to expect employee to be flexible and attend team event on a day they are usually off?

[traintocatch]

We have an employee who recently reduced hours and chose to have a whole day off during the week -Tuesdays (working week is Mon-Fri). Before approving this, we agreed they would work on Tuesdays as and when required for project delivery so not 100% set in stone. Since they started this pattern we happened to organise team events with external facilitators and 2 of these events were held on Tuesdays. Whilst not critical that they attend, it would be important for their development, their understanding of company culture as well as team morale and really showing that are willing to integrate. We cannot always choose days to suit them. They declined to attend on both occasions and wondered what would be reasonable to expect? I know I would attend and take the day off another time that week?

The superiority dripping from this post is galling.

You might find yourself being one of those managed out when all the junior team jobs are obsolete.

Nah, I don't have time for teambuilding either

Yes, we can see that you are not into teamwork.

With AI coming in, we don't need people to do the grunt work but people to analyse the results. Those are higher skills and require people with more academic ability than a secretary or admin person

Maybe the secretary or admin person has really good data analysis skills. Never assume anything - you don't know what people have done outside work. For example, I picked up skills as a school governor that I've never picked up in any job.

Yet you've time to post here to tell us how superior you are.

Funny that ...

No I have not assumed anything. That is why I have been investing in their training for the last 2 years. Good on you to pick up skills as a school governor. It is refreshing when people have an open mind that is willing to learn. I believe my dcs' school calls it the 'growth mindset'.

You need to get over your chip. It is holding you back.

I don't think you are being totally unreasonable.

And I think many people here are quite clueless about some other industries.

For example with traveling over the weekends, if the business trip is on different continent and there is 8 days worth of work, traveling every Monday there and Friday back would mean a lots of unnecessary trips, constant jetlags and would be rather unhealthy.
Not everyone is able and willing to spend that time away, but that is what job descriptions are for - some jobs come with more extensive travelling than the other ones.

Another hilarious idea is planning only for days this employee is there. That would effectively limit number of part time workers in a department to one or two. And, generally part time work isn't superior to all other needs, it is just one extra variable.

In this case the employee was allowed part time work with mutual understanding that there will be some switching to meet business needs and education might be a valid case.

One issue might be communication. Maybe it wasn't clear that you consider that event as the important one to use up one of the swaps.
When I was part time, my manager would tell me that some event was happening and what was the "mode" - sometimes they would express that if I would manage to swap, they would really appreciate it. Sometimes I was told I'd be welcome to be there and swap days if I wanted to be there (but it wasn't necessary), sometimes they told me not to worry about that one.
In your case we would discuss which of those two days were more important and whether I would be able to join, but it would be a discussion, not a silent expectation.

I guess self-awareness wasn't an Essential Requirement on your own JD, @blueshoes?

No it wasn't. Cannot say I have ever seen it or put it in any job description. Or were you just making a non-point for effect?

🤣🤣🤣

I might not be blowing my own trumpet because I don't need validation online but I'm far from held back.

I won't be taking advice from a jobsworth Head of Department either.

YABU. It's not critical. You might assume they have childcare covered, but there may be other comments. They may do a class, qualifications, go to therapy, or have a commitment.

It's their day off. Who are you to say when they should be available out of working hours? Would you ask others to work a Sunday?

Employers really need to get over themselves expecting extra mile behaviour because they offer a little flexibility. This is a bare minimum expectation. Especially given you aren't paid for the time you aren't in work.

They haven't booked time off. They don't work on that day

Apologies, wrong post

“We’re all for work life balance” apart from when your employee does that. If you’re not going to courses on your weekend days, don’t expect your employee to do it on their day off that they don’t get paid for because they reduced their working hours. Employees don’t have to go the extra mile, they just need to do their work in the time they are paid for.

I work compressed hours so have 2 days a week off. If I was asked to.come in/swap a day and it suited me then I would, however, I sell my labour and no employer however much they protest, are loyal to their staff, on that basis I do what suits me. The fact that they agreed for me to have specific working hours that suit me means that I make sure that I'm very good at my job. If they were less flexible, I would either look elsewhere or give them a good enough performance in my role, but nothing more.

But how do you know they haven't any responsibilities, commitments or plans for that day? Why should they change them because their manager once again planned an activity for their non working day?

A ‘whole day off’. If they’ve reduced hours, they’re not getting paid for their ‘whole day off’. So why should it be flexible? How can they utilise their unpaid time otherwise? I use my non-working day (not day off! Unpaid role!) for child related appointments. These are booked months in advance so it’s impossible to be flexible. But it’s my time not the company’s.

This is short-sighted, you still need to be present for kids when they get home. They might have additional needs or have circumstances that can’t be seen.

But nobody knows that they don't have other responsibilities. They could literally be doing anything on that day. Just because they have secondary school children doesn't mean that they can't possibly have anything else going on in their lives.

You've gone in on your day off to keep the place open. OP didn't need the person to come in to keep the the place open. They wanted them to come in because OP, a new manager by their own admission, felt it was "important for their development, their understanding of company culture as well as team morale".

I really can't think of anything worse to do on my day off 😂.

So you're itching to sack people. Quelle surprise.

My last manager was great. We had international customers who would only deal with our branch, not head office. It was his manager, the General Manager (son of the owners, 'nuff said) who was the fool - took our best customer accounts, then closed us down.

I know which of them you remind me of ...

And it's not even real work! The employee has agreed to come in when it's necessary for completing a project, ie real, urgent stuff. This is corporate bullshit, nothing to do with project delivery.

I would be very careful with that one. You cannot discriminate because someone is part time. And the meeting you in the middle is rubbish too. It's a job that should be completed within their contracted hours and should not be seen less favourably if they choose to not work on a non working day.

As a 40 something mum of 2 I need to do my working job at home and my home life at home. I still want career progression and wouldn't want my personal life held against me. Which is why it doesn't matter why your colleague doesn't want to work on a non working day.

The idea that companies will go the extra mile for employees who've sacrificed their own time and done all that shit they're not paid or contracted for strikes me as breathtakingly naive coming from an employee, and disingenuous at best coming from a manager.