Many Employees are guilty of arriving at work at exactly the time they’re meant to be in, but aren’t ready to actually start until 5-10 minutes past this time. In one of HR Grapevine’s latest articles they ask the question do employers have the right to ask their staff to come in 15 minutes early?
Short answer: not unless you want to pay them more. This is always an option, staff deserve to be remunerated for the time they put in, but in Brexit belt-tightening times pitching the idea of paying staff to get ready to work may come across as self-defeating.
What HR needs to do is make employees want to come into work and be ready to start on time – without it being presenteeism. Naturally, then, offering flexibility may provide a solution. It allows workers to feel autonomous in their position and trusted in their role. It’s just a shame that flexibility is not considered by some employers.
A survey last year by Workingmums.co.uk found that 12% of employers had not considered a working mothers request for flexible working and over a quarter of these rejections were not in line with flexible working legislation. For shift workers this may not be possible – but HR needs to take every reasonable step to create a culture where arriving in good time is a want, not a reluctant requirement.
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For the HR Grapevine article on this story, please follow this link.