I have a part time assistant who works between 20 and 30 hours a week here in Alberta.
Wondering if someone can clear up for me what, if anything, I have to pay her for overtime (more than 8 hours in a day).
Do I have to pay her extra or can I count the extra hours towards banked time off or can I just pay her straight time if she isn`t over 40 hours a week?
She has also taken a handful of sick days in the last month or so. I am totally fine with it but just wondering if there is a standard in terms of how many days you get or if I should be keeping track of these at all.
You should really review the provincial and federal employment standards acts. It varies from province to provence and different depending on job type. Although many small employers have different policies many have not bothered to confirm government standards prior to establishing policy with there employers.
I have also found that many employees are reluctant to exercise there rights for fear of losing there job.
Best to go directly to the source - Government.
I`m no experts but I think it all depends on her fee/pay structure. Is she paid by the hour or is she on salary? Typically salaried employees do not get paid overtime but may get banked time. The real question is: Is she a good/great/exceptional employee? If she is exceptional and or good but with some help could be exceptional then do your best to keep her happy. One of the biggest beefs that I have with employers, toward part-time/admin staff, is that they think that these types of employees are a dime a dozen. This is by far one of the biggest fallacies. If she is a poor employee, they either try to improve her abilities or replace her. As for the sick days. if you notice a trend then it is best that you sit down and get to the root of the problem. She could be going through a time where her immune system is low or it could be something more.
I know I got diverted there, but I hope this helps.
As Vince mentioned, employment standards vary from province to province. However if you have an agreement with your employee it should have been clearly stated in the contract.
If the employee is full time there really isn’t any over time pay, perhaps time in lieu. This once again should be clearly stated in an employment contract. As for the over time pay, I believe that over time is given if worked 8 hours or more in a day or more then 48 hours in a week. Once again this could differ depending on the employment contract. Please take a look at this link to the Employment Standards Act. Something I refer to on a regular basis as I have 15 + employees that I have to keep in check.
Also the other point that Vince mentioned, if you like the employee, you may feel that it is worth compensating them for the extra time. Little extras usually go a long way with employees and in return they give you more of themselves.
As for the sick days, keep an eye on that. It makes things difficult if you are not able to rely on your employees. You hired them for a reason. I once had an employee how didn’t show up for a week. On The Monday I didn’t hear from them. Tuesday morning I came to the office to find a voice message left telling me that they weren’t felling well and will be in. I didn’t see them but got another message left. Wednesday and Thursday came and went. Friday at noon I received a call from her. She told me that she is on her way in. I said ok, “There is a lot of work to be done, so come on in however I can’t talk about your absenteeism until next week. “ When she came in I could see she needed to talk and resolve the issue at hand.
So I pulled her into my office and told her that at this moment I don’t care what the issue was. What I care about is if I can count on her. She responded with a confident Yes. I told her that is all I need to know and we will talk again next week. After a few days I once again pulled her into my office and asked if there is anything she would like to talk about. She took about an hour but long story short she caught her husband / boyfriend cheating which devastated her.
Please keep in mind that as an employer, the employee’s personal life is not your responsibility. The more you know the harder it maybe to make decisions with out emotions. The time you are paying them is your time. With that said…
After listening and talking to her she became a very reliable employee who worked hard, I never had a problem with her afterwards. No matter how small, 5 minutes late, she would call to let me know.
Brett
As recommended check the Act.
You can give time off in lieu of overtime i.e 4 - 10 hour days instead of 5 - 8 hour days thus no extra cost for the work done just missing staff when you might need them
Alberta labor law does not have a sick leave policy. You set it or you don`t, it`s up to you. We set the policy of, you can be absent if you want - we don`t pay you. It really cuts down on the 24 oz flu calls (I`m not heartless, if they come in sick and I send them home they get paid)
Mark
QUOTE (mhealy @ Jun 17 2009, 02:24 PM) Brett
As recommended check the Act.
You can give time off in lieu of overtime i.e 4 - 10 hour days instead of 5 - 8 hour days thus no extra cost for the work done just missing staff when you might need them
Alberta labor law does not have a sick leave policy. You set it or you don`t, it`s up to you. We set the policy of, you can be absent if you want - we don`t pay you. It really cuts down on the 24 oz flu calls (I`m not heartless, if they come in sick and I send them home they get paid)
Mark
Thanks Mark that`s what I was after. Much appreciated.
