ROWE for Zoologists and Policy Contest
September 22nd, 2008 by Cali & Jody
We need to make a statement: Right now, on Sept. 22, 2008, we have perfected ROWE for office environments. Big, small, mid-sized - if you’re in an office, the process for migrating to a ROWE has been proven and is ready for you. We have not experimented in any other environments yet (research into the health care industry begins in 2009 - stay tuned).
We presented at the Twin Cities HR Executive Forum last week. The group was lively and very fun (could have been that they were eating hors d’oeuvres and sipping wine during the presentation). When it came time for Q&A, the most popular ROWE question revealed itself as Question #1 for the 23,456th time: “It sounds like ROWE would be great for offices, but have you done this yet for store environments?”
For the previous 23,455 times, insert any of the following for “store environments”: manufacturing, hospitals, bus drivers, teachers, zoos, sports associations, freight services, broadcasting, pilots and flight attendants, or restaurants.
In fact, we began a recent speaking engagement by specifically saying that we have not experimented with ROWE outside the office setting. What was the first question? “So how does ROWE work in a manufacturing setting?”
We recognize that there are other environments that suck just as much as offices. It is our strong belief that there are foundational elements of the office ROWE that can translate into other environments - trust, schedule control, and elimination of Sludge are a few. And just because we haven’t tested ROWE in those environments doesn’t mean you can’t try some of these things…if you’re read Why Work Sucks and you have ideas for how to improve your manufacturing or retail environment, for example, go for it. We’d love to hear about it - and so would other readers in your industry!
Now for the contest: This is a call for the most insanely non-ROWE policy you can find in your Employee Handbook. Policies like these (taken from a Fortune 1000 medical diagnostics company):
- Hours of Work - The Company’s normal workweek is Monday through Friday. Work days are eight hours each. Nonstandard workweeks exist for some positions and departments.
- Rest Periods - There are two scheduled ten-minute rest periods during each eight-hour work shift - the first approximately two hours after the beginning of the shift and the second approximately two hours after the lunch period. Your supervisor will inform you about the rest period schedule in your area.
Post your policy in the Comments and the winner will receive a signed copy of Why Work Sucks and a Work Sucks bumper magnet. Go for it - wipe the dust off that Handbook and start searching!
An employee may request a “flexplace” arrangement, which is the very strict agreement that someone can work offsite for a predetermined amount of time (and only in an approved separate work area designated within the home). However, if you are allowed a flexplace situation, the policy states the following:
“In addition, all flexplace arrangements must conform to the overtime, record keeping and meal break provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and New York State labor law, respectively, for staff members covered by those provisions. Therefore, although non-exempt employees may be managed by results, supervisors must ensure accurate recording of hours worked.”
Supervisors establish break times. You may take two paid fifteen-minute breaks during an eight-hour work day (one in each 4-hour section of the work day). Break times do not accumulate, and may not be used in lieu of using paid leave when coming in late or leaving early.
You are expected to arrive to work on time every day and observe the time limits for all breaks. If you cannot report to work or must arrive late, contact your supervisor or an employee designated by your supervisor. Your supervisor will discuss with you the notification procedure for your particular work unit.
Employees in Groups 1 and 2 shall be granted two emergency days per year deductible from sick leave. Any portion of a day that is taken as an emergency absence shall count as a full day.
(a) Requests shall be submitted on the approval form to the immediate supervisor at least 24 hours in advance unless the nature of the emergency makes advance notification impossible.
“Managers and salaried associates are typically expected to work more than a 40 hour workweek.”
“Sick Pay Policy is designed to provide financial protection for full-time associates when it’s necessary for them to be absent from work due to their own illness or injury.”
“Salaried associates may only use their sick pay in weekly increments of 40 hours. (Their sick pay quota is only reduced if they’re out an entire workweek.)”
If I work more than 40 hours a week, how does my sick pay cover that?
And how many people get sick for a whole week
Talk about being treated like children …
Extra Hours
The necessity to work extra hours is made at the discretion of the department director. It is
important that department directors ensure that extra hours are distributed equitably among
employees qualified to perform the work, while giving consideration to the personal wishes of
employees involved. However, it is ultimately the department director’s decision to designate who
will perform the extra hours.
For overtime control purposes, overtime-eligible employees are prohibited from coming to work
early and leaving late for purposes of conducting work, or working through lunch periods or
bringing work home, unless specifically authorized by their supervisor in advance. Supervisors
shall monitor the workplace to ensure that employees who are not scheduled to be working do not remain in the workplace. Nothing herein is intended to prevent an employee from remaining in a County building during a meal period. However, during such period, the employee is prohibited
from working, and should not be expected to perform work for the County.
