manager friend. But since manager friend left she was able to finish work earlier than the rest of the team, to get a lift home with another member of staff who finishes earlier. The stand in manager allowed this for an easy ride.

So......(thankyou if you are still reading)
In I come as a department manager, there is a festering resentment with team members that colleague is going home early, and it shouldn't be allowed. I totally agree but how do I stop this? She doesn't have any children, and doesn't require flexible working as such.

Would I be a bitch to say that she needs to be making her own way home? I'll allow a degree of flexibilty in the mornings, she can start 15 minutes later as this is when her lift arrives at the office, but she needs to finish with the rest of the team? Does she have any rights to say that she has been doing this for a while and should be allowed to continue?

It sounds as though the current arrangement means that Janet and George are actually having to do things which are Linda's responsibility, instead of getting on with the more senior tasks which are their responsibility. That's your business case for needing her to work the same hours as the rest of the department. It would be like expecting senior management to man reception for an hour at the end of every day. That's a waste of their time and it is the business which suffers as a result.

Go to your line manager and say that you currently have 2x 40h and 1x 35 hour employees and this is insufficient. You require 3x 40h. Ask whether they would prefer you raising the 35h staff to 40h or reducing them to 20h and hiring a job share.

Its all well and good saying well she doesn't get paid those 5h but if you can prove the department needs those 5 hours then you can prove the current set up does not work for you.

Is she doing her share of the work in the time allowed?
If she is doing all the work then I don’t see the problem.
I can see it being annoying though if you get extra busy at the end of the day by which time she’s skipped off.

For example when I worked in retail I used to get pissed off at the people who finished at 5 when the shop shut at 6. They would skip out of the door at 5 but those of us who stayed to the end would be there after our hours to cash up etc, unpaid.

I understand what you are saying OP. It is a man power issue if she can't work the hours required she'll need to find.
We do 10hr shifts and get paid by our clock ins, we have a few team members who think, well I am going early but not getting paid for it, when it leaves other team mates in the lurch.
There is a team of 20, eventually others get fed, they want go leave early too, it has a ripple effect on everyone.
Yanbu.

Find another job.

To be being paid less, there must be something in place with HR by the previous manager. If not shes on shaky ground leaving early, as are you paying less. You need to find out what the arrangements were.

The fact that she doesn't get paid for it is irrelevant

Well actually it is pretty bloody relevant

To be being paid less, there must be something in place with HR by the previous manager. If not shes on shaky ground leaving early, as are you paying less. You need to find out what the arrangements were.

Agree with this, you need to find out what the previous arrangements actually were and, if it doesn't work for the business then they need to stop. It's fine (depending on written agreements) to say she's contracted for 40 hours and you need her to work them going forward but it isn't ok to allow hostility from other employees for a perfectly fair agreement where she gets paid less for less hours.

You need to work out a fairer way of sharing the 'end of shift' tasks out if you aren't going to challenge the leaving earlier arrangement.

I think you are right to challenge this, her employment hours are the same as the others, even if she crams the work on and is not paid for the full days, the fact is it isn't fair on the others.
She either does 20 or 40, whichever she her contract, she must complete.
I can imagine my boss, I am contracted for 30 hours, but I'm only doing 25 due to transport, I'd be told to get a grip.

Offer her the choice- either work her full shift & make her own way home, or work the reduced hours for reduced pay.
She is not fulfilling her contract to you & the previous manager should not have let this go.
She is entitled to apply for flexible working hours (anyone can not just parents/carers), but you do not have to grant them.
(I work in HR)

or work the reduced hours for reduced pay.

I think it's pretty clear from the OP's posts that the woman is working reduced hours for reduced pay.

I could be wrong about this but I think if a member of staff has been doing something different to their contract for a certain length of time with the acknowledgement of their manager (ie, working 35 hours/week instead of 40 hours/week for same salary), the new arrangement replaces the old contract. This would mean you couldn't insist on her changing her hours because her contract has legally been changed by the previous manager agreeing to her doing this for 18 months. From memory if someone changes their work conditions for more than 2-3 months, it becomes the new contract.

