Balancing Policy and Performance: How Should HR Address Lunch Break Rule Compliance?

One of our employees, a Project Manager, is excellent at her work and takes full advantage of the facilities provided by the office. She is an active and dedicated employee. However, a concern has arisen with the implementation of the new policy requiring employees to complete their lunch between 1:00 PM and 2:00 PM, during which the PMS timer needs to be paused.

This employee does not stop the timer during her lunch break and claims she continues to work while eating. This is true, but this behavior is setting an example that may impact other employees negatively.

I spoke to her personally, and she explained that she gives her best effort, often works overtime, and ensures on-time delivery of tasks. She also mentioned that if she forgets to restart the timer, it creates confusion, and she questioned who would take responsibility in such cases.

As an HR professional, I need guidance on how to address this situation. Is her approach acceptable, or should corrective action be taken to align her with company policies? What steps can I take to handle this effectively and ensure fairness across the team?

Dear Riya Saha,

The challenge of high performers exhibiting waywardness or behaving haughtily with their colleagues is common. They use their performance as a bargaining chip. They wish to stand out by not following the general rules. They live under the notion that if they quit, the company may not get a similar high performer.

Changing the attitude of a person is not easy, and changing the attitude of a hard-headed person is far more difficult. However, I suggest the following solutions:

a) You have spoken with the woman employee already. Speak once again and explain to her the importance of following rules. High performance or exceptional performance is considered after following the general rules, and one cannot try to do a trade-off. If someone is given leeway, then others also expect the same, and it diminishes the importance of creating the rules or policies.

b) Explain to her that her argument that if she forgets to restart the timer after her lunch break does not have any substance. She and only she are responsible for her actions or behavior. The company cannot create a supporting mechanism to avoid employees' forgetfulness. She can set an alarm on her mobile phone's clock to remind herself.

c) Otherwise, what about her reporting manager or the HOD? Why is he or she permitting her unruly behavior? Why is the manager not giving feedback to his or her subordinates?

d) Speak with the authority concerned who made the rule of logging out while going for lunch. Find out whether the behavior of the defaulting employee is acceptable. If he/she is ready to condone the transgression of the policy, explain to him/her that it will set a bad precedent, and it will impact the organization's culture.

Final comments: Unless you have buy-in from the authorities concerned, the recalcitrance of the employees cannot be addressed. Therefore, first, convince them of the importance of the culture of equality. If they are not ready to take action, then just send an email to the employee and maintain the status quo.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar