The Simulation Scenario

Lee, an experienced employee at Global ProTech, has recently been transferred to a new manager. In past years, Lee's performance reviews have been stellar. He has been recognized for professional commitment to the company, superior talent and skills, communication and collaboration strengths, and the ability to perform on budget and on time. Linda, his new manager, was looking forward to having Lee on her team and so far, she has not been disappointed in his performance. Lately, however, Lee has been sporadic in his arrival time; often coming in later than the other employees on the team; sometimes leaving earlier; sometimes staying later. Her observations show that he is still putting in the correct number of hours per week but even so she feels she needs to be able to count on Lee to be at work "on time," not only for the skills he brings to the team but also because she wants him to be a role model for others. Linda is aware that there is a flex-time arrival policy in place at Global ProTech but she is still finding it difficult to let Lee "come and go as he pleases." She is concerned about whether the other employees on the team will think that she is giving Lee special treatment because he has been with the company for years. She also does not want anyone else to adopt a cavalier attitude when it comes to getting to work "on time." She has approached Lee about this twice, but both times he seemed to withdraw, and avoided(?) answering her directly as to why he comes in on time some of the time and then, unpredictably, gets to work an hour or so later on other days. Last time they spoke, he looked down and quietly mentioned, "flex-time," looked at her apologetically, and went to his desk where he diligently got down to work. Linda astutely realizes that her frustration with the situation may spill over to how she views the quality of Lee's work and so decides to come to you, her HR professional, to get help talking with Lee in order to manage what is escalating into a conflict.

You invite both Linda and Lee to a meeting to work this through together. Your challenge as Human Resources Manager is to meet with Linda and Lee to foster communication between the two, encourage Lee to confide his situation to Linda, and help them both manage this conflict and reach an agreement about arrival and departure times before the situation intensifies. As you prepare for the meeting, you make sure you have a copy of Global ProTech's flex-time policy and your meeting notes.

Flextime Work Policy

At Global ProTech, our flextime work policy outlines provisions for employees who want to change their working hours, days, or weeks. This policy applies to all our employees who need an alternative arrangement related to their work schedules and who are eligible by nature of their job.

We recognize that some employees need to work flexible hours. Some examples are parenting/family demands, doctor's appointments and other medical circumstances, and/or work-life balance.

What does it mean to have a flexible work schedule?

Flexible hours can refer to a number of different arrangements:

• Flexible working time,when employees choose to shift their everyday schedule by starting the day later or leaving earlier. The total number of working hours doesn't change. "Core hours" may be established during which an employee is obliged to be present at the workplace.
• Reduced hours, when an employee works for less than the standard working hours either by fewer hours per day or by fewer days per week. In such cases, salary is calculated anew, depending on the new schedule.
• Compressed week, when employees work longer hours on a number of days per week so they can take time off on the remaining days. Total working hours and compensation remain the same.
• "Flexible year,"when an employee must work a specific number of hours per year with little limitation as to when.
• Job sharing, when two people divide their schedules to do the same job.

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