hrsimple.com - Holidays/Vacations

Valentine's Day heartaches around the office

shannon — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 13:53:46 +0000

February 14th is quickly approaching and it brings with it a whole slew of troubles for employers. Aside from the usual romance in the workplace issues, employee attendance, harassment, and office parties can all cause an employer a good amount of trouble.

Interoffice romance

A recent CareerBuilder survey found that more than 37% of people have dated someone they work with over the course of their career. That’s more than a third of the workforce! While it’s great that your employees are finding happiness, there are a lot of issues that come along with office romances.

Non-fraternization policies
One option for employers is to completely prohibit relationships at work in order to reduce the risk of sexual harassment and related claims by instituting a “non-fraternization” policy. However, these policies can have negative effects as well. Most likely employees will continue to have relationships and employers won’t have the opportunity to lessen the possible negative results. Additionally, such a strict policy is bad for employee morale as it makes the employer appear overbearing.
Subordinates and managers
Office romances are also problematic when an employee in a position of power dates a subordinate. If the relationship sours, allegations of retaliation or harassment could be made. Even if the relationship goes well, other employees may say the supervisor is showing favoritism. Employers should consider a policy against such relationships, or one that requires employees to disclose these relationships and sign agreements that outline solutions if the relationship becomes problematic (i.e. one employee would be transferred).
Love contracts
A consensual relationship agreement, sometimes called a love contract, is a written document signed by two employees in a consensual relationship acknowledging the relationship is voluntary. These disclosures usually contain a reminder of the company’s harassment, discrimination, and retaliation policies, as well as a clear acknowledgment that the relationship is consensual. These forms are a good way for employers to remind employees of their policies and protect themselves from future lawsuits.

Harassment

One of the biggest concerns with Valentine’s Day is harassment. Employers should have a clear anti-harassment policy in place that outlines what behavior is acceptable and unacceptable. Such policies should clearly state that employees are safe from retaliation if they come forth with any harassment claims. Harassment can mean so much more than inappropriate advances or attention. Employers should be mindful that Valentine’s Day may bring up more suggestive conversation and unwanted attention.

Workplace conduct

Employers should have policies in place outlawing certain behaviors that can make other employees uncomfortable and lead to harassment charges. Employers should have policies that clearly state:

no overt displays of affection at work, including kissing or hand-holding
work communications systems are to be used for work only – no personal email or voicemail using working time or company equipment
employees must behave professionally and in a business-like manner while at work or all company functions
romantic squabbles should be left outside of the workplace.

Guests and presents

No boss wants to tell their employees they can’t have guests or receive gifts at work, but this can sometimes lead to loss of production and possible hostilities. While a policy banning these romantic gestures may cause ill will, managers should be mindful of employees productivity and should try to prevent any sort of hard feelings that come along when one employee receives gifts and others do not.

Office parties

While office parties always pose a fair amount of troubles, these hazards are worsened when romance is in the air. Many employers wish to celebrate the holiday as an office, and should consider doing so with a lunchtime treat or daytime party. If an employer wishes to have an after-hours party, they should be mindful of alcohol and the liabilities that come a long with it. Be aware that harassment claims rise when alcohol is involved and make sure that all employees are behaving responsibly.

Vacation policies and time off

shannon — Mon, 18 Aug 2014 20:07:05 +0000

Not all employers provide employees with vacation time, but for those who do it is wise to have a clear, well-enforced policy in place to prevent confusion and help employees understand what steps need to be followed in order to use their time off. If employers decide to to provide time off they need to make sure to do so in a uniform manner and apply the same regulations to each employee. Written vacation policies are the easiest way to communicate the requirements for taking time away from the office and to express in no uncertain terms what the employees responsibilities are for their time spent away, i.e., if they need to find a replacement for their duties or schedule their time in a certain manner.

Eligibility for vacation

Employers are not required to offer vacation time. However, for those that do, a good start to any vacation policy is to define which employees are eligible for vacation. For example: do full-time and part-time employees receive vacation days? Do employees need to be employed for a certain amount of months before they receive days?

Accrual of vacation

After defining who is eligible for vacation time, the next step is to outline how a vacation is earned. A policy could provide that vacation accrues on the anniversary date of the employee’s hire or that three vacation hours accrue per pay period.

If accrual varies for different types of employees, the policy should clearly explain the different rates. For example, full-time employees might receive three vacation hours per pay period, whereas part-time employees might receive only two vacation hours per pay period.

