How Can I Persuade Management to Consider Saturday Offs for Employees?

I have recently joined a new organization as an HR in a midsize Chartered Accountancy firm. Here, they do not have Saturdays off, and employees have to work for 9 hours daily except for Sunday. The employees have approached me requesting to implement a policy where they can have Saturdays off. I have presented this proposal to the management, but they have not agreed to it. Can anybody provide me with suggestions on how to effectively communicate this proposal? I would greatly appreciate any assistance.

Regards,

Your management may not agree to giving Saturdays off every week, so you could propose the following:

1. One Saturday off per month
2. One Saturday as a half-day per month

Please explain how this system would work.

We already follow a policy where an employee can take one Saturday off in a month. However, they are not happy with just one Saturday off and need one more. How do I convince the management to allow this?

It's not good to always provide support to staff, so please consider the management's perspective as well. Please see the calculations below:

54 working hours for the week, including a lunch break. Make it 8.30 effective working hours with a 30-minute break for lunch. Then, you can give them one additional Saturday off.

Think about the above approach.

Ms. Nandi,

There is a provision of 54 working hours in a week, including a lunch break. You have to distribute this tactfully.

I totally agree with Mr. Ashok Negidi on what he said about thinking from the employer's side as well. An HR professional acts as a bridge between the employer and the employee.

Implementing a Flexible Work Policy

You can implement a policy where everyone has to complete their work within 9 hours (including breaks). The office will close at a fixed time. You can inform the management that by implementing this policy, you are trying to cut costs, such as the cost of extra electricity usage and internet usage. Offer two Saturdays off and two Saturdays with full working hours. Convince the management by stating, "By this way, you are saving the cost of electricity usage."

Employee Satisfaction and Cost Efficiency

Try to persuade the management with another argument that if employees are not happy, they may leave the job, incurring new hiring costs, and productivity may suffer until the new employee reaches the level of the previous one. Implement a "Flexible Working Place Policy" where employees can choose their workplace, whether it be at home or in the office, but they must complete the job within the stipulated time. This policy will also help in cutting costs.

Regards

Further to what Sharmila Das and Ashok Negidi rightly pointed out, you also need to bear in mind the field/domain you work in. There are fields— notably CAs and Advocates— that need to work after 5:00 PM and quite often on holidays.

The CAs invariably would be in meetings with clients during the daytime, and their actual work in their offices would begin afterwards. Similarly, the Advocates would be in Courts till 5:30 PM, and their client meetings and case preparation work would invariably have to be after 6:00 PM. This is irrespective of the size of the business.

Your line 'But one Saturday they are not happy with it...' gives away the mentality of the employees you have. When they enter such a field/company, they also need to be mentally prepared for the working needs of that field. It's something like a person wanting to work in a BPO but not ready for shifts— as you can see, the options would then be very restricted for them.

Looks like you need to give a pep-talk to the employees rather than talking to the management.

All the best.

Regards,
TS

Thank you to all of you for your valuable replies. I appreciate this. A humble thanks to all. This will really help me.

But the point is, people also work overnight at times, but they are not paid or appreciated for the same, thus they feel demotivated. Also, the employees have been working for a long time, e.g., 5 years or more. So they feel that they should be given at least one more Saturday off. Also, they input 9 hours or more on a daily basis.

Regards,
Trivedi

Now it's your call. You may handle this by conducting "Employee Welfare Programs" to reward employees with a choice of compensation options such as gifts or money (as desired by management). This approach could be well-received by the employees as the management does not wish to start giving Saturdays off. Try it! Let us know your thoughts on the same.

Not sure whether you realize it or not, but YOU ALREADY KNOW what to do.

Please refer to your line— "but they are not paid or appreciated for the same thus they feel demotivated."

When the management isn't in favor of monetary compensation ('not paid') for the extra work being put in, try ways to "appreciate" the employees. Apart from being 'morale-boosters' for the employees, you wouldn't have a lot of resistance from the management too—since such measures wouldn't be very expensive (as they target the 'psyche' of the employees rather than the 'pockets').

Please use the RESEARCH option at the top of this page—you will find many threads that discussed this topic earlier. I am sure you will find MANY ideas that suit your actual needs and situations.

However, as HR, you also seem to have some work to do vis-a-vis the management—since you mentioned that the employees have been working for about 5 years. Quite often—not sure if YOUR management would fall into this category—old-time employees are 'taken-for-granted' by the management. If this indeed is the case at your end too, you may have to handle it with care.

This is something that NEITHER can be ignored NOR can be presented as a big problem—nevertheless it needs to be handled before it does become a problem. I have seen such a situation with a large company—the management woke up after guys started quitting in 'droves' and the first step by the management was to fire the HR Head, even though they too were 'part of the problem'.

All the best.

Regards, TS

Every institution in India is bound to operate based on the statutes prevailing in India. Therefore, your institution, even if it is a private concern, has to operate according to such legislation and its provisions. This includes normal working hours, one weekly day off with pay, lunch breaks, entitlement to National & Festival Holidays as per relevant statutes, and the disbursement of wages.

As per your communication, your management must provide a weekly day off with pay, to be mutually agreed upon and then documented with the Appropriate Authorities of the Labour & Rehabilitation Department, which holds jurisdiction in your area. This officer is the legal authority primarily responsible for labor matters in your region.

If your management is not responsive to addressing your grievances, you should seek assistance from the respective chapter of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, with which your management is associated. This institution upholds discipline among its members and cannot issue any directives that violate rules and regulations.

All efforts should be channeled through the proper channels, please take note of this.

Best of luck,

Regards

Well, this is a chartered accountant office. Very few CA offices work 5 days. The employees know what they are getting into and join knowing their workload. Yes, they are working overnight at times, but did you count the number of times they are leaving early (mostly from client locations) during non-peak periods? It's in the nature of the work they are doing. The management is not going to listen to your request for more Saturdays off. None of the arguments are going to work, and you will get into the bad books of your bosses unnecessarily. You will have to tell the concerned employees that it's not granted, and they have to live with it.

The e-Shop and Establishment Act does not apply to a chartered accounting firm. So the 48-hour a week rule does not apply either. If you go to the institute as someone suggested, you will end up being a laughing stock and will definitely lose your job.