Year of Growth, Restricting Time-Off Policies, and Not Handling Change

Welcome back to another edition of HR Basecamp Roundup! This week, we tackle some interesting and common issues that come up in workplaces more often than you think. If you haven’t joined our HR Basecamp Facebook group yet, be sure to join so you can participate in these discussions in real time! 

Podcasts and Resources in this Roundup (it’s a packed one):

• The Two-Way Street of At-Will Employment

• Difference Maker Toolkit

• Hiring Guide – How to Hire Difference Makers 

• Hiring Difference Makers: Recruitment Strategies and Beyond

• What Are Behavioral Interview Questions and How Do You Write Them? 

• How to Write Job Descriptions that Protect Your Business 

• How to Write Job Ads That Attract Top Applicants 

• Taking Control of Your Time Off Policies 

• Blocker’s Guide 

We are planning on growing significantly this year and I want to attract the right candidate who can help us avoid the dreaded “that’s not part of my job description” excuse when asking employees to help with tasks. Any advice? 

The legal side of things: As is often the case, the fact that you presumably have an “at-will” employment relationship is key here. The only way you would not have that type of relationship is if you have contractually modified it, or if you’re in Montana and your employee is out of their probation period. Otherwise, all your employees are at-will by default. 

What this means is that the employment relationship is at the will of both parties. If you need an employee to do something and they refuse to do it, you can choose to terminate the employee. Likewise, if the employee feels they’re being asked to do too much, they can choose to leave. 

More on this in our podcast episode, The Two-Way Street of At-Will Employment.

If you’re at this type of impasse, you could feel immediate frustration and terminate the employee. Based solely on this fact pattern, that would be legal to do. But it may not be the right thing to do for your business, so our real recommended approach is below. 

Now for the human approach: It’s not unreasonable to ask an employee to do more, but in reality not every employee is willing, or able, to do so. If your goal is to find someone who shares the type of growth mindset that you do, you need to put all the building blocks together before you even start considering candidates. 

Take the time to really consider what you are looking for. You want someone who can excel at their initial core job duties, while also being able to do more and find ways to help the business even when not being directly asked. 

Here at CEDR, we call these individuals “Difference Makers.” They are the members of your team who bring in new skills, ideas, and energy. They are the ones who have the biggest impact on the growth of your business. 

CEDR members can get our guidance on how to hire a Difference Maker in our hiring guide. Not a member? Get some tools through our complimentary Difference Maker Toolkit and watch a recording of a webinar we gave to our members on this topic.  

To set yourself up to find one of these valuable candidates, you need to take the necessary time to identify what qualities you are looking for. Then be sure your job ad, interview questions, and job description are specifically tailored for that. 

You may think of job ads and descriptions as basic HR admin, and interview questions as something you can look up online, but they’re actually powerful tools that play a key role when hiring and assigning work. Since you are looking to fill multiple positions this year, now is the perfect time to revisit your existing ads and descriptions and make sure they are working to your benefit.

Your interview questions should be tailored for each role you are hiring for. They should be asking candidates to give real examples of how they have faced issues in the past, to give you an idea of how they will react when something similar arises in your own business. 

You can read more about what you should (and shouldn’t) include in job ads and descriptions in these CEDR blogs: How to Write Job Descriptions that Protect Your Business and How to Write Job Ads That Attract Top Applicants

Of course, you may still end up with an employee who is resistant to accepting work. These situations should be handled on a case-by-case basis. Our recommendation is to speak to an HR expert if you find yourself in this scenario so they can help you reach the root of the issue – are you asking too much of this employee? Do they lack the training needed for what you’re asking? Are they simply avoiding their responsibilities? There’s no one-size-fits-all approach.

2024 was my first year in business and I didn’t really know what I was doing when I created my time off policy. It was a mess and made it easy for employees to abuse. I want to restructure it completely but I don’t know where to start.