When writing a policy, the employer should keep in mind that accruing vacation days is not the same as earning vacation pay. For instance, a particular policy might allow for accrual of 40 hours of vacation pay, but also provide that unused vacation hours will not be paid upon termination.

Taking vacation

After the “who” and the “how” of earning vacations has been explained, a policy should cover by what method vacation time is to be cashed in. A vacation policy may place limitations on when employees can take vacation and may require advance notice and employer approval. For instance, a vacation policy might require employees to take vacation during the annual plant shutdown or only with four weeks’ advance notice.

Sample policies

The first policy below is a general use policy that can be easily adapted to address most offices. Also included is a policy based on a maximum accrual, and a policy based on annual accrual.

SAMPLE POLICY

It is the policy of ABC Company to provide each full-time employee with vacation time on a periodic basis. The amount of vacation to which an employee becomes entitled is determined by the employee’s length of service as of his or her employment anniversary date. For full-time employees, vacation accrues as follows:

1. At the end of the first year of service, one week, or 40 hours, of vacation.

2. Two years or more but less than five years of service, two weeks, or 80 hours, of vacation per year.

3. Five years or more but less than 10 years of service, three weeks, or 120 hours, of vacation per year.

4. Ten years or more of service, four weeks, or 160 hours, of vacation per year.

Regular part-time employees earn vacation on their employment anniversary date in the proportion that their normally scheduled number of hours bears to 40 per week. For example, a regular, part-time employee who usually works 20 hours per week would earn 20 hours of vacation upon completing his or her first year of service.

Vacation does not accrue between employment anniversary dates and may not be taken until it is earned. Vacation time must be used in the anniversary year after which it is earned and may not be carried over past the employee’s next anniversary date. For example, an employee with two weeks’ vacation as of his or her third anniversary date must use the two weeks prior to his or her fourth anniversary date. If an employee fails to take his or her earned vacation time before the employee’s anniversary date in violation of this policy, the employee will not earn any further vacation until that unused vacation has been taken.

Earned vacation must be taken. Employees are not entitled to pay in lieu of taking time off for vacation.

VACATION POLICY (maximum accrual)

Our “vacation year” is based upon [anniversary/calendar] year. This means that your vacation year begins on [the date you started work with our Company and runs until the day before that date in the next calendar year[ OR [January 1 and ends on December 31 of each year].

Full-time employees accrue vacation at the rate set forth in the following schedule:

Years of Service

Vacation Hours Accrued Per Pay Period

Rate of Accrual

0 through __

___

__ days per year

__ through __

___

__ days per year

[etc.]

___

__ days per year

The maximum amount of vacation hours you accrue is determined by your rate of accrual. Once that maximum is reached, further accruals will cease until the vacation hours are taken and fall below the maximum allowed. You will not accrue vacation during unpaid leaves of absence.

[In an effort to accommodate the desires of our employees who would like to take their vacations early in the year, employees will be permitted to “borrow” against the vacation they expect to accrue over the course of a vacation year. You should understand, however, that if your employment with our Company is terminated for any reason prior to the time that you have accumulated the number of vacation days taken during the vacation year, you will be responsible for reimbursing our Company for the amount of used but unaccrued vacation. At the time you “borrow” against the unaccrued vacation, you will be expected to execute a written authorization that would allow the Company to deduct the amount of used but unaccrued vacation from your final paycheck, should that be necessary.] OR [Employees may only use accrued vacation. You may not “borrow” against unaccrued vacation.]

[Accrued but unused vacation time may be carried over from vacation year to vacation year up to a maximum of ___ days.] OR [Accrued but unused vacation time may not be carried over from year to year.]

Please notify your supervisor as far in advance as possible of the time you wish to take your vacation. Requests for scheduled vacation must be submitted in writing. Requests for unscheduled vacation must comply with the Company’s call-in procedures, as set forth in the Attendance Policy. To ensure that our Company’s staffing and operational needs are met at all times, the Company reserves the right to grant vacation requests at its discretion. Even if approved, requests for unscheduled vacation may not necessarily be excused for purposes of the Attendance Policy.

You will/will not be paid for all unused, accrued vacation upon termination of employment.

