How Should We Handle Unplanned Saturday Workdays Without Penalizing Employees?

Dear Seniors,

Recently, we have started having Saturdays off on a weekly basis. However, if there is work that needs to be completed, the team is required to attend the office on Saturday. This decision is dependent on the team heads as they are responsible for managing the workload.

While most Saturdays have been observed as holidays, the past two Saturdays were working days. We noticed that some employees informed us a day in advance that they would not be able to come in as they had prior commitments that could not be rescheduled at short notice. On the other hand, a few employees took the day off by simply informing their team heads on the day, citing urgent personal matters or other reasons (which appeared to be genuine).

There are some teams that did not come to the office because they did not have any urgent deadlines to meet. In such cases, I believe we should not deduct their pay as Saturday has been officially declared a weekly off day.

What other steps can we take to address this issue and prevent such occurrences in the future? Your guidance on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Nishu

Dear Sharman,

If there is any exigency to work on Saturday, you should inform your employees three days in advance. Also, provide them with a notice that this day will be taken off for any forthcoming days. Additionally, explain in detail about the exigency of the work and try to help them understand and accept their responsibilities as Company Citizens.

Thank you.

All is done. We don't have problems with those who informed before a day, but what to do with those who take off and inform only on that particular day? The majority is doing the same.

Regards,
Nishu

Let me say from experience. In my earlier jobs, we had Saturdays off, and at times the company wanted us to come and informed us on Friday evenings. This happened for 2-3 weeks continuously. We had committed to other activities - family outings, friends' get-togethers. Naturally, there was tension at home.

Then we sat down for talks with the management team and told them that if we were not informed about working on weekends by Wednesday evening/Thursday morning, we would commit to our personal needs and, come what may, we would not attend the office on weekends. On the other hand, if we were informed earlier about working on weekends, we would come.

Another option we proposed was that one set of us would be available on alternative weekends - so there was no tension - 1st/3rd Saturdays, one team would come if required, and 2nd/4th Saturdays, the next team would be available. This eased the pressure on all of us, and we planned accordingly.

The best approach was when the more astute individuals stayed late on Friday evenings, stretching to early Saturday mornings to complete the task and then sent a mail to all concerned about the work's completion, indicating they would not be coming as their assignments were finished.

There are no hard and fast rules - flexibility on both sides will lead to smooth and satisfactory job completion for all of us.

Hello, Ms. Sharma,

We too have a Saturday off policy wherein we have already mentioned two things:

1. 2nd and 4th Saturdays will be off.
2. 1st and 3rd Saturdays of every month will be half-day/full-day depending on the deadlines of the project.

Now we don't call our employees on 2nd and 4th Saturday, but about 1st and 3rd Saturday, team heads inform their teams on Wednesday evening in case we have some deadlines to complete that no leave will be entertained on Saturdays.

We also have a policy wherein if a person takes unauthorized leave, that particular leave will be counted as LWP. Additionally, if they continue doing it, they have to face penalties which can lead to the termination of their services, depending on the notices issued.

Until now, I haven't faced a problem with this. My suggestion to you is, being a bit harsh on this part is not bad as this is the need of the hour. It is you who have to take action.

Tell your team heads to convey the messages to the teams that if it is a working Saturday, they have to come, and in case they have to take leave, they have to follow a normal leave process wherein they need to first take approval for the leave.

Be a bit blunt on this; otherwise, these things will keep happening.

Regards,
Akshu

Hi Akshu,

Sorry to differ. If it's declared a weekly off, we are seeking the services of the person. Threatening would not work; the employees can also take the company to court if dismissals are made. When the issue happened with us, the company threatened us, and we also told them that we would take them to court if they put adverse remarks on our files or used it as an excuse to not give us increments or promotions.

Let's not be schoolmasters with canes. We are talking about people with their personal lives. We sat down and had a frank talk with the management - problems from both sides were discussed thoroughly, and only then the suggestion of two sets of teams was implemented. The process has been going smoothly since then. Let's earn the respect of the employees instead of demanding it from them. When people are genuinely committed to their jobs, you can get the best out of them. Otherwise, we have disgruntled people, and we can see lots of posts on this site about the problems.