Unless otherwise specified by a collective bargaining agreement, an employee shall be required to work overtime when assigned unless excused by the supervisor. An employee who refuses to work overtime when assigned will be subject to disciplinary action for said refusal. An employee scheduled to work overtime who fails to fulfill the assignment for reported medical reasons will, at the County’s discretion, be required to substantiate the medical absence with a doctor’s note or similar proof.
Very nice! The policy searches are going well. It will be a tight race. We’ll keep this open until Friday, so keep them coming!
There are three working days out of every month where we are not allowed to take time off. If we do, we are charged DOUBLE the vacation time. (We don’t get separate sick days)
“Due to the importance of month-end business volume, leave generally may not be taken at the end of the month. Month-end, for Office Facilities, has been defined as the last two working days and the first working day of the month; for the Plant Facilities, month end is the last working day and the first two working days of the month. Those employees taking leave at month end, regardless of whether or not the leave was scheduled, will be charged double vacation time (on an hour-for-hour basis). “
Again this year, ****** will sponsor Family Day – A Day to Eat Dinner with Your ChildrenTM.
This is a national movement encouraging frequent family dinners as a simple, effective way to prevent substance abuse in children through parents being more involved in their children’s lives. Launched in 2001, this annual event is celebrated on the fourth Monday in September (September 22, 2008) by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA). To celebrate Family Day, ****** associates will be allowed to leave work two (2) hours early Monday, September 22, to have a relaxing family meal.
Why is eating dinner together important? CASA research consistently finds that the more often children eat dinner with their families, the less likely they are to smoke, drink or use drugs. Teens who have dinner with their families five to seven times in a typical week are likelier to get A’s and B’s in school compared to teens who dine with their families fewer than three times per week. Academic performance is also associated with substance abuse risk. Teens receiving grades of C or lower are at twice the risk of substance abuse as those receiving all A’s and B’s.
So make a resolution to eat dinner as a family as often as possible and celebrate Family Day by eating dinner together, especially on September 22. Involve the entire family in planning and cooking meals. If your schedules make it impossible to eat dinner together, try having breakfast together instead.
WOULDN’T IT BE NICE TO HAVE DINNER WITH YOUR FAMILY EVERY NIGHT WITHOUT THE COMPANY PERCEIVING YOUR WORK IS SUFFERING???
[...] your most non-ROWE policies. We found ourselves gritting our teeth when we read them, and thought Kurt’s policy on Extra Hours and Overtime was the most painful. Congrats, Kurt - a signed copy of Why Work Sucks and a Work Sucks bumper [...]
It’s no wonder that HR staff are so grumpy! How would YOU like to try to make sense of all of this?
“Alternate Holidays -
For business operations reasons, some employees are required to work on Company-designated holidays. If you are required to work on one or more designated holidays, you must take an alternate holiday(s) within four months after the holiday(s) worked. The only exception to this requirement is in instances in which hourly employees receive less than two weeks notice of being required to work on Company-designated holidays. In such instances, the employee may choose to either take an alternate holiday(s) or be paid time and one-half for the hours worked on the holiday(s) plus holiday pay. In all instances, alternate holidays must be scheduled with your supervisor in advance of taking them.”
It would be so much easier for everyone involved to just work as a ROWE!
I know the contest is closed, but thought this annecdote fits best under this section. Its the annual performance review period in my company (a government entity), and that means employees are required to complete self assessments and submit what we think our review grade should be. This could be ok if we were filling out a survey, but we literally have to write about ten pages of justification as to why we deserve the review we think we should get. Ok, this is not required of us, but it is strongly encouraged for the following reasons: 1) If we don’t do this and our review is lower than what we think it should be, we have no recourse, 2) we can remind our supervisors that its review time (seriously… this is a stated reason… so we can remind our supervisors that they should do their job), and 3) to remind the supervisors what we have accomplished.
Additionally, there are approximately 7 categories that we are graded on such as “relates well with others” etc.. Then we are ranked on a scale of 1 to 5 on whether we have met the requirements for that category. No where in the categories does is ever talk about actual work products. In fact, 1 of the 7 categories (and only 1) is called “Achieving Results”. And of course, as ROWE’ers know, if we are getting results, all that other stuff either takes care of itself or is irrelevant… yet that is how I am graded.
Addtionally additionally… I am in a special category of employee that has to have an annual review, but also has to submit an application to get a promotion, and these are not done at the same period of time, nor are they based on the same criteria (and not until recently were they even graded by the same people)… So, in a few months, I’ll have to write another “novel” explaining what I’ve done and why I think I should be promoted, even though its technically my manager’s responsibility… Oh joy!