Our Employees Can’t Work From Home. How Do We Make Their Lives More Flexible?

I manage a laboratory, which requires staff to be on-site around the clock. Our analysts and other on-site workers were classified as essential workers early in the pandemic, and they diligently came into the lab even when the rest of the world was sheltering in place. Today, many people are still working from home, doing hybrid work or otherwise enjoying more flexible lives, but my employees’ workdays look more or less the same as they did before the pandemic. I’d like to thank them for coming in every day and help them benefit from the ways the world of work has changed. Is there any way to make my on-site employees’ lives more flexible?

To read my answer, click here: Our Employees Can’t Work From Home. How Do We Make Their Lives More Flexible?

Related Posts

2 thoughts on “Our Employees Can’t Work From Home. How Do We Make Their Lives More Flexible?

  1. Flexible hours (usually) cost nothing and for me are a huge perk. Please even be flexible on the fly with hours. If your employees are hourly, please don’t make them take sick leave for doctor appointments or other tasks that must be done during the day. Heck, sometimes someone can be 15 minutes late due to the cat throwing up a hairball on the carpet! Allow them to work later or come in earlier or work through lunch.

    At my previous employer, even if I was 15 minutes late, took an extra 15 minutes for lunch, or left 15 minutes early I had to take either sick or annual leave. As someone with chronic illnesses (yes plural) I have a doctor appointment pretty much every week. This was a huge hassle and very frustrating. At my new job, my boss allows me to come in earlier and this is a huge benefit and very much appreciated. By company policy, my regular hours must be from 8:00 to 4:45 but my boss is very generous about me either coming in at 7:00 some days or working through lunch. If I am just a few minutes late due to a PT appointment (which is at 7:00am), my boss allows me to work the extra 15 minutes late.

    Having said all of that, I do also agree that it is best to just ask your employees what they want!

  2. The last suggestion of asking what each employee wanted and working out a solution that accommodates both the employer’s and the employee’s needs, would definitely help jobs like this (essential always needed) accommodate their employees personal life outside the office.

Comments are closed.

Are you looking for a new HR job? Or are you trying to hire a new HR person? Either way, hop on over to Evil HR Jobs, and you'll find what you're looking for.