The legal side of things: Before developing any type of time off policy, paid or unpaid, for your business, you need to be sure you know your legal obligations. Federal law does not require employers to give PTO, vacation, or sick time to employees. And it doesn’t regulate how employers can choose to provide those voluntary benefits. 

States, cities, and counties, however, typically do have some rules. Even if you don’t have a law requiring you to provide time off, you likely have a local law that speak to what you are allowed to do with those benefits at the time of employment separation. Many states require benefits to be paid out to employees. Others allow benefits to be forfeited completely. Still others have a mix of rules that depend on the specific type of benefit as well as the specifics of what your policy says. 

There also may be local rules about what can happen with unused time off benefits at the end of the year. Many employers have gotten into legal trouble for having unused time forfeited at the end of the year, not realizing that their state considers earned vacation time to be an earned wage and, therefore, not something that can simply be taken away. 

A big legal risk with time off is simply not paying attention to changes in these laws. New states, cities, and counties pass sick leave laws every year. Just this past November, we saw new laws come out of three unexpected states. Unfortunately, many employers miss these laws if they don’t work with a trusted HR company that can monitor these things for them. 

Now for the human approach: Time off policies can be difficult to create from scratch and it’s almost impossible to please everyone. Since you already have a year under your belt, we recommend starting by analyzing what didn’t work. What were employees abusing? Too many days off? Not giving enough notice? Are multiple people requesting the same days off? 

Once you’ve established what doesn’t work, think about what you think is important to provide. For example, some employers want their staff to have the ability to take time off as soon as the benefit year starts. This can be accomplished by either granting time upfront or allowing accrued time to rollover at the end of the benefit year. Make a list of the things that you know you want to have in your policy and then you can brainstorm different ways to make it happen. 

When it comes to actually scheduling time off, the best approach is to set clear guidelines and boundaries. Things like blocking out dates when staff can’t take time off, requiring approval before time off is granted, and planning your time away first can make a big difference. You can read more about scheduling time off in this blog. 

My office manager has been with us for eight years. They have contributed a lot to the business and continue to be a great resource and guide for new employees. However, they cannot handle change. This has been an issue in the past but it was small things here or there; not enough to get worked up about. But now we are trying to implement a new software system that will require everyone to adjust parts of their standard procedures but will make things easier for all in the long run. Given their history of being resistant to other changes, how can I make it clear this is a non-negotiable?

The legal side of things: This is similar to a question we answered in the last HR Roundup. 

Documentation is the main legal consideration. When it comes to employees refusing to follow a certain process or use a specific software to complete a task, there’s likely some sort of evidence. Maybe an email stating they will continue to use their own method, or you may be able to tell by the way the task was completed. 

If this has been an ongoing issue and it seems to be getting worse, it’s important that you start documenting in writing what was asked of the employee and what their response was. It doesn’t need to be a full report – a short note describing the issue can go a long way to protect you if the employee’s resistance to change leads to separation. 

Pro-tip: you can use the HR Vault for this! 

Now for the human approach: We refer to this type of employee as “The Resistant Veteran.” They have been with you for a long time and have earned a great deal of trust and value, yet are blocking progress. 

Unfortunately, this employee’s level of experience can cause their resistance to trickle down to other employees. While you may have let this issue go in the past, it’s important that you address it now before things get worse. 

Where to start? First, acknowledge their tenure and experience. Make it clear that you value their input, which is why you want to understand their hesitation towards the new software. Next, recognize that what you are asking for is a big change and your goal is that everyone feels supported in this transition. Sometimes simply listening to their concerns helps them open up to the idea of change. 

Explain why you are making this change, i.e., to reduce errors, open up more appointment times, etc. Then, explain what the new requirements will be. Don’t leave this instruction open-ended – “I’d really like for you to start using this software.” Instead, let them know when they need to start using the new software and that there will be a check-in afterward. Finally, don’t forget to actually check back in! 

For more guidance on how to handle workplace “blockers,” check out our most recent guide.