How Can We Fairly Compensate Store Employees Working on Public Holidays Without Breaking the Bank?

Compensating Employees Working on Public Holidays

I would like to know how to compensate an employee who is working on a public holiday. I have seen many discussions on this topic. If a person works, they are eligible for compensatory time off or overtime (OT), which is double the salary. I am working with a retail organization where we have stores operating 365 days a year. I am preparing a public holiday list.

Last year, we allocated only 7 holidays for stores and 12 for the Head Office. For stores where employees worked on a public holiday, we provided them with overtime. However, we are still unable to prevent unauthorized absenteeism in stores during public holidays.

This year, the management has decided to have a common holiday list for both stores and the Head Office. I would like to know how to compensate store employees working on a public holiday. Providing OT options for 12 public holidays in a year is not feasible from a financial standpoint. Please let me know what other measures, besides OT, I can implement to prevent unauthorized absenteeism in stores during a public holiday.

Regards,
M K

Dear Milan,

Many retailers are facing the same problem in today's scenario. Even when hiring, we inform them that they have to work on NFH, they don't abide.

Here, you have only two options:

1. Either give Double wage
2. Compensatory Off.

You cannot force an employee to work on a public holiday. It should be out of their own interest that they come to work on those days.

You may find this issue only in departments where the respective department managers do not have a good rapport with the employees. Motivate the employee by mentioning the incentives/perks if the sales are high, and implement challenges within each department during the festive seasons.

Leave Policy Considerations

Does your organization have a leave policy?

1. Are you providing week-offs (52 weeks) and 12 days (NFH) only?
2. Are you providing APL/EL/SL (as applicable) along with the week-offs and NFH?

If option 1, then it is very difficult to make the employees come to work on public holidays since they don't have any other leave to spend time with family or friends. (Today, many stand-alone stores are following this, resulting in higher turnover/absenteeism)

If option 2, then there is no problem, and you can guide/motivate the employees easily. Here, they have to understand why they have been hired and what the motive of the festival season is. The total month's sales will be considered on the festival day/season.

Career Development and Employee Engagement

As an HR professional, you can focus on career development for the salespersons. Provide training on various aspects, not only in retail but also product knowledge training. Keep them engaged so they don't consider anything wrong or think of switching over. Nowadays, everyone is talented, and competitors are abundant.

Continuous motivation, grievance handling (with minimal time), and career growth/path can only help you better. (Apart from salary, people stay with the company for their learning/motivation)

Regards

To enjoy a holiday with family is also very important to an employee. In my opinion, you should analyze the overtime (O.T.) hours you are paying to your employees, then assess the requirement of manpower. If you feel that the OT hours/amount is excessive, then you should recruit more manpower and provide weekly rest through rotation. On special national holidays, you should first consult with the employees about their availability and then draft the shift schedule accordingly.

In a continuous process industry, the plant runs 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. All such industries maintain the minimum required manpower on all holidays and national holidays. It would be advisable to visit some nearby continuous process industries.

Thanks,
R.S. Senger