An important part of managing your staff is taking the time to talk regularly with your employees, both collectively and individually. Periodically, work-related issues will arise with members of your staff; it’s best to address and resolve these issues in a professional and timely manner. Use the information on this page to guide you. For assistance with any employee relations issue, please contact HR.
You are responsible for maintaining the accuracy of accrued sick and vacation leave records for your non-exempt and exempt staff. You also need to ensure that time is reported accurately in accordance with non-represented policies regarding sick and vacation leave or the appropriate collective bargaining agreement.
Non-exempt employees
Hourly paid employees are required by law to complete and submit their time weekly using the online time entry system in Workday. These entries are then reviewed and approved by their supervisors.
Exempt employees
Bi-monthly paid employees are not required to submit time sheets; however, they must request time off through the online time entry system in Workday. As a manager, you are expected to check your worklist on a daily basis to approve or reject requests for time off from your direct reports. You can apply for an absence on behalf of your employee and also assign a nominee to cover your absence through the process of manager substitution. For further assistance, please contact HR.
For more information regarding sick and vacation leave accruals and usage for non-represented/non-exempt and exempt employees, view the Acme Employee Handbook. For more information regarding sick and vacation leave accruals for employees represented by a union contract, view the appropriate union contract or contact HR.
Acme believes that work-life balance is important and supports a variety of flexible work arrangements to accommodate employees’ personal needs. These arrangements are made on a case-by-case basis so that we can also meet the requirements of our clients and the business.
Only employees who have a satisfactory level of performance and who are not on any type of Progressive Counseling may be considered for flexible work arrangements, which must be individually approved by senior management and HR and documented in writing.
All flexible work arrangements will be re-evaluated on an ongoing basis and are subject to change or revocation at any time due to the needs of company clients or the business. Learn more about flexible work opportunities.
You are responsible for managing the leaves (paid/unpaid, scheduled/unscheduled) for your direct reports. You should assist employees in understanding Acme leave policies and procedures so that they can be successful within our organization. For more information, see the Acme Employee Handbook or contact HR.
Types of leaves
Acme offers several different types of leaves, including:
- Maternity, parental, and adoption leave
- Family leave (FMLA)
- Personal leave
- Military leave
- Jury duty/witness leave
For detailed leave information, refer to the Acme Employee Handbook.
What to do
- Let your direct reports know that leave should be approved in advance whenever possible to minimize impact on their department.
- Share your mobile number(s) with employees so that they can call you in case of an emergency or other events that may require unscheduled leave.
- Approve or deny employee leave requests in Workday based on business need and employee leave accrual. In the event you need to deny, explain the business need for denial.
- Request the following documentation from your employee as needed:
-
Doctor's note for the employee stating that they are incapacitated and
unable to perform the requirements of their job, as well as the date(s) of
illness and release date
- Doctor's note for sick family member
- Documentation supporting the need for last minute annual leave
- Document all leaves, scheduled or unscheduled, using the Leave Tracking Calendar in Workday.
Acme has several award and recognition programs to acknowledge our employees’ success. For more information, review the Recognition Program Overview.
As a leader, you are responsible for coaching and developing your employees to succeed — as well as taking appropriate steps should their performance, conduct, or behavior not meet expectations. If this occurs, you must counsel them on the issue and maintain documentation of that conversation to support disciplinary action, investigations, claims of inconsistent treatment, and other issues.
The company’s Progressive Counseling process is a proactive approach to solving performance issues and is intended to assist an employee in improving performance or correcting other problems before they result in more serious consequences. Some examples of issues that may require the initiation of Progressive Counseling include:
- Failure to meet performance or behavior standards
- Failure to comply with Acme’s Code of Conduct and/or other ethical standards
- Violation of company policies, practices, and procedures
- Inability to work with others
The Progressive Counseling process may consist of three steps: verbal counseling; written counseling; and final written warning. Most issues can and should be addressed by taking progressive disciplinary steps; however, some behavior may warrant skipping a level or levels. All counseling periods begin on the date the counseling is given and all written counselings are placed in the employee’s Employee File.
Counseling guidelines
To properly counsel employees when they have failed to meet expectations, you must:
- Schedule time to privately counsel the employee regarding the issue in a timely manner.
- Discuss what the problem is or what was done wrong, focusing on:
- How things should have been done
- The expectations going forward
- Any applicable consequences should the incident happen again
- Take notes during the conversation.
- Properly document the counseling session
In addition, you should:
- Be aware of your body language and word choice and maintain a calm and even tone throughout the counseling meeting.
- Keep your tone neutral and factual; refrain from personal feelings or comments.
- Avoid adjectives like “numerous,” “excessive,” or “repeatedly” unless they can be supported by evidence.
- Take notes during discussions and counseling with employees; recording devices are not permitted.
- Demonstrate the professionalism expected of a Acme leader.
- If the employee brings up other employees, redirect the conversation to his/her performance.
- If the employee brings up medical concerns, direct him/her to HR.