You're wrong. You are referring to 'Custom and Practice' and the duration is usually six months. In any event, as the thread has progressed, the relevance now will be about the supposed 'agreement'. Does she have it in writing?

Not sure why people think Linda is in the wrong at all. She wanted reduced hours, requested it and had it agreed by a manager. The previous manager should have probably asked her to formally apply for flexible working, but it isn't her fault they didn't do this.
By all means reassess if it doesn't work for the business but you presented it as if she's taking advantage and being cheeky, which doesn't actually seem to be the case.
Does it genuinely not work or are you just wanting to assert authority unnecessarily?
It's completely irrelevant what her husband earns or whether she has children by the way.

Does it genuinely not work or are you just wanting to assert authority unnecessarily?

That's what I'm wondering too. It seems to be more of a niggle than a real problem.

Honestly, if you are allowing one member of your team to leave an hour early and arrive 15 minutes late each day, then you aren't an effective manager. This is very unfair.

You need to sort it out, and if she resigns then get her replaced, (with someone who works a full shift) you will have no respect from anyone anymore if this continues.

I have colleagues who leave earlier than me and it does make me feel a bit glum sometimes watching them leave but I'm not going to kick off about it.

Me too. I'm the only full-timer in my department and, as the others are all parents, they work fewer days during the holidays. Brilliant attitude from our employer but a bit miserable when I've been alone in the office for whole weeks during the summer. Also, it means I have to do everyone's job. But that's how it was when I started and I could probably go part time as well if/when I could afford it so I put up and shut up.

OP what is public transport like to/from your workplace and her home? If it's perfectly doable, then YANBU, but if you're in the middle of a distant field with one bus a week, then YABU.

Am I the only one that thinks the ease of getting a lift instead of the bus is a perfectly valid reason for a flexible working request?? I mean, it makes life much easier for Linda (and gives her more time in the sun, which we've established as a key satisfaction metric already). The request has already been agreed by Linda's former manager.

I see your point about the end of shift tasks but I think you need to reconsider how to address that. You may have grounds to ask Linda to change her hours but I think you would have to go through the same process as if an employee put in a fresh flexible working request and be prepared to make her redundant if you can prove that her not being there for the end of the shift is detrimental to the business.

Just my opinion, I'm not in HR or anything so happy to be told I'm wrong!

That's what I'm wondering too. It seems to be more of a niggle than a real problem.

I think the more the OP posts, the less it sounds like a problem and the more it sounds like niggle.

She isn't coming in earlier to make the hours, flexy time is give and take, not contracted to 40 but working 36 hours.

"She isn't coming in earlier to make the hours, flexy time is give and take, not contracted to 40 but working 36 hours."

It was clarified later that she is getting paid less, so there is no need for her to make up the hours.

If I was left to do the shitty bits of my job & hers whilst my junior avoided them & swanned off, albeit unpaid, I'd be off looking for another job.

It was clarified later that she is getting paid less, so there is no need for her to make up the hours
What of all the staff decided they don't mind loosing a few hours pay each week? A shift is a shift. I'd be pissed off in work if someone with the same working hours as me went home early everyday, regardless of them not getting paid.
Your allocated working hours should be adhered to.
We had a phase in work with certain staff leaving early, we don't get paid if we leave early, it didn't make it okay, it effected staff morale and others started doing it, which effected the business.
Unless you're sick you finish your hours or find a new job.

The lady has a reduced hours working pattern for which she receives reduced pay. If there is a genuine business imperative as to why that won't work any more then I believe it can be reviewed, but really folks being narked that she works the hours she is paid for is not a legitimate reason.

I work ( and get paid for) 4 days a week even though my DS is now in secondary school. If it causes a problem for work delivery I would expect my manager to talk to me about changing it ( it doesn't) but if it's purely that other people are miffed, then they can reduce their salary by 20% too if they want.

Presumably other staff can apply for flexible working if they want.

Flexible working shouldn't mean leaving the crappier bits of her job for her colleagues to do

btw, OP:
since they are doing some of her work,
are they squeezing it into their contracted hours, or are they having to do overtime - paid or unpaid

Can you hire a part timer for 5hrs a week?