Hard working employees are often understandably excited about the idea of a short work week either due to a holiday or inclement weather which may require your organization to close for at least one day.  While everyone loves a short work week, company owners and managers often struggle to cover payroll due to a company wide loss of production. This is one of the many examples where the OnusOne system aligns interests of ownership along with the production workforce. If you are in an industry where you can afford to offer enhanced base pay during these weeks, the OnusOne system can manage that for you.  But if you are in an industry where a company wide loss of business and revenues for an entire day puts your cashflow at risk, consider the following recommendations.

1. Hold open dialogue with your team about how you will handle work weeks that include holidays/inclement weather. Holidays are obviously planned, but business interruption due to inclement weather often occurs without warning. It is wise to have a written agreed upon policy with your employees before either of these events occurs.

2. If your employees opt to increase their hours worked during a short week, and by extension increase their productivity, they will be able to offset any lost production. You could certainly make this approach mandatory or optional.

3. During unexpected company closures, proactive communication with clients and team flexibility is critical. Your team should be prepared to contact clients who may cancel their appointments with you so that they can schedule alternative appointments later in the week. Proactivity is the key.

4. Just about everyone would like to take additional time off around the holidays. Consider a PTO policy that limits the number of employees who can take additional time off during a holiday week, or limits the number of additional days per employee you will approve. You may need to create a scenario which allows for a rotation so that granting PTO requests is equitable for all.

5. Your employees may express frustration over loss of wages during a week that is interrupted by an unplanned weather event. This is understandable and is precisely why you should encourage your team to be part of the solution so that in the event of an unplanned interruption in business, everyone understands their role to minimize client service interruption.

6. Encourage your employees to think outside of the box with respect to the hours they work during an atypical week. Most employees tend to fall into a habit of a consistent schedule, and tend to assume that clients do the same. Saturday hours are often a very effective fallback option. If your employees have a good relationship with their clients, they will be able to effectively alter their client’s schedule to ensure uninterrupted services.

We encourage you to schedule a demo of the OnusOne system to see how it can help you mitigate payroll problems due to holidays and inclement weather.