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?

It's the very basics.

It just feels they are taking advantage and don't attend when in fact they could, they just don't want to.

What part of "it's okay for them to not want to" do you not understand?

They do not have to "live to work". Its okay if they just want to work to live and not go above and beyond.

Flip that to its strange as to why the op would want to make her employee uncomfortable as she works with her 4 days a week and should have built a rapport? No?

@traintocatch If the events are to promote cohesiveness in the team they should be on a day all the team work. There are four other days in the standard working week to choose from. Our department has regular full department meetings. I work part-time and these meetings were always organised on my non- working days. I couldn't attend. Eventually it was raised with the exact reason you have made. Important to the team. My response? Then why do you continually exclude me by organising these on the days you know I don't work. These meetings now happen on a day when all staff work. Problem solved. Just a perspective from the other side.

Yeah I think if you continue to do this it could be considered bullying

I think it depends on the role and the business. My job requires travel and regular overnight stays, but my contract says I have to do the hours that are necessary to do my job. I’m also paid a very good salary, so you take the rough with the smooth.

Yes, this is pretty important.
If you’re booking an all team event on a day she doesn’t work (why would you do this? Weren’t any of the other days possible?), you need to ask her personally if it’s possible for her to attend if it’s on that day or not. And accept it if not. It’s not a business project critical thing.

I don’t work Fridays. I am flexible where possible. But the people I am most inclined to be flexible for are the ones who contact me, apologise for scheduling something on a day I don’t work. They ask if it’s possible for me to be there, but understand if it isn’t.
I like it even better if they schedule “critical” meetings on days when I’m working.

She doesn’t work on Tuesdays. A team building ‘Away Day’ isn’t mission critical. Just have it on a different day. Her reason doesn’t matter. For me, ‘when necessary’ would mean if someone died or a major client was pulling out unless I led the presentation, not because we had to make a tower out of spaghetti and marshmallows or fill in yet another Myers Briggs.

@traintocatch I'm interested as to whether you have asked any other staff e.g those on vacation to switch their holidays and come in or are you singling out this employee?

She doesn't have to say why the flexible working law thats now in place states anyone can ask for it and they do not need to give a reason why they need it. Ergo she does not have to give a reason why she cannot come in for team meeting other than it's my non working day I cant.

Dying to know what this team event is! Bet it's a load of old cobblers like most of the ones I've been on. Many people do an inward groan when this sort of thing comes up. I bet everyone is jealous of no Tuesdays lady!

Would love to hear her take on it.

A day off in lieu is not the same as a regular day off. The person might have other commitments that are inflexible. It doesn’t matter what those are. It is not a day they are contracted to do anything for you.

If there is a Tuesday even they you think would particularly benefit them, write personally. Apologise for the fact it is on a Tuesday - it was unavoidable. But, if they can, you would live them to come. They are a valued member of the team and you think they would enjoy it / learnt a lot etc. That’s all you can do.

I recently dropped Friday's because I am now 66 and it's quite a physical job and Fridays are exceptionally busy and I just can't do it any more. I put everything into the other 4 days and have been asked just once in 3 months to work a Friday and because i knew it was important i just swapped my day off. But for a "team building" day no way as for the company culture well i wirk there so already know what that is.
Your colleague is right not to attend.

If she was on a days holiday you would probably have thought nothing of it.

But because its her day off you have decided she's not flexible enough and you aren't going to help her develop and progress and you are questioning her reasons why she needs to be off that day and creating a hierarchy of options that would be a suitable "excuse" (caring, childcare etc)

But they are both non working days. A person on holiday might have plans, a person on their day off might have plans. They are both as deserving to have their non working day respected, and to not have it impact their career progression

Unless of course you now tell us people routinely rearrange their holidays to accommodate these ream bullshit meetings

And are you paying them extra mile money?

They are not paid to work that day so they are not taking advantage - it is their free time to do as they like. Work harder to make the training available when all staff are in if it bothers you so much.

This thread makes me so happy I don't work anymore. You are being very unreasonable.

At the end of the day here you’ve only got a sample size of 2. Maybe the employee genuinely has a hospital appointment or other personal / private unmovable things on those days so don’t write them off as ‘not going the extra mile’.

plus it’s a bit hypocritical… you should have been more accommodating to part time working and not made these items on a day you know a member of your team doesn’t work. Thats on you. If you can’t make it on a better day don’t expect everyone to work around your restraints.

by asking an employees to be flexible and then being cross when they’re not it’s really putting employee in a tricky position. Maybe they’ve found a really good yoga class that they’ve pay upfront monthly for and eases their back allowing them to work efficiently the rest of the week. Or eases their mental health. Or maybe they’re volunteering ant a children’s hospice. You’re asking them to make the decision to ditch something else they’ve committed to.

Could you not change the event dates if it were critical for everyone to attend?

How about because it is no one's business?

TBH, your company culture sounds like a carbon copy of any other corporate that pretends to be so totally involved in the well-being of their employees while sucking out the life out of them.
Your employee isn't a charity case. She works hard for your company. But it's her employment. It's not her life. She goes to work because she wants to earn money to be able to support her family. Her life starts when she clocks off. I personally despise all those facilitator-led team building events. What do you want to achieve with them? As an employer, you would expect that your employees will understand company culture in their company time, when they're paid for it. Anything else is just fake, trying to persuade the people that the company is actually interested in their well-being. No, companies are only interested in their employees while they can do the job that makes the company successful and making profit. Any potential to move the company or the department to another country without an impact on the revenue - bye bye employees. Any potential to reduce the number of employees without negative impact to the company - bye bye employees.
Why are companies still trying to persuade people to feel like it's some kind of a personal and emotional relationship? Keep it professional. You want to have satisfied employees who perform to their best because that makes your company successful. Why should they be immersed in the company so called culture? People move and change companies, there's another company just like yours over the corner. And it could be one that will embrace the new employee and accommodate their needs without any hippie hugging "we're all one big family".

If she gives a reason, then the new normal is that she has to come in on a Tuesday unless she has a good enough reason not to.

Of course YABU.

If you feel it is important for this employee to be at this event, then arrange it on one of the days she is at work - which, after all, is 80% of the working week.
Clearly from your attitude towards this employee, you don't have a plethora of other PT workers in the team, so it wouldn't be difficult.

But you even said yourself, it is not critical. So you've answered your own question.
o you ask other employees to come in to the office on a Sunday, because you decided to arrange something that isn't critical, but that you think it would be good if they turned up to ?

Apart from that doesn't really happen, a lot of the time..

Case in point I always went the extra mile in the past. I've been bullied out of three positions I've been in. And passed over for promotion, left out of the bonus structure, I'd be here all day if I went into detail. I do my job well now, but that's all I do. Anything else can swivel.
Set the team building day (that I hazard a guess isn't as high on anyone's 'important' list as you think it is) for a Saturday next time. See how many people turn up.

Without actually listening to the employee, there is no point coming on here asking if you ABU.

I remember when I worked 4 days p/w (Thursday off) my boss couldn't grasp that while I could, on the odd occasion, work 5 days (for 5 days pay) I wouldn't work 4 and swap a day. The reason for this was that while nursery could often accommodate an extra day, they didn't allow people to swap - so changing my day off would leave me out of pocket. He wasn't prepared to pay an extra day, so to his mind I was being inflexible and not a team player.

Your employee might have a class they go to, or a regular appointment (perhaps they don't actually want to discuss details). They might have caring responsibilities - just because their children are teens doesn't mean there is no one else in their circle who needs support.

If you really want them to work, ask and LISTEN to their answer.