VACATION POLICY (annual accrual)

All regular full-time employees are eligible to accrue up to __ paid vacation days during the first year of employment. These paid vacation days are accrued on a pro rata basis – that is, you will accumulate one paid vacation day for each ___ months of uninterrupted service. After that, you will accumulate vacation according to the following schedule:

a. __ days per year [___ days per month] of service for the __ through ___ years of continuous employment.

b. __ days per year [___ days per month] of service for the __ through ___ years of continuous employment.

c. [Etc.]

You will not accrue vacation during unpaid leaves of absence.

[In an effort to accommodate the desires of our employees who would like to take their vacations early in the year, employees will be permitted to “borrow” against the vacation they expect to accrue over the course of a vacation year. You should understand, however, that if your employment with our Company is terminated for any reason prior to the time that you have accumulated the number of vacation days taken during the vacation year, you will be responsible for reimbursing our Company for the amount of used but unaccrued vacation. At the time you “borrow” against the unaccrued vacation, you will be expected to execute a written authorization that would allow the Company to deduct the amount of used but unaccrued vacation from your final paycheck, should that be necessary.] OR [Employees may only use accrued PTO. You may not “borrow” against unaccrued PTO.]

You will/will not be paid for all unused, accrued vacation upon termination of employment.

Looking for more details about employee time off?

For more information on vacation time and other attendance concerns, check out A Guide to FMLA and ADA as well as your state-specific handbook. We also recommend signing up for our weekly, light-hearted employment law newsletter, the HR Update. Click here to sign up.

Holidays

shannon — Tue, 27 May 2014 13:33:57 +0000

The summer can bring up several employment issues, including discipline and dress code violations, but one of the biggest issues is just getting employees to show up! With holidays and vacations, warmer summer months often result in lower attendance, which can translate to a loss in productivity. Time off requests also pose a lot of administrative problems, and employers should be sure to enforce a clear policy to ensure fairness.   

Know which days are considered holidays 

The first step in dealing with holidays and time off requests is to identify which days are holidays and if you are required to provide time off for them.   Many states have not enacted laws requiring private employers to provide paid holidays or holiday time off to their employees. Check with your state's department of labor to see what your requirements are.   Most larger private businesses observe the following federal holidays:

New Year’s Day
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (3rd Monday in January)
Memorial Day
Independence Day
Labor Day
Veterans’ Day
Thanksgiving Day
Friday after Thanksgiving
Christmas Day.

Smaller businesses often only observe the following:

New Year’s Day
Memorial Day
Independence Day
Labor Day
Thanksgiving Day
Christmas Day.

Employers should decide which of these days will be given off and communicate that decision clearly to employees. They may also elect to pay time and half for such holidays to reward employees for coming to work and to encourage staff to continue business as usual. If employers chose to offer this special wage they should draft a policy that clearly outlines which days will qualify.

What to include in a policy

In drafting a holiday policy, the following topics should be considered:

which employees are eligible
what holidays will be recognized
whether holidays will be paid and at what rate
conditions for receipt of holiday pay
treatment of holidays during vacations and leaves.

See an example below.

Beyond drafting a policy employers should do their best to treat employee time off requests fairly. While there is something to be said for the "first asked, first given" rule, it is not fair for some employees to be stuck working all holidays. Employers should keep a calendar of days off, and try their best to spread the free time and responsibilities evenly among employees.

THIS POLICY IS OPTIONAL

SAMPLE POLICY

ABC Company will grant paid holiday time off to all eligible full-time employees.  Regular part‑time employees will receive pay for each designated holiday pro rated based on their normally scheduled hours compared to a regular 40 hour work week.  Holiday pay will be calculated based on the employee’s straight time pay rate as of the date of the holiday.

ABC Company observes the following as paid holidays for regular full-time employees:

•     New Year’s Day                

•      Memorial Day              

•     Thanksgiving

    •     Martin Luther King,           Jr. Day

•      Independence Day        

•     Day After Thanksgiving

•      Labor Day                     

•     Christmas Day

A holiday that falls on a weekend will be observed on either the preceding Friday or the following Monday to coincide with local custom.

To be eligible for holiday pay, an employee must have worked his or her regularly scheduled hours on the workday before and the workday after the holiday, or have been on approved vacation or other paid leave.  If an employee is on vacation/leave when a holiday is observed, the employee will be paid for the holiday and will be granted an alternate day of vacation/leave at a later date.

Any hourly, non‑exempt employee required to work on a holiday will receive double‑time payment for the hours worked.

Paid time off for holidays will not be counted as hours worked for purposes of determining overtime. 

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