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Questions
& Answers - Nov 6, 2001
by Dr. Lynne
Curry
Question:
We just hired an employee who smokes. She shows every sign of
being an exceptional employee. The one problem is that she takes
"five minute" smoking breaks that seem to last ten to
fifteen minutes. When I mentioned this to her two weeks ago, she
told me she’s only gone five minutes at most, keeps an eye on
her time, and never takes her "regular fifteen minute
break". When I explained that neither Alaska nor federal law
gives employees break time, she was astounded, but promised to
limit her smoking breaks to five minutes. Because she gives every
indication of being a good employee, I decided to overlook the
fact that her five minutes generally adds up to longer.
My real problem
is another employee who spends way too much work time on personal
calls. When I disciplined her about it this morning she said,
"I’m on my fifteen minute smoke break." When I told
her we didn’t have "breaks," she told me the employee
who smokes assured her yesterday morning that breaks were legal.
If this other employee did tell her this, I’m steaming mad at
her.
She also said
that if the new employee got a "smoke" break so did she.
I told her that personal calls were to be made on her lunch hour
and that she didn’t smoke so didn’t need smoking breaks. She
stomped off and this seems to have the potential for turning into
world war III. What do you suggest? If it matters, both employees
are hourly.
Answer:
You ignite world war III when you grant one employee privileges
you deny another – unless you can show the denied employee a
solid business reason for the difference in rules. Frankly, your
"problem" employee has a point – why do you expect her
to work eight hours daily when you accept seven and one-half hours
from her co-worker?
Before you react
to what one employee tells you another said, ask your new employee
if she had a recent conversation with anyone else about breaks.
Listen to what she says and trust your instincts. Did she, after
you clarified the break issue, give another employee wrong
information? Or did your second employee simply seize the
opportunity to muddy the waters? If your new employee gave a
co-worker her assurance about break times after you clarified the
issue for her, you need to resolve her misunderstanding and let
her know she erred when she passed on misinformation.
Then set an
equitable standard for both employees. How much non-work time do
you feel okay with daily? Although neither Alaska nor federal law
mandate two fifteen-minute breaks for employees, most employers
feel okay when employees spend five to fifteen minutes daily on
personal business. If you adopt this as your standard, meet with
your new employee and let her know that if she limits her smoking
to two five to seven minute excursions, you can live with that
because you think she’s a real asset to your organization. Let
her know, though, that the situation has the potential to cause a
morale problem and as a result you want her to monitor her time by
recording the beginning and ending time of her breaks.
Then meet with
your other employee. Let her know you apologize for the inequity
and that the situation has led you to set an office standard. Tell
her she has five to fifteen minutes daily for personal business
and that any extra time needs to be subtracted from reported work
hours. If she or any other employee has further questions about
the break situation, you can call Alaska’s Department of Labor
at 269-4900 and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Anchorage office
at 271-2867 and get a printed fact sheet to give your employees.
Finally, realize
that your smoking break issue may be the "smoking gun"
that signals further uproar just under the surface. Your
"exceptional" employee tells you she keeps an eye on her
time yet you think ten to fifteen minutes means five minutes to
her? Your other employee points to co-workers when you try to
counsel her concerning too many personal calls at work? Unless you
resolve some of these underlying issues, world war III may just be
starting.
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